The 11 standout players from the last week in the Cricket World Cup.
1. Rohit Sharma (India)
The Indian opener has been brilliant in this World Cup and he added two more centuries to his name this week. The first, a fortunate but battling 102, came in a losing cause against England and the second (104) set the platform for a convincing victory against Bangladesh, which sealed India’s place in the semi-finals. Rohit currently has the most runs in the tournament with 544.
2. Jonny Bairstow (England)
After his controversial comments last week that “people were waiting for us to fail, they are not willing us on to win,” Bairstow did his talking on the pitch this week, hitting two consecutive World Cup centuries (111 and 106) to get England back on track with vital wins against India and New Zealand. His opening partnerships of 160 and 123 with the fit-again Jason Roy has been particularly thrilling to watch.
3. Virat Kohli (India)
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Kohli has looked his typical fluent self throughout the tournament[/caption]
The India skipper has been very consistent in this tournament, hitting five half-centuries from just eight innings. Two of those came this week as he made a crucial 72 in India’s win over the West Indies and then 66 against England in partnership with Rohit Sharma to give his side a chance of chasing 338. Kohli will look to go big in the semi-final stage.
4. Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Pakistan’s golden boy has been in sublime form in this tournament and he played one of the innings of his life against New Zealand to keep his side’s semi-final chances alive. Chasing 238 and coming in at 19-1, Babar played some typically glorious strokes as he anchored the Pakistan innings from thereon. He has not made the huge scores that his side needed to make the semi-finals but that knock is likely to be remembered for a long time.
5. Avishka Fernando (Sri Lanka)
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Fernando has played some entertaining knocks since coming into the Sri Lanka side[/caption]
Since coming into the side at No.3, Fernando has been mightily impressive for someone who is just 21 years old. He made his maiden ODI century against the West Indies, which was also Sri Lanka’s first hundred of this tournament, and has looked like a player who could be the mainstay of their batting for many years to come. The real question is: why was he not brought in earlier?
6. Nicholas Pooran (West Indies)
The 23-year-old had looked stylish without going big in the World Cup, so far, before he made the first big statement of his career with a brilliant 118 against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street – his maiden ODI ton. Coming in at 71-3, Pooran had a mighty task ahead of him in chasing 339 and played some superb shots, but ultimately lacked enough support as West Indies fell short by 23 runs. Pooran then went on to make 58 from 43 balls to power his side to 311-6 during their win against Afghanistan.
7. Jimmy Neesham (New Zealand)
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Neesham has provided valuable contributions throughout the tournament[/caption]
After a difficult few years which saw him in and out of the New Zealand side, Neesham has proved to be a valuable player in this tournament with bat and ball. His brilliant unbeaten 97 rescued his side from 46-4 to 237-6 against Pakistan at Edgbaston. He then bowled tight spells in the middle period against Australia and England, taking 2-28 and 2-41 respectively. He has been one of the few New Zealand players to have found form over the past week.
8. Mitchell Starc (Australia)
It has been another week of brilliance from Starc and he is now emerging as the key to his side’s World Cup chances. He bowled arguably the ball of the tournament, a searing yorker to get rid of a well-set Ben Stokes, on his way to 4-43 against England. Then, against New Zealand, he took 5-26 to destroy any chances of the Black Caps chasing 244. He now has a staggering 46 World Cup wickets from just two tournaments and he’s not finished yet.
9. Mohammed Shami (India)
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Shami came into the side after an injury to Bhuvneshwar Kumar[/caption]
The 29-year-old has been sensational since coming into the side in place of the injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Shami took 4-16 opening bowling against the West Indies and found sharp movement off the pitch, whilst maintaining an immaculate seam position. He followed it up with his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket during India’s defeat to England at Edgbaston.
10. Jasprit Bumrah (India)
Without taking as many wickets as he perhaps deserved, Bumrah has been outstanding for India in this tournament. His best performance of 4-55 in the recent win over Bangladesh included a mixture of quick deliveries, accurate yorkers and clever slower balls, which have been too good for many batsmen. Bumrah’s economy of 4.60 is the best of any bowler to have taken more than ten wickets in this tournament.
11. Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)
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Mustafizur has now taken four ODI five-wicket hauls[/caption]
Bangladesh only played one match over the past week but it was enough for ‘The Fizz’ to prove why he’s such a key bowler to his side. His 5-59 pulled India back after they had reached 180-0. The 23-year-old seems back to his best and his variety of deliveries are proving to be vital, particularly at the death.
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