Cricket
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Review: Aussies Back on Top
After over six weeks of action that featured a mighty 48 games in total, the 2023 Cricket World Cup has finally drawn to a close. Throughout the month-and-a-half slugfest, several stories caught the eye. The reigning champions stumbled hard, the hosts looked set to return to the fore once more and ultimately, the old king reigned supreme.
Here is our full 2023 Cricket World Cup Review.
Double Champions No More
Throughout the last four years, England has dominated the scene when it comes to white-ball cricket. Back in 2019, they claimed the Cricket World Cup for the first time as they edged past New Zealand following an exhilarating super over at Lord’s. Just one year ago, they became double world champions as they defeated Pakistan in the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground in the T20 World Cup final. They headed to India for the 2023 CWC as the second favourites, but those predictions were way off.
They were demolished by New Zealand in the tournament’s curtain raiser, with the Kiwis gaining revenge for the defeat in the London showpiece four years prior. And things would only get worse for Jos Buttler’s side. The reigning champions were bowled out for a paltry 215 in their attempt to chase down the 284 runs required to beat lowly Afghanistan in their third game. They were then destroyed by South Africa, who have seemingly had England’s number in all forms of sport after defeating them in the Rugby World Cup semifinals as well.
That left England on the brink of an early elimination already after having lost three of their first four games, but they would still somehow manage to make things even worse. They were once again bowled out cheaply in their fifth game against Sri Lanka, slipping to a heavy defeat once more. Victories against the Netherlands and Pakistan ended the campaign on a high at least, but the tournament was certainly one to forget for the English, and a revamp of their limited-overs squad is almost inevitable.
Hosts Roar
Heading into the tournament, hosts India were the heavy favourites. The last three Cricket World Cups had been won by the host nation and with over a billion locals cheering on talisman Virat Kohli and his teammates, the Men in Blue immediately got to work. India proved that their favourite tag was entirely correct as they romped through the group stage, winning all nine games and topping the standings by some distance.
A particular favourite for the Indians was a demolition job on fierce rivals Pakistan in the third group game. They managed to bowl out their fellow South Asians for just 191, before hammering the runs required for victory in just 30 overs, sending the over 130,000 fans in attendance into raptures. Their performances in the group stage secured them a supposed favourable draw against 2019’s beaten finalists New Zealand. who finished in fourth place in the standings.
India immediately pressed home their favourite tag. Captain Kohli top scored with 117 and a blistering knock of 105 in just 70 balls from Shreyas Iyer helped the hosts to a mighty score of 397. The Kiwis did their best in the run chase, managing to hit 327 before being bowled all out, but ultimately, the hosts walked away with a deserved victory.
Baggy Greens Back on Top
That victory set up a date with record five-time champions Australia at the 132,000-capacity Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The Baggy Greens finished in third place in the group stages, dropping resounding defeats to both South Africa and India in the process. However, they would avenge the first of the defeats when they defeated the Proteas in the semifinals. Next up was to silence the hosts.
It looked like they would have their work cut out in that quest and the Indians were heavily favoured for the victory in the pre match betting odds. But the Aussies are coming off the back of one of their greatest-ever years. They managed to win the World Test Championship earlier in the year, before retaining the Ashes for the second consecutive time on English soil in the summer. Coming off the back of that form, it’s safe to say that the Australians were mentally tough, and they would showcase exactly that in the showpiece fixture.
The Aussies’ feared bowling attack consisting of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood and captain Patrick Cummins limited the hosts to just 240 from their 50 overs, and suddenly it was the Aussies who were the favourites. They wouldn’t wait around in chasing the runs required. A spellbinding 137 from just 120 balls from Travis Head as well as a half-century from Marnus Labuschagne was enough to secure a shock victory for the underdogs and close the curtain down on the tournament for another four years.
Who knows why America was chosen to host the 2024 T20 World Cup when the average American has no clue what cricket even is, let alone seen a game? As the host nation, they’ve automatically qualified for the tournament.
The ICC is hoping that this tournament, which runs from June 1 to 29, 2024, can finally win the American crowd over and turn them into cricket lovers. If Team America can go on a dream run, it’ll surely capture the imagination of the public. The country loves winners, and nothing gets people talking like an underdog story.
Currently, America is priced at +25000 to win the T20 World Cup. However, those odds feel mighty short. If America lifts the trophy, it’d be one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Despite cricket being the fringest of fringe sports in the USA, the Americans have started the campaign with a win, downing Canada in the opening match of the tournament!
America Too Strong For Canada
America put on an epic performance for the home crowd in the very first match at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Canada batted first and put up a huge 194-run total. They could’ve even been more aggressive, as they only lost five wickets.
Navneet Dhaliwal was the highest scorer for Canada, who racked up an impressive innings of 61 runs. Nicholas Kirton was also in fine form with 51 runs. The American bowlers really struggled, giving up lots of easy runs and only managed to take three wickets, with the other two being runouts.
With such a big total to chase, we weren’t giving the Americans much of a chance, but they proved everyone wrong. Despite opening batsman Steven Taylor being dismissed for a duck, Monank Patel and Andries Gous steadied the ship. Patel scored 16, which included two boundaries, while Gous was on fire 65 runs from just 46 balls.
Even more impressive was Aaron Jones’ innings. The Bangladesh Premier League Player single-handedly won the game for Team USA, scoring 90 runs not out. He smashed an incredible 10 sixes and four boundaries. 25% of the balls he faced were hit for six, which is totally unheard of. After a performance like that, more than a few Indian Premier League teams will be interested in the 29-year-old, who was born in Queens, New York.
America Is in a Tough Group
In the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 20 teams are divided into four groups, and each side plays against their group mates once. Then, the top two teams from each group progress to the knockout stage, dubbed the Super 8. Unfortunately for America, two cricketing powerhouses, Pakistan and India, are in their group.
It’s one thing beating Canada, but it’s a totally different kettle of fish, getting a win over India, who are the tournament favorites. If America is going to progress to the playoffs, they’re going to have to beat either Pakistan or India and also take out Ireland.
In all three games, they’ll be massive underdogs but definitely have enough talent to take out Ireland. Even a miracle probably wouldn’t be enough to beat India, but there’s a very slim chance of taking out Pakistan, who can be inconsistent and don’t play the best on the road.
Don’t Miss June 12 When USA Takes On India
The pivotal game that will make or break USA’s T20 World Cup campaign is against India on June 12. The game will be played at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in East Meadow, New York.
Aaron Jones will need to muster another superhuman performance for America to get the W. Something tells us that hitting 10 sixes will be slightly more difficult against India’s bowling attack compared to Canada’s mediocre spinners and quicks.
If America is going to cause one of the biggest upsets in sporting history, then their bowlers really need to step up. Ali Khan is America’s secret weapon.
The Pakistan-born fast bowler has played at the highest level, including in the Indian Premier League, and has first-hand experience playing against players from team India. If he can get the ball swinging early, he could trigger a collapse in India’s batting lineup. Fingers crossed, America can progress to the knockout stage!
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Shikhar Dhawan raced to 50 off 30 balls, however in the next 20 balls he faced, Shikhar could only score 21 runs. By the time Mohsin Khan got the better of Shikhar, the game was almost out of Punjab’s hands. KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan are all having problems scoring at a pace that the modern T20 game demands.
The star of the show and the deserved Man of the Match is a young 21-year old pacer named Mayank Yadav. Making his IPL and LSG debut, Mayank finished with figures of 4-27-3 with 12 dot balls. Mayank who plays for Delhi in the domestic circuit had missed last year’s IPL due to injury but has been impressive this season and is an exciting talent for Lucknow and Indian Cricket.
Lucknow Super Giants: Quinton de Kock 54 (38), Krunal Pandya 43 (22) / Sam Curran 4-28-3, Arshdeep Singh 3-30-2.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan 70 (50), Jonny Bairstow 42 (29) / Mayank Yadav 4-27-3, Mohsin Khan 4-34-2.
Nicholas Pooran Stars with the Bat and as Captain
For a change KL Rahul went early for LSG after scoring 15 (9), Devdutt Padikkal that came in also decided to not stick around too long departing after scoring just 9 (6). From this point onwards, the game was always firmly in LSG’s hands. Although there were no big partnerships, everyone that came in contributed especially Nicholas Pooran and Krunal Pandya. At this point , one has to wonder whether the wrong Pandya brother is in contention for the 2024 T20 WC Indian team.
Punjab bowling struggled once again with Harshal Patel and Deepak Chahar once again being the biggest culprits. PBKS do not have the resources in their squad and their bowling may just be the reason that they won’t make the playoffs this year. Another point of discussion is Shikhar’s captaincy, no one has to wonder why he decided to give Harshal his full quota of four overs and only gave Brar two overs and Arshdeep just three overs.
A Crippled Livingstone Could Not Save Punjab
LSG still have a bowling problem but they have half addressed with the addition of Mayank Yadav. No, it’s up to the others to raise their game. If they do, LSG are a very formidable team and can easily make it to the top four this year. At 101/0 in the 11th over and with two set batsmen on the crease, there is no excuse for Punjab for fumbling this chase. Not just Dhawan, but the likes of Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma got out playing awful shots, the latter being an Indian international should be a worry for the national selectors.
The game should have been won by LSG by 40-50 runs but Livingstone who was suffering from a hamstring injury smacked 20 in the last over to help Punjab improve their NRR. It remains to be seen if Livingstone can recover in time for their next game. If not, Punjab will have bigger problems than they already have.
What’s Next
Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings have had contrasting starts to the IPL 2024 season. While Chennai have brushed past RCB and GT, the Capitals have been beaten convincingly by Punjab and Rajasthan. For DC to pick up their first win of the season, they’ll need to step up their performances on all fronts.
CSK could not have hoped for a better start to the season under new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. Whether it be batting or bowling, every single player has stepped up and they’ll be hoping for more of the same against Delhi. The bigger question for CSK supporters would be whether they’ll be able to see MS Dhoni bat for the first time this season.
We expect CSK to come out on top, but Delhi may make things difficult for CSK especially if Delhi’s middle order led by captain Rishabh Pant can contribute.
Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings – Match Odds
| Bet | Odds |
| DC to win | 2.24 at FuturePlay |
| CSK to win | 1.65 at FuturePlay |
| Superover | 16.00 at FuturePlay |
Delhi Capitals are too good of a side to be playing so poorly
In all fairness, DC have not looked like a weak team in their 2 games so far. Despite losing both of their opening games, they had every opportunity to win those games but ultimately lost out on key battles at crucial moments of the games. It’s their batting that’s mostly the worry, apart from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh none of the other batters have really stepped up, especially the Indian contingent among them. While it’s good to see Pant back in action on the pitch, it will take some time for the Indian Wicketkeeper to go back to being his best self.
The addition of Mukesh Kumar in place of Ishant Sharma does feel like the right choice although he did go for as many as 49 in the previous game. It’s also a bit of a mystery as to why Pant decided to not give any overs to Mitchell Marsh in their previous game against Rajasthan. Delhi will need to get the win here against CSK, if they are to have any hopes of making it to the playoffs. A loss here would mean they will need to win 8 of their last 11 games to have any chance of qualifying.
CSK are the team to beat in IPL 2024
Chennai are off to the perfect and will be hoping to keep their 100% perfect record against Delhi. The batters have all looked in excellent form and so have their bowlers. The addition of Matheesha Pathirana has in fact bolstered their already strong bowling lineup. As mentioned, when it comes to CSK, neutrals and CSK supporters are not worried about their team making it to the playoffs or not, they are more worried about whether they’ll get to see the legendary MSD make an appearance with the bat in the game.
We expect CSK to pick up another easy win here against Delhi.
FuturePlay Betting Tips – Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings
Don’t see the value in the winner’s market here. Chennai are overwhelming favorites and rightly so.
- Highest Opening Partnership – Delhi Capitals @ 1.97
- R Ravindra to Score a Fifty – Yes @ 3.65
Expected Team Lineups
Delhi Capitals – David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Khalil Ahmed.
Chennai Super Kings – Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana.
When, Where & Trivia
- Venue: ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
- Date: 31st March, 2024
- H2H: In the 29 times these teams have faced each other, Chennai has won 19 times while Delhi have won only 10 times.
- Key Players to Watch: Rishabh Pant (DC) & Rachin Ravindra (CSK)
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