2023 ODI World Cup: Verdicts on Australia, South Africa, New Zealand
ft. India name T20I squad for Australia series, ICC introducing stop clock
The cricket world is moving on from the 2023 ODI World Cup quite quickly with India playing Australia in a T20I series soon, England playing an ODI series against the West Indies, and Pakistan later touring Australia.
Here at Play in the V, I will still be picking up the pieces from the World Cup that was for the remainder of this week and then we can move on after that. Today we have verdicts on South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia’s overall campaigns. I will have a separate post solely dedicated to assessing India’s tournament to follow.
SOUTH AFRICA
Bat Rtg: 313.42 (3rd), Bwl Rtg: 266.67 (2nd), Net Rtg: +46.75 (2nd)
Grade: A-
How do you define choke?
A lot of people seemed to run to that “c” word once South Africa lost the semis to Australia, showing just how much people are happy to latch on to that term when it comes to the Proteas.
New Zealand have now lost three semifinals and two finals in the last five ODI World Cups they’ve played. Across all 13 editions, they have reached at least the semis 9 times. They, too, have never won a World Cup. Why aren’t they chokers? Because they have the “nice guys” tag? India have lost five finals and four semifinals in the last 10 ICC tournaments they’ve played. Do we give them the choker tag or just say they got outplayed on the day?
It’s fair game to apply the word choke in a sporting context when a team snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. Can anyone think of a moment when South Africa were in command of the semifinal against Australia and then threw it away? They were behind the eight-ball from the word go and Australia won because they played the better cricket. In fact, it was impressive the way South Africa fought until the very end.
Ask yourself how many experts and pundits even picked South Africa to reach the semifinals. Many were sleeping on how good this team could be and it was amazing to see them deliver time and time again over the course of this World Cup. Quinton de Kock signed off his ODI career in style while Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, and Heinrich Klaasen all had multiple moments in the spotlight. Marco Jansen came away as one of the most impressive young players in the tournament while Gerald Coetzee looks a gem of a prospect himself. Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, and Tabraiz Shamsi all answered the call.
I’m sure they would give anything to have those first 15 overs of the semifinal back, maybe even the first six of their bowling, but it would be silly to boil their tournament down to just those moments when most didn’t even have them playing that game in the first place.
Was 1999 a choke? Sure. They were the No. 1 ranked side and were a hit away with balls to spare and had no reason to take such a risky run. Was 2007 a choke? Sure, they had to communicate better in knowing they needed one more than what the DLS par score was. Rain broke South African hearts in 1992 and 2015 and the reality is the eventual champion in 2023 just about played the better cricket in the semis.
NEW ZEALAND
Bat Rtg: 327.81 (1st), Bwl Rtg: 296.89 (6th), Net Rtg: +30.92 (3rd)
Grade: B-
This is one of the more challenging teams to properly assess. There were brilliant individual performances by Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and Mitch Santner, as well as Kane Williamson when he was healthy. Beyond that, there wasn’t too much to write home about. They beat the bottom five teams of the group phase but also none of the top five. They pushed India quite hard in both matches that they played and lost by just five runs to Australia. Rain hurt them against Pakistan.
I looked at this group of Kiwis as an aging one coming in, and with the injuries Williamson and Tim Southee were dealing with, it was easier to see a path to them missing the semis than getting in. On that front, the manner in which they stuck at it and kept plugging away in typical Black Caps fashion is something they can be very proud of.
Losing Matt Henry for the tournament and Lockie Ferguson for a period of time hurt their cause, but winning their first four matches on the bounce had put them in position to avoid India in the semis. They fumbled the bag from that standpoint with four straight losses. Net run rate clinched their place before Pakistan could try to do anything about it in their final match, as was the case in 2019.
AUSTRALIA
Bat Rtg: 305.73 (4th), Bwl Rtg: 281.89 (4th), Net Rtg: +23.84 (4th).
Grade: B+
Some of you may look at the grade and wonder how that’s possible for the champs but that’s the reality of the quality of cricket they played over a month-and-a-half. They undoubtedly played a great match in the final but the 10 matches preceding it was a side that found a way to win key moments despite having been outplayed for the majority of the match. This wasn’t the Aussie sides of 2003, 2007, and 2015 that played a combined 31 matches, won 29, lost one by 1 wicket, and had another washed out.
It speaks to how much belief, guts, and tenacity can overcome.
When you take a bird’s eye view, Australia now have three ODI World Cup titles that they probably shouldn’t have won. That’s what great champions do, they finish the job with cold blooded execution when they’re expected to do so and still find a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat when less is expected of them.
In 1987, the narrative was that the tournament was destined for an India-Pakistan final. More than that, the likes of Steve Waugh and Tom Moody will tell you how it was a tournament where they were given no chance. It ended up being an Ashes finale with Australia beating an undefeated Pakistan in one semifinal and England defeating India in the other.
In the final, England were well placed at 135/2 in pursuit of 254 with a well set Mike Gatting and Bill Athey at the crease. That’s when Gatting’s infamous reverse sweep attempt off part-timer Allan Border to a ball that would have been a wide down the legside happened. England were still in control at 170/3 but Athey and Allan Lamb made a suicidal attempt at a third run resulting in Athey’s dismissal for 58 and changed the course of the final. Australia won by seven runs.
In 1999, South Africa entered as the top ranked side and was dominant for the previous couple years. What no one talks about is how this should have been the story of an Australian choke. South Africa needed 53 off 36 with five wickets remaining when Jaques Kallis hit a lofted drive off Shane Warne to Paul Reiffel at long-off but it was dropped and three runs were scored instead. Shaun Pollock hit the next two balls for four to add insult to injury.
Then, with 16 needed off 8 balls and just one wicket in hand, it was definitely advantage Australia. Needing a big hit, Lance Klusener (Player of the Tournament) smashed one to that man again Reiffel at long-on but he not only spilled the catch, the ball bounced off his hands and into the crowd for six. That should have been victory for Australia then and there. Instead, Klusener took a single off the last ball of the over to keep the strike, then smashed consecutive fours off the first two balls of the final over from Damien Fleming. Tie game and one run to get off four. Finally, it was advantage South Africa.
With 8 fielders inside the circle, Klusener drove a ball to short mid-on and Allan Donald only avoided being run out at the non-striker’s end because Darren Lehmann missed the stumps from close range. The next ball, Klusener squeezed a yorker straight past the bowler Damien Fleming. Donald had to retreat initially because of the risk of Fleming fielding the ball off his own bowling, but Klusener had taken off without hesitation after contact. He would have been out at the bowler’s end by miles with a direct hit, but it didn’t matter because Donald was still at the bowler’s end. Fleming calmly rolled the ball to the keeper and the match was tied. Australia advanced having defeated South Africa in the group stage — courtesy a Herschelle Gibbs dropped catch — and went on to beat Pakistan easily in the final.
Now in 2023, they started with defeats to India and South Africa, and Sri Lanka looked well positioned for a big score until the Aussie campaign well and truly began. Pakistan should have beat them. New Zealand should have beat them. Afghanistan should have beat them. Travis Head missed the first five matches with a broken hand and Glenn Maxwell got a concussion falling off a golf cart. They just about found a way to win all of those matches and found themselves in the semis. Maybe that sense of getting out of jail freed them for the knockouts, or maybe they just knew they’d keep doing what they’ve been doing since the Sri Lanka match, keep finding a way.
The final against India was their most complete performance of the tournament. The main advert and slogan for this tournament was that all it takes is one day. For 10 days they just about survived, and then on that one day, they absolutely thrived.
SLIP CATCHING
The ICC is introducing a stop clock to regulate pace of play on a trial basis between Dec. 2023 and Apr. 2024 for men’s ODIs and T20Is. If the bowling side fails to resume play within 60 seconds three times in an innings, a five-run penalty will be imposed.
The ICC has also moved the Men’s U-19 World Cup from Sri Lanka to South Africa because of SLC’s current suspension.
The ICC has also banned transgender players from women’s international cricket, citing protecting the integrity of the international women’s game and player safety.
India’s squad for the upcoming 5-match T20I series against Australia:
Suryakumar Yadav ©, Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Shreyas Iyer (vc*), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
Matthew Wade ©, Travis Head, Matthew Short, Tim David, Josh Inglis, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Ellis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha.
Pakistan will tour Australia with the first Test beginning Dec. 13. New Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz slammed fast bowler Haris Rauf for allegedly backing out of the Test squad after initially committing for the series. Haris Rauf reportedly never committed and wants to focus on his fitness.