The warm-up matches of the upcoming World Cup were done and dusted on October 3 (Tuesday). A total of 10 matches were slated to be played as the dress rehearsal for the mega event. However, three games got washed out due to the rain while in three of the matches, the winner was adjudged through DLS method as the rain continued to play the spoilsport throughout the practice games. Meanwhile, a high-scoring trend was also seen ahead of the mega event, thanks to some belter of the wickets produced by the local ground staff. The fans on social media also did not shy away to take a dig at the ICC and BCCI for producing such good batting wickets for the marquee event.
All three venues had good batting conditions
To note, a total of three venues were opted for the World Cup warm-ups, Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad and Guwahati. Three times the total of 300 was breached by the team batting first (Two in Hyderabad and One in Thiruvananthapuram). Team New Zealand looked in excellent touch in both Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram against Pakistan and South Africa respectively as they also won both practice matches.
The Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati also produced excellent wickets to bat on as runs literally rained during the mandatory field restrictions. Sri Lanka facing Bangladesh at the venue had a blazing start before they crumbled under the pressure of some good spin bowling from the Bangla Tigers. The defending champs England also had a good match against Bangladesh at the same venue as they scored 197 runs in 24.1 overs but lost six wickets in the process.
The same situation was found in Hyderabad where 300+ runs were scored thrice including Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan. One of the reason for such high scoring games can be the teams trying out their part-time bowlers as the likes of David Warner, Heinrich Klaasen and Steve Smith were seen rolling their arms. However, that does not take the fact away that the conditions were truly favorable for the batters.
Spin or Pace for World Cup?
The top-three wicket-takers during the warm-up matches were spinners (Usama Mir, Labuschagne, Mahedi Hasan). In terms of economy, the spinners are also ahead of the pacers. The warm-up games also saw the trend of teams having a quick start during the field restrictions. However, the new batters seemed to struggle during the middle-phase of the match.
The top five run scorers during the warm-up games also batted in the top-three which gives further evidence that the new ball is easier to bat on as compared to the middle-stages. It remains to be seen if the high-scoring trend will continue in the main event or the bowlers especially spinners have a major role to play in the tournament.
Meanwhile, here are some fans reaction on Indian pitches:
Editors pick
