World Cup 2019 wrap: Standout player, biggest dud, best quote – Shakib, Roy, Dhawan, Steve Rhodes feature in week 2 wrap

The second week of the World Cup witnessed as much rain as there was cricket, but that didn’t prevent India from making their impact felt in the tournament. England, too, bounced back from their loss to Pakistan by beating Bangladesh – all this and more in the highlights of the week that went by.

Standout players – Shakib, Dhawan, Roy and Amir

Shakib Al Hasan is the leading run scorer in the World Cup at the end of the second week – he has 260 runs at 86.67 from 3 matches. While that may come as a surprise to many, the fact is the his promotion to No. 3 in the Bangladesh line-up has done wonders for him. His 119-ball 121 against England – his third score of 50 or more in as many matches in this tournament – could not help his team enough to chase 387, but added more credibility to a strong Bangladesh batting line-up.

India arrived on the scene in style by winning their first two games, against South Africa and Australia. Their openers, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, have each scored a century so far. Dhawan got going with a fluent 117 against Australia at The Oval, but his World Cup was shortened as he suffered a hairline fracture in his left thumb after getting hit by Pat Cummins in that innings. He was ruled out of action for at least three weeks.

Jason Roy had had a dull World Cup in the first two weeks but bounced back in style by scoring 153 against Bangladesh – the highest score by an England batsman at the World Cup – to help England put up an imposing 386/6 on the board.

The second week at the World Cup was more conducive for the batsmen when compared with the first where bowlers ruled the roost and bounced batsmen at will, but Mohammad Amir, who only gained a last-minute entry into the Pakistan squad, pulled one back for the bowlers by returning 5/30 against Australia where both Australian openers crossed fifty and added 146. Australia finished with 307 eventually that proved 41 runs too many for Amir’s side.

Biggest duds – Rain!

Three games have been washed out due to rain at this World Cup, all in the second week, making this tournament with the most number of abandoned fixtures of all 12 editions. Sri Lanka were the most affected by the inclement weather in England with two of their games, against Bangladesh and Pakistan, in Bristol getting washed out. South Africa and West Indies shared a point each after their clash in Southampton was also abandoned.

Standout moment – Wahab v Australia: part two

Wahab Riaz’s spell to Shane Watson in the quarter final of the 2015 World Cup has become a career highlight for the speedster. Similar to that spell, which promised to buy Pakistan a place in the World Cup semi-final but couldn’t, he made his next World Cup clash against Australia a game to remember, only this time with the bat.

After Pakistan found themselves 200/7 chasing 308 with only the tail to follow, Wahab tore into the Australian bowling with a 39-ball 45 with 2 fours and three sixes, bringing Pakistan back in contention to win the game. It took a superb spell of death bowling by Mitchell Starc to dismiss the rampaging Pakistani and wrap up the tail, saving Australia’s blushes after being pushed to their limits.

Room for improvement – Afghanistan

The real Afghanistan, who beat the West Indies and won the World Cup Qualifier last year, are yet to arrive. Or perhaps they have arrived but lack the kind of preparation needed to compete at the world stage. The Afghans have lost all three matches and languish at the bottom of the points table. The newest Test playing nation failed to cross 200 again, this time against New Zealand: they were bowled out for 172, failing to play out 50 overs for the third consecutive time.

To make things worse, Mohammad Shahzad, who was ruled out of the World Cup over fitness concerns, hit back at the ACB, claiming he was fit to compete and has been discriminated against. ACB refuted Shahzad’s claims. Afghanistan need to put their act together, both on and off the field, and look to open their account in the tournament.

Standout quote – Steve Rhodes

“We put men on the moon, so why can’t we have a reserve day, when actually this tournament is a long tournament?”
– Rhodes is unhappy with Bangladesh losing out on two points after their clash against Sri Lanka was washed out. There is no provision for a reserve day in the league stage.