Cricket World Cup: Week 1

The first week of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup is drawing to a close and the tournament is now in full swing. Whilst there may not have been any major upsets so far, there have been some tight games and impressive performances, along with some not so impressive ones, as the contenders for the trophy seek to impose themselves upon the competition and send out a message to their rivals.

The opening match of the tournament saw co-hosts India and Bangladesh lock horns at Mirpur in Dhaka. Bangladesh would have been hoping for an encouraging start to their campaign in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, but were denied this thanks to a rambunctious Indian batting performance. Virender Sehwag, as is so often the case, was the main architect. His 175, coming off just 140 balls, registered as the joint-fourth highest World Cup innings in history. He decimated the Bangladeshi bowling attack with some phenomenal strokes and could well have played the innings of the tournament already, unless he himself betters it. He was admirably supported for much of the innings by Virat Kholi, whose 100 not out came off 83 balls. A target of 370 was always going to be a tall order for Bangladesh and they were bowled out for 283 with seamer Munaf Patel taking four wickets. This kind of performance will send out ominous signs to India’s opponents.

The third nation to share in the hosting of the tournament, Sri Lanka, also started positively with a comprehensive 210 run defeat of Canada. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were unsurprisingly the pick of the batsmen, making 92 and 100 respectively, whilst Nuwan Kulasekara took 3 for 16 off 6 overs. On the same day, Canada’s fellow associate nation Kenya also suffered a heavy defeat, losing to New Zealand by 10 wickets after being bowled out for 69 inside 24 overs.

Holders Australia, widely regarded as second favourites behind India, also look impressive. A 91 run win over Zimbabwe on Monday was followed by a 7 wicket victory against New Zealand on Friday, with the express pace of Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson proving particularly difficult for the Black Caps’ batsmen to handle. Shane Watson, as expected, has led the batting with half centuries in both games.

The closest thing to an upset occurred in England’s opening fixture against the Netherlands. A classy century from South African-born Ryan ten Doeschate, combined with an expensive English bowling performance in which James Anderson was particularly wayward, carried the underdogs to an impressive 292. To those England fans accustomed to the ruthlessly efficient catching and fielding unit on display during the Ashes it came as a shock to see straightforward chances go begging; Graeme Swann, who barley put a foot wrong in the slip cordon Down Under, was the guilty of the worst drop. To make matters worse Stuart Broad was denied a wicket because England did not have enough men inside the fielding circle. In the end, however, England scraped home with eight balls to spare, Ravi Bopara hitting the winning runs. There is certainly much room for improvement. Selection issues have also been raised as the absence of Michael Yardy, hardly the most glamorous of cricketers, was keenly felt. The control that his left arm non-spin offers must surely put him in line for a recall against India.

Of the remaining teams Pakistan cruised to a 205 run victory against a woeful Kenya side who did not help themselves by conceding an incredible 46 extras. Captain Shahid Afridi also took five wickets, suggesting that nowadays he is relied upon more for his leg spin than his occasionally destructive batting.

An AB de Villiers century helped South Africa to a 7 wicket win over the West Indies whilst Pakistani-born leg spinner Imran Tahir, recently qualified for the Proteas, took 4 wickers on debut. Darren Bravo batted well for 73 but a total of 222 was comfortably chased down by South Africa’s talented batting line-up.

The final team to see action were Ireland, against Bangladesh. Chasing 205 the Irish made a reasonable enough start but in the end ran out of steam and were bowled out for 178.

So what have we learned from the first week of matches? As expected India, Australia and South Africa lead the pack at this early stage. Sri Lanka also look impressive as do Pakistan, although doubts will remain about the latter’s consistency. England have a lot of work to do but nevertheless have the talent to raise their game considerably. Generally the performances by the associate nations will not have done much to change the minds of those who think that the World Cup should involve fewer teams, although the Netherlands have shown that the smaller nations can on occasion challenge the big boys and they add an element of unpredictability to proceedings.