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It finally boiled down to the final five matches of the World Cup to determine the top four of the tournaments. Three more matches will decide the winner, reports Vijayhardik about World Cup. A Different Truths exclusive.
After an anti-climactic finish to an exciting week of cricket, where it did seem for a while the race for the final spot in the top four was going to be a heated three corner battle between Pakistan, Bangladesh, and England. But India’s defeat to England dashed those hopes.
Now, it was all about deciding the teams and venues for the semi-finals. The only thing up for grabs was how the teams would slot themselves in the top four. Would the fans be robbed of a 2003 grudge encounter between the India and Australia or would the trend of host nations emerging winners continue and make it three in a row?
Though down and out in the tournament, teams like South Africa and Sri Lanka had a role to play in determining the top four either by playing spoilsport or just holding to conventional wisdom and proving the critics right.
Though down and out in the tournament, teams like South Africa and Sri Lanka had a role to play in determining the top four either by playing spoilsport or just holding to conventional wisdom and proving the critics right. While such teams were trying to prove a point the teams in the top four had their own preference for their opponent in the semi-finals.
It finally boiled down to the final five matches of the World Cup to determine the top four of the tournaments.
Two of the teams in the coveted zone, vying for a favorable opponent were up against each other. England had arrested their slide just in time with a victory against India. On the other hand, New Zealand in a surprise result lost to Pakistan and then surrendered before Australia.
England was one victory away from booking a semi-final slot, while New Zealand was attempting to stop their downfall. On a rare sunny English morning at Chester le Street, the English won the toss and elected to bat.
England began the show with their recently acquired slam-bang attitude towards the limited overs format of the game.
England began the show with their recently acquired slam-bang attitude towards 
the limited overs format of the game. As they did in the previous game against India, the England openers Roy and Bairstow got them off to a flyer. Scoring runs at a frenetic pace, they breached the 120-run mark inside 20 overs.
The Three Lions were on course for a score hovering around 350 and 400 at the rate they were going about their innings. But the fall of Bairstow after his quickfire century and Joe Root in quick succession, breaks were applied on the scoring rate. Their captain Eoin Morgan stitched up meaningful partnerships to keep the scoreboard ticking but with batsmen around him throwing their wickets away at inopportune moments, England ended with 305/8 in their stipulated 50 overs.
With a batting line-up overly dependent on Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson for scoring runs, chasing down 306 was always a tough task.
With a batting line-up overly dependent on Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson for scoring runs, chasing down 306 was always a tough task. With both teams replicating their previous performance, New Zealand lost their openers upfront making it difficult for the result for the rest of the batsmen. Though Taylor and Williamson tried to hold the innings together for a while, their departure in quick succession saw them in an improbable situation with the scorecard reading 69/4. A little resistance from Tom Latham with a notable 57 saw them take the score to 181 gifting England a huge win.
In the next two encounters, the bottom two teams West Indies and Afghanistan and the contenders Bangladesh and Pakistan were taking on each other respectively.
West Indies while managing to impress the fans were on a losing spree after their initial drubbing of Pakistan. They completely lost steam after their surprising loss to Bangladesh.
West Indies while managing to impress the fans were on a losing spree after their initial drubbing of Pakistan. They completely lost steam after their surprising loss to Bangladesh. Afghanistan tried to be the Cinderella story of the World Cup creating a fairy tale. But it could not materialize. They still did have their moments against India and Pakistan.
Against a spin-heavy but inexperienced Afghan bowling attack, the big guns of the West Indian line up brought in the big shots. They could not bulldoze their way through but whacked the ball enough to get a score of 311 on the board.
Afghanistan once again looked like scripting history in their final World Cup game in 2019. They were progressing well scoring around 180 odd runs in about 30 overs for the loss of two wickets.
It was their bowling which grabbed eyeballs in initial stages of the tournament, but it was what let them down in the crunch moments of the games. Afghanistan once again looked like scripting history in their final World Cup game in 2019. They were progressing well scoring around 180 odd runs in about 30 overs for the loss of two wickets. Then their inexperience showed up and fell tantaliasingly short of victory by a margin of 23 runs.
With both teams out of contention for a final four slot, Pakistan and Bangladesh were playing for pride. At the Mecca of Cricket, The Lord’s, Pakistan won the toss and decided to put runs on the board.
The responsibility of scoring the runs once again fell on the trustworthy pair of Imam ul Haq and Babar Azam after Fakhar Zaman got out early.
The responsibility of scoring the runs once again fell on the trustworthy pair of Imam ul Haq and Babar Azam after Fakhar Zaman got out early. Babar took the initiative of scoring in the partnership and fell agonizingly short of a well-deserved century for 96. Imam though bided his time and made a century.
His immediate demise after his century followed quickly by the wicket of the other set batsmen Hafeez put a spoke in the run rate of Pakistan. Imad Wasim played a lone hand scoring in a blitzkrieg inning of 43 and pumped up the total to 315/9 at the end of their innings.
After pulling off a successful chase of a score above 300 against West Indies earlier in the tournament, Bangladesh dressing room at the half-way would have backed themselves to chase down the target.
All supporters of Bangladesh were hoping for a repeat performance against Pakistan. However, after losing an early wicket Bangladesh kept losing their wickets at regular intervals and their chase never got off the blocks.
All supporters of Bangladesh were hoping for a repeat performance against Pakistan. However, after losing an early wicket Bangladesh kept losing their wickets
at regular intervals and their chase never got off the blocks. Shakib who has been a standout performer this World Cup and scoring the second highest number of runs just behind Rohit Sharma did not find enough support. He got out trying to force the pace of the innings and rest of the batting collapsed ending in a rout getting out for 221 giving Pakistan a nice send off.
On the final day of the league stage of the tournament, there were two encounters involving India and Australia. It was the last two matches which would finally decide who fits where in the top four.
On the final day of the league stage of the tournament, there were two encounters involving India and Australia. It was the last two matches which would finally decide who fits where in the top four. India was playing Sri Lanka in their final league game and South Africa after finally finding themselves in the game against Sri Lanka was taking on Australia.
Sri Lanka after being hammered by South Africa was once again batting first. And they got off a horrendous start. The top four Sri Lankan batsmen were back in the hut with the score reading 55. It looked like they would be lucky if the got to a score of 150 or more.
But the experienced guys of the Sri Lankan team Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne brought their skill to the fore and stitched a 124-run partnership for the wicket before Thirimanne was done in by the guile of Kuldeep for a well made 53. After his dismissal, Mathews took centerstage and controlled the innings. He played a marvelous inning of a 113 taking his team’s score beyond the 250 marks. Thanks to his efforts Sri Lanka ended their innings for a respectable 264/7.
It seemed the Indian openers were making for the performance in the previous match. Rohit Sharma was off the blocks right from the word ‘go’ and sending the ball to different parts of the ground. KL Rahul after reaching the landmark of a half-century began matching Rohit shot for shot.
The Indian batting line up which was looking a bit circumspect earlier in the tournament and shied away from a 330-run chase in the final overs against England got their act together. It seemed the Indian openers were making for the performance in the previous match. Rohit Sharma was off the blocks right from the word ‘go’ and sending the ball to different parts of the ground. KL Rahul after reaching the landmark of a half-century began matching Rohit shot for shot. In the process, both the Indian openers ended up scoring a century each. The first instance in ODIs since 2013. After that blistering knocks it a canter to victory for India who the game with 7 wickets remaining.
The Indian victory ensured India would go to the top of the table. To ensure India remained there, South Africa would have to beat Australia. Looking at their track record in the 2019 World Cup, the idea seemed quite far-fetched. Australia was going in clear favorites and South Africa wanting to prove their victory against Sri Lanka was not an aberration.
In the iconic stadium of Old Trafford at Manchester, South Africa elected to bat first. The Protea openers Markram and de Kock provided them a good start.
In the iconic stadium of Old Trafford at Manchester, South Africa elected to bat first. The Protea openers Markram and de Kock provided them a good start. Building upon the half-century of de Kock; du Plessis and van der Dussen built up a huge 151 run partnership for the third wicket, they put South Africa on course for a large total.
Falling down after scoring a century, the wicket of South Africa captain Faf du Plessis brought down the run rate. Though van der Dussen was trying his best to score quick runs the new batsmen at the crease could not get acclimatised enough with the pitch and the total was contained at 325/6 in their stipulated number of overs.
The Australian run chase did not get off to the right start. Early wickets of Aaron Finch and Steve Smith compounded by an injury to Usman Khawaja exposed the brittle Aussie middle order.
The Australian run chase did not get off to the right start. Early wickets of Aaron 
Finch and Steve Smith compounded by an injury to Usman Khawaja exposed the brittle Aussie middle order. Though Stoinis and Maxwell tried to stick around for a while they were eventually dismissed leaving the team in a spot of bother at 119/4.
The dismissal of Maxwell brought Alex Carey to the crease. He partnered with David Warner and threatened to take the game away from South Africa. A brilliant fighting knock of a 122 from David Warner saw balance tilting in favor of Australia. Alas, he got out at the wrong time.
Carey took over the reins of the innings after his dismissal and smashed the ball all around the park in a valiant inning of 85.
Carey took over the reins of the innings after his dismissal and smashed the ball all around the park in a valiant inning of 85. The lower order batsmen Starc and Behrendorff tried to keep the game alive with some power hitting but the South African bowlers got the better of them and made a lasting impact on the World Cup by deciding the final four.
With just three games away from the victor being decided and hoping the weather permits play brace yourself for great contests.
Photos sourced by the author from the Internet
