ICC World Cup 2019: Best Playing XI of the Third Week
Jun 19, 2019 at 11:05 AM
With India winning the much-anticipated India-Pakistan clash, another week of the ICC World Cup 2019 has come to an end while going down as one-sided affair. The outcome of the match pushed Pakistan down to the ninth position whereas, India sits at the third with seven points. Meanwhile, Australia is at the top of the table with eight points and New Zealand at the second with seven points in three wins and a washed-out match.
The favourites and the host, England, have shifted down to the fourth position with six points. On the other hand, Bangladesh is steadily crawling up the chart and sits at fifth position with five points.
Whereas, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan and Afghanistan are having a crucial moment with being at the bottom half of the points table. Afghanistan is, though, nearly out of the tournament as they have lost all the four games of the tournament.
Nonetheless, the week has ended with some brilliant performances in the five games not much disrupted by unpredictable English weather. Irrespective of their team’s whether win or a loss, here is the list of best playing XI of the week.
Openers: Aaron Finch and Rohit Sharma –
Matches – 2, Runs – 235, Average – 117.5, Fours – 21, Sixes – 9
In the last clash against Sri Lanka, Aaron Finch’s ton helped Australia sit atop the points table. In both the games of Australia this week, Finch has ended up scalping more than a fifty.
After losing to India, Finch’s figure of 82 runs off 84 balls, and David Warner’s 107 off 111 balls brought the team back on track. Following the Pakistan clash, Finch shone while scoring 153 runs off 132 balls.
In total five games of the ongoing tournament, Finch is the second highest run-getter with a total of 343 runs.
India’s attacking opener, Rohit Sharma is famous for his aggressive knocks in ODI cricket. However, his ton against Pakistan in the precious India-Pakistan clash would always be his favourite. His second ton of the coveted cricket league came in the very clash, and he ended up pushing India forward with his knock of 113-ball 140 run.
With the game against New Zealand being called off due to rain, India had only one game on their hand this week. Following Shakib and Finch, Rohit is enjoying the third position as one of the highest run-getters of the event. In three innings, Rohit had scored 319 runs at a striking rate of 159.50.
Middle order: Virat Kohli (c), Joe Root, and Nicholas Pooran (wk)
Match – 1, Runs – 77, Average – 77, Fours – 7, Sixes – 0
The aggressive batsman and skipper to arrive at number three experienced one of the best moments at the Manchester ground on Sunday. In the mother of all games, India-Pakistan game, the Indian skipper scored 77 off 65 balls.
The well-planned innings helped India maintain their prestige record of defeating Pakistan in world cup tournaments.
Match – 1, Runs – 100, Average – 100, Fours – 11, Wickets – 2 –
Starring in the match against West Indies on June 14, Friday, the right-handed batsman did wonders for his team. The English batsman, Joe Root handed over the game to his team with his stunning knock of 100 runs from 94 balls.
Root remained unbeaten throughout the 33.1 overs in the match. Adding figures of 2/27 runs, Root became the Player of the Match.
Match – 1, Runs – 63, Average – 63, Fours – 3, Sixes – 1
With his impressive knock of 63 runs against England, Nicholas Pooran makes to the list of best middle order player of the week.
Before Pooran could further exceed to adding scores to West Indies, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler took him out. Pooran had to walk out of the game at the unexpected time when in review an ultra edge spike was spotted.
All-rounders: Shakib al Hasan and Hardik Pandya
Matches- 1, Runs- 124*, Average- 124, Fours- 16, Wickets- 2
After the fans favourite India-Pakistan match, Bangladesh registered a rich seven wickets win against West Indies on June 17. The glamorous victory was named to Bangladesh’s Shakib al Hasan.
Shakib’s victorious knock of unbeaten 124 runs pushed Bangladesh up to the fifth position of the chart. Not just that, after this match Shakib became the current top run-getter of the ICC World Cup 2019. At an average of 128 runs, Shakib had scored 384 runs from four innings he played till now.
Not just that, his contribution of two wickets at the end added charm to his game. As an allrounder, Shakib has outdone any allrounder that Bangladesh has seen. In the four innings, he had two centuries and two fifties on his name. A lot more is yet to come.
Match – 1, Runs – 26, Average – 26, Fours – 2, Wickets – 2
The supposed incarnation of India’s former best all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya has been a key player for India. While coming to play at number six or seven, Hardik has at times been the match finisher. Recently, the premier player of India has settled his position in the team as number four player.
The allrounder Hardik has the ability to snatch wickets at the most crucial hour, whereas he is quick to take risks and hitting the ball across the boundary. In the match against Pakistan, like other players, Hardik went with 26 runs off 19 balls. Along with the two fours and a six, Hardik took two wickets at an economical rate of approximately five runs in an over.
Bowlers: Jofra Archer, Mitchell Starc, Mohammad Amir and Imran Tahir
Match – 1, Wickets – 3, Economy Rate – 3.33, Maiden – 1
Playing his first ever international match for England, Jofra Archer is the young pacer recently added to the squad. The Barbados-born English pacer has added some pace to the bowling squad of England. His performance in his debut ICC game has turned every other cricketer his fan.
In the game against West Indies, Archer knocked the team down and picked up three wickets. In his spellbinding nine overs, Archer gave away just 30 runs at an economical rate of 3.33. Archer is at fourth position with nine wickets in total five innings in the most wicket-takers list.
Matches – 2, Wickets – 6, Best Figures – 4/55, Maiden – 1
Australia has been the most successful team this week. Winning two matches in a row had pushed them up to the top of the chart. And the credit goes to the best left-arm bowler, Mitchell Starc. In the game against Sri Lanka, Starc ended up picking first four-for of the ICC World Cup 2019.
The highest wicket-taker of the last World Cup, Starc is once again on his way to etching his name in the list this year. In five matches of the tournament, with a five-for and a four-for, Starc has taken 13 wickets.
Matches – 2, Wickets – 8, Best Figures – 5/30, Maidens – 3
All in all, Pakistan saw its worst week, Mohammad Amir had one of the best moments to witness. The Pakistan pacer is currently at the top of the list to take most wickets in the tournament. Amir ended up taking his first five-for in the match against Australia.
Amongst all struggle for Pakistan, so far, Amir’s performance is the only good thing happening to them. He has been proving lethal for almost every bowler, in every match, he ends up.