Big scores mark the start of the World Cup

New Zealand and Australia comfortably surpassed 300 in their 50 overs. South Africa lost four wickets before 100 but still comfortably passed 300 once David Miller and JP Duminy got going in the slog overs. Pakistan bowled well with the new ball, but the track looks easy to bat on in Adelaide and it would take a phenomenal effort to restrict India below 300. On the basis of what we have seen so far all talk of two new balls giving the bowling side an advantage is turning out to be a fallacy. Looks like the bowlers are in for a long slog in this tournament. This writer feels its a bit of a travesty as World Cup pitches should have something in them for both bowlers and batsmen. As a fan of global cricket its also not great to see pitches in New Zealand and Australia resemble the flat ODI pitches of the subcontinent where run rates of seven have become common. Let's hope that the pitches erode over a long tournament, though one shouldn't count any chickens as the drop-in pitches are unlikely to deteriorate like natural pitches would. A few pundits have said the team with the best bowling attack will win, but it might come down to controlling the run rate rather than taking wickets. So much for the World Cup promoting aggressive cricket.