World Cup 2019 wrap: Standout player, biggest dud, best quote – Super Shakib, England batsmen, Gulbadin Naib feature in Week 4 wrap

Another week passed by in the 2019 World Cup. Australia have made it to the top four. South Africa and Afghanistan are out of the run. Pakistan have won two. England have lost two. Shakib Al Hasan sizzled. Lasith Malinga roared. And fast bowling has been as good as it gets. Here is a wrap-up from Week 4.

Standout players – Shakib and Sohail

Shakib has been terrific throughout the World Cup, but his show against Afghanistan (51, 5/29) was on another planet. He became the second (after Yuvraj Singh) to score a fifty and take a five-wicket haul in the same World Cup match, and score a hundred and take a five-for in the same edition. He already has over 400 runs and ten wickets – and at least two matches in hand. Phew!

A struggling Pakistan eventually left out an underperforming Shoaib Malik for Haris Sohail – and Sohail showed exactly what they had been missing out on. His 59-ball 89 helped Pakistan put up a big score against South Africa, while his 76-ball 68 – and his role in a 126-run stand with Babar Azam – helped them beat New Zealand.

Biggest duds – England batsmen in chases

With four wins from five matches, England had been marked out as semi-final candidates by cricketers, media, and fans alike. Unfortunately, two jolts in quick succession pegged them back.

Chasing 233 against Sri Lanka, England reached 127/3, and later, 176/5. Then they were bowled out for 212. And chasing 286 against Australia, they were quickly reduced to 53/4. They made it to 177/5 before collapsing to 221.

England’s other defeat in the tournament – against Pakistan – had also come in a chase.

Standout moment – Stokes’ response to Starc’s yorker

As mentioned above, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes had been staging a comeback for England against Australia. At one point they needed 109 in 79 balls with 5 wickets in hand, but the match was decided by a Mitchell Starc yorker that hit the base of off-stump.

As the bat from from his hand, a livid Stokes kicked it away in frustration.

Room for improvement – Indian middle order

At least one Indian opener got a hundred in each of the first three matches, while Virat Kohli backed them with a fifty, thus allowing the middle order to bat without pressure. However, when there was no hundred – as against Afghanistan and now West Indies – they were not as efficient.

With Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, and Ravindra Jadeja waiting to fill in various slots, this is one area the Indians may want to address.

Standout quote – Gulbadin Naib

“Hum to doobe hain sanam, tumko bhi le doobenge“.
[We are doomed, but we will make sure we drag you down too]
– Gulbadin Naib quotes Raj Kapoor from Awara before the Bangladesh match