ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 News Updates

(Last Updated 21st June 2019)

21st Jun 2019: Sri Lanka fights back to finally defeat England – Sri Lanka defeated England in a thrilling encounter, beating the latter by 20 runs. Sri Lanka batted first in the low-scoring game, scoring 232/9 in their 50 overs. Senior pro Angelo Matthews top scored with 85 runs while Avishka Fernando scored 49 runs. Kusal Mendis scored 46 off 68 balls as well. Mark Wood and Jofra Archer picked up three wickets apiece. In reply, England were bowled out for 212 runs in 47 overs with Lasith Malinga starring for the winners, picking up 4/43. Dhananjaya De Silva also picked up three wickets while Ben Stokes’ 82 runs and Joe Root’s knock of 57 went in vain.

 20th Jun 2019: Australia defeat Bangladesh in thrilling encounter – Australia and Bangladesh played out a thriller of a match yesterday with Australia finally winning it by 48 runs. Australia batted first and put up an imposing total of 381/5 and Bangladesh could score 333/8 in reply. Aaron Finch put up a good 53 runs while Usman Khawaja scored 89. The star of the show was David Warner who scored a majestic 166 runs off 147 balls, winning the man of the match award. Bangladesh started well but lost some momentum in the middle although valiant knocks by Mushfiqur Rahim (102 runs off 97 balls), Tamim Iqbal (62 runs off 74 balls) and Mahmudullah (69 runs off 50 balls) kept them in the hunt for long. Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Coulter-Nile all picked up 2 wickets each while Soumya Sarkar picked up three wickets in the first innings for Bangladesh.

19th Jun 2019: New Zealand edge out South Africa in exciting match – New Zealand effectively dashed South Africa’s hopes of qualifying for the last four after they beat the latter by 4 wickets. South Africa batted first, scoring 241/6 in 49 overs. Rassie van der Dussen scored 67 off 64 balls (not out) while Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram put up useful knocks of 55 and 38 respectively. Lockie Ferguson was the pick of the bowlers with 3/59. In reply, New Zealand won the low-scoring game in 48.3 overs, scoring 245/6. Kane Williamson was the man of the match for his 106 not out off 138 balls. Colin de Grandhomme made an efficient 60 off 47 balls while Martin Guptill had 35 runs to his name. Chris Morris impressed with 3/49 for South Africa but it went in vain.

19th Jun 2019: Shikhar Dhawan ruled out of 2019 ICC World Cup – Shikhar Dhawan has been officially ruled out of the 2019 ICC World Cup due to his thumb fracture. He posted a highly emotional video for all his fans, stating how his thumb would not recover on time. He thanked everyone for their support while stating that the show must go on. Rishabh Pant will replace Dhawan who scored a magnificent hundred against Australia to win the man of the match award earlier.

18th Jun 2019: Afghanistan blown away by England’s juggernaut – Eoin Morgan shattered records with the highest number of sixes in an ODI innings (17) as England defeated Afghanistan by a huge margin 150 runs. Afghanistan could only score 247/8 in their 50 overs in reply to England’s imposing total of 397/6. Morgan made his ODI highest score of 148 while Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root also made merry with 90 and 88 respectively. Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid also picked up three wickets apiece, helping defeat Afghanistan comprehensively. Hashmatullah Shahidi scored a fine 76 off 100 balls for Afghanistan while Asghar Afghan put up 44 off 48 balls in a losing cause. Dawlat Zadran picked up 3/85 in the England innings although mystery bowler Rashid Khan was smashed for 110 runs in his 9 overs.

17th Jun 2019: Shakib-Al-Hasan continues his super form to blow away West Indies – Shakib-Al-Hasan scored his second hundred on the trot at Taunton against the West Indies, leading his team to a 7 wicket victory. He remained not out on 124 runs off 99 balls. This was the second highest chase in the World Cup for any team. Liton Das also smashed 94 off 69 balls to help Bangladesh overcome the 321/8 put up by the West Indies. Shakib-Al-Hasan has now scored 384 runs in only four innings with a couple of hundreds and fifties alike. He also took 2/54 in the match yesterday to cap a fine all-round show. His batting average and strike rate stand at an amazing 128 and 103.78 respectively.

16th Jun 2019: India win big against Pakistan – In a dominating win, India successfully outstripped Pakistan to win by 89 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis (DLS) method. India first notched up an imposing 336/5 in their 50 overs in a match marred with rain and Pakistan could muster up 212/6 in their 40 overs before play was halted completely. Rohit Sharma was the man of the match for his scintillating 140 runs scored off 113 balls. Virat Kohli (77 off 65) and K.L. Rahul (57 off 78) also had important contributions. Mohammad Amir (3/47) was the pick of the bowlers. In reply, Fakhar Zaman (62 off 75), Babar Azam (48 off 57) and Imad Wasim (46 off 39) top-scored for Pakistan. Bumrah, Vijay Shankar and Pandya all picked up 2 wickets each.

16th Jun 2019: Mitchell Starc wants to play all matches of the World Cup – Mitchell Starc, Australia’s talismanic pacer, has expressed his desire to play in all the matches of the 2019 ICC World Cup. Sitting pretty at the top of the table and certain to reach the semi-finals, Australia may be considering resting their pace spearhead this week. However, Starc has stated that he does not want to rest since he’s fit and wishes to play all the matches. He is also leading the bowling tally in the tournament till now with a haul of 13 wickets.

14th Jun 2019: England beat West Indies comfortably – England bowled out West Indies for just 212 runs in 44.4 runs in their ICC World Cup 2019 encounter. Nicholas Pooran scored 63 runs and Chris Gayle had 36 to his name while Hetmyer and Russell could only muster up 39 and 21 for their team respectively. It was never going to be enough and English bowlers Mark Wood (3/18) and Jofra Archer (3/30) came good for their team along with Joe Root who picked up 2/27. Root also remained unbeaten on 100 off 94 balls in a stellar all-round display to guide England home in only 33.1 overs. Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow also put up useful contributions of 40 and 45 respectively.

14th Jun 2019: Sri Lanka officially complains about unfair pitches to ICC – Sri Lanka’s manager, Ashantha de Mel, has officially complained to the ICC about the poor and unfair pitches given to the country for its matches in the 2019 World Cup. Sri Lanka are at 5th position after two of their games were washed out and they have won just one out of the remaining two matches they played. The manager has also complained about poor accommodation and training infrastructure. He talked of how for the four matches played at Bristol and Cardiff, green pitches were prepared by the ICC while for other countries playing on the same pitch, they got high-scoring brown turfs. Mel talked of being hurt at pitches being prepared differently for multiple teams.

13th Jun 2019: Another Mega Washout- India-New Zealand game abandoned due to rain – The much awaited game between India and New Zealand was abandoned due to rain with both teams sharing a point each. This is the 4th game of the mega cricketing event to be washed out due to rain. New Zealand remain unbeaten, having won 3 out of their 3 games while India has won 2 out of 2 matches so far. New Zealand added a point to go to the top of the rankings with 7 points while India went up to 3rd place with a tally of 5 points.

13th Jun 2019: Michael Vaughan declares Aaron Finch as the best captain till now in the World Cup – Michael Vaughan, ex-England captain, has declared Aaron Finch as the best captain in the 2019 ICC World Cup till now. Vaughan was highly impressed with Finch’s leadership skills during the last game against Pakistan. Finch took several bold calls in this game, bowling two overs himself and getting Mohammad Hafeez out and also sticking with Mitchell Starc who go two wickets in the 45th over. Vaughan stated that Finch backed his instincts, particularly when choosing a vital review while also getting the field placements and other tactical decisions right.

12th Jun 2019: Rishabh Pant to join Indian team as back-up – Rishabh Pant will be joining the Indian team in England as back-up for Shikhar Dhawan who recently injured himself in the game against Australia. Pant will be joining prior to the big match against Pakistan on the 16th of June. He will travel with the team although he is not yet a part of the official World Cup squad. Khaleel Ahmed is also traveling with the team likewise. It is exciting news for Pant’s fans who were disappointed when he was excluded from the 2019 World Cup squad earlier.

12th Jun 2019: Michael Holding runs into spat with ICC over criticism of umpiring – Michael Holding, West Indies cricketing legend and ace commentator, has run into a spat with the ICC. He was sent an email, instructing him not to comment anything negative against the umpiring mistakes in the 2019 ICC World Cup. Holding had previously labelled umpiring in the game between Australia and West Indies as atrocious. There were several wrong decisions that affected the West Indies and Holding felt that constant appealing from the Australians proved too much for on-field umpires Chris Gaffaney and Ruchira Palliyaguruge. Chris Gayle and Jason Holder were victims of wrong umpiring decisions. Holding later said that the matter had been resolved.

11th Jun 2019: Rain plays spoilsport again in 2019 ICC World Cup – Rains have been hindering the smooth progress of the 2019 ICC World Cup, leading to several games being washed out, much to the disappointment of the fans. The same story was witnessed at yesterday’s Sri Lanka-Bangladesh match that was washed out without any ball being bowled. Both teams will get to share points which has become something of a regular affair this time around. Sri Lankan Captain Dimuth Karunaratne expressed his disappointment, stating that in spite of Sri Lanka currently holding the 5th position after four games, the team would have rather won a game on merit by taking to the field rather than sitting out and watching it rain. He talked of how the rain was unfortunate and how this was the second such game for Sri Lanka that was washed out. The ICC CEO Dave Richardson has come out in a defence of the schedule, stating that reserve days for every match would prolong the mega event in a highly complex manner. This comment came after several stakeholders expressed concern about matches being washed out by rain in the ongoing 2019 ICC World Cup.

11th Jun 2019: Shikhar Dhawan to stay in England after suffering serious injury – Shikhar Dhawan dashed a million Indian hopes when he was diagnosed as being seriously injured on the back of his left hand, in the zone between the thumb and index finger. The injury was sustained in the game against Australia where he scored 117 off 109 balls. However, the BCCI has decided that Dhawan will stay in England and his progress will be tracked accordingly. Dhawan has already got scans done at Leeds and post a meeting between Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri, physio Patrick Farhart and Bharat Arun, the decision was taken to not name any replacement. However, the team may look to fly in either Rishabh Pant or Ambati Rayudu as back-up options although nothing has been confirmed yet. Thesse two are on the official list of stand-bys lined up by the BCCI prior to the tournament. Dhawan is expected to sit out the next two big games against New Zealand and Pakistan. KL Rahul will open the batting with either Vijay Shankar or Dinesh Karthik tipped for number 4.

10th Jun 2019: West Indies-South Africa match washed out due to rain – The South Africa and West Indies encounter, one of the most eagerly awaited ones in the 2019 ICC World Cup, was washed out due to rain. Both sides shared a point each and South Africa’s chances for qualification have become even lower as a result. The match was washed out right after South Africa had played 7.3 overs, putting up 29/2 with Quinton de Kock unbeaten on 17 runs off 21 balls and Faf Du Plessis unbeaten without scoring. Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram had earlier been castled for 6 and 5 runs respectively by Sheldon Cottrell who boasted of figures of 2/18 with one maiden in his four overs. With this bleak result, South Africa have fallen down to the 9th spot on the table, having lost 3 out of their 4 games with one washout due to rain.

10th Jun 2019: Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad hints at conspiracy by some members of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) – Wicket-keeper and dashing batsman Mohammad Shahzad has come up with a serious allegation against some members of the ACB who allegedly conspired to get him out of the 2019 ICC World Cup. Shahzad had reportedly been seriously injured on this left knee during the warm-up game against Pakistan but came back to play the two matches against Australia and Sri Lanka. Prior to the game against New Zealand on the 8th of June, the organisers confirmed that Shahzad would sit out the remainder of the tournament due to his knee injury. Shahzad has stated that he remains clueless about being ruled out when he was fit to play. He talked of how this was a conspiracy amongst some people in the ACB with only the doctor, manager and captain knowing that he was going to sit out while Phil Simmons, the coach, found this out later on. He talked of how this was really heart-breaking and he only found out after training before the game against New Zealand. Even his teammates were shocked after hearing this news, Shahzad alleged.

9th Jun 2019: India beat Australia in exciting game at the Oval – The Indian team rallied to defeat Australia in an exciting game at the Oval on Sunday. Shikhar Dhawan was the man of the match with his 117 off 109 balls, helping India to an impressive 352/5 while Australia posted 316 in reply. Virat Kohli (82 off 77 balls) and Rohit Sharma (57 off 70 balls) were the other top scorers for India along with Hardik Pandya who made a breezy 48 off 27 balls. Steve Smith scored 69 for Australia, backed up by Usman Khawaja (42), Aaron Finch (36) and David Warner (56) while Alex Carey valiantly put up an unbeaten 55 off 35 balls at the end. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/50) turned the game in India’s favour with handy contributions from Yuzvendra Chahal (2/62) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/61). India won by 36 runs, having chosen to bat first after winning the toss.

9th Jun 2019: South Africa desperate to save World Cup campaign in must-win game against West Indies – South Africa is desperate to win their match against the West Indies today at Southampton. They will now have to win every game to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals. South Africa’s bowling unit has been doing decently but their batting has come under the scanner. Lungi Ngidi continues to be doubtful due to injury although Beuran Hendricks, the new inclusion, may spring a surprise or two. West Indies has just suffered a loss to Australia in their previous game and even they have a better performing bowling lineup as compared to their batting unit. However, the West Indies have powerful players like Russell, Gayle and Hope who can turn things around.

9th Jun 2019: Pakistan-Sri Lanka Match abandoned – he World Cup game between Sri Lanka and Pakistan was called off at Bristol. The game being abandoned meant both teams get one point apiece. With this disappointing outcome, Pakistan occupies the 4th spot while Sri Lanka go up to the 3rd position. Both teams will now be looking to train hard for their next games.

9th Jun 2019: Indian team visits High Commissioner’s residence – Prior to their crucial World Cup game against Australia on the 9th of June, 2019, the Indian team visited the residence of the Indian High Commissioner yesterday in London. The Indian High Commissioner Ruchi Ghanashyam was snapped with the Indian team and other support personnel. The pictures were shared on social media by the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). The practice session of the team was disrupted owing to rain yesterday and India now have only a day of training prior to the high-voltage game on Sunday.

7th Jun 2019: West Indies beaten by Australia – Australia edged out the West Indies by 15 runs in a thrilling encounter at the 2019 ICC World Cup. Nathan Coulter Nile scored 92 runs for Australia of just 60 balls, helping them recover from a precarious score line of 79/4. Steve Smith also played a good knock of 73 runs of 103 balls. Mitchell Starc was the hero of the game for Australia, picking up 5 wickets for 46 runs. Shai Hope (68), Nicholas Pooran (40) and Jason Holder (51) put up valuable contributions for the West Indies but it ultimately went in vain.

7th Jun 2019: Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad to miss rest of World Cup – Mohammad Shahzad, Afghanistan’s gutsy and big-hitting opener, will be missing the remainder of the 2019 ICC World Cup, having picked up a knee injury. Shahzad got the injury during the warm-up match between Afghanistan and Pakistan that took place in May 2019. However, he was able to play in the first two matches for his country, the injury has flared up seriously, ruling him out of cricket’s premier event. Ikram Ali Khil will be taking his place in the World Cup squad.

5th Jun 2019: Indian team may wear orange jerseys at World Cup – The Indian team may be wearing orange coloured jerseys when they line up against England on the 30th of June, 2019. ICC has a new regulation which necessitates two different coloured kits for all teams for televised events. England, the host nation, who also wears blue jerseys, have been allowed to have a single colour for all their matches. As a result, the alternative jersey colour may be used by the Indian team for their match.

4th Jun 2019: Kusal Perera pulls Sri Lanka out of troubled waters – Kusal Perera is starring for Sri Lanka in their ongoing World Cup game against Afghanistan. Perera is currently batting on 75 runs of 67 balls with 8 boundaries and has pulled Sri Lanka to 159/6 in 26 overs. Afghanistan has put up a stellar bowling display with Mohammad Nabi picking up 4 wickets for just 21 runs in his 7 overs. Most of the other Afghanistan bowlers have good economy rates while Lahiru Thirimanne got out for 25 runs of 34 balls. Dimuth Karunaratne got out for 30 runs of 45 balls. Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera and Dhananjaya De Silva got out cheaply.

3rd Jun 2019: Pakistan come back strongly to defeat England – Tournament favorites England had to bite dust against a resurgent Pakistan who came back strongly after their loss to the West Indies, beating the hosts by 14 runs. Pakistan scored a mammoth 348 runs with contributions from Babar Azam (63), Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed (55) and Mohammad Hafeez (84) while Imam-ul-Haq also scored a breezy 44 runs. On the other hand, England were in the game till the death with centuries from Jos Buttler (103) and Joe Root (107). Wahab Riaz picked up 3/82 while Mohammad Amir and Shadab Khan picked up two wickets each.

2nd Jun 2019: Bangladesh defeat South Africa in shock encounter – Bangladesh pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the tournament till now when they defeated South Africa by 21 runs. Batting first, the Bangladesh team scored an impressive 330/6 while they managed to restrict South Africa to 309/8. Shakib Al Hasan was the man of the match for his fluent 75 off 84 balls and a wicket. Mustafizur Rahman also picked up 3 wickets in this crucial encounter. Mushfiqur Rahim (78), Soumya Sarkar (42) and Mahmudullah (46) all contributed with good knocks.

1st Jun 2019: New Zealand dispatches Sri Lanka with ease – New Zealand’s bowlers were right on the money, bowling out Sri Lanka for 136 runs in just 29.2 overs and their openers rallied to put up 137 without any loss of wickets in 16.1 overs. Matt Henry was the man of the match for his tally of 3 wickets for 29 runs in 7 overs while Lockie Ferguson also put up a stellar performance, taking 3 wickets for 22 runs in 6.2 overs. Martin Guptill remained unbeaten on a well-made 73 while Colin Munro had an unbeaten 58 to his name.

31st May 2019: Chris Gayle makes new history – In related World Cup cricket England news, Chris Gayle created a new record by hitting the maximum number of sixes in the World Cup. He has now 40 sixes under his belt, which is three more than retired South African batsman AB de Villiers. He scored a 50 in the second match of the World Cup against Pakistan and led the team to an early win.

31st May 2019: West Indies beats Pakistan by 7 wickets – In latest ICC World Cup 2019 news, West Indies defeated Pakistan by a whopping seven wickets, and this has definitely been a blow to the team from Asia. Fast bowler Oshane Thomas alone took four wickets and Pakistan were all out with the second lowest total of 105 is just 21.4 overs. West Indies acquired the necessary runs in just 13.4 overs and Chris Gayle scored 50.

30th May 2019: England raises the hopes for their countrymen this World Cup – In other ICC World Cup England news, by defeating South Africa over a hundred runs in their opening match, England has definitely raised the bar and the countrymen are looking forward to a great innings. England has earlier let down its audience but the phenomenal win has the English audience all perked up as they gear in for the next matches. Eoin Morgan posted 7,000 ODI runs in his 200th one day international match for England.

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