OPINION: The 2019 edition of the Cricket World Cup is well and truly underway, with all-but-one country - India - playing at least once over the first week.
The opening exchanges have already produced a couple of upsets, surprise performances and the expected dominance of the defending champions.
New Zealand were impressive against a very underwhelming Sri Lankan side that may struggle to win a game of meaning, given their woeful batting form and barely threatening bowling attack.
England spanked South Africa, but followed that with a disappointing loss to Pakistan, despite Joe Root and Jos Buttler scoring the first centuries of the tournament.
England's power lies in their batting, but giving up 300-plus runs in four of their last six ODI's shows they are beatable.
Pakistan are a mystery. They have undoubted talent with both bat and ball, but you get the feeling they only have one or two top-notch performances in them.
South Africa have been terrible - they are not the powerhouse they once were.
Dale Steyn is injured, Vernon Philander is out of favour, and the likes of AB de Villiers and Morne Morkel are no longer around.
They have a soft underbelly in their batting and aside from Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir, they don't seem to offer much with the ball. They are in trouble.
Australia are Australia - very good. They have the best opening bowling partnership at the World Cup, and arguably two of the top three quick bowlers in Mitchell Starc and Patrick Cummins.
Their batting is deep, with Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey all capable of winning games by themselves.
And they are as strong as anyone at the top, with David Warner, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja. They coasted against Afghanistan, so it's yet to be seen if all that talent can prevail when the heat comes on.
The surprise packet were the West Indies, but if you look a little deeper at their squad, you quickly discover they have the ability to roll into the semi-finals.
Chris Gayle can win a game in 20 overs and in Shai Hope, they have one of the most exciting cricketing talents in the world.
They are well led by Jason Holder and bat very deep, with the power of Andrew Russell and Carlos Brathwaite coming in late. They looked good against Pakistan and that's all we can judge them on at this stage.
Bangladesh were awesome against South Africa, they deserve real credit for that. They may not be playoff quality, but they have the potential to upset the contenders.
As for the Blackcaps - they did what they had to and played near perfect cricket in dismantling Sri Lanka.
Cricket World Cup Power Rankings:
1. West Indies
Impressive bowling and destructive batting - bigger tests to come
2. Australia
On paper, the most balanced side. If Warner and Smith can ignore the outside noise, they will be hard to beat
3. New Zealand
Potential banana skin out of the way, with two more coming this week against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
4. England
They can bat, but their bowling threat is questionable against better opposition.
5. Pakistan
Awful in the first game, sensational against England. They'll probably lose by 10 wickets against Sri Lanka.
6. Bangladesh
They bat deep and bowled superbly against South Africa. NZ beware.
7. India
Haven't played yet, which says a lot about the teams below them.
8. South Africa
They are in deep trouble. Not sure they have the batting to chase down big scores.
9. Sri Lanka
They aren't very good. Angelo Matthews is going to need to score big runs for them to have any chance of making the semi-finals. They barely got over the line against the tournament lightweights.
10. Afghanistan
They will beat one of the top teams and have three of the top 10 spin bowlers in world cricket. Can they score enough runs though?
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Brad Lewis is a digital producer for Newshub.
