With half of the current ICC men’s ODI World Cup 2023 officially finished, a few teams have already qualified for the knockout stages.
With 23 out of the 45 league stage matches completed, India, South Africa, and New Zealand have emerged as the top-performing teams in 2023 World Cup. These three sides have shown strength in all aspects of the game, displaying well-rounded strategies and dominating performances.
South Africa and New Zealand have both won four games in 2023 World Cup and accumulated eight points in the tournament so far. However, Team India has remained undefeated throughout. Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indian team has showcased their strength in chasing targets, having successfully accomplished this in all five of their World Cup matches. As of now, they are at the top of the table with 10 points, being the only team to achieve this feat.
Aside from that, teams like as Afghanistan and the Netherlands have not only given their opponents a run for their money, but have also delivered surprising upsets in the competition.
Having said that, a bevy of teams have failed to create an impression and have yet to truly arrive in the ongoing tournament. On that point, three of the ten nations competing in the 2023 ODI World Cup have underperformed in the first half of the competition.
3. Bangladesh
The first match of the World Cup tournament between Bangladesh and Afghanistan was expected to be a closely fought battle by fans. However, Bangladesh dominated the game with their excellent bowling performance, ultimately securing a comfortable victory by six wickets.
The Bangla Tigers had a great start to the tournament as they aimed to improve on their eighth position from the previous world cup edition in 2019.
Following their initial victory, Bangladesh suffered four consecutive losses, with each defeat being substantial. Despite their evident potential, both the batting and bowling departments have failed to perform successfully thus far.
Bangladesh have conceded 364 runs (against ENG) and 382 runs (vs SA) in their previous two matches while bowling first, and have lost by 137 and 149 runs, respectively.
The batting lineup has experienced numerous changes, resulting in the team failing to score more than 260 runs in the tournament. As a result, the Bangladeshi unit currently sits at the bottom of the points table with just two points from five games.
2. Pakistan
Despite a dismal Asia Cup 2023 campaign, many supporters expected Pakistan to comfortably reach the knockout rounds of the 2023 ODI World Cup.
After all, they were a well-oiled machine with a disciplined batting team and a well-rounded bowling attack. However, the Men in Green were handed a significant blow when Naseem Shah was ruled out of the quadrennial event during the Asia Cup 2023.
While his injury forced Pakistan to make some adjustments, they still had enough weaponry to defeat any team in the world.
The Babar Azam-led team had a fantastic start to their World Cup campaign, defeating the Netherlands before going on to win a historic run-chase against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad. However, the 1992 champs’ fortunes have deteriorated since then.
Their batting crumbled in a high-pressure encounter against India, as they lost eight wickets in 36 runs.
The following game, against Australia, saw their bowling spread over the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, as centuries from David Warner (163) and Mitchell Marsh (121) helped the Aussies reach a massive score of 367 in the first innings. While Pakistan scored over 300 runs in that game, they were consistently under the required run rate throughout the innings.
Pakistan suffered another humiliating setback in their most recent encounter, this time at the hands of Afghanistan, who had never defeated them in the previous seven ODIs. It was a demoralizing defeat for Pakistan, who appeared bewildered against an experienced Afghani team.
While Pakistan’s batting has continued to perform well in patches, their bowling has becoming less dangerous with each passing game. There have been many doubts about Babar Azam’s captaincy, but only time will tell how they do in the forthcoming World Cup games.
1. England
From 2015 to 2022, England undeniably dominated white-ball cricket. Their bold and aggressive style of play breathed new life into the 50-over format, establishing them as frontrunners in the modern era of ODI cricket.
Despite being the reigning champions, England has performed poorly in the current competition. They have only managed to win one out of four matches, placing them ninth on the points table. Their position above Bangladesh is solely due to a lower net run rate.
England began their world cup campaign in the worst conceivable way, losing to New Zealand by nine wickets with nine wickets remaining. The next game showed some normality from England, as they pounded 376 runs against Bangladesh and easily won the match.
England, on the other hand, just did not show up in their next two games. Their batters appeared hopelessly out of sync against Afganistan’s spin trio, and they were bundled out for 215 while chasing a 285-run target.
Then, on numerous fronts, the Jos Buttler-led team was called into doubt when South Africa thrashed them by 229 runs in Mumbai. England allowed 399 runs in the first innings as the sun blazed down on them before being absolutely whipped at 100/8 in reply.
Things could have been much worse for the reigning champions had it not been for the 70-run partnership between Mark Wood (43*) and Gus Atkinson (35).
