England won ICC World Cup 2019

In the grand finale of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, England Cricket team defeated New Zealand Cricket Team in the Super over thriller to lift their maiden World Cup title at the Lord’s cricket stadium in London.

Batting first after winning the toss, New Zealand had posted 241/8 in 50 overs in reply to which, England ended at the same score leading to the one-over eliminator at the Lord's. In the Super Over, England batted first, and the duo of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler made 15 runs, and New Zealand also ended at the same score but for the loss of one wicket, paving the way for an English victory on boundary count.

It was nothing less than sheer magic as the match kept tilting in the favour of England and New Zealand throughout the final overs, but eventually it was England whose 44-year-long longing ended on a Super Over, that too, on boundary count as England had 22 fours and two sixes compared to 16 by New Zealand.

Earlier, Ben Stokes was England's last hope in taking the team home as England needed 15 runs in the last over, Stokes played two dots and then smoked Boult over deep mid-wicket for six, then got a lucky overthrow while running a double that fetched them six runs --- that was the biggest highlight and that paved that way for England to reach the magic number. Kane Williamson won Man of the tournament award, Rohit Sharma won the golden bat and Mitchell Starc won the Golden ball in the tournament.

ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2016

The West Indies Team with some brilliant batting after a quick succession of wickets swept the Indian team aside to win their first ever ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup final by five wickets in Mirpur (Bangladesh). Earlier, the Indian batsmen faltered when it mattered most as the three-time champions were bowled out for 145 by the West Indies.

The same batsmen, who helped India stay unbeaten earlier in the competition, failed to apply themselves in the big game after they were put in to bat by the West Indies on a green top and were sent packing in 45.1 overs. Sarfaraz Khan was the lone exception as he saved India the embarrassment of being bowled out for a sub-100 total with a fifth fifty plus score in six innings, also making him only one to score most half centuries in the history of tournament.

While the Indian batting flattered to deceive, the West Indies bowlers did well to exploit the conditions. Joseph ran through top order before Ryan John landed crucial blows for his team. Chema Holder kept things tight to maintain pressure on the Indian batsmen conceding only 20 runs in 10 overs with a timely wicket.

India had won U-19 Cricket World Cup three times in past. KU Party was awarded as the Man of the Match and Mehedi Hasan Miraz from Bangladesh was awarded as the Man of the series. Next World Cup tournament will held in 2018 in New Zealand.

Cricket Weekly

In the first week of Cricket around the world, matches were played with different teams in different countries. Sri Lanka toured New Zealand, West Indies toured Australia, England touring South Africa, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan are playing in UAE, and Big Bash league in Australia.

Sri Lanka lost Test Cricket & ODI cricket series in New Zealand. Both series were dominated by New Zealand in form batsman Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson. Sri Lanka tried best to give good challenge but team without retired legends is still looking for good combination of players. In another Australia remain unbeaten this year in test cricket and their complete team work won test cricket series against West Indies.

Australian Openers, captain and their bowlers are in tremendous form and players in all three cricket formats are in good form. England cricket team is showing a winning determination in South Africa to win Test cricket series. Ben stokes created records in second test match. England won the first test match and now lead the series. South African Skipper has stepped down as Captain.

Afghanistan won ODI cricket series against Zimbabwe in UAE in a thrilling finish in last match. They now are close to win T20 Series too if they win last match. In Big bash League; Adelaide Strikers is on top now followed by Perth scorchers, Melbourne Stars, and Sydney Thunder. In coming week, Pakistan will tour New Zealand for T20 and ODI series. India will tour Australia for T20 and ODI series. 

Australia Clinch Fifth World Cup Title

After 45 days of fight between 14 teams, finally Australia Clinch their fifth World Cup title beating New Zealand in the final in MCG. Australian Captain Michael Clarke retired from ODI cricket. Match was completely in favor of Australia from beginning. New Zealand lost their captain in the first over and lost top three in first 15 overs. Whole team got out for 183 runs in 45 overs.

Australian Bowlers Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner took three wickets each and Starc took two important wickets. Grant Elliott top scored for the black caps with 83 but New Zealand hopes of winning the World Cup for the first time were dealt a savage blow when they lost last seven wickets in just 33 runs. Australia reached their victory target in 34^th over for the loss of just three wickets. Clarke, playing his last match made important 74 runs in just 72 balls.

Steven Smith is likely to be the new Australian Captain. Martin Guptill from New Zealand remained as the top scorer in the World Cup with 547 runs. Trent Boult and Starc shared most wicket dismissal figures of 22 wickets. Brad Haddin was the most successful wicket keepers in the World Cup with 16 dismissals. Chris Gayle hit 26 numbers of sixes which are most by any player. Guptill hit 59 fours which are most in the tournament by a single player.

James Faulkner won the man of the match award for his brilliant bowling spell and Mitchell Starc won the man of the Tournament Award for his 22 wickets. This was 400^th world cup game out of 3646 total ODI games played till now. Brad Haddin was the oldest Australian batsman to play in the final at MCG in 2015. Seven number of New Zealand players got out on ducks in two matches against Australia in 2015 World Cup.

In 2011, both hosting nations played final and the one hosting final won the cup. This same incident happened this time too. Both hosting nation played final and one hosting final match won the Tournament. Next world cup will held in England in 2019 from 30 May to 15 July and final will be played in Lords.

Cricket World Cup 2015: Semi-Final Clashes

Last week of Cricket World Cup 2015 has started and finally out of 14 teams in the tournament, four teams are left to compete against each other. Only one team from Asia is able to make it to the semi-finals this year. In Quarter Finals, all Asians teams played their matches and three of them went back. Sri Lanka ended their long streak of reaching semi-finals this year. Pakistan was knocked out again by Australia this year. Bangladesh was knocked out by India and West Indies by New Zealand.

India, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand made into the finals. India will face Australia in Semi-final number two on 26^th March in Sydney. New Zealand will face South Africa in Semi-Final number one on 24^th March in Auckland. This year there will be space for only one team out of South Africa and New Zealand to reach finals. None of the team has ever won the cup. Australia will be playing their seventh consecutive semi-final on Thursday. However, they lose one game in this tournament against New Zealand by one wicket.

Australia also has advantage over India having won seven matches out of ten world Cup clash. Australia also came out on top in a tri-series against India and England, a month before world cup. However, India turnaround has been an impressive one. Bowlers have performed well and bowled out opposition team within 50 overs in every game. Batsman played well and top four making centuries in any of the game. Shikhar Dhawan did it twice and Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Suresh Raina made it once. Captain Cool Dhoni also did well in middle against West Indies and Zimbabwe.

In first clash between New Zealand and South Africa, New Zealand has advantage over Caribbean’s. New Zealand will be playing in their home and batting efforts from Top five batsmen is quite impressive in this tournament. Bowlers are also doing well with Boult as the leading wicket taker and Southee and Vettori giving valuable contributions. South Africa will have to fight hard to win the game. However, they did against Sri Lanka. AB and Amla are top performers and Quinton and Du Plessis giving valuable support. Morkel, Tahir, and Steyn bowled well in the tournament but their losses against India and Pakistan make them less favorite.

My predictions are India and New Zealand will play Finals or it may happen both home teams will knocked out and India and South Africa will face each other again in Finals. Australia can beat India because of their home advantage.

Cricket World Cup 2015

The 2015 Cricket World Cup is the 11^th Cricket World Cup, currently being hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14 February 2015 to 29 March 2015. Fourteen teams will play 49 matches in 14 venues, with Australia staging 26 games and New Zealand hosting 23 games. The final match of the tournament will take place at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The ICC has named Sachin Tendulkar as the 2015 Cricket World Cup Ambassador for the second time, after 2011 Cricket World Cup where he was the Ambassador. India is the defending champions, having won the tournament in 2011 defeating Sri Lanka in the finals. Now, let us have a look on all teams and key players from each team.

Afghanistan- This debutant team of this year got good experience in T20 Cricket and beaten both Ireland and Scotland in 2015. Key Players are Nawroz Mangal and Captain Mohammad Nabil.

Australia- The hosts, the favorites, and the team to beat. They have won 11 of their last 13 ODI. Key Players are David Warner, Mitchell Johnson, Steve Smith, and Glenn Maxwell. Captain Michael Clarke is also in good form and Coach Darren Lehmann guidance can make this team fifth time champion.

Bangladesh- Always a threat but not quite the dangerous underdogs they were in 2007 and 2011. Whitewashed Zimbabwe in recently but have not beaten any of the top eight team since 2013. Key Players are Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, and Tamim Iqbal. Captain is Mashrafe Mortaza.

England- Founder country of Cricket but have never won the World Cup. This time they got some all-rounders and a captain in form. Key Players are Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Joe Root, Stuart Broad, and James Anderson. Their Captain is Eoin Morgan.

India- Defending champions and good performer team in last four years in major tournaments. Played three major finals and won two. Current conditions are little shaky but captain cool is always good to watch. Key players are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Captain is Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Ireland- Famous win over Pakistan in 2007 and England in 2011 are still remembered. This team can beat any top performing team. Key Player is Ed Joyce and captain is William Porterfield.

New Zealand- Currently the best team in form and favorite to win the tournament. Played six semi-finals until now. Key Players are Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Boult, Vettori, and Southee. Captain is Brendon McCullum.

Pakistan- Line up looks shaky after absence of Hafeez. Star batsman Afridi is in good form. Key players are Umar Akmal, Afridi, Irfan, and Ahmed Shahzad. Captain is Misbah-Ul-Haq.

Scotland- Goal is to register first win at World Cup. Good performing team with key player and captain Preston Mommsen.

South Africa- Top most team in ODI with a star line up. This is the team to watch out for in this season. This team have never won any major tournament. Key Players are Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Philander, Morkel, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, and Duminy. Captain is AB de Villiers.

Sri Lanka- Runner up of last two world cup tournaments and winner of 2014 T20 World Cup. Most consistent performing team always. Key Players are Lasith Malinga, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, and Dilshan. Captain is Angelo Mattews.

UAE- Another opportunity to play in World Cup. Key Player is Khurram Khan, 43 year old all rounder and oldest player in the tournament. Captain is Mohammad Tauqir.

West Indies- Never Underestimated team with huge and power hitters. Key Players are Chris Gayle, Smith, Sammy, Russell, and Samuels. Captain is Jason Holder.

Zimbabwe- One of the underdog’s team from the past. They have experienced and consistent players in the team. Key Players is Brendan Taylor. Captain is Elton Chigumbura.

These are the 14 teams of the tournament this year. Event will start on 14 February 2015. Opening match will be played between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Auckland.