The 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup is underway in India and will run from October 5 to November 19. Each morning we’ll be gathering the latest action and news from the event and bringing you insights from our reporters on the ground.
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TOP STORY: Shami and Kohli lead unbeaten India to the top of the table
India 274 for 6 wickets (Kohli 95, Rohit 46, Jadeja 39*, Ferguson 2-63) defeated new zealand 273 (Mitchell 130, Ravindra 75, Shami 5-54, Kuldeep 2-73) by four wickets
They were without their most irreplaceable player in their top-of-the-table clash against a New Zealand team that had put them under severe pressure in recent global tournament meetings, and the New Zealand side had put them under severe pressure on several occasions. But in the end, India continued to make the 2023 World Cup the equivalent of Gary Lineker’s famous quote on a different sport’s superteam: “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and in the end, the Germans always Let’s win.”
Match Analysis: Shami breaks safety-first script to show India another way
There is no doubt that Shami is one of the premier fast bowlers of India. But till now he has not been able to perform like that in the 2023 World Cup. Until Sunday, of course, in Dharamsala, when he left an indelible mark against New Zealand: impeccable control up front and mastery of the death overs. Even Virat Kohli’s brilliant innings failed to match Shami’s five-wicket haul in his second World Cup under the Himalayan mist.
Must Watch: Cheteshwar Pujara is the key to Daryl Mitchell’s success
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Afghanistan vs Pakistan, Chennai (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT)
The World Cup is now almost halfway through and the standings are starting to take shape. Afghanistan and Pakistan, the two sides that face each other in Chennai, are nowhere near the top of it, and it has already started to move towards must-do territory for each of these sides. Afghanistan’s defeat will definitely knock them out, while Pakistan’s defeat will leave Babar Azam’s team with no margin for error.
Afghanistan will feel as if nothing has happened to separate the two sides on many occasions, but they are yet to celebrate an ODI win against their bitterest regional rivals. They were denied a heartbreak after being given a golden opportunity to knock Pakistan out of the 2019 World Cup, and a win on Monday would have almost the same effect. There are enough encouraging signs to suggest this could be an evenly drawn game, although Afghanistan have thrown in a few bits of talent with mediocre extended spells with both bat and ball.
team news
afghanistan (Possible): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz 2 Ibrahim Zadran 3 Rahmat Shah 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (C) 5 Azmatullah Umarzai 6 Ikram Alikhil (WK) 7 Mohammad Nabi 8 Rashid Khan 9 Mujeeb Ur Rehman 10 Naveen-ul-Haq 11 Fazalhaq Farooqui
Pakistan (Possible): 1 Abdullah Shafiq 2 Imam-ul-Haq 3 Babar Azam (Captain) 4 Mohammad Rizwan (WK) 5 Saud Shakeel 6 Mohammad Nawaz/Shadab Khan 7 Iftikhar Ahmed 8 Usama Mir 8 9 Hasan Ali 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi 11 Haris Rauf
Feature: The price of being Babar Azam
The ball was not as small as you might remember. It wasn’t that much of a half-tracker game. It was fuller – a good length actually – and very straight, with some zip from the surface. Plus, it was Adam Zampa; So please have some respect for the Savior’s intentions and skills.