World Cup 2019, Week 4: Best playing XI of the week
The fourth week of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 witnessed a lot of exciting action as the teams went about putting their best foot forward in order to strengthen their claim for a spot in the semifinals stages.
Quite contrary to the first few weeks, not a single match of the week faced rain issues as the teams were handed an opportunity to play the games at their entirety. Some of the top encounters of the week were the matches between England and Sri Lanka, India and Afghanistan and the one between New Zealand and West Indies.
These three matches inflicted some thrill in the tournament which had been majorly affected by rain and lopsided matches. With some closely contested matches giving rise to a lot of entertainment, there were a number of impressive performances with bat and ball.
Here is the best playing XI of the week based on the best of performances throughout the fourth week.
Openers - David Warner and Tamim Iqbal
Match - 1, Runs - 166, Fours - 14, Sixes - 5
Australian opener David Warner continued his top form in this World Cup 2019 in emphatic manner as he essayed a fantastic 147-ball 166 that took Australia to a commanding total of 381-5 from 50 overs.
Warner was slow to get off the blocks as he took 55 balls to score half-century and took a further 55 balls to get to his 100. However, he soon picked up the pace and smashed 65 runs from 37 balls to finish with 14 fours and five sixes in his epic knock.
Matches - 2, Runs - 110, Average - 55, Fours - 12, Sixes - 0
Surprisingly, a lot of openers recorded ducks in the fourth week of the World Cup. We had the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Chris Gayle, Noor Ali Zadran, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro lose their wickets without scoring a run. Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal emerged as the most consistent player among the openers as he scored 110 runs in 2 games.
The left-handed batsman registered a fluent half-ton against Australia, a solid 74-ball 62 but he missed out on a half-century versus the Windies, losing his wicket to a run-out as he walked back for a 53-ball 48.
Also read – Highest batting average in world cup