ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 ongoing games results & news diary 4th edition
Sunday 9th June
India completed a masterful 36-run victory over Australia at The Oval in what was a first real clash of the World Cup titans.
It was a high-spirited crowd in south London, and the drums were beating a frenzied rhythm as Pat Cummins pounded in to bowl the first ball of the day. Then a massive roar as Rohit Sharma manoeuvred India’s first runs of the innings through point. India’s supporters were in total rock & roll mode, so much so that even a defensive shot from Dhawan raised the roof in the opening period.
Rohit was out caught behind off the bowling of Nathan Coulter-Nile, by the ever vigilant Carey for a lively 57 which had looked set for greater things. Ultimately it was Shikhar Dhawan’s elegant 117 with sixty-four coming from boundaries, in conjunction with a fluent 82 from captain Virat Kohli and a big-hitting 48 by Pandya that had the supporters dancing in the aisles, which helped push India to 352 for 5 in their fifty overs.
Australia were facing a World Cup record run chase, and they were finding it difficult, unable to locate the accelerator pedal despite Steve Smith’s aggressive 69, cut short by Kumar who had him plumb lbw, as David Warner just seemed to frustrate Baggy Greens’ aspirations with a tedious 56, using up 84 balls in the process.
Wickets were falling and the target run-rate rising, captain Aaron Finch was run out in the 13th over for 36; Khawaja looked in good nick for a time until Bumrah bowled him for 42, and then Glenn Maxwell went cheaply for 28. Khumar had Marcus Stoinis out second ball for a duck. Alex Carey hit a 25-ball half-century but it was never going to be enough to prevent Australia falling to their first defeat in the competition.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed Adam Zampa with the last ball of the match to finish with 3 for 50 and Jasprit Bumrah took 3 for 61. Australia 313 all out losing the match by 36 runs.
As an end result some might adjudge it a tight scoreline, but in all honesty Australia only gave India and their fans vague cause for concern in the very late stages of the match but never looked as though they could come close to the objective.
Monday 10th June
South Africa’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals experienced another setback when their match against West Indies was rained off.
The Proteas had already lost their first three games coming into this match and only managed to reach 29 for 2 in the 7.3 playable overs possible before the heavens opened at Southampton.
They collected their first World Cup point in Hampshire but face an uphill struggle to finish in the top four of the group stage.
“We are in a bad position but it’s our own fault. We haven’t played our best cricket so far and we need a solid performance to get the team’s confidence up,” said South Africa captain Faf du Plessis commenting to media.
Tuesday 11th June
The previous record of the number of games abandoned in a World Cup was broken at Bristol as a third match was abandoned because of rain. Bangladesh’s game against Sri Lanka in the southwest of England was called off without a ball being bowled.
As persistent rain once again deluged Bristol, the match, scheduled for a 10:30 BST start was called off by the umpires shortly before 14:00. This followed an earlier washout of the game due to be played between Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the same ground on 7th of June.
“We put men on the moon so why can’t we have a reserve day?” queried Steve Rhodes the Bangladesh coach.
“I know that it would have been difficult, but we have got quite a lot of time in between games, and if we have got to travel a day later, then so be it,” he added, talking to media as the capricious English weather inflicted another group match casualty on the tournament.
Wednesday 12th June
Australia hit the top spot in the World Cup group table as big innings’ from David Warner and captain Aaron Finch, along with strategically sharp bowling from Pat Cummins, helped them to an 87-run win over Pakistan at The Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton.
Australia got off to a flying start as Aaron Finch delivered a true captain’s innings, hitting 82 off 84 balls (6 fours and 4 sixes) finally succumbing to the bowling of the superb Mohammad Amir, caught by Hafeez. Meanwhile David Warner at the other end hit a swashbuckling 107 including 12 boundaries, eventually falling to a catch by Imam off a difficult delivery from Shaheen Afridi.
But from then on, in a batting sense, it was downhill all the way. Steve Smith went for 10 to Mohammad Hafeez, then Shaheen shattered Glenn Maxwell’s bails for just 20 and Shaun Marsh fell to Amir for 23. Amir then went on a further wicket taking spree, trapping Usman Khawaja for 18, wicketkeeper Alex Carey lbw for 20 and Mitchell Starc for 3. That was it Australia all out for a pretty average total of 307 in 49 overs.
Yet in similar fashion Pakistan failed exhibit the expansive batting flare demonstrated against other teams and were constantly behind in the run chase. The top order just did not seem to have a big score in them, but to their credit were more prolific than Australia towards the tail end. Imam-al-Huq top-scored on 53 but Cummins soon had his opening partner Fakhar Zammam caught for a duck after 3 balls. Unfortunately, Imam, having played himself into a decent groove, became another Cummins victim in the 25th over, with Babar Azam long gone in the tenth for a modest 30 runs.
Hafeez and Sarfaraz Ahmed put on a good show with 46 and 40 respectively, the latter run out when he was looking set for a big score, but both were back on the balcony in successive overs. Cheap wickets followed, Shoaib Malik (0) and Asif Ali (5), but batters 8 Hassan Ali and 9 Wahab Riaz put up a defiant and rapid-fire fight back. Hassan thumped 32 in 15 balls including 3 fours and 3 sixes; while Wahab plundered 45 in 39 balls before Mitchell Starc had him caught behind by Carey and went on to wrap up the tail.
Pakistan all out for 266 in 45.4 overs lose to Australia by 41 runs
Thursday 13th June
India’s match against New Zealand at Trent Bridge was abandoned without a ball being bowled on Thursday, becoming the fourth washout of this World Cup.
However the India captain Virat Kohli’s focus immediately turned to Pakistan who the Men in Blue would face at Old Trafford in Manchester on Sunday in a match likely to gather a one-billion strong global television audience.
Kohli loquacious with the media in the absence of any play, went on to comment
“It’s an opportunity to create excitement, a marquee event all over the world.”
“We’re playing some good cricket so we’re not too worried about where we stand; having two wins gives you that extra confidence.
“We will have a couple of practice sessions so we know where we are in terms of mindset and skill.
“Nevertheless, it’s also about going out and having game time. We are ready to take that game on.”
Friday 14th June
England thumped West Indies in a low scoring game at Southampton which saw them take a stride towards the World Cup semi-finals, but on the negative side also incur injuries to Eoin Morgan (back spasm) and Jason Roy (left hamstring) in the process, while both were still in the field..
Despite Morgan and Roy being hors de combat, the host team rolled West Indies over for a paltry 212 all out in 44.4 overs, mainly thanks to the aggressive pace bowling of Jofra Archer (3 for 30) and Mark Wood (3 for 18). Only Pooran with a 78-ball total of 63 showed what might have been.
However, that target might have proved tricky given that two key members of England’s top order, Roy and Morgan were unlikely to be able to participate and face down the normally hostile Windies fast bowling attack.
Yet stand-in opener Joe Root, already riding on the euphoria of having taken two wickets with his off-breaks, marched to the crease and began to play a series of masterly strokes that saw him glide his way unbeaten to a splendid classical century.
Root was at his sublime best adding 95 for the first wicket alongside Jonny Bairstow, then 104 with Chris Woakes, promoted to number three, as England beat West Indies by eight wickets. England 232 for 2 in 33.1 overs
