Team of the Group Round; Match # 3

In previous blogs it was mentioned that the 2015 edition would be a runs galore gala and it proves in the Group Round; Match # 3 held in the mid of this week. No surprise, the Team that has been selected this session has collectively scored around 1100 runs, on the other hand bowlers and all rounders shared a decent collection of 20 wickets amongst them.

 Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan and West Indian Chris Gayle formed a fearsome opening pair together, not only scoring record 161 and 215 runs respectively but also picking 2 wickets each in their all round as well as Man of the Match performances  against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

English batsman Moeen Ali delivered similar display piling 125 runs and picking a brace of wickets with his off spin. Sri Lanka’ Kumar Sangakkara (105) and West Indies’ Marlon Samuels (133) also netted centuries in the middle order, but the most explosive batting display was of AB De Villiers who ripped apart West Indian bowling attack by smashing 162 runs in just 66 deliveries, so the South African skipper honorably deserved this time to lead the Team of Group Round; Match # 3.

All rounder Kevin O’ Brien of Ireland got two wickets before hitting a quick fifty off 34 balls during a successful runs chase against the UAE.   

But more decisive in the above match was the Irish wicket keeper Gary Wilson who scored 80 runs besides catching two Emirates’ batsmen behind the stumps and was, therefore, awarded the Man of the Match.

Wrist spinner Imran Tahir again performed well to be included in the Team of Group Round second time, bowling five West Indies batsmen out through his deceptive spinning.

English pacer Steven Finn got 3 wickets and Shapoor Zadran picked 4 against Scots in different matches, however the Afghan also contributed important 12 match winning runs during 10^th wicket unbroken stand, leading the debutant Afghanistan to have their first ever victory in World Cup event.