It was a reminder that match-ups are something more than rightie/leftie, in-spin and out-spin

Matt Roller24-Oct-20213:37

Nafees: Dropped chances proved costly for Bangladesh

The terminology is in vogue but the principle is not. The phrase ‘match-ups’ had started to seep into T20 phraseology by the end of the 2016 T20 World Cup. See England’s decision to bowl Joe Root’s offbreaks to Chris Gayle in the final as evidence. However, since then, it has become ubiquitous.The question is simple: which bowler is best used against each batter? T20’s brevity heightens the importance of each such decision, and the evolution and acceptance of data analysis means that more time is spent planning for opponents than ever before.”It plays a huge role,” Kieron Pollard, West Indies’ captain, said last week, “and tactically it works more often than not.”

Watch the T20 WC on ESPN+

Sign up for ESPN+ and catch the Men’s T20 World Cup live in the US. Match highlights of Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka are available here in English, and here in Hindi.

The most common match-ups are the most obvious. “Since the dawn of spin bowling, the obvious strategy has been to turn the ball away from the batsman,” Scyld Berry, the ‘s chief cricket writer, has written. The logic is straightforward: turning the ball away from the bat makes it harder for batters to hit boundaries over the leg side, because you are taking the ball away from their hitting arc.In general terms, those match-ups work. Across T20I cricket, left-arm orthodox spinners concede fewer runs per over against right-handed batters than right-lefties, while offspinners are comparatively cheaper against lefties. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they become a captain’s go-to.But in Sharjah on Sunday, in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh’s opening Super 12s game, the deficiency of that basic strategy was exposed by batters set on taking their opponents’ weak links down.It started in the seventh over of Bangladesh’s innings – on average, the second lowest-scoring over of any given T20 innings after the first, when batters look to consolidate after the fielding restrictions are lifted. With that in mind, and with two left-handers at the crease in Mohammad Naim and Shakib Al Hasan, Sri Lanka’s captain Dasun Shanaka looked to squeeze in an over of his part-time offspinner, Charith Asalanka.Bangladesh saw an opportunity to target Asalanka and seized on it. Defending a short off-side boundary – some 16 metres shorter than the leg-side one – two of his first three balls were too wide outside off stump and duly smashed away for four. The sixth was straighter, but short enough for Shakib to give himself room outside leg stump and slash a cut for four. The over cost 14, and gave Bangladesh a boost straight after a relatively subdued Powerplay.Charith Asalanka’s blinder saw Sri Lanka home•ICC via GettyAsalanka was involved again, this time with the bat, to expose Bangladesh’s strategy. Shakib struck twice in his second over, the ninth of the innings, to leave Sri Lanka 72 for 3. That quickly became 79 for 4 when Wanindu Hasaranga holed out to deep midwicket. That left Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa – both left-handers – together, and Mahmudullah immediately threw the ball to his primary offspinner, Mahedi Hasan.Mahedi’s first over cost five runs as Sri Lanka consolidated, and Mahmudullah saw a chance to bring himself on, again to turn the ball away from the left-handers’ outside edge. He conceded five singles as the required rate climbed above 10 runs per over: with Shakib, Mustafizur Rahman and Mohammad Saifuddin able to bowl seven of the final eight overs between them, he only needed to find one more between his weaker bowlers.But Mahmudullah gambled on another offspin/leftie match-up, bringing on Afif Hossain. Afif has occasionally been a handy part-timer in his career to date but has been used only sporadically: even with the match-up seemingly in his favour, it was a brave call to back him ahead of the left-arm spin of Nasun Ahmed, a frontline spinner who had knocked out the off stump of Kusal Perera – a left-hander – in the first over of the chase.Rajapaksa saw a chance to target a young, inexperienced bowler and pounced, skipping down the pitch and lofting his first ball inside-out over extra cover for six. It was a brave decision, but with extra cover inside the circle and a short boundary to aim for, his 66-metre mishit was enough to clear the rope. Two balls later, he mistimed a sweep towards the long boundary; Liton Das, at deep backward square, dropped a simple catch.The over cost 15 runs but meant that Mahmudullah could rely on his main three bowlers for the last seven, but after a tight first over, he continued to obsess about spinning the ball away from the bat. Mahmudullah kept himself on, and just as Shakib had done to the Sri Lankan earlier, Asalanka targeted him: he shimmied down to loft a straight six into the VIP seats, then mistimed a slog-sweep over the short side. The last two overs of part-time offspin cost 31, and suddenly, Sri Lanka were ahead of the required rate.”It was a tactical decision, decided by the team management,” Mushfiqur Rahim said afterwards, defending the move. “We don’t believe, for example, that left-arm spinners can’t bowl against left-handed batters. In today’s game, the bowler created one opportunity. If it was taken, a right-handed batter would have come, and he would become more impactful.”I think it is not fair to have an opinion on something just seeing the outcome. It is important to see whether the right bowler is bowling at the right time. The ground was small at one end, so bringing the left-arm spinner from that end would have been risky. Our captain and team management took the right decision.” It was a bold defence of a call that cost them the game and left them struggling to make the semi-finals after only their first Super 12s game.The lesson within is not that match-ups are ineffective: analysts rightly spend hours dissecting opposition batters, looking for any slight weaknesses and working out how to exploit them. More often than not, that planning pays dividends, but could Mahmudullah really be sure that offspin was the right option for Asalanka – playing only his fifth T20I – or Rajapaksa, who is dismissed regularly but scores quickly against it?Instead, this game was a reminder that match-ups are something more than rightie/leftie, in-spin and out-spin. When captains are on autopilot, making decisions without considering their remaining resources, the boundary dimensions and the flow of the game, batters can capitalise regardless the direction of turn.Stripped back to their most basic level, match-ups are about which bowler is best used against each batter; more often than not, the one who bowls for a living rather than as a part-timer will be a better option

Looking at pitching lines and lengths for offspinners against right-hand batters tells a story

Kartikeya Date13-Apr-2023Australia toured India for four Tests each in 2017 and 2023 and lost 1-2 both times. On its website, the BCCI publishes scorecards and ball-tracking records for each ball of these series (and others). Readers can look up any ball in a recent Test, ODI, T20I or IPL match played in India, one at a time.Related

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These records make available the pitching point (line and length of the delivery), interception point (the point at which the ball hit the bat, pad or a part of the batter’s body, if at all), and the beehive point (the point at which the ball would have crossed, or did cross, the plane of the stumps). Additionally, the ball-tracking record provides measures of turn, seam movement and speed, among others. This is a treasure trove of information made available by the BCCI.ESPNcricinfo records a control measurement for each delivery. This is an answer (either yes or no) to the question “Did the ball end up where the batter intended?” This article uses these two types of records – ball-tracking and control – to describe the contest between offspinners and right-hand batters in the 2017 and 2023 series.Kartikeya DatePitch maps showing the pitching points and interception points for balls bowled by offspinners to right-hand batters in the two series are in the graphs above and below.Kartikeya DateFirst impressions suggest that the line of attack was straighter in 2023, mostly because the offspinners bowled around the wicket to right-handers most of the time. These distinctions are also shown in the table below. (This table includes all deliveries by offspinners to right-hand batters in these two series for which complete ball-tracking records (pitching, interception, beehive) are available. Records are not complete for 103 balls in the 2017 series and 36 balls in the 2023 series; 15 false shots and one dismissal in 2017 and six false shots and 0 dismissals in 2023 are consequently missed in this record.)

Suryakumar Yadav’s anchoring knock, Jason Behrendorff’s new-ball burst and Hardik’s all-round show broke Super Kings’ unbeaten three-match streak

Annesha Ghosh in Mumbai04-Apr-2019Five in a flurryFor all the criticism he might have copped for slowing down in the middle overs, the first five fours in Suryakumar Yadav’s 43-ball 59 were key to changing the complexion of Mumbai Indians’ Powerplay. Pegged back by Quinton de Kock’s early departure, the first three overs yielded only nine runs for the hosts. But they scored 31 off the next three, the turnaround beginning in the fourth over with Suryakumar carting Shardul Thakur for back-to-back fours.In the following over, he hammered Deepak Chahar, who had not conceded more than one four in an over in the combined 13 overs he had bowled up to that point, for three consecutive fours. A blend of timing and technique, the medley of boundaries off Deepak included an exquisite punch on the up, a straight drive past mid-on, and a crisp flick behind midwicket – all off back-of-a-length deliveries.While Suryakumar slowed down in the middle overs, his 62-run fourth-wicket stand with Krunal Pandya lifted Mumbai from 50 for 3 to set them up for a final burst.Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard added 45 runs in the last two overs•BCCIHardik rises as Suryakumar fallsWith Mumbai on 125 for 5 in 18 overs after Suryakumar’s dismissal, Hardik, who had faced only two deliveries till that point, had little choice but to go big. And big did he go, scoring 24 off the next six balls he faced that included three sixes and a four.Hardik’s fireworks lent credence to Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming’s assessment that “if you can keep him out of the game, you often go close to winning.”The start of the 19th over of Mumbai’s innings dented that possibility for Super Kings to a large degree. With Kieron Pollard keeping him company, the pair’s end-overs offensive – including Pollard’s seven-ball 17 – capped off the innings that began with the second joint-lowest run tally in IPL history – of three runs – in the first two overs of the innings but ended with the joint-most – 45 runs – off the last two.Jason Behrendorff is pumped after taking a wicket•BCCIBehrendorff’s landfallAfter Mumbai’s win on Wednesday, Jason Behrendorff said, “My main strength is swinging the ball upfront and taking wickets.” If these were the standout features on Jason Behrendorff’s resume that earned him a contract in the January 2018 IPL auction, he delivered exactly that on his IPL debut, on a surface that had a little bit of bounce and seam.Completing his quota inside the first nine overs of the innings, he demonstrated why “hitting the top of the stumps was quite effective.”Behrendorff’s 2 for 22 saw him square up both right- and left-handers and put them in two minds with his steep bounce and away-going deliveries. With a Smart Economy of 3.00 to boast for the 12 Smart Runs he conceded, the left-arm quick, according to , elicited 32% false shots from the Super Kings batsmen, allowing them to attack only 24% deliveries.The rub of the green Behrendorff had in the form of that one-handed screamer by Pollard to dismiss Suresh Raina in the fifth over was in part down to his own execution of a “plan [we set] for that, knowing that he [Raina] likes to back away and he’ll look to go over the off side.” For a debutant who had dismissed Ambati Rayudu for a first-ball duck with a moving ball that rose delectably after hitting the deck, the Pollard stunner was a befitting bonus.Rapid, on fire, Hardik signs off with the ballIt hadn’t been three complete nights since Dhoni struck that match-winning 75 not out. Although the asking rate heading into the 15th over of Super Kings’ chase on Wednesday was 14, with Dhoni on 12 off 20 balls, the threat of yet another special at Wankhede was still alive.So when Hardik ambled in to deliver his third over, having conceded only six off his wicketless first two, there wasn’t anything particularly menacing about him. But that, and the course of the game, changed decidedly in the space of the next four balls. Eliciting a mistimed pull off Dhoni and having Ravindra Jadeja caught behind, Hardik lent an air of finality to Super Kings’ chase.As a result, Super Kings’ chances of winning fell drastically on ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster tool, with the win probability dropping under 4%, despite Kedar Jadhav and Dwayne Bravo – the chief orchestrators of Super Kings’ miraculous one-run win in the 2018 season opener at the same venue – still at the crease.To sign off proceedings in what imminently appeared to be shaping up as Mumbai’s 100th IPL win, and their first at home this season, Hardik returned to dismiss Deepak to finish with figures of 3 for 20 to seal Mumbai’s 37-run win.

Career-best T20I figures continue remarkable run of success against England on home ground

Matt Roller22-Jan-2022It was Kieron Pollard who put it best: “When it comes to Kensington Oval and Jason Holder, he steps it up a bit. This is his ground.” It has become a familiar tale: West Indies beating England in Barbados, with Holder to the fore.Supporters in England who had tuned in on a Saturday night expecting an Ashes antidote were left with another dose of top-order turmoil. With Holder and Sheldon Cottrell sharing new-ball duties, England crumbled on a spicy pitch that caught them by surprise after they had warmed up on one which Jason Roy – who hit a 36-ball hundred – described as “massively flat”.The new ball moved a little in the air and off the seam, but the key factor was the variable bounce, which Holder used to his advantage by banging it in on a length and letting the pitch do the rest. He pitched the ball up in his first over, looking for early swing, before dragging his length back and beating Eoin Morgan time and again in the off-stump channel.He struck twice in two balls to remove Tom Banton, tentatively edging an outswinger to slip, and Moeen Ali, who poked a wide half-volley to backward point, but England struggled to lay a bat on him; according to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, they were in control of only seven balls in his three-over powerplay spell.”I think up front it had a little bit of swing,” Holder said at the interval. “Also, there was a bit of bounce as well. So for me it was just to hit the surface as much as possible and let the ball do the rest. Traditionally here at Kensington Oval, the bounce plays a big part.”Whenever you get the hard new ball in your hand you try to utilise it as much as possible when it comes to swing, and the ball did swing today up front,” he added. “It was just trying to use that first, and we felt that the ball held in the pitch a little bit so we tried to use the surface as much as possible. After it stopped swinging, the plan was to go into the wicket, hard, and that worked out for us today.”He came back to bowl a single over at the death, the 20th, which brought wickets in consecutive balls once more: Saqib Mahmood was caught in the deep, and Adil Rashid lost his leg stump while attempting to paddle-sweep. That meant career-best figures in this format for Holder, both at domestic and international level – a remarkable 4 for 7.Related

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• Jason Holder and Brandon King condemn England to nine-wicket rout

Two years ago this week, Holder enjoyed his finest hour as Test captain, hitting a remarkable double-hundred on his home ground to set West Indies on their way to a 2-1 series win against England. It was one of three standout performances by Bajans in that match, along with Shane Dowrich’s hundred and Roston Chase’s eight-for, and the second of Holder’s three star turns against England at Kensington Oval, after five wickets in a 2015 Test and three more in an ODI later that year.It was fitting, then, that he was the star of Barbados’ first international match since it cut ties with the UK and became a republic in November. It was also the first time fans had attended a West Indies game on the island since the pandemic – albeit with a 50% capacity limit and mandatory proof of vaccination – and a statement to the selectors who made him a travelling reserve for the T20 World Cup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those selectors have since been replaced.The timing was notable for another reason, too. The IPL auction is three weeks away, and Holder knows that performances like this will only serve to drive his price up. He has entered with a base price of 1.5 crore ($200,000 USD approx.) but with several seam-bowling allrounders missing from the long-list – including Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and the recently-retired Chris Morris – and several others retained in Andre Russell, Marcus Stoinis and Hardik Pandya, Holder’s skillset will be in greater demand than ever.He has enjoyed two impressive seasons in a row for Sunrisers Hyderabad, resuming his top-level T20 career after a break, and his versatility – he can bat in the middle overs or at the death, and is a bowling option across phases – should make him an attractive purchase. Back-of-a-length bowling is in vogue in T20 cricket, and while Holder may not have express pace, his height helps to create extra bounce.Holder was unexpectedly removed from the Test captaincy 10 months ago and admitted recently that he was still “transitioning” back into the ranks. “It was a little strange,” he told talkSPORT, “but it’s been a burden off my shoulders… I’m getting to the point where I’m understanding how to get back just playing.”He has always prioritised international cricket over leagues since being appointed as captain at 23, but after turning 30 at the end of last year, he has a short window in which to cash in. “It’s still something that I’ve like to do a bit more of,” he admitted. “Now that I’ve just crossed over an age category from my lovely 20s into the 30s, I feel as though I need to make hay while the sun shines.”Few would begrudge Holder from shifting his balance slightly, and cashing in while he can. Besides, a healthy payday at February’s auction might enable him to pay back whoever has been writing his scripts for him at his home ground.

England dropped Jason Roy from their final World Cup squad and called in Harry Brook. Alan, Miller and Vish sat down to discuss what it means for the defence of their title

Andrew Miller, Alan Gardner, Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Sep-2023England wrapped up a 3-1 series win over New Zealand but there was drama to come as the selectors made a late change to the World Cup squad, with Dawid Malan’s relentless form at opener leading to Jason Roy being left out in favour of Harry Brook as the spare batter. In this week’s pod, Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah to pick through the decision and assess how England’s World Cup defence is shaping up, as well as preview the Ireland series and discuss Leicestershire’s fairytale One-Day Cup win.

“He looks like he’s got energy, faster arm action and now he’s got the skill to take over,” Daniel Vettori on Kuldeep’s return to form

Sruthi Ravindranath29-Apr-20223:18

What is Kuldeep Yadav doing differently this season?

The renaissance continues: he has added new dimensions to his bowling, he has been more confident, and he has been producing match-winning spells. Kuldeep Yadav had wrecked his former team Kolkata Knight Riders earlier in the season, and on Thursday he did it again, finishing with superb figures of 4 for 14 in three overs to restrict them to 146.He continues to show why he deserves to be part of India’s T20 World Cup plans, putting his success down to him becoming “mentally strong” and having “clearer plans”.”I have probably become a better bowler [than before],” Kuldeep told host broadcaster Star Sports after the match. “However, one thing is certain that I have become a lot stronger mentally. When you fail in life, you think, ‘Where can I improve?’ You learn from your mistakes when you face failure in life. I have worked on it, and now I have no fear of failure.”Related

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Kuldeep picked up his second four-wicket haul of this season, taking his tally to 17 wickets. In his first over, he had debutant Baba Indrajith caught at long-on, before trapping Sunil Narine lbw with the very next ball. He came back in the 14th over to dismiss Shreyas Iyer and then set up Andre Russell to get him out for a three-ball duck.”I liked the wicket of Russell because I set him up well,” he said. “I first went around the wicket and then returned to bowl over the wicket. Then I went back to bowl around the wicket and bowled a bit wider. That was my plan. He played out two dots, and then I knew he would step out for a shot. So I perfectly planned for that, and it [the wicket] was an important wicket for us.”This kind of planning – without overthinking – is what has led to Kuldeep having his “best IPL season yet”. He was not too worried when he went wicketless while conceding 40 in three overs in the last match against Rajasthan Royals. But that has not always hasn’t been the case, he admitted.Until IPL 2019, Kuldeep was Knight Riders’ go-to wicket-taker, averaging 19.43 with an economy rate of 7.32. In 2020, he picked one wicket in five games and was eventually dropped. Kuldeep didn’t make the Knight Riders’ starting XI in the first half of the 2021 season either, and was then sidelined with a knee injury for the second.Kuldeep Yadav: “I’ve become a lot clearer with my plans. I’ve backed my skill”•BCCIWorrying about giving away too many runs is no longer an issue this time around because he has always found ways to come back.”I’m enjoying bowling, and I’ve become a lot clearer with my plans,” Kuldeep said. “I don’t think too much about what the batter will do, I have also given away some runs. I’ve backed my skill. I’ve stuck to my lengths too, though it’s not always been perfect.”But that’s what happens in T20. But my focus has been on bowling good lengths. When I get a wicket upfront then it just gives me more confidence [for the rest of the game].”But what is it that has sparked his turnaround this season?He has been bowling a lot quicker – his average speed has gone from 81.9kph in the IPL till 2021 to 86.6kph this season – and has also managed to put more revs on the ball. Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori believes these things have also helped Kuldeep bring more energy into his action.”More revs mean your hand position and your release point [are better] and the more energy you bring to the crease,” Vettori told ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time:Out. “The great Shane Warne talked about how your energy at the crease shows how much spin you get in the ball – you need a quick arm speed, and then your subtleties and nuance come from your wrist position.””Looks like Kuldeep has got the energy, a faster arm action, and now he has got the skill to take over because of that base. It’s also the release point. It’s about bowling fast with more revolutions on it, and you see the seam position.”

“Kuldeep has recognised that to be successful in this format, ‘I too have to add a little bit of pace to the ball and be able to spin it'”Ian Bishop on Kuldeep’s success this season

“It felt like during the last opportunity he tried to buy wickets, and that maybe [was] a product of Narine being a certainty and [Varun] Chakravarthy coming into the team. ‘I have got to make the most of this opportunity because If I don’t do something, I’m going to be out of the team.'”Now he seems more settled – he is obviously the first choice for Delhi and he is forcing his case for being back in the Indian team. It’s all about what he’s done and how he’s improved as a bowler.”Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop also believes that Kuldeep bringing in that extra dimension of adding pace has brought him success this season.”Virat Kohli, the captain [of India] at that time, wanted him [Yuzvendra Chahal] to bowl with more pace as wristspinners in world cricket have done. The Rashid Khans, the Imran Tahirs were bowling quicker through the air.”Kuldeep has recognised that in order to be successful in this format ‘I too have to add a little bit of pace to the ball and be able to spin it’. So whether that’s been a deliberate effort [or not], I think that was good planning. And to see him bowl with more pace is actually working.”Chahal and Kuldeep were once a crucial part of India’s white-ball plans before falling out of favour due to inconsistent performances. They both have now made strong cases: Chahal is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with Kuldeep right behind. But there is no competition between the two, at least according to the latter.”He is like my elder brother, and he has given me encouragement,” Kuldeep said. “He used to talk to me constantly even when I was injured. I sincerely wish that he got the Purple Cap.”

Also, everything you needed to know about venues, reserve days, and… checks notes … boundary countbacks

Karthik Krishnaswamy29-Sep-2023A World Cup! That glorious celebration of a truly global sport, with 32 teams representing every region on the pla…
Er, no. Not that one. This is the men’s World Cup, featuring ten teams.Ah, right. That one. So ten teams, then? No room for the… what do you call them… Associates?
Well, no. Not entirely. There was, you see, a Qualifier, featuring a bunch of Associates plus the teams that finished outside the top eight of the World Cup Super League…The what?
It’s too complicated to explain here, but this should give you an idea. Anyway, it’s been scrapped now, or maybe not, but to get back to your previous question…Related

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Which was?
I’m not entirely sure, but I vaguely remember talking about the Qualifier? So it involved six Associate teams plus Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland. Ten teams in all, fighting for two World Cup spots.So who made it?
Sri Lanka and Netherlands.Netherlands?
Indeed. A weakened Netherlands team, that too, who did this to West Indies and this to Scotland in a gloriously improbable turn of events.And that means West Indies, two-time champions, are…
Yup, not at the World Cup for the first time ever.Brutal, eh? So where is this World Cup happening?
India. They have co-hosted it before, in 1987, 1996 and 2011. Now they are hosting the entire thing themselves.Netherlands grabbed a World Cup spot at the expense of two-time champions West Indies•ICC/Getty ImagesAll part of their grand plan to win it themselves, no doubt?
True, it has become a thing for host teams to win World Cups. India beat co-hosts Sri Lanka to win the 2011 final, then Australia beat co-hosts New Zealand in 2015, and four years later it was England’s turn to win by virtue of being hosts.Hey, that’s not fair. They also won by virtue of … *checks notes* … boundary count-back. Is that going to be a thing again?
Ah, no. Super Overs will decide tied games throughout the tournament, and if the Super Over is tied, they will just play another, and another, until they get an actual winner.Cue the final that never ends. Anyway, before we get that far, what’s the format of the tournament?
Just like 2019. Each of the ten teams plays every other team once in the league stage, and the top four go through to the semi-finals.Super Overs will decide tied games in the knockout stage, and if the Super Over is tied, they will just play another•Tom Jenkins/Getty ImagesWho are the favourites to get there?
India are hosts, and they are also the No. 1 ODI side in the ICC rankings. They have a team with almost every base covered, particularly in their home conditions. England may not have the same aura they went into the 2019 World Cup with, but they are defending champions, won a T20 World Cup last year, and remain the deepest and fastest-scoring batting line-up in ODIs. Then there is Pakistan, who held the No. 1 ranking until India took it from them – their top order and fast bowling are serious strengths, though they have weaknesses elsewhere.New Zealand were losing finalists at the last two ODI World Cups as well as the 2021 T20 World Cup. They have a core group of highly experienced, skilful players who will want to go one better this time. And you can expect Australia and South Africa, who recently tussled in an incredibly high-scoring five-match series, to be fiercely competitive at a world event.Won’t the conditions negate non-Asian teams’ strengths somewhat?
Possibly. Even though pitches at ICC white-ball events tend to be flat, spin could be hugely influential at least at some of the venues. Australia might find themselves seriously tested by Sri Lanka in Lucknow, for instance, and New Zealand by both Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Chennai. Afghanistan may also pose a big threat to Pakistan, who don’t really have a gun wicket-taking spinner, when they meet in Chennai.Where and when will the really high-profile contests take place?
Well, mostly in Ahmedabad. The biggest, highest-capacity, and most self-congratulatory venue in the world can’t stop hosting big games. The opening game on October 5, pitting 2019 finalists England and New Zealand, will be in Ahmedabad. So will Australia-England on November 4. And the final, of course, on November 19.Not to mention the small matter of India-Pakistan on October 14.Ahmedabad will host several big-ticket games, including the final on November 19•AFP/Getty ImagesIndia-Pakistan! I to be in Ahmedabad for it.
Lol.Okay, what other big games should I call in sick for?
India and Australia have played some cracking games in Chennai, including a thriller during the 1987 World Cup. They meet again in Chennai, on October 8, to open their respective campaigns. England and South Africa are among the most power-packed batting line-ups in the tournament, and their meeting at the Wankhede Stadium on October 21 should be full of runs. There could be a bit of help for fast bowlers in Dharamsala, where Australia meet New Zealand on October 28. The two best ODI teams of the last two World Cup cycles, India and England, face off in Lucknow on October 29, and then there is the rivalry to end all rivalries, the derby, on November 6 in Delhi.Right. So at what time do these matches begin?
There will be six day games, starting 10.30am IST (0500 GMT), but every other match will be day-night contests, starting at 2pm IST (0830 GMT).Are there reserve days in case of rain?
Yup, there will be reserve days for both semi-finals – which are scheduled to take place in Mumbai and Kolkata on November 15 and 16 – and the final.