Welcome to the 2nd instalment of the 12th man's World Cup debate, a place to discuss the biggest talking points of cricket's showpiece tournament. The 1st edition of this blog saw some great chat from a lot of knowledgable people and I hope we'll see something similar again here.
The 12th man is a telegram group currently made up of 9 avid cricket lovers. As you can imagine there is a fair bit of chat already going on in that group given what we have seen in the tournament particularly in the last couple of days. So for those who missed it and as a reference to the talking points below, here are the highlights of the first half dozen games. The hyperlinks will take you to the official ICC video highlights
Game 1 - Hosts England defeat South Africa by 104 runs to get their tournament up and running. Ben Stokes scores 89, takes 2 wickets and a fantastic catch to set England on their way
Game 2 - West Indies trounce Pakistan by 7 wickets. Some hostile bowling and great fielding including this catch from Shai Hope helped dismiss Pakistan's star batsman Babar Azam.
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Game 3 - New Zealand crush a timid Sri Lankan side by 10wickets as Martin Guptill launches a 6 into the river Taff
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Game 4 - Plucky Afghanistan fight hard to come back from the loss of 2 early wickets but defending champions Australia ultimately cruise to a 7 wicket win
Game 5 - the first shock of the WC sees Bangladesh score 330 after being put into bat. Mahmudullah indulges in some big hitting as they add 54 runs in the last 4 overs. The Proteas can only manage 309 in reply as the Tigers seal a 21 run win.
Game 6 - Dead and buried after their first game, Pakistan roar back to beat hosts England by 14 runs. Mohammed Hafez hits 84 from 62 balls and takes the wicket of England Captain Eoin Morgan
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Question 1 - Which of the following innings has been the best of the World Cup so far?
a.) Jos Buttler 103 (76) v Pakistan
b.) Ben Stokes 89 (79) v South Africa
c.) Mohammed Hafeez 84 (62) v England
d.) Joe Root 107 (104) v Pakistan
e.) Shakib Al Hassan 75(84) v South Africa
f.) Mushfiqur Rahim 78(80) v South Africa
g.) Anyone else
Question 2 - What's been the most spectacular moment of the World Cup so far?
a.) Ben Stokes catch v South Africa
b.) Shai Hope catch v Pakistan
c.) Mitchell Starc bowls Shazad 3rd ball
d.) Quinton De Kock run-out v Bangladesh
e.) Any other moment
Question 3 - India's late start to the tournament will be ......
a.) a disadvantage to them because everyone else has had game time
b.) an advantage to them because they have missed the green pitches
c.) irrelevant
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