The ODI World Cup 2023 has already had fans on the edge of their seats with its thrilling performances and intense matches. As the tournament now reaches its midway point, it’s clear that some teams have shone brighter than others and could be the probable winners. Among all, the two teams that have dominated the first half of the tournament are New Zealand and India.

Both New Zealand and India have maintained an unbeaten record in the ICC even so far, with each of them securing four consecutive victories courtesy of brilliant performances across all departments.

A Clash of Titans

Interestingly, these two formidable sides will now be up against each other in a highly anticipated clash at Dharamsala on Sunday, October 22. With both teams unbeaten thus far, one of them will inevitably experience their first loss in the tournament, and fans are eager to see the electrifying battle unfold.

Ross Taylor’s surprise pick

In the midst of this much-anticipated showdown, New Zealand’s veteran batter Ross Taylor expressed his views on the favourites to win the ODI World Cup 2023. Taylor’s choice came as a surprise to many as he picked India over his home nation as the top contender to lift the championship title. He even went on to assert that the outcome of India’s match against the Blackcaps would not hamper India’s winning chances in any case.

“Getting off to a good start in the competition has been particularly crucial because New Zealand have a tough streak of games coming up, beginning with India on Sunday. India in their home conditions are a different beast, and they have started unsurprisingly strongly â€?I see them as favourites to win the competition at this stage, no matter what happens in Dharamshala tomorrow,” Taylor wrote in a column he penned for the ICC.

Also READ: Meet the wives and girlfriends of New Zealand cricketers

Taylor reminisces memories of 2019

Taylor also took a moment to reminisce about the last encounter between the two teams during the 2019 World Cup and mentioned a few iconic moments, such as Martin Guptill‘s run-out of MS Dhoni and the game extending over two days due to rain, ultimately culminating in New Zealand’s victory. The 39-year-old concluded with a hope of a similar outcome for Kiwis in Dharamsala as well.

“Four years ago, we played them in the semi-final in Manchester, and it was an iconic occasion. There was the Martin Guptill run out of MS Dhoni, the game going over two days because of the rain and ultimately, New Zealand coming out on top. Hopefully, there will be a similar result tomorrow â€?top of the table at the halfway stage would be a great place to be,” reminisced Taylor.

Also READ: Alana King predicts the four semifinalists of ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023

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India faced off against New Zealand and Bangladesh during the practice matches ahead of the kickoff to 2019 ODI World Cup in England.

Bangladesh locked horns with India in the practice game held at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. The match is remembered for KL Rahul and MS Dhoni’s respective tons, which propelled India’s score to 359.

Bangladesh all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin, who was still finding his feet in international cricket, remained in awe of watching Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bat.

“During our practice match at Cardiff, Rohit Sharma was at the striker’s end with Virat Kohli as the non-striker. I told Rohit, ‘it’s been 10 to 12 years since I’ve been watching you guys on TV, both of you are our dream cricketers. Now I’m bowling to you and I don’t know what to do,'” Saifuddin told BDCrictime.

“Then Rohit laughed at me and said ‘Good luck’. Then I was trying my best to make sure that I got at least one of them out. Luckily, I was able to dismiss Kohli,” he added.

“We don’t want to sledge them. We have grown up, seeing them play and we can’t imagine sledging them. Cricket is a gentleman’s game and should remain that way. Also, because there are demerit points, we have to be careful,” Saifuddin added further.

India then met Bangladesh yet again during the 40th match of the tournament. Rohit brought up one of his five tons in the championship against the Tigers and the Men in Blue won that game by 28 runs.

The margin of Bangladesh’s loss would have been greater if Saifuddin wouldn’t have contributed with the bat.

The 23-year-old grabbed many eyeballs with his flashy knock of 51* which came off just 38 balls. The left-hander smashed nine majestic boundaries on the way to his half-century.

During the same interaction, Saifuddin revealed about MS Dhoni and VVS Laxman being impressed with his abilities. The two Indian greats also enquired about him for featuring in their respective IPL franchises in the next season.

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June 14, 2019, will be etched in the memories of England cricket fans for several generations to come as ‘The Three Lions�went on to secure their maiden ODI World Cup title.

England previously had only one prominent ICC title, namely, the 2010 T20 World Cup, which was held in West Indies.

After the 2015 World Cup debacle, under the directorship of Andrew Strauss, and leadership of Eoin Morgan, England cricket decided to revamp their limited-overs model.

From 2015 to 2019, England scored the most number of 300+ scores, shrugging off their ‘conservative approach�

However, their acid test arrived during the 2019 ODI World Cup where they were deemed favourites to clinch the trophy at home.

Moreover, dark horses New Zealand ensured that the host had to work hard to lift the trophy in the final of the tournament.

As it turned out, the much-anticipated finals exceeded all expectations and turned out to be the best WC final in the history of the sport.

Not even 102 overs in the match could distinguish between the two sides as both teams scored the same amount of runs.

Unfortunately, Kiwis fell victim to a loophole in the regulations of the ‘Super Over�which designated winners based on boundary count. The rule was later scrapped after vicious backlash.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first. The Black Caps posted a competitive 241.

In reply, Ben Stokes�resolute knock of 84* ensured that the match was tied and went into the Super Over.

The day is regarded as the greatest day in sports history at London hosted two mega-events adjacently, with Roger Federer-Novak Djokovic clash for the Wimbledon Open.

The Greatest Day in Sports History?

When a World Cup final & Wimbledon final happening in the same city on same day.

Enjoy 9 mins of brilliant combination of England v New Zealand & Federer v Djokovic.

How many times did you switch the channels?pic.twitter.com/bGAvkvocQS

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) July 14, 2020

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England’s world-cup winning all-rounder Ben Stokes’ autobiography ‘Ben Stokes on Fire’, opened a brand new can of worms in Pakistan. The cricketing fraternity in Pakistan claims that India lost to England in the group-stage encounter of 2019 World Cup, purposely to eliminate their arch-rivals from the tournament.

After India’s loss to England, former Pakistan Sikander Bhakt opined about India deliberately going defensive against England to eliminate the ‘Men in Green’ from the coveted tournament.

It was only recently, when former Pakistan leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who was part of the West Indies squad in the World Cup as a spin consultant, backed Bisht by revealing the likes of Jason Holder, Andre Russell and Chris Gayle suggesting the same.

During a recent interaction, former Pakistan all-rounder, Abdul Razzaq joined the bandwagon, affirming that strict action must be taken from ICC, for teams deliberately losing fixtures in multilateral tournaments.

Razzaq also questioned India’s tactics with the bowl, letting the English team off guard, despite picking up wickets after initial onslaught from the openers.

“We were watching the match, we all felt the same. I also think ICC should put a fine on this. If any team loses a match intentionally to make sure a team does not qualify, then the team should be fined for this. If a quality bowler is not trying to bowl according to his standards, not giving a good line and length, and bowling full length, and giving away runs, then it comes to notice,” Razzaq told ARY news.

Also, Razzaq questioned MS Dhoni’s approach by saying that a batter of his class, who hits boundaries at will, resorted to defending at the death surprisingly.

“There is no doubt (India lost the match intentionally). I said it at that time as well. Every cricketer felt the same. A player who can hit a six or a four is defending the ball, you just know,” concluded Razzaq.

However, Stokes clarified his stand after questioning India’s batting approach during the game, by tagging the media furore in Pakistan as ‘twisting of words’ and ‘clickbait’. Earlier, Stokes termed the approach of Dhoni and Co. as ‘mystifying’ and ‘bizarre’.

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The Indian top-order, featuring Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, was rich in form, coming into the all-important semi-finals of the 2019 ODI World Cup. The trio amassed as many as 1452 runs in the tournament, with Rohit smashing five centuries alone.

However, the Indian team management had to look at Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik to stem the flow of wickets, as the Men in Blue lost three batsmen in quick succession adding just five on the scoreboard.

Karthik, nine months down the line, is now out-of-favour from the Indian plans in limited formats. The Tamil-Nadu stalwart has now opened up to being surprised when asked to bat at number five, in the crunch match.

According to Karthik, Ravi Shastri and Co. made it lucid that he was going to bat below MS Dhoni, donning the finisher’s role in the team. In the high-pressure game, Karthik’s half-an-hour vigil was cut short by a blinder taken by Jimmy Neesham at Point.

“It came as a bit of a surprise to me (walking in to bat at five) because they had made it very clear that I would be batting at number seven,” Karthik told Harsha Bhogle, during a recent chat conducted by Cricbuzz.

“Rohit was batting so well; you always have Virat, Shikhar had done well till he left. The middle-order typically didn’t get enough opportunities to bat, and that is one of the harder ones you know. When the middle order doesn’t get to bat and suddenly are pushed into a big game like this and thrust into such a situation,” added the wicket-keeper batsman.

Both Pant and Karthik were batting out of their places in the knock-out fixture against New Zealand. Many reckoned that even MS Dhoni‘s demotion at number seven was a lapse in strategy from the think-tank.

“I had not batted at number five for a couple of years or more. Here I got the opportunity, I went and did the job that was asked of me for the team, which was to arrest wickets,” concluded DK.

In the end, India was left too much to do, after losing their cream to a remarkable spell from Trent Boult, and Matt Henry.
The herculean effort from Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja only helped India to cut down the margin of defeat as New Zealand progressed into the finals of the tournament.

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The batting unit may get teams huge scores, but it is only as good as a quality bowling attack which helps in defending or restricting sides, making the impact in games.

The pacers in the wickets tally largely dominated the 2019 ODI World Cup in England. All ten top wicket-takers were the frontline seamers in the top bowling attacks of the world.

Let us have a look at the top-five wicket-takers in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019:

5.) Jasprit Bumrah

With 18 wickets in the nine matches played in the tournament, India’s Jasprit Bumrah stands at the fifth position in the table of top wicket-takers.

Bumrah’s spells were both incisive and decisive during death as well as with the new ball, with the best figures of 4/55. Captain Virat Kohli used him as his go-to bowler whenever he needed wickets to break partnerships in the middle-overs.

4.) Mustafizur Rahman

The Fizz picked the fourth most wickets with his tally of 20 dismissals in the tournament. He picked a whopping 20 scalps in just eight games, the lowest number of matches amongst the top-five.

Unfortunately, Rahman’s and Shakib al Hasan’s heroics in their respective departments wasn’t enough for Bangladesh to progress into the knock-outs. His best spell came against India and Pakistan where he clinched fifers in both occasions.

3.) Jofra Archer

Watching Jofra Archer bowl with all-guns-blazing was a treat for pace bowling enthusiasts as the English pacer notched up speeds above 150 kmph regularly. 3/27 was his best figures in the competition.

Also, using his abilities to extract movement and bouncy from the juicy pitches in England, Archer picked up the third-most 20 wickets in the tournament, sharing the tally with Mustafizur.

2.) Lockie Ferguson

The league of express fast bowlers is in safe hands with the current generation of fast bowlers featuring the likes of Lockie Ferguson from New Zealand.

Ferguson rose to the occasion with his tally of 21 wickets, featuring during 9 games in the tournament. With best figures of 4/37, the Kiwi pacer was the third-most wicket-taker of the grand series.

1.) Mitchell Starc

Perhaps the most dreaded bowler in contemporary international cricket, Australia’s Mitchell Starc switched his beast mode on when the team needed him the most.

Starc received a substantial amount of flak for his toothless performances in the buildup to the tournament.

But, the express quick stole all the limelight with his 27 wickets in just ten matches, becoming the top wicket-taker of the multilateral event.

This was the second consecutive occasion of Starc being the leading wicket-taker in the World Cup. The left-arm thunderbolt picked 22 wickets in the ICC World Cup 2015 at home.

Top 10 wicket-takers in the 2019 World Cup:

1. Mitchell Starc �27 wickets
2. Lockie Ferguson �21 wickets
3. Jofra Archer �20 wickets
4. Mustafizur Rahman �20 wickets
5. Jasprit Bumrah �18 wickets
6. Mark Wood �18 wickets
7. Mohammad Amir �17 wickets
8. Trent Boult �17 wickets
9. Shaheen Afridi �16 wickets
10. Chris Woakes �16 wickets

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The last mega-event of men’s cricket, the paramount fixture in ODIs, ICC World Cup 2019, treated one and all with a spectacle of individual brilliance.

Cricketing stars across the globe rose up to the grand occasion and did all the talking with their performances.
Some of the stalwarts almost took their side to the knockout stages of the competition; single-handedly through their monumental tally of runs.

Let us look at the top five run-scorers of the 2019 World Cup in England:

5. Joe Root

The dark knight for the Englishmen in their successful campaign at home, Joe Root, stands fifth in the tally of most runs in the tournament. Root smashed a couple of tons along with three half-centuries during the tournament.

Root let the hard-hitting superstars take the limelight while silently amassing 578 runs, averaging 61 in 11 games he featured in. Ahead of the Babar Azam, Virat Kohli, and Steve Smith, who had similar roles in their respective teams.

4. Kane Willamson

New Zealand’s talismanic captain Kane Williamson did everything he could, only to end up on the losing side in the finals. Willamson stands one place over Root in the tally of most runs in the tournament.

Williamson averaged a whopping 82.57 while accumulating as many as 578 runs in the tournament. The Kiwi captain led from the front by scoring a couple of centuries and an equal number of half-centuries. His best knock came against West Indies where he struck a well-compiled 148.

3. Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh turned out to be a force to be reckoned during the latter half of the tournament due to their marquee all-rounder’s contributions after being promoted at number three.

Shakib scored 606 in just eight games and was one of the leading run-scorers throughout the tournament until Bangladesh were knocked out in the league phase of the competition. His best knocks came against West Indies (124 off 99) and England (121 off 119).

Shakib contributed brilliantly with the bat as he smashed five half-centuries along with his twin ton.

2. David Warner

After a scratchy start to the tournament, Warner found it challenging to get back his lost touch, especially after scoring a couple of slow half-centuries.

Averaging 71.89 in 10 games, Warner shed his rust off the blade with 166 against Bangladesh. Warner followed it up with a brilliant 121 against South Africa.

In aggregate, Warner stands second in the highest run-scorers of the tournament with 647 runs. He smashed three centuries and an equal number of half-centuries.

1.Rohit Sharma

The top-scorer of the competition by scoring one more than Warner’s tally, Rohit ‘Hitman’ Sharma was threatening to ooze centuries off his blade, every time he took guard in England.

In just nine matches, Rohit hit hundreds against South Africa, Pakistan, England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, three of them came in consecutive games. Thereby becoming the only batsman to achieve the feat.

Let’s have a look at the top 10 run-scorers of the 2019 World Cup:

1. Rohit Sharma – 9,648
2. David Warner – 10,647
3. Shakib Al Hasan – 8,606
4. Kane Williamson – 9,578
5.  Joe Root – 11,556
6. Jonny Bairstow – 11,532
7. Aaron Finch – 10,507
8. Babar Azam – 8,474
9. Ben Stokes – 10,465
10. Jason Roy – 7,443

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England’s wicket-keeper batsman, Jos Buttler has raised 65000 pounds after auctioning his jersey which he wore during the thrilling 2019 World Cup final.

The Three Lions managed to trump past New Zealand in the finals by the slightest of margin. As many as 101 overs bowled in the game, wasn’t enough to separate the two sides as the match was controversially decided on boundary count.

However, the last piece of action came from Buttler, who managed to dislodge the bails before Martin Guptill made it to the crease. The Kiwis needed two runs to win before the final ball of the Super over was delivered.

“It’s a very special shirt but I think it takes on extra meaning with it being able to hopefully go to the emergency cause,” Buttler stated.

Buttler put up his long-sleeved sky blue England shirt on eBay for auctions. He managed to raise a hefty amount for his shirt, which would be utilized to provide life-saving equipment.

His captain, Eoin Morgan, registered his admiration by citing the funds generated for Bushfire Relief after Shane Warne auctioned his Baggy Green.

“We’ve seen people donate during the Australian bush fires; we saw Warne auction his Baggy Green cap for a million dollars or something absolutely ridiculous,” Morgan said.

“The impact that can have on many lives as opposed to sitting in someone’s drawer as a bit of a trophy personally it’s something I don’t understand,” concluded England’s white-ball cricket captain.

Buttler was scheduled to resume his stint at Rajasthan Royals, along with the likes of Steve Smith and Ben Stokes, in the Indian Premier League (IPL). But, the tournament was suspended amid COVID-19 lockdown in India.

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During the World Cup in England last year, Australian middle-order batsman, Glenn Maxwell, opened up about wanting to get his arm broken to get a sabbatical from cricket.

In the recent Australian cricket documentary ‘The Test,’ it was revealed that both Shaun Marsh and Maxwell suffered injuries during a net session facing Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, respectively.

Marsh was seen in tears when his expectation of featuring in his last World Cup drew curtains with a broken arm.

However, Maxwell recently disclosed about wanting to get his arm broken instead of Marsh while awaiting medical reports.

“I knew he (Marsh) was in trouble when he came in, and immediately I felt bad for him. I just thought I hope he’s OK, and if anything, I wish we could swap our news (suspecting Marsh’s arm was broken),” Maxwell quoted during Ordineroli Speaking podcast with Neroli Meadows.

With hamstring injury to Usman Khawaja shortly after Marsh, Australia batting order suffered a tremendous hit, eventually leading to their exit from the tournament in the semi-finals.

“We went to the hospital together, and we were both sitting there, I think both hoping for opposite news. When I got hit, I was angry, and a part of me was hoping (my arm) was broken,” added Maxwell.

The Victorian later in October took a sabbatical from the game, citing mental fatigue. Maxi was en-route to his international comeback during the South African limited-overs tour earlier in 2020.

“I was like ‘this is it, I just need a break’… I was thinking about things I could do on the way back to snap it. I had anger at other people, and it didn’t make sense, but I was angry at myself for not being able to produce at all this World Cup,” said the swashbuckler who had a dismal World Cup.

“I thought it would’ve been an easy escape because I felt like I was going to get dropped at some stage, and I thought maybe this is the way,” concluded Maxwell.

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