World Cup 2019, Days 18-19: Pakistani Pain, Indian Joy, Bangladeshi Ecstasy

 

World Cup 2019

Days 18-19: Pakistani Pain, Indian Joy, Bangladeshi Ecstasy

June 17^th 2019

Historians tend to classify events around a war as: before the war, the war, after the war. So too the World Cup. We have had two and a half weeks of “Phony War” before the main event and now, we have the aftermath.

First and most important: India and Pakistan got a game in at Manchester, despite the best efforts of the Manchester weather and it was friendly both on and off the pitch. Appeals to fans to keep things peaceful and to enjoy the day, worked, with a fabulous atmosphere in the stands. The game was played in the best possible spirit, helped by the fact that the majority of the crowd went home happy after seeing a complete performance from their heroes.

Pakistan, won the Toss, had a couple of real opportunities to get on top, made a decent start to a chase that was tough but, by no means impossible, but ultimately folded just when it seemed as if they might push India to the limit. The Indians, with the backing of the majority of the crowd, had much greater squad depth and the confidence that comes with being unbeaten and of having a winning record against their opponents. It was an unbeatable combination and, now, surely only England stand before them and undefeated run to the Semi-Finals.

Pakistan had several urgent tasks in this match. First and foremost, get the win points. And then, nearly as important, deny them to India, to give the chasing pack some hope. Finally, there was the small matter of improving their severely negative NRR, which could yet be the deciding factor in qualification if one of the Big Four falter and of trying to get some much-needed momentum behind their faltering campaign. Unfortunately for them, they failed in all of these. Pakistan can now reach only 11 points, maximum. India, with five games left, are on 7 and have a far superior NRR. Thus India knew that even a narrow defeat would serve their interests, but set out to make a big statement of intent anyway.

For Pakistan to win, they had to be aggressive and take their chances. They won the Toss, saw some moisture and decided to chase. Newly-elected Prime Minister, Imran Khan, who has held aloft the World Cup, gave his team five pieces of advice, none of which included giving the opposition century-maker a life on 42, or on spraying the new ball around in conditions that should have been perfect for seam bowling. By the time the openers were separated, the century partnership was long past and the scoring rate 5.7 per over. India were set up for a total anywhere in the range from 350-380, so 336 actually represented a decent effort from the bowlers, albeit helped by the extraordinary decision of Virat Kohli to walk when he had not actually hit that ball from Mohammad Amir that a gleeful Sarwaz threw up. Although Mohammed Amir finished with the excellent figures of 3-47, the truth is that his wickets were too little, too late. His opening spell of 4-1-8-0 was economical, but largely unthreatening and came with two warnings attached for running on the pitch. Similarly, India saw off a second, brief burst from him (2-0-10-0) around the thirtieth over but, tellingly, that second spell was not when Kohli had just arrived at the wicket, which would have been the aggressive tactic. Amir’s 3-29 from his last four overs were a tale of wickets when it was too late to stop the Indian juggernaut. To have had a chance, Pakistan needed Mohammad Amir to get at least one of the openers in his new ball spell, but he received scant support from Hasan Ali, whose initial spell was loose and whose final figures were truly eye-watering, although the fact that he did not bowl his full allotment at least saved him from the very real danger of a century of his own.

India were just too good. Apart from Rahul, who took on the sheet anchor role and the very brief intervention of MS Dhoni, all the batsmen scored at, or well over, a run-a-ball. In contrast, Pakistan were always behind the chase from the end of the third over. No one scored at a run-a-ball until defeat was certain and when Bhuveneshwar – Bhuvi – slipped awkwardly in his follow-through, half way through the fifth over of the innings and left the match and, at least for now, the tournament (he is not expected to return until near the end of qualifying), Vijay Shankar came on to complete the over and, removed Imam-ul-Haq with his first delivery. Even Indian misfortune was turned into success for the boys in blue.

Despite the century partnership for the second wicket, the bowling was tight, the fielding tighter and Pakistan just slipped further and further behind the asking rate. At 117-1 they had a chance to build some kind of position for an assault, but a disastrous collapse of four wickets in nineteen balls ended any hope of an exciting finish, as Yadav and Pandya squeezed the life out of the chase in a way that the Pakistani bowlers had singularly failed to do.

In the end, though, not for the first time, a major ICC match in England ended in farce as the drizzle descended. Pakistan had been drowning for a considerable time and this seemed an appropriate simile for their innings. The crowd dispersed as the cut-off time approached and then, unexpectedly, the rain stopped, the covers came off and the umpires decreed, to everyone’s amazement and to not a little horror from broadcasters, that five overs remained, when it was believed that there was time for just four at the very most. Pakistan were left to score 136 from 30 balls: 22x6 + 1x4 would do it. Several of the Indian players had to change back into their uniforms to come back out and the half-empty stands were treated to some slap-stick cricket as Pakistan accumulated enough runs against a unsurprisingly apathetic opponent, to make the DL margin look slightly more respectable, without ever changing the end result of a massive win for India.

India know that three wins from their last five games will see them safely into the Semi-Finals. Pakistan know that they need a miracle, starting with a win for Afghanistan against England tomorrow. Good luck to them on that one.

Who remembers the West Indian side who destroyed Pakistan in their first match and then gave the Australians a considerable fright, before falling just short in the chase? Or the West Indians who had South Africa on the rack when the rain arrived?

Since then, they have been destroyed by England and, now, by Bangladesh. There was a curious symmetry in that, in both defeats, the West Indies were 8-1 after 5 overs. Against England, they never really recovered. Against Bangladesh, despite a scarcely believable 13-ball duck from Chris Gayle, explosive innings from Hetmyer and Holder took them to 321-8. The match though turned in the 40^th over. In it, Mustafizur Rahman removed the destructive Hetmyer and then Andre Russell. Suddenly, Bangladeshi heads, which were beginning to drop, rose visibly and the team had a spring in their step. Although Shai Hope remained, his scoring rate was nothing special, putting pressure on his partner and costing his side some 15-20 vital runs.

Bangladesh started positively and were never behind the asking rate. They could even afford their own mini-collapse and still push on for victory. In fact, losing two, quick wickets barely slowed their charge. Just when the win-predictor showed that the West Indies were marginal favourites again, they seemed to give up on the match. Yes, Shakhib scored a wonderful century and Liton Das fell just short of his own, but the West Indians were woeful. In the end, 321-8 was not 15-20 short; it was at least 70-80 short of providing the joyous Bangladeshis a testing chase. Victory was achieved with eight and a half overs to spare and was a humongous pummelling to mark passing the half-way point in qualifying. Yes, we have got through 23 of the 45 games.

Bangladesh now lead the chasing pack, but have a far inferior NRR to any of the top four. Worse, they still have to play Australia and India and, realistically, they need to take a minimum of 3 points from those two games to have a chance to snatch that final qualifying spot, as well as beating convincingly both Afghanistan and Pakistan, but they are still very much alive in the competition, which is something that South Africa, the West Indies and Pakistan will envy.

Before that, Afghanistan should become the first side eliminated mathematically from the World Cup if they lose to England tomorrow. England will be without Jason Roy for the Aghanistan and Sri Lanka matches, at least and, intriguingly, although James Vince is expected to replace him tomorrow, have not ruled-out an unexpected late call-up for Alex Hales. To err is human (and boy is Alex Hales showing himself to be human), but to forgive is divine (and it seems that a certain red-haired Irishman is showing his potential, extraordinary divinity, here). England go into the match massive favourites and nothing less than a big win will suffice, which would elevate the hosts to the top of the World Cup table and put them close to a Semi-Final spot.