Cricket World Cup: Day 5 Preview

The World Cup didn’t see an upset yesterday, but did see a much more fancied New Zealand team struggle against a lively Scotland line-up. Today’s match see’s Bangladesh face off against Afghanistan. We preview that match below and pose three interesting questions not he World Cup thus far.

The Three Big Questions

Will the World Cup see a close game?

Arguably the Ireland v West Indies game was close, but none of the other games have. Even then the Irish looked odds on through much of their chase in another indication that bat is set to dominate ball in this World Cup instalment. Ireland’s win aside, the smaller cricketing nations will always struggle in the early rounds, and one could expect that the round robin stage will be less competitive than the quarters and semis. However, the tournament needs some competitive games and some close finishes to hold the attention of fans during the prolonged opening salvo, before everyone starts pencilling in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India for the top four positions.

Is New Zealand’s top order weaker than we think?

Yesterday got pretty scary for the Black Caps and their high riding fans. 5/117 and then 137/7 are results not indicative of the type of runs the top order has been accumulating recently. A deeper look at some of those recent results though might point to some top order woes that could have them edgy and other teams excited. To go with yesterday’s implosion, the Black Caps had the following scores in their ODI series against Sri Lanka: 149/6, 183/6, 63/3, 82/4 and 141/6. While it’s possible to argue the final totals were impressive and they got the job done, it can also be shown there is some brittleness there and they could be due a permanent collapse.

Is 50-over cricket the new Twenty20?

The mammoth totals being posted by the teams in the opening stint of the World Cup certainly indicate the changing face of 50-over cricket. Two balls, new fielding restrictions and power plays have led to teams chasing 350+ scores rather than the composed 280’s of the past. New shots, big bats and small grounds have pushed the realms of possibility and it’s conceivable we’ll see a double hundred in this World Cup and a triple century in ODI cricket before long. Teams are no longer threatened by losing early wickets – they know by having more time and less fielders in the deep in the final overs they can make up for slow starts or rebuilding phases and still post match winning totals.

Yes, the game has changed and big totals are the norm, but there’s still plenty of tactic for the purists to assess. It’s just a shame that one-sided games are exaggerated at times in the second innings (see Pakistan and England chases).

Today’s Match

Afghanistan v Bangladesh, Manuka Oval (Canberra – partly cloudy, bit of win), 2:30pm local time

Afghanistan – $4.20

Bangladesh – $1.25

After a long wait (save some sympathy for the UAE who have to wait a little longer) Afghanistan and Bangladesh get to compete in their first games of the World Cup and in the process wrap up the first round of games in Pool A. Most of the cricketing world eye’s will be on whether Afghanistan can live up to their significant promise. After a number of international tournaments, and with a handful of genuinely useful international players, this could be their big breakout.

We’re going out on a whim here and saying they’ll win this one too.

Today’s Bet

Afghanistan (To Win)

Odds courtesy of TopBetta