The cricket world cup started with hosts England thumping South Africa in world cup opener with a massive margin of 104 runs to start their world cup campaign on a high. The world cup got underway on May 30 and will conclude on July 14, with the finals at the iconic Lord’s in London.
England are the firm favourites to lift the trophy, however some experts claim India to be a force to reckon with alongside Australia who are high in confidence after pipping India 3-2 in India and clean sweeping Pakistan 5-0 in United Arab Emirates(UAE). The returning Steve Smith and David Warner will add more strength to the team.
The tournament is played in round robin format with all the participating teams playing the other nine teams in the league stage. The format was last followed in 1992 world cup where Pakistan emerged victorious.
Nasser Hussain predicts the winner
The former England skipper said that there are many competitive sides in the tournament but his home side still holds an upper hand over them. He backed England to be in the final and further go on to win the world cup.
“Only time will tell, you have no God-given right to win any tournament. You have to work hard, especially this tournament. There are so many good sides. At the moment England look like the best side. If everybody plays to their potential, i think England will be there in the finals.
“They seem to have every single base covered. The last two winners have been the home nations, it could be three in a row this year,” Nasser Hussain told India Today.
England started their world cup campaign with a resounding win over South Africa by 104 runs but they failed to live upto the expectations in the game against Pakistan. The Pakistani team first thrashed the English pacers and scored 348/8 in their quota of 50 overs. England on the other hand was struggling at 118/4 after the dismissal of Ben Stokes but centuries from Jos Buttler and Joe Root brought them back into the game.
The long England batting line-up tried their best to reach the target but they fell short by 14 runs, handing over a famous win to Pakistan after the men in green suffered a hammering to the hands of West Indies in their world cup opener.
