Afghanistan, Netherlands lead the way as rich tradition of World Cup upsets continue at India 2023

While Afghanistan and the Netherlands' victories have been the headline acts, there have been some unexpected trends set in this World Cup

India, Australia, England and Pakistan or New Zealand was what most commentators and former cricketers were saying before the start of the 2023 World Cup when asked who they think will make it to the the last four. Some of them included South Africa as dark horses in that bracket.

Afghanistan's captain Hashmatullah Shahidi celebrates after hitting the winning runs against Pakistan in Chennai(AFP)

The predictions made sense. India are the hosts and rose to the top spot in the ODI rankings just before the start of the tournament, apart from possessing some of the biggest names in the sport in their lineup. Pakistan looked a good side for much of this year and were expected to capitalise on the conditions that might be similar to what they are used to at home. England had fallen out of the top five but they are the defending champions and, like India, are a star-studded squad. Australia hadn't got any kind of winning momentum before the start of the tournament but, well, they are Australia and they somehow always find a way in the World Cup. New Zealand are a well-oiled machine while South Africa were showing great promise.

However, this is the World Cup, a tournament in which results have often belied common sense. How else would explain rank outsiders India winning the 1983 World Cup, or a down and out Pakistan winning it in 1992, or a Kenyan team made of part-timers beating the West Indies of Lara, Richardson, Ambrose and Walsh and another Kenyan team reaching the 2003 World Cup semi-finals, or numerous other results over the years. Sure enough, this World Cup has thus far been a tournament pockmarked with unexpected results. What is even more extraordinary is that despite this, there is yet to be a match in the tournament that can aptly be referred to as a “thriller”.

While it is Afghanistan and the Netherlands' wins that stand out, let us start with the results that were seen as mildly unexpected. South Africa did come into this tournament having won all but four of the 12 ODIs they had played this year. They started off by breaking a plethora of batting records on the way to pulverising Sri Lanka and then faced Australia, whom they had beaten to a pulp in the five-match ODI series played in September. However, that was played in South Africa and Australia were expected to provide more of a challenge in Lucknow. They ended up losing to South Africa by an even bigger margin that Sri Lanka - 134 runs.

Pakistan were expected to provide India the first real challenge of this tournament after looking extremely good in their first two matches. This was somewhat carried on in the match when Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan put India under pressure in the middle overs. And then, the wheels came off for Pakistan in that match and, as it turns out, the rest of the tournament thus far.

The ‘upsets’

And then, we come to the headline acts. Afghanistan aren't really considered rank underdogs in T20s any more but it remains the case in ODIs simply because of the scarcity of games that have come their way. They were practically brushed aside by Bangladesh and India as well and so, it is unknown as to whether England were lulled into a false sense of security. The fact is that their star-studded batting lineup were asked to chase 285 and they fell 69 runs short. Afghanistan had won just their second ever World Cup match and that came against the defending champions but they weren't done. They were then thrashed by New Zealand but against Pakistan, a match that is always emotionally charged, they put up an all-round performance and won by eight wickets.

Roelof van der Merwe had said in a matter-of-fact manner early in the Netherlands' campaign that they are looking to reach the semi-finals. The team ended up showing just hos serious he was when they played South Africa, fresh from their two gigantic wins. Netherlands were down in the ditches early in the game with the score reading 50/4 in 15.1 overs and later 82/5 in the 21st. From there, captain Scott Edwards led an extraordinary recovery with an unbeaten 78 and the Netherlands posted 245/8. That momentum was carried forward with Van der Merwe, who had smashed 29 in 19, then tore the Proteas apart with the ball. He recorded figures of 3/60 and South Africa were all out for 207, becoming the first full member team to fall to the Netherlands in the World Cup.

These results mean that the aforementioned semi-final predictions have gone awry. South Africa are not the dark horses, as it turns out, they are among the favourites. England, at the time of this copy being written, are bottom of the table after four matches while Pakistan run the danger of being two points adrift of fourth spot. Afghanistan and Netherlands, meanwhile, can dare to dream. This is the World Cup after all. The unexpected is what is to be expected.