The fourth week of the 2023 World Cup is behind us. In the fourth week, Bangladesh became the first team to be officially eliminated from the semi-finals race. England remained in last position as their horror run continued. Sri Lanka and the Netherlands were on four points each, while Afghanistan were sixth with six points from as many matches.
Now, shifting focus to the top half, South Africa were in the number one position after week four with 12 points from seven matches. Hosts India were second with 12 points from six games, as they continued to remain unbeaten. Australia were third with eight points and have now won four matches in a row. New Zealand had a forgettable week, losing two more games. They slipped to fourth, while Pakistan moved up to fifth position with an important seven-wicket win over Bangladesh. Here is the flop XI of week four.
Openers: Tanzid Hasan, Devon Conway
Bangladesh’s Tanzid Hasan and New Zealand’s Devon Conway would open the innings for the flop XI for week four of the World Cup. Tanzid was out for 15 in the loss to Netherlands and was dismissed for a duck against Pakistan.
Conway’s World Cup has lost steam after a great start. He was out for 28 against Australia and fell for 2 against South Africa. His loss of form hurt New Zealand in a big way.
Middle order: Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Tom Latham (c & wk)
On paper, this is actually a strong middle order. However, the batters in mention had an atrocious week. Joe Root was out for 3 against Sri Lanka and fell for a golden duck against India.
England captain Jos Buttler continued to look out of sorts in week 4. He fell for 8 against Sri Lanka and 10 against India, never looking in any sort of control out in the middle.
New Zealand stand-in captain Tom Latham will lead the flop XI of week four. He made 21 against Australia and 4 against South Africa. Latham seems to be feeling the pressure of leading in the big event as he hasn’t been his usual self.
All-rounders: Moeen Ali, Mitchell Santner
Moeen Ali and Mitchell Santner are the all-rounders in the flop XI of week 4. Moeen managed only 15 each with the willow against Sri Lanka and India. With the ball, he went wicketless in both matches.
Kiwi left-arm spinner Santner proved very expensive against Australia. He conceded 2/80 and scored 17 with the bat. Against South Africa, he was out for 7 and had bowling figures of 0/58.
Bowlers: Mark Wood, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Maheesh Theekshana
Mark Wood failed to make an impact with the ball in week four as well. He had figures of 0/23 against Sri Lanka and 1/46 against India. Lockie Ferguson was slammed for 38 runs in three overs against Australia and lost his place in the playing XI for the next match.
Another New Zealander, Matt Henry, also had a disappointing week with the ball. The experienced pacer had figures of 1/67 from 6.2 overs against Australia and 0/31 from 5.3 overs against South Africa.
Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana will be the main spinner in the flop XI of week four of the 2023 World Cup. He was economical against England, claiming 1/21 from 8.2 overs. However, he failed to deliver against Afghanistan, registering figures of 0/55 from 10 overs.