Author: Mishaal Mubarak

No host team has ever won a T20 World Cup and the West Indian team in this season is hell-bent on breaking this record. The Windies batters are, especially, enjoying churning runs on their home ground. During the fixture against Afghanistan as well, the Windies batters took the bowlers to the cleaners. Leading this blitz was none other than Nicholas Pooran who went all guns blazing from the word go. Winning the toss, Afghanistan asked the co-hosts to bat first, and boy did they do a good job. After Brandon King fell early, Johnson Charles and Nicholas Pooran took it…

Climate change is weird. There could be flash floods in Florida affecting people of Pakistan 8000 miles away. But nothing can be done now, the floods have unleashed how destructive they are. Houses, buildings, roads, and hopes – they take away with them everything. This is the worst Pakistan has performed in a T20 World Cup ever. Since 2007, the year of the first T20 World Cup, the men in green have always ensured to get through at least the group stages of the mega-event. There is a first time for everything they say. But no one explains how to…

Blood, toil, tears, and sweat are what it has taken Scotland to come to this point where they are threatening the defending champions. They face Australia in their last game of the group stage. Clashing with the pitiless Australia and with the ICC ensuring no behind-the-closed-door conspiracy to oust England should take place, Scotland are left with only two choices. One lies in their control but just as much out of control and it is beating Australia even by a single run (or, with apologies to New Zealand fans, boundary counts). The other is hoping for the grey clouds (which…

A 19-ball run-chase against Oman has put England in a position where they can forget all their red-face moments this World Cup. Although Jos Butler’s men still have the odds of crashing out of the contention, a victory against Namibia of any magnitude will get them all set for their next destination. The bowling display was better against Oman than their previous two outings where they conceded runs at the rate of 10 per over, losing one and thanking rain for saving them in the other. The batting, although, never was as much of an issue, it would take more…

New Zealand are out of the Super 8s contention. Uganda were never realistically expected to make it to the next stage anyway. Essentially this game is a dead rubber now. But a consolatory win could help both teams to end on a good note. For New Zealand, winning this game would be more like trying to hold the box of their bad memories with a single, flimsy thread. For Uganda, it would mean ending in third place, which for a World Cup debutant is a crack in the dam.  The Kiwis have been managing to end up in the knockout…

A tropical disturbance has caused flash flooding in Florida which could see all the matches slated to be played here getting washed out. If you are new to this sport, a washout means both teams get one point each. One point is exactly what the USA team needs to get on the train to Super 8s. Never have we ever seen a team exploiting home advantages like this. The USA reaching the next round means Pakistan would be out of the race and their game against Ireland on Sunday would potentially be a dead rubber. This would be the first…

It’s come to that stage where teams are forging their alliance with whoever seems to help their chances of making it to the next level. For New Zealand, the equation is tough but for that equation to even be considered they want Afghanistan to lose both of their next matches. Hoping Afghanistan loses the one against PNG, with no offense intended to the Oceanian team, appears downright utopian. Although you never get to have the final say when it comes to the shortest format of this crazy game, it’s more about Afghanistan’s sheer dominance this edition than PNG’s inexperience. The…

Whatever fans and pundits expected Group D to look like in the middle stages of the tournament, it was not this. Bangladesh at second, closely followed by the Duch depicts that this tournament has shown no regard for convention. Staying true to its name, this group of death has not let the drama leave its premise. While South Africa rest serenely at the top, it’s Bangladesh and the Netherlands who are juggling the Super 8s tickets between them. And this match could give us a more vivid picture of who the elite two will be by the end of this…

It is the best of times for the West Indies. It is the worst of times for New Zealand. With due apologies to Charles Dickens, both teams face ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ sort of predicament. This game could see New Zealand ending their World Cup campaign and West Indies galloping to the next stage or it could grant the Kiwis a few more moments to breathe. After suffering an ignominious 84-run defeat against Afghanistan, the Kane Williamson-led team was destined to sink into a pit of worries. There is something cursed with high-ranked teams this edition and that curse…

Australia’s World Cup campaign this time is the complete opposite of how they played the last World Cup. Having won two out of two games, the Mitchell Marsh-led team is the nearest of all to book a Super 8s berth for themselves. Unless something extremely unexpected occurs (zombie apocalypse, alien attack, an upset by Namibia, etc), Australia can get the task done for themselves in this very match quite easily. This win could fetch them another 2 points, pushing them to the top of the table with 6 points in front of their name. They have been able to get…