Day7 | CWC 2019 Game 8 and 9

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India vs SA . SA coming to this match after2 defeats and with the realization that Steyn is not going to be part of this tournament any further had quite a task at hand. They ran in to Bumrah, easily one of the best in white ball cricket at the moment if not the best. After recovering from initial blows Chahal bamboozled them. 227 was not a very threatening total but given the conditions could have asked some serious questions and it did. Rabada leading the pack created some very nervous moments. Rohit Sharma struggled but hung around and reaped the benefits. Dhawan and Virat could not. KL RAHUL did have a short innings but he is definitely a long term solution to #4 spot. MSD did his part but it wasPandya who came to finish things off. New finisher in chief. Rohit Sharma has that lazy elegance but he is a serious white ball batsman . This innings may not have been his fluent best but innings like these and time spent in middle often helps. This is a long tournament and this innings will help him build on.

Chahal and Bumrah were effective. Bhuvaneshwar is dependable too. India will be happy to take 2 points and will be in better frame of mind to compete against Australia. SA on the other hand have hit a  rough patch right in the beginning. They will have to play some seriously good cricket to stay alive in this tournament.


NZ vs Bangladesh. Much before the start of this tournament I stated that this will be cracker of a game. Low scoring encounters with plenty of wickets always produce thrillers. The punches and counterpunching happens frequently. The quality of cricket as a result is full of entertainment and often captivating. 244 was not really a low score here. Bangladesh started well. At one point they seemed to be headed towards north of 270. NZ kept them in check and kept in chipping with wickets. NZ may not look as strong as England or India but they have a calm and smart leader in Williamson. 

NZ started their chase alright and just when they faltered a little bit. Taylor and Williamson stitched a meaningful and critical partnership. Bangladesh were not willing to give up easily. They  kept coming back. They almost clawed their way back to victory. Santner just went about his business in the most calming and assured manner. Bangladesh has played some high quality cricket in recent times. Their tournament so far is a testimonial to their approach. If they don’t make it to semis, they will surely spoil someone’s party. We will find that out. 

I am happy that I am getting my predictions right. It will be interesting to review likely semifinalists when each team has at least 3 games under their kitty. SA is the only team so far with 3 games and are yet to collect any points. 

The World Cup may not have served scintillating cricket yet but there is still a lot more in the store. I will take NZ Bangladesh game as first real entertainer of the tournament. 

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