Two balls. In hindsight, that’s all it took to put cold water on talks of a first-ever ODI 500. Faf du Plessis opened with Imran Tahir and he promptly removed Jonny Bairstow without troubling the scorers.
England still went on to make 311/8 but the clues were there right through the innings. The wicket was sticky. The bowlers got some joy as the pitch didn’t bend to the will of the hitters.
And it’s one of the most notable trends of the World Cup so far. Even though it’s early doors — only three of the 48 matches have finished at the time of going to press — it’s the batsmen who are feeling the heat at the moment.
Five hundred was talked about as a possibility but predictions couldn’t have been wider from reality. In fact, the three teams that have been bowled out have so far, put together, have contributed 448 runs from 90.5 overs.
So why have the much-advertised predictions differed so widely from what’s been happening in England?
Former Essex pacer and bowling coach, Ian Pont, says the early starts — matches have been beginning at 10.30 am, 30 minutes earlier than during bilateral ODIs — has had a role to play in the collapses of both Pakistan on Friday and Sri Lanka on Saturday.
“Early starts,” he said. He also made the point that England is still in spring.
“The summer only starts mid-June. There will always be some moisture.”
That point carries water because bilateral 50-over matches in England don’t usually tend to start before the second week of June. The point about matches beginning 30 minutes earlier than normal has also flown under the radar a bit. So much so that when West Indies captain Jason Holder was asked about it after their match against Pakistan on Friday, he had assumed 10.30 am starts was the norm.
“Well, that’s the time that cricket is supposed to start,” he had said. “I can’t control that.”
Pont, who has worked with the likes of Shoaib Akhtar and Dale Steyn after his retirement, also shed some light on the overly green-ish nature of the Cardiff pitch. Looking at it for the first time, a few people may have wondered whether it was Cardiff or Christchurch but Pont says the covering of grass lends a consistency to the surface.
“Green grass just means it is ‘live’ rather than white grass which isn’t. The even covering of grass makes for consistency and bounce (carry) of the ball.”
But former Sri Lanka international Russel Arnold wasn’t buying that argument. To make it clear, he even retweeted a post comparing the nature of the pitch at Cardiff and the one England played on at The Oval.
The latter’s brownish colour was hard to miss. The southpaw was smelling a conspiracy.
“So apparently it’s a sporty wicket bringing the bowlers...” he tweeted.
“I mean seamers in to it. Would be keen to see if England play on such pitches especially against teams with good pace attacks.”
Saying all that, it’s important to place on record that Pakistan and Sri Lanka batsmen were always expected to go against the narrative of 300+ totals, daddy 100s and barrage of maximums.
If the matches over the next few days continue to go against the accepted wisdom, expect the complexion of the Cup to change dramatically.