The World Cup Pulse
You'd imagine Pakistan only opted to bowl on that 22-yard road located in Cubbon park with hopes of chasing down whatever Australia set them - relying on Pakistan's bowling attack that has a rich and proud history of producing wickets out of nowhere, but of late, haven't played in India in a long time. They learnt their lesson pretty quickly about the Chinnaswamy. It wasn't the helpful surface from 1996, or even 2011. It was a road. And the bowlers, even their bowlers, were helpless as Mitch Marsh got to a birthday hundred, and Warner, a back-to-form, long-due 163.
259-1 it was, but nine wickets fell for 108 runs in 93 balls after the first wicket. Nevertheless, Australia still had a massive total on the board - 367-9. And Pakistan's openers did threaten with a 134-run stand at over a run-a-ball. However, they were always behind the net run-rate, and it started to show. The opening pair was picked up by Stoinis, before Zampa ripped through the middle order with hardly any resistance of note, as Australia cruised to a 62-run win - yet another anti-thriller in this World Cup.
And a host of records were broken yesterday, or at least made it high on the list, such as highest partnership for Australia in ODIs (Warner is a part of the top five), most sixes by openers in an ODI innings, and a Mitchell Marsh Birthday special World Cup hundred - but he isn't the first one to do it! Find out who else did it, and all the other breathtaking numbers from the Bengaluru run-fest, in this stats feature by Roshan Gede.
What's on the menu today?
It's double-header day. A two-course meal if you will. Cheat day. This metaphor is really falling apart...
Sri Lanka, the only team brooding winless at the bottom of the table, added injury to insult recently, and face Netherlands the only As*******e nation (see Aayush and Gokul's collaborative feature for reference. It's not what you think) in the tournament, which should give them a good chance. Only that Netherlands are just coming off a win against the mighty South Africans - of 428-5 against Sri Lanka fame. Of course, Sri Lanka will be trying hard not to think about that. Here's the match preview by Prakash Govindasreenivasan.
A more high-profile clash on the cards is England vs. South Africa,and headlining the clash is the return of Benjamin Andrew Stokes - his first time stepping into a World Cup match after that World Cup final. Of course, England really need him to revive their campaign after a deflating loss against Afghanistan in Dharamsala, as Vijay Tagore writes in his pre-match feature. And for more details, refer to the head-to-head between the sides.
Now, over four years after that explosive press conference by Eoin Morgan after a 2019 World Cup league match defeat, England are defending champions of the entire white-ball game, in a similar predicament - with Jos Buttler facing a similar line of question. And Telford Vice has figured out his trigger word - read his match preview to find out.
Hardik Pandya - hold your breath
The news from official sources is that Pandya will not play against New Zealand in Dharamsala due to a left ankle injury. In fact, he won't even travel to Dharamsala with the team to give him maximum time to recuperate and recover for the match against England on October 29, for which he will directly travel to Lucknow.
October 20
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Kohli, bowlers devour Bangladesh in Pune
For the first time (since 2-3), India showed signs of weakness. Momentary weakness. Momentary panic. A momentary absence of a Plan B, when Bangladesh's openers seemed to be running away with it in the first fifteen overs. And then came the spin choke. As opposed to the T20 World Cup semi-final last year, India did not panic. They weren't clueless. Different format, agreed, but the middle-overs masters ripped through Bangladesh, as Vijay Tagore writes in his match feature.
But then again, it was a rookie opener Tanzid Hasan, who did give India a scare. Atif Azam writes about the prodigious southpaw in his featurette.
And then of course, there was Rohit Sharma 2.0, who, along with Shubman Gill, went on an early rampage against the Bangladesh quicks to put them off their game - before another six and out situation with a shot that has been a bittersweet influence in his life: the hook. A massive, towering six was followed by another flatter hook - which was well within the reach of the boundary rider, and Rohit was off, rehearsing some choice words for the dressing room mirror.
But then, it was Virat Kohli all the way after that, breaking record after record, but in the limelight was the one he didn't break last night - Virat Kohli 48 - 49 Sachin Tendulkar.Despite the denied singles, the frustrating extras, and the wide that wasn't given, Kohli smashed a six to get his hundred, unlike KL Rahul against Australia, who had timed it far too well. And India made it 4 in 4 - only behind New Zealand, their next opponents, on net run-rate.
Oh and Shubman Gill got his maiden World Cup fifty, amidst all of that.
Injury: India's Hardik Pandya headache
Hardik Pandya, who objectively brings balance to the Indian side, injured his left ankle while trying to stop a ball on his followthrough, and had to be taken off the field - a horrifying sight for the Indian fan. However, it was mentioned that he would have batted if required during the match, and his scans have been sent to Mumbai for further examination, as per reports.
What's on the menu today?
The party comes to Bangalore - after two weeks of the Cricket World Cup, it finally arrives in the tech hub of the country. It's an underperforming, unfamiliar Australia up against a deflated Pakistan, what with their humiliating loss to arch-rivals India. Each will be looking to feed of the other's vulnerability. Australia are historically known to be incredible at that. And remember, it's only really been three games. Best-case scenario, either of the sides can still top the table.
However, recent events must be taken into account. Australia are coming off their first win, and Pakistan, their only loss. And it's simply impossible not to take Australian World Cup history account, what with a trophy win in every host country the World Cup has been played in.
In the last 36 years, Australia is a team that has - as the phrase goes - completed cricket. A T20 World Cup win in 2021, a World Test Championship title in 2023, and 5 titles in the World Cup. Safe to say, even if Pat Cummins denies it, Australia is on the upturn - as Bharat Sundaresan says in his match preview. And of course, there's a head-to-head between the two sides, if you really want to get into it.
Sri Lanka: The bottom-brooders' woes worsen
With three losses in three games, despite spirited performances, Sri Lanka have more personnel troubles, as Matheesha Pathirana and Dasun Shanaka (now ruled out of the tournament) added to the list of casualties in their squad. As a result, travelling reserves have been added to the squad, which includes a couple of familiar names. Can Sri Lanka turn it around?
Orange is the new brag
And finally, it was the Netherlands' Paul van Meekeren's journey of playing for the Netherlands, leading to his account of how they delivered the second official upset of the tournament, by beating a rampant South Africa in Dharamsala.
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