The USA’s stunning victory over Pakistan on Thursday has given this World Cup an upset for the ages – now it’s time for the game’s established giants to really bring it to life. This weekend sees two of the sport’s great rivalries renewed with England playing Australia on Saturday and Pakistan, now fighting to stay in the tournament, facing India on Sunday.
If the matches we have seen so far are any indication, they will be completely contrasting games, with England’s in Barbados, a familiar and often high-scoring ground, and India’s in the new pop-up stadium near New York, where batting has so far proved very difficult indeed. That is recognised now as the biggest game in global cricket and I expect it to be another very exciting occasion – I just hope we get a surface conducive to a good contest.
