When 401 wasn’t enough

By Rahul Patil

Batters win you matches. Bowlers win you tournaments. For three matches in a row the blackcaps have been unable to break game turning partnerships. Head & Warner put on 175 in Dharamshala, De Kock & Rassie van der Dussen put on 200 in Pune, and Fakhar & Babar put on an unbeaten 194 in Bengaluru to take Pakistan home on DLS in a rain affected match. Its not rocket science that the two teams at the top of points table i.e., India and South Africa also happen to have the two best bowling attacks of the tournament.

Since the 152* against England in the opening game Devon Conway’s form has been patchy. At the peak of his powers Conway is a run machine. One that delivers in every other game. Today we saw glimpses of Conway getting back to his best. If the blackcaps make it to the semifinals (which I still think they will), a Devon Conway in full flow is worth his weight in gold.

After watching the Blackcaps play at six different venues in this World Cup, I can safely say that Rachin is definitely the crowd favorite when it comes to players who are not playing for Team India. The way the Bengaluru crowd cheered his every run, every boundary and every six you’d think it was an India match. The noise when he got to his third ODI century was the loudest I have heard for a non-India game.

The way Kane Williamson was warming up before the game today you knew that he was playing. Twice in this World Cup Kane Williamson has made a comeback to ODI cricket and on both occasions, he has looked like a million dollars. You had to be at the ground to see the speed at which the ball was flying off Williamsons bat. When Kane punches of the backfoot with both feet off the ground you know he’s in fine touch. Today there were a number of those shots. Although he missed out on a well-deserved century it is heartening to know that he is back to his best.

The beauty of the 180 run Rachin-Kane partnership was that both kept going after the bowling. They probably realized that even 350 wasn’t going to be enough on this pitch and therefore kept their foot firmly on the accelerator. It was the urgency shown by this pair and cameos by the middle and lower order that helped New Zealand get to 401 for 6 in their 50 overs and register their highest ever team total in World Cups.

Pakistan in world events are like those students who play the fool all-round the year, but two weeks before the final examinations they wake up, start collecting study notes, burn the midnight oil, pray to every known god and goddess and in the end somehow manage to pass.

Fakhar Zaman playing only his third game of this World Cup set the Chinnaswamy stadium alive with some of the cleanest ball striking that I have ever seen. His 126 not out came of just 81 deliveries and included 8 fours and 11 sixes. His sixes were massive, and it was a chanceless innings. Fakhar and Babar always made sure that they were ahead of the DLS par score. The rain that threatened all day finally arrive and the game was called off after the second stoppage.

This result opens the points table once again. New Zealand, Pakistan and Afghanistan are all on 8 points. New Zealand has the best net run rate, but Afghanistan has two games remaining i.e., Australia and South Africa. The weather for New Zealand’s last game against Sri Lanka is also not looking great. As of today, my weather app is showing me a 69% chance of rain on the 9^th of November. Surely, we cannot go out of the World Cup in this fashion.

A quick word on the reluctance of captains to bat first on good batting surfaces in this World Cup. In a fist fight isn’t it better to be landing the first punch? But some of the decision making and selections have been mindboggling. I know cricket analysts get paid huge amounts of money, but common sense is free. The problem is that it’s the most uncommon thing in the world as well.

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