West Indies v Pakistan: Cricket World Cup 2019 – live!

Anthems sung, giant-cricket-balls-on-sticks removed from the pitch, it’s time for action!

The squads are out ahead of the anthems. There are so many mascots that Shaheen Afridi has to have two.

“West Indies and Pakistan would have been the B-sides to the tournament favourites if they were discs (West Indies goes gung-ho like England; Pakistan is pragmatic like India),” suggests Abhijato Sensarma. “Unlike the favourites, however, their bowling is mediocre most of the time.Yesterday, we saw the ‘Catch Of The Tournament’. Today on this pitch which is made for strokeplay and punishment of mediocre bowling, we might see the ‘Highest Aggregate Score of the Tournament’ as well!”

Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel are the big names left out of the West Indies side. Gabriel has only played four ODIs in the last 12 months, all in Dublin this month, so his absence is not a massive shock.

“Instead of unpredictable I’d prefer to use the word charismatic, because I think that sums us up,” says the Pakistan coach, Mickey Arthur, of his side. Sure, we can go with that. Their performances have certainly been a bit, er, charismatic of late. Let’s see what today holds.

The teams, then:

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk/c), Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir.
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Andre Russell, Jason Holder (c), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.

Sarfaraz Ahmed says he too would have chosen to bowl first, but thinks it’s a good batting pitch so chin up.

“I don’t think the conditions will change much as the day goes on,” says Jason Holder, who thinks there might be a little bit of early movement, hence his decision.

Day two, and the carnival moves to Nottingham, home of the high score: of the top five ODI totals made in England, three were made at Trent Bridge. It is England’s self-styled capital of ball-thwacking, the place where Pakistan made their (runs finger down list, counting) 16th-highest ODI total just a couple of weeks back (while still losing) and will also play their next World Cup game, against England on Monday. This is what the former England spinner Gareth Batty had to say about Trent Bridge in his excellent guide to the World Cup venues:

The changing rooms are relatively small but somehow, because of the history of the ground, you can put logistics to the back of your mind. The dimensions have changed drastically with the new stands, so you can get some very small pockets to target – generally over extra cover or backward square-leg, on the left‑hand side when you are looking out from the pavilion. Bowlers have to be smart to defend those areas. As for the surface, you can forget about it zipping around – they generally make it as flat as your hat. Nottinghamshire as a club pride themselves on being a high-scoring domestic team, and Trent Bridge is probably the highest-scoring ground in the country.

One imagines that Chris Gayle (who has averaged 80.85 in seven innings over the last year, at a strike rate of 117.91), Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and the rest of the West Indies team will be very excited about this, as should anyone who enjoys watching a team turn on the run tap and try to flood the kitchen. “We have to try and win this tournament with the bat, meaning scoring close to 400 runs every game,” says Andre Russell. Well, if you must. Pakistan meanwhile showed what they could do in the recent ODI series against England: play reasonably well, and then lose anyway. They have lost 12 of the 14 ODIs they have played this year, against South Africa, Australia and England, and all of the last 10. This is an opportunity for them to redefine themselves as winners, and the most opportune time, and they will be determined to grasp it.

In short: should be fun, yes?

Weather update

Here is a photograph from Nottingham this morning:

I see skies of blue and clouds of white. There is, a forecaster tells me, a 1% chance of precipitation. What a wonderful world.