Team India head coach Ravi Shastri’s last major tournament in charge before his current contract expires ended in a disappointing 18-run loss to New Zealand in the ICC World Cup semifinals at Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday (July 10)
Sunday’s (July 14) final between hosts England and New Zealand at Lord’s will be shown on free-to-air after a deal with Channel 4 and Sky was announced after England’s eight-wicket win over Australia in the second semifinal at Edgbaston.
England all-rounder Chris Woakes has been one of the silent performers for the side in the ICC World Cup. Although express pacemen like Jofra Archer and Mark Wood have hogged most of the limelight, Woakes has performed in most games, partnering young Archer with the new ball.
He is not the prettiest of batsman. He is not easy on the eye. He is not an extravagant shot-maker. He also does not have the greatest record in ODI cricket – 3810 runs in 104 innings at an average of 41.41 and strike rate of 86.31, including 8 hundreds and 23 fifties – 8 Australian batsmen have a higher ODI average (min. 1000 runs). His form of late has also been quite average and he had scored just 294 runs in 9 innings in the group stages of the 2019 World Cup at an average of 32.67 – this includes three single-digit scores and two between 10 and 20.
England were dominant against defending champions Australia in their World cup semi-final, registering an impressive eight-wicket victory at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Thursday (July 11).
An aggressive half-century from Jason Roy saw England inflict an eight-wicket defeat on Australia in the ICC World Cup 2019 semi-final at Edgbaston on Thursday (July 11).
Jason Roy was at the receiving end of an umpiring error from Kumar Dharmasena in England's World Cup semifinal match against Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday