Welcome to live coverage of the penultimate pool stage game of the 2023 Cricket World Cup where the only jeopardy/ecstasy rests in an unlikely record rout for the format. For Pakistan to reach the semi-final and overtake New Zealand’s NRR superiority they would have to beat England by 287 runs. For England to miss out on Champions Trophy qualification after their thumping victory over the Netherlands took them up to seventh place, they would have to suffer a crushing defeat and for both Bangladesh to beat Australia in today’s first match and the Dutch to hammer India in Sunday’s Super 10 finale.
But that is not to say there is nothing of interest in the outcome at Eden Gardens. A host of England’s greatest generation of white-ball players are likely to be playing their final ODIs or, if not selected, bidding farewell from the sidelines. Jonny Bairstow will probably carry on in Tests and T20 internationals but will be 38 by the time the next World Cup in South Africa comes around and is unlikely to make it. Ditto for Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and possibly England’s best bowler, the curiously under-rated Adil Rashid.
Our esteemed cricket correspondent Nick Hoult thinks it should also be curtains for Joe Root but I’m not so sure they will be able to persuade him to go gently into the good night of becoming a Test only player at the age of 32. Having already bristled at his exclusion from the T20 side and taken gigs in the Big Bash and IPL to try to prove them wrong, he will not want to give up the other string to his bow, particularly when he is such a close pal and training partner of Jos Buttler and will be only 34 for the Champions Trophy and 36 for the next World Cup. Rohit is 36 and tearing it up, Virat is 35, Ashwin 37, Dave Warner 37 and Glen Maxwell 35.
But if it is to be his swansong, too, let them all go out with a bang. That’s what made them great.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
