The Cricket.com Weekly - October 9th

Temperatures are soaring because of the World Cup fever, and the long wait is finally over 🤩

In this week’s edition of the CDC Weekly we’ll give you a recap of everything that’s been happening in the World Cup, but also a lot more.

Let’s get started, shall we?

The complete recap — everything that’s happened in the last 7 days

> What’s been happening in the World Cup?

We’ve had five completed matches so far this World Cup - here’s what’s happened so far

* New Zealand obliterated England in the curtain-raiser of this World Cup. They restricted England to 282 before chasing the target down in 36.2 overs, for the loss of just ONE WICKET.

The hammering was courtesy a 273-run stand between Devon Conway & Rachin Ravindra. It was a match in which records tumbled.

* Pakistan overcame a scare to beat Netherlands in Hyderabad. Pakistan were in trouble first at 38/3 in the first innings, at which point they were rescued by Rizwan (68) and Saud Shakeel (68). Then Netherlands were 120/2 chasing 287, but were undone by a fiery spell from Haris Rauf (3/43).

* Bangladesh (158/4) completed a regulation victory over Afghanistan (156 all-out) in Dharamshala. Mehidy Hasan Miraz starred with both ball (3/25) and bat (57).

* South Africa thumped Sri Lanka by 102 runs in an insane run-fest. There were three Proteas centurions (de Kock, Van der Dussen and Markram) and thanks to that, South Africa ended up posting the highest total in World Cup history (428/5). Markram broke Kevin O’Brien’s record to score the fastest ton in World Cup history (49 balls). 

In response, Sri Lanka scored 326 in just 44.5 overs. The chase featured a mind-bogglingly good cameo from Kusal Mendis (76 off 42). 

Here’s the full list of all records that were broken that day in Delhi

* India overcame a horror top-order collapse to register a famous win over Australia in Chennai. After being reduced to 2 for 3 chasing 200, a 165-run stand between Kohli and Rahul did the trick for India. That Australia were reduced to 199 was down to the spin choke applied by Jadeja (3/28), Ashwin (1/34) and Kuldeep (2/42). 

READ: KL Rahul rewrites his story to transform into the ultimate hero

>  Indian Men have won gold in Asian Games 2023. The final itself turned out to be anti-climactic though, as rain ended up washing out the game after 18.2 overs. India won gold by virtue of being the higher-seeded team. 

A very successful Asian Games for India, with the Men’s and Women’s side both bagging gold in Cricket.

> The Hanuma Vihari-led Rest of India thrashed Saurashtra by 175 runs to win the 2023 Irani Cup. The clash was played at a raging turner in Rajkot, in which a remarkable 37/40 wickets fell to spin. All three wickets that fell to pace were taken by Karnataka’s Vidwath Kaverappa. 

Parth Bhut (12/147) and Saurabh Kumar (10/108) wreaked havoc with their left-arm spin. Sai Sudharsan (115 runs in the match) was the only batter to score more than 100 runs in the encounter. 

> At the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Thursday (October 5), Hayley Matthews won her EIGHTH CONSECUTIVE PLAYER OF THE MATCH AWARD for blazing 79 (40). However, Matthews’ heroics were not enough as West Indies slipped to a 47-run defeat in the decider. 

The Aussies then thumped the visitors in the first ODI, chasing 87 in 89 balls after bowling West Indies out for 83. Skipper Matthews did not feature in the first ODI due to a quad injury.

> The five-match T20I series between New Zealand and South Africa Women has been marred by rain. Both the first and second T20I were washed out, with the first game being abandoned without the toss being bowled. It was the hosts South Africa that won the ODI series (2-1).

2023 World Cup injury updates

* Shubman Gill missed the Australia game with Dengue Fever. The BCCI have confirmed that the 24-year-old opener will also miss India’s second clash against Afghanistan on Wednesday.

* Ben Stokes will miss England’s second game against Bangladesh on Tuesday. The England Test skipper missed the New Zealand clash as well, due to a hip niggle.

* New Zealand, on Monday, opted to not integrate Kane Williamson into the XI against Netherlands. The skipper could instead return to action against Bangladesh on October 13th in Chennai.

* Maheesh Theekshana missed the South Africa clash due to a hamstring strain, but is expected to feature against Pakistan on Tuesday.

* Logan van Beek strained his hamstring in the Pakistan clash and, as a result, sat out the New Zealand clash on Monday. 

In the spotlight 

Jake Fraser-McGurk

21-year-old Jake Fraser-McGurk created history on Sunday as he not only broke AB de Villiers record for the fastest List A hundred, but became the first cricketer in history to score a hundred under 30 balls at any level (29 balls). Chasing 435 against Tasmania at the Karen Rolton Oval, Fraser-McGurk brought up his fifty off 18 balls before notching up the following 50 runs off just 11 balls. 

This record-shattering event was even more interesting because it came from a pretty unlikely candidate. 

Who is Jake Fraser-McGurk and why is him breaking AB’s record a shock? Read about it here

Rachin Ravindra 

The 23-year-old, named after Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, lit up the first day of the World Cup, smashing a scarcely-believable 123* (96) against England to blast the Kiwis home. Initially not supposed to be in the XI, Ravindra grabbed his opportunity with both hands after being added into the side in the eleventh hour due to an injury to Lockie Ferguson. On Monday, the left-hander followed up his ton against England with a fifty against the Dutch. 

Already a contender for the breakthrough star of this World Cup.

READ: Fearless & full of swagger, Rachin Ravindra sets the World Cup alight

The BCCI

Why are BCCI in the spotlight? Well, two words: empty stands. The 50-over World Cup is supposed to be the biggest spectacle in Cricket but the England - New Zealand clash in Ahmedabad started with the Narendra Modi Stadium being near-empty. More people started coming in gradually, but many questioned why the BCCI hosted a neutral curtain-raiser in a 132,000 capacity stadium when they knew there would be less than 50,000 people turning up (best case).

READ: A dreaded start to the World Cup questions Ahmedabad's belly

The India-Australia clash in Chepauk was also not house full. There were close to 3,000 to 5,000 empty seats and that, many believed, was a direct result of the ticketing sham (the board deliberately withholding tickets & not releasing them in one go).

Controversy of the week

Dharamshala outfield under the scanner

Less than 7 months after an India-Australia Test getting shifted out of Dharamshala due to the outfield not being ready, the venue’s outfield is under the scanner AGAIN. Dharamshala hosted the clash between Bangladesh and Afghanistan and shockingly enough, on display was an outfield that looked dangerously under-cooked. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman went for a dive and nearly blew his knee. Post match, Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said that Mujeeb was ‘lucky’ to not pick up a serious injury. 

The ICC inspected the outfield and gave the Dharamshala outfield an ‘average’ rating but Jos Buttler, ahead of England’s game against Bangladesh at the venue, said that the outfield, in his opinion, was ‘poor’.

Come Tuesday, make sure to keep a close eye on the happenings in Dharamshala. Fingers crossed that there’ll be no injuries. 

Once again, though, not a good look for the BCCI. At all. 

Picture of the Week

CDC’s World Cup articles

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Video in focus