One week of the event is over. In total 9 matches have been played during this period. Host New Zealand have played 3 matches in this week and have won all. Zimbabwe and England have played 2 matches each, whereas all other teams have played one a piece during this period. 6 games were played in New Zealand and 3 were played in Australia.
I have tried to capture a few stats and key moments of week 1.
300-plus
There have been six 300 or 300-plus scores in the first week. All these six scores came on the first 5 days. First innings accounted for 5 of them. There was only one instance when a target of 300+ was chased and that was by Ireland against West Indies.
100/50
There have been 5 scores of 100+ with David Miller top scoring at 138*. Aaron Finch became the first batsman to score the century in this world cup. There were 23 batsmen in total who ended up with a score of 50 or more but could not reach the three figure mark. The most famous of these being 98* by James Taylor.
Fastest 50
0
There were 19 ducks scored in the first week. Scotland innings against New Zealand involved 5 ducks out of these 19 in one match.
Five-fors
Four bowlers have taken five-fors in this world cup so far. Steven Finn became the first bowler to take 5 wickets in the innings. Tim Southee has the best bowling figures of 7/33 in this period.
Hat-Trick
Steven Finn became the first bowler and only so far to take hat-trick in this edition of the world cup.
Partnerships
There have been ten 100+ partnerships so far in the first week, the highest partnership being 256* between David Miller and JP Duminy for the 5th wicket against Zimbabwe. Incidentally this was a world record partnership for the fifth wicket.
Powerplay
The highest scores so far during the first 10 overs of the innings in this world cup belongs to New Zealand. In fact they have the top three scores in this world cup. 116/2 against England, 77/0 against Sri Lanka, 66/2 against Ireland. It is Ireland who have scored the highest (55/1) in the batting powerplay, and this was against West Indies. There were 4 occasions in the first week when the batting powerplay was taken earlier than the 36th over.
Rivalries
The first two days of this world cup saw two greatest rivalries among the cricket nations. First day witnessed Australia take on England whereas the second day saw India and Pakistan battle it out.
England's finish in the opener
The match between Australia and England would be remembered more for the way it ended than the Aaron Finch century or the annihilation of England at the hands of Australia.
James Taylor was struck on the pad by Josh Hazlewood and given lbw by umpire Aleem Dar. Taylor and James Anderson took off for a leg bye and Aleem Dar raised his finger while the batsmen were running. Then Glenn Maxwell's throw hit the stumps at the striker's end with Anderson short of his ground.
Taylor asked for a review of the lbw. It was found to be missing leg, and he was reprieved. Australia asked the umpires about the run-out of Anderson. The umpires discussed it, square-leg umpire Kumar Dharmasena appeared to speak to someone on his radio, and the run-out was checked and given out.
But the ball should have been deemed dead when the batsman (James Taylor) was given out lbw. No further runs or dismissals were possible. So the run out should not have been checked on the first place.
It would not have affected the result in any way. England was already out of the contest but this error denied Taylor the chance to score his first hundred for his country, on his World Cup debut, and was left on 98 not out.
I have tried to capture a few stats and key moments of week 1.
300-plus
There have been six 300 or 300-plus scores in the first week. All these six scores came on the first 5 days. First innings accounted for 5 of them. There was only one instance when a target of 300+ was chased and that was by Ireland against West Indies.
100/50
There have been 5 scores of 100+ with David Miller top scoring at 138*. Aaron Finch became the first batsman to score the century in this world cup. There were 23 batsmen in total who ended up with a score of 50 or more but could not reach the three figure mark. The most famous of these being 98* by James Taylor.
Fastest 50
Brendon McCullum recorded the fastest 50 in the history of the world cup and third fastest in all ODIs. He required just 18 balls.
There were 19 ducks scored in the first week. Scotland innings against New Zealand involved 5 ducks out of these 19 in one match.
Five-fors
Four bowlers have taken five-fors in this world cup so far. Steven Finn became the first bowler to take 5 wickets in the innings. Tim Southee has the best bowling figures of 7/33 in this period.
Hat-Trick
Steven Finn became the first bowler and only so far to take hat-trick in this edition of the world cup.
Partnerships
There have been ten 100+ partnerships so far in the first week, the highest partnership being 256* between David Miller and JP Duminy for the 5th wicket against Zimbabwe. Incidentally this was a world record partnership for the fifth wicket.
Powerplay
The highest scores so far during the first 10 overs of the innings in this world cup belongs to New Zealand. In fact they have the top three scores in this world cup. 116/2 against England, 77/0 against Sri Lanka, 66/2 against Ireland. It is Ireland who have scored the highest (55/1) in the batting powerplay, and this was against West Indies. There were 4 occasions in the first week when the batting powerplay was taken earlier than the 36th over.
Rivalries
The first two days of this world cup saw two greatest rivalries among the cricket nations. First day witnessed Australia take on England whereas the second day saw India and Pakistan battle it out.
The match between Australia and England would be remembered more for the way it ended than the Aaron Finch century or the annihilation of England at the hands of Australia.
James Taylor was struck on the pad by Josh Hazlewood and given lbw by umpire Aleem Dar. Taylor and James Anderson took off for a leg bye and Aleem Dar raised his finger while the batsmen were running. Then Glenn Maxwell's throw hit the stumps at the striker's end with Anderson short of his ground.
Taylor asked for a review of the lbw. It was found to be missing leg, and he was reprieved. Australia asked the umpires about the run-out of Anderson. The umpires discussed it, square-leg umpire Kumar Dharmasena appeared to speak to someone on his radio, and the run-out was checked and given out.
But the ball should have been deemed dead when the batsman (James Taylor) was given out lbw. No further runs or dismissals were possible. So the run out should not have been checked on the first place.
It would not have affected the result in any way. England was already out of the contest but this error denied Taylor the chance to score his first hundred for his country, on his World Cup debut, and was left on 98 not out.
Zimbabwe's courage
In the match between South Africa and Zimbabwe, South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by 62 runs but the match was closer than the margin of victory suggests. In spite of South Africa being one of the contenders of the cup, in this particular match which was considered game between unequal, South Africa could dictate terms only in the last 15 overs of each innings. The remaining part of the match belonged to Zimbabwe. Just to indicate the closeness, South Africa were 262 and Zimbabwe were at 264 at the end of 46th over. Zimbabwe showed tremendous courage to attempt to make a match of it.
Ireland's Giant Killing
Ireland's liking for creating world cup upsets by defeating full member continue. This time their victim was West Indies who are currently at their lowest. This is their third victory in three world cups.
Ireland's liking for creating world cup upsets by defeating full member continue. This time their victim was West Indies who are currently at their lowest. This is their third victory in three world cups.
Afghanistan's debut
Afghanistan has caught the imagination of the cricket world with their meteoric rise amid war back home. Such is their journey in the world of cricket so far that it is very difficult not to be fascinated by them. They have already made couple of appearances in the World T20s in the last two edition. But this was their first 50-overs world cup and it became the 20th country to play in the world cup.
Afghanistan has caught the imagination of the cricket world with their meteoric rise amid war back home. Such is their journey in the world of cricket so far that it is very difficult not to be fascinated by them. They have already made couple of appearances in the World T20s in the last two edition. But this was their first 50-overs world cup and it became the 20th country to play in the world cup.
Afghanistan's DRS reluctance
There were two instances when Afghanistan did not use their review, one when caught behind for Tamim Iqbal was turned down in 3rd over and other being leg-before shout against Mushfiqur Rahim turned down in 41st over. Television replays suggested that had Afghanistan taken both the reviews the result would have been in their favour. Both these instances were at very crucial juncture and could have had an important bearing on Bangladesh's final total. Either they were reluctant to use the reviews or they did not know how to use it.
Running on the protected area
Mohammad Irfan of Pakistan was warned twice during the match against India for running on the protected area in the follow through. He had to then go around the wicket for the rest of the match and post that he did not look the same bowler.
In the match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Samiullah Shenwari of Afghanistan was removed from attack for running on the protected area after due warnings. He had bowled just 1.1 overs when he was removed.
A rare hit-wicket
Regis Chakabva of Zimbabwe was dismissed hit-wicket when his toe slipped and hit the wicket while playing against UAE. He became the eighth batsman in the history of world cup to be out hit-wicket. Incidentally he is the second batsman from Zimbabwe to be out in this fashion after Vusi Sibanda who was also an opener.
New Zeland's decimation
New Zealand decimated not just one but two oppositions in two matches to reduce them to a sub 150 total. Scotland was their first victim when they dismissed them for 142 in 36.2 overs. In fact Scotland did well to reach 142 considering that they were reeling at 12/4 in 4.2 overs. New Zealand achieved the target with 151 balls remaining.
New Zealand did even better against England when they bundled the English team for a paltry score of 123 in 33.2 overs. New Zealand achieved the target with 226 balls remaining.
In all accounts, Scotland offered a better fight compared to England.
Regis Chakabva of Zimbabwe was dismissed hit-wicket when his toe slipped and hit the wicket while playing against UAE. He became the eighth batsman in the history of world cup to be out hit-wicket. Incidentally he is the second batsman from Zimbabwe to be out in this fashion after Vusi Sibanda who was also an opener.
New Zeland's decimation
New Zealand decimated not just one but two oppositions in two matches to reduce them to a sub 150 total. Scotland was their first victim when they dismissed them for 142 in 36.2 overs. In fact Scotland did well to reach 142 considering that they were reeling at 12/4 in 4.2 overs. New Zealand achieved the target with 151 balls remaining.
New Zealand did even better against England when they bundled the English team for a paltry score of 123 in 33.2 overs. New Zealand achieved the target with 226 balls remaining.
In all accounts, Scotland offered a better fight compared to England.
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