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The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup is the 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup and will be hosted by England and Wales from May 30 to July 14, 2019. A total of 11 world-class venues will be used for the event.
Defending world champions Australia will start their title-retention bud on June 1 against ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers champion Afghanistan in a day/night matchup in Bristol. Reigning ICC Champions Trophy winners and former champion Pakistan will open their World Cup bid against ICC World Twenty20 winners and two-time former champions West Indies in Nottingham on May 31. 2011 World champions and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy winners India will play their first match against South Africa on June 5 in Southampton.
But before we go to the exciting matchups, hosts England will open the tournament at the Oval when they take on 2015 semi-finalists South Africa on May 30, 2019. Let’s take a look at how the two sides match-up.
England (41-29-2 World Cup Record)
When the International Cricket Committee came up with the idea of a Cricket World Cup, England became the first host nation in 1975 and would go on to host the next two more editions in 1979 and 1983. England would go on to be the hosts again in 1999 and this year they will be hosting ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
The squad: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.
South Africa ( 35-18-2 World Cup record )
Following their Apartheid ban, South Africa made their Cricket World Cup debut in 1992 and reached the semifinals in their first attempt. South Africa would also make the semifinals in 1999, 2007 and 2015, giving them a total of four semi-finals appearances in the Cricket World Cup but they have never qualified for a final.
The squad: Faf du Plessis (captain), Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, David Miller, JP Duminy, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Who Wins?
England isn’t just favored to win this match, they are also favored to win it all on their home soil. Although they have never won the Cricket World Cup before, this isn’t a surprise considering England is currently the world’s top-ranked men’s ODI team The bookmakers have England as slight cricket betting favorites over India with Australia next.
This England line-up is much better as compared to the ones they sent in the previous Cricket World Cups. They play an aggressive brand of cricket and they enter this world cup with victories in UAE, Australia, New Zealand and West Indies.
Opener Bairstow is coming off a very dominant outing in the IPL and the huge scores that England put up rely on muscular, fast starts. Eoin Morgan is England’s top scorer in ODI history while Ben Stroke is a run accumulator and hard-hitter at the same time. Jos Buttler is celebrated as a destructive batsman especially in the death overs of anyone in the planet while Ali has all the skills needed t0 bat in the Top 4 for any international side.
Like England, South Africa has never hoisted the World Cup trophy. They suffered a thrilling loss to New Zealand in the semifinals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup but they look better now, with great all-rounders and a brilliant batting order. South Africa has one of the fittest, most talented and most balanced line-ups in the world.
Team captain Faf du Plesis is one of the most clever minds and doesn’t crack when he is under pressure. Their bowling unit lead by Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi are capable of destroying any line-up. However, I think England is just making remarkable progress in the ODI format. They simply go absolutely as hard as hell throughout the entire innings with a deep batting line-up and they have regularly made chases over 300 look like pancakes recently.
Their bowling seems a bit mediocre but that isn’t likely to matter because the Cricket World Cup is likely going to be a series of long batting shootouts. Sure, the pressure to win is there and may be hard but the team’s management has displayed clear heads so that won’t be as big a factor in this game and in the tournament as a whole. Prediction: England
