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It's coming home: England are the team to beat at the Cricket World Cup

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Expert
30th May, 2019
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England started off their host campaign in the best possible way as they outclassed South Africa in the opening match of the 2019 Cricket World Cup to take the game by 104 runs.

England were far superior with the bat, during their bowling spells and especially with their fielding. If you haven’t seen the Ben Stokes catch you need to.

It might not be too much a surprise since the Poms were the heavy favourites going into this tournament, but after two balls it was all suddenly in doubt as Bairstow fell to the second ball of the opening match from South African spinner Imran Tahir.

To South African captain Faf Du Plessis’ credit, he managed his bowlers extremely well.

Initially introducing Tahir, the first time a spin bowler has opened for the first over of the World Cup, proved to be a master stroke.

Then, they managed to find wickets in clusters, temporarily destabilising the English innings.

But, in the end, England’s batting line-up is far too strong, even if you get that early wicket.

At the conclusion of their innings, they had totalled up a whopping 311 runs for South Africa to chase, but with the lofty expectations that are coming with this England side, even that was a tad disappointing.

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Mark Waugh himself said in the post-innings analysis on Fox Sports that South Africa should be happy they restricted England to only that. Imagine hearing four of five years ago that a team would be happy to chase 300+.

England’s Joe Root (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

If this is supposedly England’s batsmen having an off-day, you can imagine what they might do when they’re on form.

This total was England’s lowest in their past five matches, so please spare a second for the poor bowlers that will have to throw down at them throughout the tournament.

Then, there’s the other side. Considering some of the recent totals England have conceded when bowling, there were some slight concerns if the bowling line-up was truly good enough to deliver a World Cup.

Joe Root’s side didn’t wait too long to dispel that notion. His bowlers had taken two wickets in the first ten overs to leave South Africa with a mountain to climb without the experience of Hashim Amla too who had to leave the field for a concussion Test after being rattled by a Jofra Archer bouncer.

Speaking of Archer, he reminded everyone exactly why no team will want to chase anything nearing that score as he blitzed the Proteas with his searing pace, ending the match with a 3-27 after just seven overs. How’s that for a World Cup debut?

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It’s scarcely believable that over in England, there were debates about whether Archer should be brought into the squad. He is already their best bowler.

Not that he’s the only one worth worrying about. Stokes complimented his spectacular catch with a tidy figure of 2-12 and the ten South African wickets were shared between five bowlers.

Even when you the batsman managed to survive and find an inch of space to eke out runs from, the English fielders were ready, saving boundaries with their athletic fielding and taking catches that I am convinced are not possible by the laws of physics.

Is there any way to stop this ridiculously strong England side?

The structure of the tournament in what is essentially a league format, with the top four teams making it to the semis, pretty much make it a guarantee that England will make it through at this rate.

The already high expectations will increase with every win – But each victory will also fill the England side with confidence and belief, it will be up to their coach Trevor Bayliss to ensure that the players’ feet stay on the ground. Complacency will be their greatest enemy.

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That England ran through this match against a strong opponent with barely a sweat goes to show that this is the nation’s best side in winning the coveted World Cup.

Don’t be too surprised if the “It’s coming home” chants start ringing once again.

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