By Riley Taylor (@rileyttaylor21)
Welcome to the sixth edition of Overtime’s Cricket Weekly Column, where we look at the weeks biggest cricket stories and games.
This week, there is only four games to cover in the group stage Cricket World Cup as there will be two separate columns dedicated to the semi-final and the final.
Thursday July 4 West Indies v Afghanistan at Headingley
West Indies: 311/8 (Hope 77, Pooran 58, Dawlat 2-73, Rashid 1-52)
Afghanistan: 288 (Ikram 86, Rahmat 62, Brathwaite 4-63, Roach 3-37)
Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8233
Afghanistan hoped to pull off their first win of the tournament before its conclusion as they took on the West Indies.
The Windies batted first and lost Chris Gayle early, caught by wicket-keeper Ikram Akhail off Dawlat Zadran for seven.
Evin Lewis and Shai Hope repaired the early damage with an 88-run partnership.
Lewis fell for 57 but Hetmyer picked up where he left off to add a further 65 with Hope in just 10 overs.
Afghanistan fought back as Dawlat picked up his second wicket by removing Hetmyer before Mohammed Nabi had Shai Hope caught by Rashid Khan for 77.
However, these wickets only brought in West Indies’ big hitters in Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder as they smashed 105 in just 12 overs.
Afghanistan eventually dismissed both batsmen in the last over, Pooran run out by Sayed Shirzad for 58 before Holder was caught the following ball by Dawlat off Shirzad for 45.
🇦🇫 v🌴
Good batting performance to get us over the 300+ run mark.
WI 311/6 (50.0 ov)
Hope 77 (92)
Pooran 58 (43)#AFGvWI #MenInMaroon #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/ClMGzaYbGs— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) July 4, 2019
The Afghan’s chase started poorly, Gulbadin Naib caught by Lewis off the bowling of Kemar Roach for five.
Rahmat Shah and Ikram Alikhil put on 133 for the second wicket to put Afghanistan on course for their maiden win.
Rahmat departed off the bowling of Carlos Brathwaite but this did not halt Afghanistan’s progress as Najibullah Zadran put on a further 51 with Ikram.
However, when Ikram departed for 86 Afghanistan’s batting woes showed again as they lost seven wickets for 71 runs to put the Windies on the brink of victory.
Some late hitting from Shirzad (25) got the Afghans close but Oshane Thomas dismissed him to end Afghanistan’s campaign without a win.
MOTM: Carlos Brathwaite – his spell of bowling tore through the Afghan middle order to win the Windies the game.
Friday July 5 Pakistan v Bangladesh at Lords’
Pakistan: 315/9 (Imam 100, Babar 96, Mustafizur 5-75, Saifuddin 3-77)
Bangladesh: 221 (Shakib 64, Liton 32, Shaheen 6-35, Shadab 2-59)
Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8234
Pakistan looked to do the impossible against Bangladesh in order to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals.
After England’s back to back wins against India and New Zealand saw them qualify for the final four, Pakistan’s chances at qualifying took a huge blow.
It would mean if Pakistan beat Bangladesh they would have to do it by a certain number of runs due to being level on points with New Zealand and the only thing separating them would be net run rate.
By doing the maths Pakistan’s only way to qualify would be to first win the toss and bat and to score over 400 and to then bowl out Bangladesh for around 88, something that wasn’t necessarily impossible but highly unlikely.
Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed did win the toss and elect to bat but Pakistan got off to a nightmare start with Fakhar Zaman dismissed in the seventh over for just 13.
Babar Azam and Imam ul-Haq got Pakistan up to speed with a 157-run partnership.
However, Babar fell just short of his century, trapped lbw by Mohammed Saifuddin for 96 to end a strong World Cup for Pakistan’s star batsman.
Mohammed Hafeez saw Imam through to his hundred before the latter was out in the unluckiest of ways, stepping on his stumps to see him on his way for 100.
🤔 Did you know?
🇵🇰 @TheRealPCB‘s @ImamUlHaq12 joined his uncle @Inzamam08 on the Honours Boards yesterday, making them the first Uncle-Nephew combination recognised in Lord’s history.#LoveLords
— Lord’s Cricket Ground 🏏 (@HomeOfCricket) July 6, 2019
This wicket brought Pakistan’s consistency at being inconsistent back as they collapsed, losing seven wickets for 68 runs as Mustafizur Rahman finished up with back-to-back five-wicket hauls.
This collapse saw Pakistan finish on 315/9 which meant that they would need to bowl Bangladesh out for eight.
Unfortunately for Pakistan, that target was reached by Bangladesh in just the second over meaning they were eliminated before the game was over.
However, both sides were still determined to finish above each other, with Pakistan having the upper hand by reducing Bangladesh to 78 for three in reply.
Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das repaired things with a 58-run partnership but Shaheen Afridi came on and removed both set batsmen to continue his stunning form.
Mosaddek Hossain and Mahmudullah got Bangladesh’s chase back on track with a 43-run partnership before the Tigers collapsed, losing five wickets for 24 runs to hand the victory to Pakistan.
MOTM: Shaheen Afridi – Another stunning spell from Pakistan’s young bowler as he completely dismantled Bangladesh’s chase.
Saturday July 6 Sri Lanka v India at Headingley
Sri Lanka: 264/7 (Mathews 113, Thirimanne 53, Bumrah 3-37, Jadeja 1-40)
India: 265/3 (Rahul 111, Rohit 103, Rajitha 1-47, Udana 1-50)
Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8235
Semi-final bound India looked to finish the World Cup group stage on a high with a win versus Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka batted first and quickly unravelled to India’s bowling attack, collapsing to 55 for four.
Sri Lankan stalwarts Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne repaired things with a 124-run partnership.
Thirimanne departed for 53 but Dhananjaya de Silva picked up where he left off as he guided Mathews through to his century as the pair put on 74 for the sixth wicket.
Innings break: SL 264/7 (50.0 Ov) Mathews 113(128) Bumrah 3/37. #LionsRoar #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/SYyIlphsvk
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) July 6, 2019
India fought back towards the end of the innings as Jasprit Bumrah removed Mathews for 113 before Bhuvneshwar Kumar had Thisara Perera caught by Ravindra Jadeja for two to restrict Sri Lanka to 264/7.
India’s reply started fiercely as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul dismantled the Sri Lankan bowling with a 189-run partnership.
Rohit was dismissed for 103, his record-breaking fifth hundred of the World Cup before Rahul brought up his hundred in a 55-run partnership with Virat Kohli.
Rahul and Rishabh Pant (4) were dismissed to provide late solace for Sri Lanka before Hardik Pandya and Kohli guided India home to go into the semi-finals in strong form.
MOTM: KL Rahul – the top scorer just beats out Rohit to the award, but India will be glad to both openers are in strong form heading into the crucial last two games.
Saturday July 6 South Africa v Australia at Old Trafford
South Africa: 325/6 (du Plessis 100, van der Dussen 95, Lyon 2-53, Starc 2-59)
Australia: 315 (Warner 122, Carey 85, Rabada 3-56, Phelukwayo 2-22)
Full scorecard: https://www.cricketworldcup.com/match/8236
Australia would decide their semi-final opponents depending on their result versus South Africa.
A win for the Aussies would see them through to a Trans-Tasman semi-final, a loss would see them play arch-rivals England.
Batting first, South Africa started strongly through a 79-run partnership between Aiden Markram and Quinton de Kock.
The pair looked comfortable before Nathan Lyon removed both batsmen in quick succession to peg South Africa back.
However, Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen dominated the Australian attack with a 151-run partnership.
Du Plessis brought up his hundred before South Africa had a slight collapse, losing 4 wickets for 60 runs to stutter to a total of 325/6.
Is there a better view in world cricket than this one from the top of Old Trafford? #CWC19 | #AUSvSA pic.twitter.com/XtPjvibmAH
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 6, 2019
Australia’s reply started poorly as Aaron Finch and Steve Smith departed inside seven overs.
David Warner and Marcus Stoinis recovered things for Australia with a 62-run partnership.
However, Australia lost two quick wickets as Stoinis and Maxwell departed leaving Australia in real trouble.
Warner and breakout star Alex Carey got Australia back in contention with a 108-run stand but the Aussies chances took a huge blow when Warner was caught by Chris Morris off Dwaine Pretorius for 122.
Carey continued to attack and gave Australia a slither of hope as he added 45 runs with Pat Cummins.
However, Australia then collapsed as they lost five wickets for 43 runs as South Africa pulled off a shock victory.
MOTM: Faf du Plessis – a true captains knock as his innings setup a total for South Africa to defend.
Overtime’s Round 6 Best XI:
1. Rohit Sharma (IND)
2. Imam ul-Haq (PAK)
3. David Warner (AUS)
4. Faf du Plessis (SA)
5. Babar Azam (PAK)
6. KL Rahul (IND)
7. Alex Carey (AUS)
8. Carlos Brathwaite (WI)
9. Kagiso Rabada (SA)
10. Mustafizur Rahman (BAN)
11. Shaheen Afridi (PAK)
Now all the group stages are over, there is just three games left of this World Cup, who will come out on top to be crowned the World Champions?
New Zealand v India at Old Trafford
England v Australia at Edgbaston
Here is the final 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 fifth round of fixtures click here: http://www.overtimeonline.co.uk/35850-2/
Stay tuned for our summary on next week’s semi-finals and Final!
Sub-edited by Tony Robertson
