The initial stage of the tournament saw the 10 teams grouped together for a single round-robin, in which each team played the other nine once for a total of 45 matches. Teams earned two points for a win and one for a tie or no-result (a minimum of 20 overs per side was needed to constitute a result). Matches in this stage had no reserve day set aside in the event of bad weather. After four games in seven days were rained off and complaints were made about the lack of reserve days, the ICC chief executive,
Dave Richardson, said that trying to include reserve days "would significantly increase the length of the tournament and practically would be extremely complex to deliver". The top four teams from the group stage progressed to the knockout stage. If teams were tied on points, then the number of wins and then the
net run rate was used to separate them. A similar format was previously used in the
1992 Cricket World Cup, though that tournament featured nine teams instead of ten. Following the
2019 Pulwama attack, several former Indian players and the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) called for the boycott of the group match fixture between India and Pakistan. They also wanted to have the Pakistan team banned from playing in the tournament. However, after conducting a board meeting in Dubai, the ICC rejected the BCCI's proposal and confirmed that the scheduled match would go ahead as planned, at
Old Trafford in Manchester, despite the
ongoing standoff between the two nations.
Points table Summary Week 1 (pictured in 2014) was the first centurion of the tournament with a 107 against
Pakistan.|alt=Joe Root in 2014 The tournament began on 30 May at
The Oval in London, between the host nation,
England, and
South Africa. England batted first and, despite losing their first wicket to the second ball of the tournament, went on to score 311/8, with
Ben Stokes top-scoring with 89 runs. South Africa were bowled out for 207, following a collapse of eight wickets for 78 runs, to give England a victory by 104 runs. The next three matches were one-sided: in the first, the
West Indies bowled Pakistan out for just 105, which was the lowest score of the tournament. The target of 106 was chased down in only 13.4 overs, the quickest successful run chase in the tournament. The first double-header of the group stage saw comfortable wins for
New Zealand and
Australia, as they won by 10 and 7 wickets respectively over
Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. At The Oval, in the fifth match of the group stage,
Bangladesh made their highest score in an ODI, with 330/6.
Mushfiqur Rahim top-scored for Bangladesh with 78, as he and
Shakib Al Hasan had a 142-run partnership for the third wicket. In reply, the South Africans could not sustain a partnership with wickets falling regularly throughout their innings.
Mustafizur Rahman took three wickets for Bangladesh as South Africa fell short by 22 runs. The following day saw Pakistan cause an upset over one of the tournament favourites, as they beat England by 14 runs at
Trent Bridge. This was despite
Joe Root (107) and
Jos Buttler (103) both scoring centuries in the chase, as they became the first and second batsmen to score hundreds at the tournaments. In Cardiff, three wickets in five balls from Afghanistan's
Mohammad Nabi provided the catalyst for a Sri Lankan collapse, as they fell from 144/1 to 201 all out.
Kusal Perera top-scored for Sri Lanka with 78, while Nabi took another wicket to finish with four for the innings. After rain reduced Afghanistan's innings to 41 overs, they were unable to reach the revised target of 187 as they lost by 34 runs.
Najibullah Zadran top-scored for Afghanistan with 43, while Sri Lanka's
Nuwan Pradeep took four wickets. Wednesday saw a double-header being played at the
Rose Bowl and
The Oval. At the Rose Bowl,
India started their campaign with a six-wicket win over
South Africa.
Yuzvendra Chahal took four wickets as he helped restrict the batsmen to a total of 227. In reply,
Rohit Sharma scored 122
not out to help India chase the target with 15 balls to spare. The other match on the Wednesday saw Bangladesh give New Zealand a scare, as the Black Caps went from 160/2 to 191/5 chasing 245, before getting home with three overs to spare.
Ross Taylor top-scored for New Zealand with 82, while
Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets.
Week 2 The second week began with Australia having an early batting collapse to fall to 38/4 in their innings against the West Indies at Nottingham. Half-centuries from
Steve Smith and
Nathan Coulter-Nile helped Australia recover before they were bowled out for 288. In response,
Chris Gayle had two overturned decisions go his way before he was dismissed for 21. Despite a 68 from
Shai Hope, Australia won by 15 runs off the back of a
five-wicket haul by
Mitchell Starc. After the Friday match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Bristol was abandoned due to rain, the Saturday matches were played in nearby Cardiff and Taunton. At Cardiff,
Jason Roy made the highest score of the tournament so far, with 153, as he was named
man of the match in England's 106-run victory over Bangladesh. In Taunton, a five-wicket haul from Kiwi bowler
James Neesham led New Zealand to their third consecutive win, with a seven-wicket victory over Afghanistan. The final completed match of the week saw India defeat Australia by 36 runs at The Oval. Batting first, India targeted
Marcus Stoinis and
Adam Zampa's bowling with a combined total of 113 runs coming from their 13 overs, as India scored 352/5.
Shikhar Dhawan (pictured) top-scored for India with 117, while Stoinis was the only bowler to take more than one wicket. In the run chase, Australia were behind the required run rate for much of their innings, despite half-centuries from
David Warner, Steve Smith and
Alex Carey, and were bowled out for 316,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and
Jasprit Bumrah taking three wickets each. The following two games of the week were washed out. Only 7.2 overs of play was possible in the fixture between South Africa and the West Indies, while the match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka was abandoned without the
toss taking place. The following day at Taunton saw Australia open with a 146-run stand between
David Warner and
Aaron Finch, with Warner going on to get a century. Pakistan fought back into the innings, with
Mohammad Amir taking five wickets, which restricted Australia to 307. In response, Pakistan could not get a partnership established with regular wickets coming from Australia;
Pat Cummins finished his 10 overs with figures of 3/33.
Sarfaraz Ahmed and
Wahab Riaz tried to get Pakistan the victory with a quick-fire 64-run partnership, but it was not enough, with Starc taking two of the final three wickets in the 41-run victory.
Week 3 After a wash-out of the match between India and New Zealand in Nottingham to open up the third week, the fourth wash-out in the World Cup, Joe Root scored his second century of the tournament and took two wickets in England's eight-wicket victory over the West Indies at Southampton. However, the English victory was soured as Jason Roy had to leave the field in the eighth over with hamstring injury that ruled him out of the next two games. South Africa recorded their first win of the tournament at Cardiff against Afghanistan, with
Imran Tahir taking four wickets as Afghanistan were bowled out for 125. In reply, South Africa chased down their target for the loss of just one wicket. The other match on Saturday at The Oval saw Aaron Finch and Mitchell Starc guide Australia to an 87-run victory over Sri Lanka that sent them to the top of the table with eight points from five games. The following day saw rivals India and Pakistan face each other at
Old Trafford. India scored 336/5 from their 50 overs, which included a man-of-the-match performance of 140 runs from Rohit Sharma. In response, Pakistan got off to a good start and were 117/1 at one stage before
Kuldeep Yadav took two wickets in three balls to turn the tide for India, helping them to an 89-run victory via the
Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method. Monday saw Bangladesh beat the West Indies by seven wickets at the
County Ground in Taunton. In the West Indies' innings, Shai Hope top-scored with 96 runs from 121 balls as he and
Evin Lewis (70) got the West Indies to 321/8 from their 50 overs. In the run chase, Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan scored 124 from 99 balls as aided Bangladesh in chasing the target of 322 and recording Bangladesh's highest successful run chase in their ODI history. At Manchester,
Eoin Morgan hit 17 sixes, a new world record in ODIs, as he top-scored for England with 148, leading the hosts to a total of 397/6, the highest total of the tournament. Afghanistan's
Rashid Khan conceded 110 runs without taking any wickets, the most expensive bowling spell in Cricket World Cup history, and the second-most expensive of all time.
Hashmatullah Shahidi managed 76 in response for Afghanistan, but they were always behind the required rate and fell 151 runs short, managing 247 from their 50 overs. Wednesday saw South Africa taking on New Zealand at
Edgbaston. With the match reduced to 49 overs each due to a wet outfield, South Africa posted a total of 241/6 with some late hitting from
Rassie van der Dussen, who was unbeaten on 67, while
Lockie Ferguson was the best of the bowlers with three wickets. In response, New Zealand were 137/5 at one stage, before a partnership from
Kane Williamson (who went on to score a century) and
Colin de Grandhomme guided New Zealand to their fourth victory of the tournament.
Week 4 (pictured in 2014) posted the highest score at the 2019 Cricket World Cup with 166 against Bangladesh. as Australia's total of 381/5 proved out of reach for Bangladesh, despite
Mahmudullah and
Mushfiqur Rahim getting them within 48 runs of the target. Friday saw
Lasith Malinga dismantle the English top order, as his four wickets helped Sri Lanka defend a total of 232 for their second win of the tournament. Despite the best efforts of Stokes, who was left stranded on 82 not out, England fell 21 short.
Angelo Mathews top-scored for the Sri Lankans with an unbeaten 85, while
Mark Wood was the best of the English bowlers with 3/40. The Saturday games saw the first elimination of the tournament, with Afghanistan's loss to India at Southampton meaning they could no longer qualify for the knockout stage. Despite limiting India to 224 from their 50 overs, a
Mohammed Shami hat-trick saw Afghanistan fall 12 runs short. The other match on the Saturday saw a close game between New Zealand and the West Indies at Manchester. After New Zealand scored 291/8, including 148 from
Kane Williamson, they had the West Indies reeling at 164/7 after 27 overs. The momentum, though, was swung to the West Indies, with
Carlos Brathwaite making 101 (including five sixes and nine fours) as he led them to within six runs of the target; however, his attempt to finish off the game with a six saw him caught by
Trent Boult at
long on, as New Zealand won by five runs. The following day saw South Africa eliminated from the World Cup after an 89-run performance from
Haris Sohail got Pakistan to 308/7 before
Shadab Khan took three wickets in the South African run chase to give Pakistan a 49-run victory. Monday saw Bangladesh record their third win of the tournament; a 62-run victory over Afghanistan at the
Rose Bowl. The match also saw Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan become the second player in World Cup history to take five wickets and score a half-century in the same match. Australia became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals as a century from
Aaron Finch, a five-wicket haul from
Jason Behrendorff and another four from
Mitchell Starc guided them to a 64-run victory over England at
Lord's, with only Stokes (89) showing any resistance to Australia's bowling. The result left England needing to win both of their remaining two games to guarantee qualification for the semi-finals. Pakistan caused New Zealand's first loss of the World Cup at
Edgbaston with a
Babar Azam century guiding them to a victory by six wickets.
Week 5 (pictured in 2009) became the only cricketer in the World Cup history with 600 runs and 10 wickets.|alt=Shakib Al Hasan in 2009 The fifth week of the tournament started with India defeating the West Indies by 125 runs at Old Trafford, with
Mohammed Shami taking four wickets as they bowled the West Indies out for 143. The result also knocked the West Indies out of the World Cup. The following day saw play suspended in the match between South Africa and Sri Lanka when bees swarmed the
Riverside Ground pitch.
Faf du Plessis and
Hashim Amla led the run chase with a partnership of 175 runs, taking South Africa to a nine-wicket victory. Saturday saw two matches played. At
Lord's, Starc became the first player to take three
five-wicket hauls at a World Cup as he guided Australia to an 86-run victory over New Zealand. This was after Australia were 92/5 in the 22nd over before a century partnership between
Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey got the total to 243/9. New Zealand managed 157 in response, with Kane Williamson top-scoring with 40. The other match, played at Headingley, saw Afghanistan set 227 against Pakistan, with
Shaheen Afridi taking four wickets. The run chase got off to a shaky start with
Fakhar Zaman getting out LBW to
Mujeeb Ur Rahman for a duck from the second ball of the innings.
Babar Azam and
Imam-ul-Haq made a partnership of 72, but Pakistan's progress was once again throttled by regular wickets, leaving them needing 46 runs from the last five overs.
Imad Wasim immediately hit 18 runs in the 46th over, and despite losing Shadab Khan to a run out in the 47th, Wasim and Wahab Riaz saw Pakistan home to a three-wicket victory with two balls to spare. The return of opener Jason Roy from injury helped England escape their slump as they emerged victorious by 31 runs against the hitherto unbeaten India in a crucial must-win game for the hosts. An opening partnership between Roy (66) and
Jonny Bairstow (111) was the key factor in the victory, while Stokes scored 79 runs off 54 balls for his third consecutive half-century, to help England reach 337/7. The score proved too much for India, despite
Rohit Sharma and
Virat Kohli scoring 102 and 66 respectively, while the returning England bowler
Liam Plunkett took 3/55. Sri Lanka won the dead rubber against the West Indies at Chester-le-Street, where both
Avishka Fernando and
Nicholas Pooran scored their maiden ODI centuries. Bangladesh's
Shakib Al Hasan made history against India, as he became the first man to score 500 runs and take 10 wickets in a single World Cup. This performance was not enough, though, with a Rohit Sharma century leading India into the semi-finals at their opponents' expense.
Week 6 The final round started with England taking on New Zealand, with the winner guaranteed a semi-final position. Another Jonny Bairstow hundred saw England win by 119 runs and qualify for the semi-finals for the first time since
1992. After the West Indies won the dead rubber against Afghanistan at Leeds, Pakistan needed to win their final match against Bangladesh by a record margin of over 300 runs at Lord's. They won, but only by 94 runs, allowing New Zealand to take the fourth and final semi-final berth. The match saw Pakistan's Shaheen Afridi, aged , become the youngest player to take a five-wicket haul at a Cricket World Cup with the tournament's best bowling figures of 6/35. Despite Bangladesh losing the match,
Shakib Al Hasan finished his tournament with 606 runs, surpassing
Sachin Tendulkar's record for the most runs in the group stage of a World Cup. The final two matches of the group stage were played on the Saturday to determine who would finish top of the group. At Leeds, India cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka off the back of centuries from
K. L. Rahul and Rohit Sharma as they chased down a target of 265 runs. This was Sharma's fifth century of the tournament, the most in a single World Cup.
Angelo Mathews scored his third ODI century for Sri Lanka, all of which had come against India. With South Africa defeating Australia by 10 runs, India finished top of the table, sending Australia to a semi-final against England. A century from
Faf du Plessis and a further 95 from
Rassie van der Dussen saw South Africa set the Australians a target of 326. In response, Australia lost Usman Khawaja early on to a hamstring injury; he later returned but was dismissed for 18, before being ruled out for the rest of the tournament. David Warner scored 122, his third century of the tournament, and Alex Carey scored a career-best 85 but crucial wickets in the middle of the innings gave South Africa the victory.
Fixtures The ICC released the fixture details on 26 April 2018. ==Knockout stage==