5 Things: What we learned from Day 1

Here are five things we learned from Day 1 of 2015 Cricket World Cup:

1. Poor officiating strikes again

One of the more controversial moments in World Cup history came in 2007, when match officials botched a simple rules interpretation, forcing Australia and Sri Lanka to play out the final deliveries in near darkness. Five months later, the entire officiating crew was subsequently suspended from officiating at the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

One of the on-field officials from that day, Aleem Dar, was again at the center of controversy in Saturday's Australia-England match. England's last pair, James Taylor and James Anderson, were batting when Taylor was given out leg before wicket. Under cricket's replay system, each team is allowed one challenge per innings; England still had theirs so Taylor used it. The review was successful, as ball-tracking technology showed the delivery would have missed the stumps had it not hit Taylor's leg. Taylor should have continued batting with his score on 98.

But Dar and his on-field umpiring partner, Kumar Dharmasena, incorrectly reverted to the TV replay to see whether Australian fielder Glenn Maxwell had thrown the ball into the stumps before Anderson had made it safely back into his crease. (ICC rules state that when a decision is reversed after a TV replay, the original play is ruled dead at the moment of the original decision.)

That just makes no sense. Absolutely bonkers decision. Fell real bad for @jamestaylor20, but how well did he handle it. Proper player.

— Iain O'Brien (@iainobrien) February 14, 2015

Oh good. A nice farce to overshadow a farce. Well done @jamestaylor20 though! #CWC

— Andrew Miller (@miller_cricket) February 14, 2015

That Taylor decision is a nonsense. Scrub the game. One point each.

— David Hopps (@DavidKHopps) February 14, 2015

Maxwell quite clearly threw the ball into the stumps several seconds after the original decision was made by Dar to give Taylor out, and there's no such thing as a double-play in cricket. Despite Taylor's protesting to both on-field umpires, they declared Anderson out for England's 10th wicket, thereby ending the match. The ICC issued an apology to England several hours after the match, but it was another embarrassing incident that could have easily been avoided. This is right up there with the "Fail Mary" ending from the Packers-Seahawks clash at the start of the 2012 NFL season.

England didn't kick up much fuss since they lost by 111 runs, but losing the opportunity to create a narrower margin of defeat in this game could affect them by the end of the group stage. The group-stage tiebreaker is net run rate (scoring rate for versus scoring rate against), and 8.1 overs were left unused in England's turn at bat as a result of the officials' decision.

If Dar and his peers were reprimanded for their miscues in 2007, they should not escape disciplinary action for this foul-up.

2. Corey Anderson is scary good

The New Zealand allrounder made himself a promising early candidate for Man of the Tournament after his team's 98-run win against Sri Lanka on Saturday. Anderson displays a stone-cold demeanor, and there's a trail of smoke when the ball comes off his bat. He nearly ordered up a date with the dentist for Sri Lanka bowler Suranga Lakmal and on-field umpire Nigel Llong with a blistering drive straight down the ground to start the 46th over that whizzed past both men's heads before they had a chance to react. Anderson top-scored with 75 runs off 46 balls and then capped his day by taking two wickets in the field to be named Man of the Match. Get out of his way.

3. This will be a high-scoring tournament

ESPNcricinfo's World Cup stats forecast projected that this would be the highest-scoring tournament in the event's history. If opening day was any indication, scoring records will indeed be shattered. Both Australia and New Zealand breezed past 300 with ease Saturday, the first of many times it will happen throughout the Cup.

Seeing the misery Sri Lanka and England went through after generously opting to give their respective co-hosts first strike upon winning the toss, it's doubtful that too many other teams will pass up the opportunity to bat first. Bowlers will need to have thick skin and healthy egos because their stats will take a hit over the next six weeks.

4. Lasith Malinga's fitness is a concern for Sri Lanka

It may have only been the first match of what will be a long tournament, but initial signs were not encouraging for Lasith Malinga after a lengthy injury layoff (ankle). Malinga can count himself fortunate that Jurgen Klinsmann isn't coaching Sri Lanka or else he would have been benched, Landon Donovan-style, for his substandard fitness.

In his 2007 World Cup heyday, Malinga's jersey hung off his wiry frame, he had a spring in his step and could eclipse 90 mph on the radar without much effort -- helping lead Sri Lanka to the final. His pace is now consistently down 5-10 mph and weight and fitness appear to be issues. His figures of no wickets for 84 runs on Saturday against New Zealand were disappointing. Sri Lanka need the real Malinga to stand up if they are to have a realistic chance of making it back to the final.

5. No mercy for poor fielding

As bad as Malinga's bowling was for Sri Lanka, their fielding held them back even more. Lakmal's figures of 2 for 62 don't do justice to how well he bowled; he should have had the red-hot Kane Williamson out first ball, but a chance was dropped behind the stumps by wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara. Williamson went on to score 57 runs. Later, Jeevan Mendis spilled a simple chance off Anderson when he had made 43 and the error allowed him to pile on another 32 runs. Luke Ronchi was also bowled off a no ball on 16 and finished 29 not out. Considering Sri Lanka lost by 98 runs, those 102 free runs cost them dearly.

Saturday's other opening-day loser, England, could point to the same problem. After winning the toss and sending Australia in to bat, England had a perfect chance to put the hosts under early pressure, but Chris Woakes shelled a relatively simple chance offered by Aaron Finch. The match was five deliveries old and Finch had yet to score. Finch went on to rack up 135 runs. England lost by 111. There were some sensational diving catches on Day One, but teams need to exhibit more consistent catching standards or they'll pay for it.