The biggest cricket carnival has already started on October 5, 2023. In this year’s CWC 2023, 10 teams are already taking part, i.e., New Zealand, England, Pakistan, India, Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and the Netherlands. After the first week’s encounter, it is pretty clear that some teams really outperformed their rivals.
This analysis will help in your ODI World Cup Betting experience. In this blog, we will discuss the performances of all the ten teams that are taking part in this year’s international marquee tournament.
Glance at All 10 Teams After Their First Match in CWC 2023
Let’s start with England the defending champions and their loss in the first encounter.
England
The England cricket team, started their World Cup campaign against the same opposition, New Zealand, who played against each other in the 2019 edition.
- In their very first encounter, the England cricket team suffered a crushing defeat against the Black Caps.
- Their present captain, Jos Buttler, was utterly disgusted with his team’s performance, especially that of their bowlers. It was pretty much clear from their performance that they needed to buckle up their shoes for the rest of the tournament if they at all wanted to make it to the final four.
- In their very first game, it was New Zealand that won the toss and opted to bowl first. For England, it was only Joe Root, the lone warrior, who top-scored with 77 runs from 86 deliveries with 4 boundaries and 1 over boundary.
- He never got support from the rest of the top 10 batsmen of his team, as wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Further, he helped his team post a below-par score of 280 odd plus runs for the loss of nine wickets.
- When it comes to bowling, their bowlers got assaulted by both the Kiwi’s batsmen (i.e., Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway), as none of their top 4 bowlers were able to pick up a single wicket for his team except Sam Curran, who got the better of Fin Allen.
From the above discussion, it is pretty clear that the England cricket team need to bring improvement in both their bowling, fielding, and batting department so that they can make it to the top four.
New Zealand
New Zealand is the next team about whom we will discuss in this blog. The Kiwis look to be in scintillating form as they opened their account with an awe-struck win against England.
- In the very first match of their CWC campaign, they restricted the England cricket team to 282 runs for the loss of nine wickets.
- Then it was time for their two most elite batsmen, who went on to score a scintillating hundred against England and win the match by nine wickets with 13.4 overs to spare.
- Devon Conway scored 152 runs, and Rachin Ravindra, in his debut CWC match, scored a match-winning knock of 123 runs with 96 balls. His game-changing knock consisted of 11 boundaries and 5 over boundaries.
I is pretty clear that the Kiwis look like a more balanced team in terms of batting and bowling. They can outperform any other international sides that are taking part in this tournament within the blink of an eye. According to the experts, they are one of the semifinalists who can make it into the top four without any doubt.
Pakistan
Pakistan started their tournament on a winning note against a much weaker side in the form of the Netherlands.
- At the beginning of their match against the Dutch, they lost some quick wickets, but it was their middle order that stabilized their innings.
- It was Rizwan and Saud Shakeel who stabilized the ship of their team by scoring 68 runs each.
- Then, it was time for the bowlers, who just dismantled the Dutch batting order and won the match for them by a margin of 81 runs.
- Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali were the pick of their bowlers, who picked up 3 and 2 wickets, respectively.
- Despite their all-round winning performances, Saud Shakeel, for his match-winning inning of 68 runs from 52 balls, was adjudged the player of the match.
It is absolutely clear that they are one of the teams to watch out for in this tournament, as they are both balanced in terms of bowling and batting.
India
The host team, i.e., India, has already started the tournament on a winning note despite losing early wickets against the 5-time winner, Australia.
- In the match against Australia, they lost the toss and were put to bowl first. It was their bowlers, in the form of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav, who led the bowling from the front and restricted the Australian team to a below-par score of 199 runs.
- When it comes to batting, the men in blue lost the wickets of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer for ducks.
- They were reduced to a total of 2 runs for the loss of 3 wickets.
- Then came the time for KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to stitch a match-winning partnership of 165 runs for the third wicket, with Kohli scoring 85 runs and KL Rahul remaining unbeaten by 97 runs.
- Rahul, for his match-winning knock of 97 runs, was adjudged the man of the match. His inning consisted of eight boundaries and two maximums.
It is evident that India will continue their winning streak and be one of the contenders for the semifinal spot.
Australia
Although the five-time champion Australia started their World Cup campaign on a losing note, they are one such team that will definitely make a strong comeback in their next encounter against the Proteas.
- They have some of the best batsmen in the world, especially in the form of David Warner, who scored the fastest thousand runs in the history of this grand tournament.
- Apart from Warner, they have Smith, Labuschagne, and Maxwell to lead them from the front. In the bowling department, they have some of the fiercest bowlers in international cricket in the form of Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, and Zampa.
- The men in yellow will not only dominate the rest of the other teams but can also be a potential semifinalist in this year’s international marquee event.
Sri Lanka
The Sri Lankan national team started their tournament on a losing streak, but they can easily make a strong comeback when it comes to handling the challenges of this tournament.
- In the very first match of their tournament, they suffered a huge defeat by 101 runs to the Proteas.
- But it is their middle-order batsmen who look into sublime touch. Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, and Dasun Shanaka have all notched up their first half-century in this tournament.
- While chasing a wild goose target of 429 runs, their innings come to a halt on 328 runs, with Mendis top-scoring for his team.
They are one of the teams that will not only make a comeback in the later half of the tournament but can also show the world what threat they pose to the other sides.
South Africa
The proteas started the tournament on a winning note by scoring the highest-ever total in the history of the CWC event.
- With three centurions in a single match, especially in the form of QDK, Rassie Van der Dussen, and Aiden Markram, it was their bowling department that dominated the Sri Lankan batsmen and bundled them out for 328 runs.
- From the above performance, it is clear that they are going to make a strong statement at this year’s World Cup event.
Bangladesh
The Bengal Tigers aka Bangladesh are one such team that started their World Cup campaign on a winning note.
- In their first match against Afghanistan, they won the toss and opted to bowl first. It was their captain, Shakeel Al-Hasan, who led from the front.
- He picked up the crucial wickets alongside Mehidy Hasan Miraz. It was Miraz who played a scintillating knock of 57 runs and was later adjudged the man of the match.
From their dominating performance against the Afghanistan team, it is totally clear that they have balance in both their batting and bowling departments. They will not only dominate the rest of the other nine teams with their batting and bowling prowess but will appear to be a sufficient threat to them.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan is one of the underdog teams that has not started their World Cup campaign the way they wanted.
- They are renowned for their spin trio, which is dominated by world-class spinners in the form of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammed Nabi.
- Already, they lost a match against the Bangladesh cricket team, so their confidence will remain a bit low when it comes to winning a match on the world stage.
- But we are sure that they will take up this uphill challenge and will definitely make a statement when it comes to dominating the other teams in this international global event.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is one such team, which is appearing for the third time in the history of the CWC event.
- They started their campaign on a losing note, but in that particular game against Pakistan, their star player, Bas de Leede, put up a stellar performance.
- He not only picked up four wickets to his name but also played a brilliant knock of 67 runs. Till he was batting, it looked as if they were going to beat the men in green comprehensively.
- But once he lost his wicket, their innings tumbled like a pack of cards.
It is pretty clear that they can, at times, pose a sufficient threat for the rest of the tournament as it progresses.
Final Thoughts
All these 10 teams will put up their best performances in the upcoming days of the tournament, though some of them had a bad outing.
You can never rule out any team or take them lightly because cricket is one such crazy game where you can never predict until the last ball is bowled.