A World Cup should excite and inspire, but this year's tournament in India has fallen flat long before the knockout stage of the competition.
The round-robin nature of the 10-team group stage was always going to feel drawn out and clunky, and memorable moments have felt few and far between, with at least three of the semifinalists all but confirmed halfway through proceedings.
Ultimately, there were not enough close matches. The kind of matches that you can’t take your eyes off and that live long in the memory, like England’s final win in 2019, when the two teams could only be separated by the number of boundaries scored.
In fact, across all 45 group matches, only five were decided by a margin lower than 30 runs or four wickets. There were also six wins by eight or more wickets, and four by a margin of more than 200 runs.
As a result, many teams were left with multiple matches to play, but nothing – bar a chance at reaching the Champions Trophy in 2025 – to play for.
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