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Home   /   Cricket Weekly Column #4 World Cup: Round Four Roundup
Posted on by Riley Taylor
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By Riley Taylor (@rileyttaylor21)

Welcome to the fourth edition of Overtime’s Cricket Weekly Column, where we look at the weeks biggest cricket stories and games.
This week, there is eight games to cover and as well as the downfall of one of the favourites for the World Cup…..

Thursday June 20 Australia v Bangladesh at Nottingham

Australia: 381/5 (Warner 166, Khawaja 89, Soumya 3-58, Mustafizur 1-69)

Bangladesh: 333/8 (Mushfiqur 102no, Mahmudullah 69, Stoinis 2-54, Starc 2-55)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8217

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Australia’s deadly opening partnership of David Warner and Aaron Finch started off well with a 121-run partnership.

Bangladesh got a reprieve when Soumya Sarkar dismissed Finch for 53 but that was to be the only relief for a while as Usman Khawaja joined Warner and the pair amassed another huge partnership (192).

Warner (166) was the star of the show, as he returned to his destructive self by smashing the highest score of the World Cup so far.

Warner was eventually removed as part-timer Sarkar claimed his second wicket, but Australia continued to attack as Glenn Maxwell entered and smashed 32 runs in just 10 balls.

Bangladesh did claim some late solace as Maxwell, Khawaja (89) and Steve Smith (1) all departed within the space of five balls.

Marcus Stoinis (17no) and Alex Carey (11no) survived the last few overs and boosted Australia’s total to 381.

Bangladesh’s reply started awfully as a mix-up between Sarkar and Tamim Iqbal saw Sarkar run out by Finch for 10.

Tamim (62) and Shakib Al Hasan (41) built a steady 79-run partnership but before they could begin to attack, Stoinis broke the partnership by dismissing Shakib.

Mushfiqur Rahim came to the crease and the Bangladesh captain could only watch as the Tigers struggled against the might of the Australian bowling as both Tamim and Liton Das (20) departed in quick succession.

However, Mushfiqur eventually found a partner in Mahmudullah and together they put on the biggest partnership of the Bangladesh innings of 127.

However, when Nathan Coulter-Nile dismissed Mahmudullah for 69, Bangladesh began to unravel and despite Mushfiqur reaching a battling hundred, the Tigers lost by 48 runs.

MOTM: David Warner – He has been having a superb tournament and this knock saw him back to his very best with a superb innings.

Friday June 21 Sri Lanka v England at Leeds

Sri Lanka: 232/9 (Mathews 85no, Fernando 49, Wood 3-40, Archer 3-52)

England: 212 (Stokes 82no, Root 57, Malinga 4-43, Dhananjaya 3-32)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8218

After a strong start to the World Cup, England looked to finalise their spot in the semi-finals with a victory over struggling Sri Lanka.

On paper, it looked like Sri Lanka would be a walkover for England and at first this looked to be the case.

England removed both Sri Lankan openers, Dimuth Karunaratne (1) and Kusal Perera (2) in the opening overs courteousy of Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer.

Avishka Fernando (49) offered some attacking resistance with his innings but was dismissed by Mark Wood trying to play one shot too many.

Sri Lanka’s biggest partnership (71) came through Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis (46) but was broken by Adil Rashid when he had Mendis dismissed by a superb catch from Eoin Morgan.

Rashid then got another wicket a ball later when Jeevan Mendis lobbed a simple catch back to him first ball.

Dhananjaya de Silva (29) and Mathews repaired the damage somewhat with a 57-run partnership, but Archer broke the deadlock when Joe Root took a great diving catch to dismiss Dhananjaya.

Mathews then had to witness the the England bowlers run through the rest of the Sri Lankan order with Archer and Wood finishing on three wickets each.

However, despite the late carnage Mathews finished on 85 not out to give Sri Lanka a slight chance.

England’s reply started off in the worst possible way as Lasith Malinga dismissed Jonny Bairstow first ball.

Despite a small target being set, batting became a lot harder for England then it may have been for Sri Lanka as a tough batting pitch became even worse.

Malinga made the chase a lot more difficult when he dismissed Vince for 14.

Joe Root and Eoin Morgan repaired the early damage for England with a 47-run partnership, but it came at a very slow run rate of just 4.27.

Furthermore, when Morgan was caught off Isuru Udana for 21, England’s struggles got worse.

Ben Stokes joined Root and England’s two best players in the tournament put on a 54-run partnership and looked to be batting comfortably.

However, when Root was strangled down the leg side of Malinga for 57, Sri Lanka got a new lease of life and began to take over the game.

Malinga continued his destruction of the England top order when he dismissed Jos Buttler for 10.

As England, looked to be cautious with their little wickets in hand they began to fall behind the run rate which made their task of scoring high on a tough batting pitch a lot harder.

Moeen Ali’s (16) dismissal when he was caught trying to go big of Dhananjaya summed up England’s approach to the innings.

Stokes (82no) tried his best with some superb batting towards the end, but he ran out of partners as Sri Lanka shocked the favourites of tournament by beating them by 20 runs.

Bar Stokes and Root, England did not bat sensibly, and this was shown when their lower order collapsed, losing their last five wickets for 42 runs.

MOTM: Lasith Malinga – his spell of bowling completely derailed England’s chase and in the end setup a famous victory for Sri Lanka.

Saturday June 22 Afghanistan v India at Hampshire Bowl

India: 224/8 (Kohli 67, Jadhav 52, Nabi 2-33, Naib 2-51)

Afghanistan: 213 (Nabi 52, Rahmat 36, Shami 4-40, Chahal 2-36)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8219

An inform India looked to continue their unbeaten run with a win versus a winless Afghanistan side.

On a tough batting pitch, India batted first and lost opening batsman Rohit Sharma (4) when he was bowled by Mujeeb ur Rahman.

India recovered from this early loss via a 57-run partnership between KL Rahul and Virat Kohli.

Rahul fell for 30 but India continued to build runs as Vijay Shankar joined Kohli and the pair put on the highest partnership of the innings (58).

However, this work was soon undone when Rahmat Shah trapped Shankar LBW for 29 before Mohammad Nabi got the big wicket of Kohli for 67.

MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav put on 57 in 14 overs but before they could launch, Rashid Khan broke through, having Dhoni stumped for 28.

India then collapsed as they went in search of big runs with Hardik Pandya (7), Mohammed Shami (1) and Jadhav (57) all falling in quick succession as India finished on a mediocre total of 224/8.

In reply, Afghanistan lost Hazratullah Zazai early when he was bowled by Mohammed Shami for 10.

Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah put on steady 44 but it was broken by Pandya when Gulbadin was caught on the boundary by Shankar for 27.

Afghanistan continued to build and added another solid partnership between Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi.

However, Jasprit Bumrah removed both batsman in back-to-back balls to hand momentum back to India.

India got another wicket just six overs later, when Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Asghar Afghan for six.

However, it looked like Afghanistan were going to pull off a shock victory when Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran (21) and Rashid (14) took them close.

However, when Najibullah and Rashid were removed by Pandya and Chahal, India were back in the game as Nabi was left to fight with the tail.

With 12 needed from the final over, Mohammed Shami produced a moment of brilliance when he took a hattrick, having Nabi caught by Pandya before bowling both Aftab Alam and Mujeeb.

MOTM: Mohammed Shami – One moment can often define a game of cricket and this was the case yet again as three balls from Shami allowed India to avoid a massive upset.

Saturday June 22 New Zealand v West Indies at Old Trafford

New Zealand: 291/8 (Williamson 148, Taylor 69, Cottrell 4-56, Brathwaite 2-58)

West Indies: 286 (Brathwaite 101, Gayle 87, Boult 4-30, Ferguson 3-59)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8220

West Indies looked to get their World Cup campaign back on track as they took on a high-flying New Zealand side.

After electing to field first, the Windies got off to a dream start when Sheldon Cottrell removed openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro first ball in the first over.

`New Zealand stalwarts Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor repaired the early damage with a 160-run partnership.

West Indies broke the partnership via an unlikely source, Chris Gayle removing Taylor with his part-time spin.

Cottrell then got a third wicket when he had Latham caught and bowled for 12.

Williamson amassed another hundred, but he fell two short of the 150 mark when he was caught behind off Cottrell.

West Indies continued to take wickets when Cottrell ran out Colin de Grandhomme for 10.

Mitchell Santner (10) and James Neesham (28) added some late runs but both were removed by Carlos Brathwaite from the last two balls of the game.

West Indies had a nightmare start in reply when both Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran were removed for one inside the opening seven overs.

Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer (54) repaired the damage with a 122-run partnership.

However, the Windies lost five wickets for 22 runs leaving them with a mountain to climb.

Tail-enders Kemar Roach (14) and Sheldon Cottrell (15) provided able support for Carlos Brathwaite as he attacked the New Zealand bowlers to give the West Indies a real chance.

However, when both Roach and Cottrell were removed, Brathwaite knew he had to go it alone he was able to continue to attack due to Oshane Thomas lasting as his final partner for 24 minutes.

Brathwaite smashed a six off Neesham to need just five from six balls, needing a single to guarantee strike but instead from his next ball he attempted to go for glory and was caught on the boundary by Trent Boult as the Windies lost a thrilling game for five runs.

MOTM: Kane Williamson – it would of gone to Brathwaite if he had used his brain to win the game but instead Williamson’s innings setup the victory as without it the Windies would have been able to chase down a much smaller total.

Sunday June 23 Pakistan v South Africa at Lords’

Pakistan: 308/7 (Haris 89, Babar 69, Ngidi 3-64, Tahir 2-41)

South Africa: 259/9 (du Plessis 63, de Kock 47, Wahab 3-46, Shadab 3-50)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8221

Pakistan hoped to put pressure on England in order to qualify for the semi-finals with a win versus South Africa.

Pakistan got off to a good start but they were pegged back at regular intervals as Fakhar Zaman (44), Imam ul-Haq (44) and Mohammed Hafeez (20) all got starts before being pegged back by the South African bowling.

Babar Azam (69) and Haris Sohail (85) did not make that same mistake as they put on an 81-run partnership.

Babar was removed by Andile Phelukwayo but this only forced Pakistan to attack more as Haris and Imad Wasim (23) put on 71 runs in just six overs.

South Africa made a late comeback with the ball as Lungi Ngidi picked up  the wickets of Haris (89), Imad and Wahab Riaz (4).

In reply, the Proteas struggled in reply as the strike rate of their batsman was called into question yet again as only Andile Phelukwayo (46no) and Chris Morris (16) batted above 100%.

Some credit will have to go to the Pakistan bowlers, Shadab Khan the bowler to do the most damage as he ripped through the top order, dismissing Quinton de Kock (47), Aiden Markram (7) and Rassie van der Dussen (36).

Wahab Riaz backed this up by taking out the lower order with the wickets of Morris, Ngidi (1) and Kagiso Rabada (3).

South Africa never looked like chasing the target and in the end stuttered to a meagre end as they lost by 49 runs.

MOTM: Shadab Khan – his spell of bowling took out the South Africa top order and made the chase a lot harder for the Proteas.

Monday June 24 Bangladesh v Afghanistan at Southampton

Bangladesh: 262/7 (Mushfiqur 83, Shakib 51, Mujeeb 3-39, Gulbadin 2-56)

Afghanistan: 200 (Shenwari 49no, Gulbadin 47, Shakib 5-29, Mustafizur 2-32)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8222

Bangladesh hoped to continue their surprisingly strong World Cup run with a victory over a winless Afghanistan side.

The Tigers batted first and struggled as they lost Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal inside the first 20 overs.

However, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim came together and put on a 61-run partnership, Shakib bringing up his half-century in the process.

Afghanistan then fought back as Mujeeb ur Rahman picked up two quick wickets of Shakib (51) and Soumya Sarkar (3).

Mushfiqur was the key towards the end of the innings as his stable batting allowed Mahmudullah (27) and Mosaddek Hossain (35) to add quick runs but this still wasn’t enough to get them near 300 as they finished on 262/7.

Afghanistan started steadily in reply, with a 49-run partnership in the opening 10 overs.

However, after Rahmat Shah (24) was dismissed, they began to collapse as Shakib tore through their top order, as the Afghans lost five wickets for 53 runs.

Najibullah Zadran (23) and Samiullah Shenwari (49no) got Afghanistan back on track with a 56-run partnership.

Shakib then struck, dismissing Najibullah to pick up his fifth wicket, starting the collapse that ended the Afghanistan innings (four wickets for 12 runs) to win the game for Bangladesh.

MOTM: Shakib Al Hasan – he has been having an amazing tournament with the bat and he continued this against Afghanistan, but he also showed his class with the ball as he picked up a five-wicket haul.

Wednesday June 25 Australia v England at Lords’

Australia: 285/7 (Finch 100, Warner 53, Woakes 2-46, Stokes 1-29)

England: 221 (Stokes 89, Bairstow 27, Behrendorff 5-44, Starc 4-43)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8217

England looked to bounce back from a shock defeat to Sri Lanka with a victory against arch-rivals Australia.

Under cloudy conditions, England captain Eoin Morgan looked to have won a crucial toss as he elected to bowl first.

However, Aaron Finch and David Warner continued their fine form as they amassed a 123-run partnership.

Warner brought up a half-century before he was dismissed by Moeen Ali, caught by Joe Root at backward point for 53.

Australia continued to push on with Finch and Usman Khawaja making a 50-run partnership.

However, England then fought back as Australia lost six wickets for 86 runs as the Aussies failed to build on their big start as they struggled to 285/7.

England’s reply started in complete turmoil as they collapsed to 53 for four with Jonny Bairstow (27) the only batsman to add any early resistance.

Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler put England back on track with a 71-run partnership.

However, Khawaja took an amazing catch on the edge of the boundary off Marcus Stoinis to remove Buttler (25) which put Australia back in the game.

Stokes continued to fight back for England as he put on a handy 53-run partnership with Chris Woakes (26).

However, a superb innings from Stokes (89) was ended by a stunning yorker by Mitchell Starc which started the collapse as England lost five wickets for 44 runs as Australia continued their incredible run of form.

After back-to-back losses England now face elimination from the World Cup, with must win games versus India and New Zealand to come.

Its two shockingly poor performances in the row for the number one team in the world and if they are now to go out of the tournament it will four years wasted, and a perfect opportunity completely thrown away after such focus was dedicated to revamping England’s white-ball cricket scene after the disasters of the 2015 World Cup.

MOTM: Jason Behrendorff – a stunning spell of swing bowling which put England’s to shame as he took down the hosts top order.

Thursday June 26 New Zealand v Pakistan at Birmingham

New Zealand: 237/6 (Neesham 97no, de Grandhomme 64, Shaheen 3-28, Shadab 1-43)

Pakistan: 241/4 (Babar 101no, Haris 68, Williamson 1-39, Boult 1-48)

Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8224

Pakistan looked to put themselves back in contention for semi-final qualification with a victory over high-flying New Zealand.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, New Zealand got off to a terrible start, collapsing to 46 for four with only Kane Williamson to hold everything together.

Williamson was able to repair things with James Neesham with a 37-run partnership.

However, Shadab Khan broke through to claim the big wicket of Williamson for 41 to restart New Zealand’s progress.

Colin de Grandhomme joined Neesham and their partnership gave New Zealand a total to defend as they put on 132 for the sixth wicket.

De Grandhomme was run out for 64 but Neesham was able to add some late runs to power him to 97 not out as the Kiwis finished on 237/6.

Pakistan’s reply started poorly, as they lost both openers with only 44 runs on the board.

Mohammed Hafeez and Babar Azam got things back on track with a 66-run stand as New Zealand went through eight bowlers looking for a breakthrough.

Eventually, it came through the seventh, Williamson normally known for his batting, had Hafeez caught at cow corner by Lockie Ferguson for 32.

Haris Sohail joined Babar and they were to be the pair that won the game for Pakistan as they put on a 126-run partnership to put them level.

However, Haris would not be around to see them home as he was run out by Martin Guptill for 68.

Fittingly, it was to be the captain Sarfraz Ahmed that hit the winning runs as Pakistan pulled off a massive win in their World Cup campaign.

MOTM: Babar Azam – a brilliant ton from Pakistan’s star batsman guided them home in their run chase to put them back in contention for the semi-finals.

Overtime’s Round 4 Best XI:
1. Aaron Finch (AUS)
2. David Warner (AUS)
3. Babar Azam (PAK)
4. Shakib Al Hasan (BAN)
5. Haris Sohail (PAK)
6. Mushfiqur Rahim (BAN)
7. Ben Stokes (ENG)
8. Carlos Brathwaite (WI)
9. Mitchell Starc (AUS)
10. Lasith Malinga (SRI)
11. Jason Behrendorff (AUS)

Here is the table after another week of games: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/standings
For more cricket content click here: http://www.overtimeonline.co.uk/category/cricket/
For our summary of the third round of fixtures click here: http://www.overtimeonline.co.uk/cricket-weekly-cricket-world-cup-round-3-roundup/
Stay tuned for our summary on next week’s games!
Sub-edited by Tony Robertson

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