THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
LAWRENCE BOOTH’S CRICKET WORLD CUP HIGHS AND LOWS
BEST INNINGS
There were 31 hundreds in this World Cup, but none of them was quite as thrilling as Jason roy’s assault on Australia’s bowlers in the semi- final. his 65- ball 85 included a pair of fours in Mitchell Starc’s second over, a straight six off Nathan Lyon’s first, and three sixes in a row — each one bigger than the last — off Steve Smith. Only a poor decision by Kumar Dharmasena robbed him of a hundred, but by the time roy was sawn off, the Australians were completely demoralised.
BEST SPELL
AuSTrALiA looked set for a huge total after openers Aaron Finch and David Warner began with 146 in 22 overs against Pakistan at Taunton. But, in an electrifying display of left-arm fast bowling, Mohammad Amir removed Finch for 82, then added usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc to finish with five for 30 and limit the Australians to 307. his team-mates managed five for 267 between them.
BEST SHOT
JOS BuTTLer didn’t quite light up the World Cup as many expected, but he produced a moment of magic against Bangladesh at Cardiff. Backing away against seamer Mohammad Saifuddin, he flat-batted a ball that was just short of a length over long- off for six —– a stroke that looked like it belonged at Wimbledon rather than Sophia Gardens.
BEST BALL
BeN STOKeS was playing a lone hand as england tried to chase down Australia’s 285 in the group game at Lord’s. Then Mitchell Starc unleashed an unplayable yorker that threatened to move away from the left-hander before dipping in at the last minute to hit the base of off stump. Stokes dropped his bat in disbelief, before kicking it along g the ground. england were done for. r.
BEST CATCH
A FeW contenders, including West indian Sheldon Cottrell’s dash along the boundary to catch Steve Smith at Trent Bridge, and New Zealander Martin Guptill’s flying leap at leg g gully, when Smith was also the he victim. But it was always going ing to be difficult to beat Stokes’s kes’s opening-day effort against South Africa at the Oval. Stokes initially came in too far from the deep midwicket boundary as Andile Phehlukwayo got hold of a slogsweep off Adil rashid, only to leap, twist and stretch out a right hand. Somehow, the catch stuck, and the moment went viral, along with Nasser hussain’s commentary: ‘No way! You cannot do that, Ben Stokes!’
MOST UNSUNG HERO
BANGLADeSh finished eighth, and ended up parting company with their english coach Steve rhodes with a year of his contract remaining. But Shakib Al hasan proved why he has been the world’s best one- day all-rounder for the last decade, hitting 606 runs at 86, including hundreds against england and West indies, and taking 11 wickets with his left-arm spin. it was just a pity he didn’t have much help from his friends.
MOST QUESTIONABLE PIECE OF CAPTAINCY
PAKiSTAN were in danger of making a hash of their chase of 228 to beat Afghanistan at headingley, and could barely get the spinners off the square. Yet with five overs to go, Afghanistan’s captain Gulbadin Naib — a controversial pre-tournament replacement for Asghar Afghan — brought on his erratic medium-pace and was immediately hit for 18 in the over by imad Wasim. Pakistan eased home, a result which meant england had to win their last two matches to progress to the semis.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
A TOSS-uP between West indies and South Africa. The West indians looked a good early bet after blowing away Pakistan for 105 at Trent Bridge, but they won only one more game, against Afghanistan. South Africa, meanwhile, didn’t even give themselves a chance to choke, losing their first three games after Faf du Plessis had tried to kid the world his team were feeling more relaxed than ever.
Their biggest contribution was to surprise Australia, leaving the Australians with a semi- final against england at edgbaston, rather than New Zealand at Old Trafford.
BEST FANS
iNDiA’S army of blue-shirted fans were everywhere, even at matches not involving their team. But the best atmosphere could be found whenever Pakistan and Bangladesh were in action — even for their dead group game at Lord’s. After Pakistan beat South Africa at Lord’s, the streets in St John’s Wood were no longer viable for traffic.
MOST CRUCIAL RESULT
The tournament was heading for predictability until Sri Lanka stunned england at headingley, bringing themselves, Pakistan, Bangladesh and even West indies into contention for a place in the last four. it meant almost all the group games in the last fortnight had something riding on them, with england needing to beat both india and New Zealand to qualify.
MOST PREDICTABLE WHINGES
AFTer Pakistan lost out on a place in the last four on net runrate to New Zealand, their coach Mickey Arthur said that teams level on points should have been separated by most wins, then on head-to-head results. it so happened Pakistan had beaten New Zealand earlier in the competition. Then, after india lost their semifinal to the New Zealanders, Virat Kohli banged the drum for an iPLstyle play- off system, where the team that finishes top of the league stage gets two cracks at reaching the final. Naturally, india had indeed topped the league stage.
MOST GENEROUS GESTURE
hATS off to Sky for sharing coverage of the final with Channel 4 — an acknowledgement of this World Cup’s failure to make a serious impact outside cricket’s bubble. The whole country deserved to see england triumph in their home final.