T20 World Cup: Live Matches Discussion

First topic message reminder :

Hi all,

I've set up our very own 606v2 T20 World Cup SuperBru tipping competition for anyone who is interested.

http://www.superbru.com/worldt20/player_home.asp

First game is Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe on Tuesday, September 18 at 19:30 (local time) in Hambantota.

The full list of fixtures is here:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/world-twenty20-2012/content/series/531597.html?template=fixtures

The pool code for 606v2: playsacs

Everyone is welcome.
Enjoy the matches and best of luck to your team.

Who do you think will win?

69/2 at halfway meaning 91 needed off the last 60 balls. It's possible...

Afghanistan 75-3 in the 12th over, Yuvraj gets his 2nd wicket, the set Karim Sadiq goes.

2 in 2 balls for Yuvraj. 76-4 off 11.4 now, and that is probably game over.

Double wicket over there from Yuvraj there and India are very much on top here.

Another one goes down, this time its Ashwin. Afghanistan 76-5.

Afghanistan have fallen apart here.

Think Afghanistan will very much view this as an opportunity missed.

In the field dropped catches and too many extras + a few loose balls at the end cost them 20 odd runs.

With the bat they got themselves into a good position but lack of experience along with some tight bowling has led to some injudicious shots, and a flurry of wickets.

India haven't been all that impressive, the excellent Kohli aside, but will probably win comfortably now. Yuvraj has bowled very nicely, varrying his pace and spin. They'll need to improve quite a lot if they want to win the tournament though.

2 sixes off the 14th over, Afghanistan not lying down yet.

Big over there for the Afghan boys, they aren't totally out of this one, 67 of the last 6, not impossible.

Shafiqullah gone, its 100-6 after 15.

60 runs needed off 30 balls but only 4 wickets left.

The Afghan boys care for no reputation, Mohammad Nabi strikes Zaheer Khan for a meaty 6. He isn't giving up as yet!.

Well, Zaheer is being smashed around like a club bowler!. Dhoni might be feeling the heat!.

6,2,2,4,1,1 off that over. 16 runs, Afghanistan fighting for all their worth.

Oh Nabi gone now, after playing an absolutely fine innings!.

More inexperience really in the end, going for the big shot towards the end of the over and predictably losing his shape as he tried to overhit.

Should be game over, but massive questions of "what if" for Afghanistan this evening, and plenty to ponder for England - it won't be a walkover.

good to see a spirited display from the afghans! Just such a shame that they lost so many quick wickets!

It's not over yet!

There's a lot of potential with Afghanistan, at the moment though they look very raw and indisciplined.

India was going to win the moment they crossed 150...their sheer organization and experience was going to be too much for the afganis.

Their openers ain't in any kinda form...and they kill the momentum, putting the middle order always in the "catch-up" mode.

And the bowling is not the sort that can take the lead and win on a day batters have a moderate day.

So it's pretty much down to India's flamboyant middle order to win every game for them....tHey might win many, but are bound to falter somedays.

I did not put India as a semifinal contender....and I don't regret that.

This Afghan side is a real exciting one!. Unlike most of the associate sides even their fast bowlers can reach that 130 mark consistently. And all 11 are capable of hitting a 6 or a 4.

A fine fine effort from Afghanistan is over. They lost by 23 runs, but they really pushed the Indians really hard indeed!!.

Good effort by Afghanistan but lost wickets at crucial times and a few fairly basic errors cost them dearly.

India will be pleased to get the potential banana skin out of the way, but weary that they need to improve a lot if they want to trouble the better sides.

Well, the Afghans didn't leave anything out there with the bat and they weren't happy to tickle their way to 100-4 off 20, they went for it and backed themselves and had faith in their ability which was good to see. It will be a little bit of a bittersweet game for the Afghans though, because whilst they can feel proud of their efforts with both bat and, for the most part, ball, they will wonder what might have been had they held their catches.

India will be pleased to get that game out the way as it is never nice playing minnows as you are always in a lose-lose situation whatever you do. I don't think England should have too many worries about playing them either, their pace attack should be too much for the Afghans if they bowl the right lengths.

There always is that support to an emerging associate side, but Afghanistan have really earned a lot of support and even a bit of a fan base here. Terrific performance. India won the match, but Afghanistan have won the hearts!!!.

very good effort from Afghanistan, just a shame they ran out of steam!

Virat Kohli the Man of the match.
His T-20I record hasn't been as good as it could be, but over the last 3 games he played he has done a lot to correct that. 68, 70, and 50.

India have some real issues...

Gambhir- Has struggled in international cricket for a long time now, perhaps time for Rahane to come into the side, had a terrific IPL and looks to be a fantastic prospect!

Rohit Sharma-Waste at 7...Jadjea or another bowler would be a better idea...Irfan is good enough to bat 7..Rohit or Raina should make way, and as Dhoni is raina's biggest fan, my guess would be that Rohit would make way

Zaheer's form is a worry...had a poor IPL and has had a shocker today! In my eyes he always seems to be a reluctant t20 bowler and appears to be forced into playing it..

Balaji is nowhere near international class! Too predicatable and to be honest Vinay, Praveen, Munaf etc are better options!

Afghanistan looked really pretty good - the catches were significant, but that is all ifs and buts. The bowling was international standard and the batting spirited, so they can be pretty pleased.

India batted strangely. Never quite got going.

Gautam Gambhir had an excellent ODI series in Sri Lanka recently. His ODI form in fact has been pretty good. Its in tests that he has been struggling to convert starts into a major contributions. But it is been a long time since the opening combination clicked together consistently and that is a major worry to India particularly so as this has been the case across formats.
Raina has proved himself to be a very useful T-20I package and it wouldn't make sense to drop him. Rohit Sharma of course is wasted anywhere in the batting position at the moment considering his form. Perhaps they should indeed look to Harbhajan as a lower order blaster who can chip in with a tight spell with his flat and fast offies.
Balaji was a strange selection to start with, but PK is out of form and pace has been down from what it used to be(not that he ever bowled that quick), Sharma and Yadav are not suited for the format, Vinay Kumar and Balaji arenot that different, Balaji at least had a better IPL, Varun Aaron seems to be injured. So the selectors went with the best available option in Balaji I have to say.
CF is somewhat right on Zaheer I feel, he doesn't look like in control in this format. He's a master at working batsmen out, but the 4 overs bowled through at least 2 spells wouldn't give him much of a chance.
Dinda is the other option and Dada Sourav rates him highly and you generally have to take him seriously, but Dinda hasn't showed a great deal at the highest level as to why he should merit such a rating.

CF have you seen Harbhajan bowl for Essex in the county championship? He hasn't picked up buckets of wicket, but did he look in shape and looked like a test quality spinner?

I'm afraid to say that for me Zaheer looks like a bowler in decline, across all formats.

In Australia he was still India's best bowler despite this, but gone are the days when he's a particular threat to the best teams. Now he's likely to be more of a skilful bowler in the Praveen Kumar mould.

^ Zaheer is like a diesel engine the longer he runs....non-stop...the beter he performs.

His problem here is.......that he is not warmed up ( read doesn't find thw challnage level high enuf).

as the challnage gets stiffer whether in this form of T20......or later in tests against more difficult Eng.........he will deliver telling blows....a few game changing spells of reverse swing.....guaranteed.

His fitness is good...speed is fine.....just needs to get warmed up and get running

I saw Harbajhan in a one-dayer against Middlesex. On a pitch which offered a bit of turn he was completely toothless and was just firing everything in. I think he took 1-60odd off his 8 overs, although to be fair he bowled a bit at the death, but couldn't keep things quiet in the middle (he was milked with ease).

Afghanistan really should have won this game. I feel Ireland would have had they got themselves into a similar position (which is doubtful - Ireland's bowling doesn't have the pace and bounce which the Afghans bothered the Indians up front, Rankin aside), but it was really basic errors due to inexperience and nerves which let India off the hook.

Having said that, this is still a strong Indian side. Shewag will come off a few times, and Gambhir's recent limited overs form has been excellent, and he had a tremendous IPL. I'm not sure in this format that that opening combination is that much of a concern (it is in tests, but that is a different story). Kohli is one of the 3 or 4 most in-form players around at the moment, whilst Raina and Dhoni are good T20 players. Question marks over Yuvraj's batting, but he could play himself into form just at the right time.

No, India's batting will I think be fine if and when it finds its feet. The problem really looks like the bowling. Zaheer is historically a slow starter, but I wonder whether the restriction of bowling only 4 overs is an issue here. As he's gotten older it does seem like he takes a bit of time to get into his spell, and in T20 you're often bowling 1 or 2 over bursts, then a while in the field when his body cools down again. Pathan can swing it, but the good sides will fancy him with the new ball. Balaji ditto. It is unbelievable that a side like India has chosen to go in with only one specialist spinner, but then they haven't picked their better spinners so perhaps that explains a lot. Yuvraj will have his good days, but he may also have some bad ones, and if and when that happens the bowling looks thin indeed.

Finally, the fielding is better, but still has massive passengers: Ashwin, Zaheer, Balaji are simply poor; Yuvraj isn't fully match-fit yet and his speed is down, although this will improve - still got excellent hands; Shewag looks sluggish still; Kohli and Raina are the only two really good fielders. The good sides will really try to capitalise on that.

Arghh,

This thread has been moved to a sticky, a section my brain has been taught to ignore so spent ages trying to find it.


Afghanistan never really had the depth of batting needed, even though much of the Indian bowling was shockingly poor.

LondonTiger wrote:
Afghanistan never really had the depth of batting needed, even though much of the Indian bowling was shockingly poor.

Not sure I agree, they had 4 guys who could clearly play (the top 3 and Mohammed Nabi), and a few other guys who should have been looking to chip in with 10-15 rather than just give their wickets away.

Their young number 3 should have looked to bat through, rather than going for that big sweep of Yuvraj with the required rate still under 10. Mohammed Nabi played a low percentage shot in the end as well - having not got the boundary at the start of the over he should have just looked to see Ashwin off, and backed himself to get 12s off the seamers.

They lost wickets at crucial times and in clusters.

An interesting analysis is that both sides hit the exact same number of 4s and 6s. The issue was not the ability to play the big shots, it was what happened in between: take Shaffiqulah (8 off 9 including one 6, so 5 dot balls out of 9 once you take away the wicket) and Mohammed Naib (5 singles in 14 balls = 8 dot balls) - you would want at that level to be scoring at least 2 out of 3 balls, so that should be an extra 8 runs at least (not mentioning that the more you rotate the strike the more likely it is the boundary will come).

Also the wides - 14 wides is at least 8 too many. Not to mention the dropped catches.

It may seem like I'm being harsh on Afghanistan here. They made a very good effort, and there are far more positives for them to take away from the game than negatives. But ultimately, I suspect this is the kind of conversation they'll have had and be having. They haven't come to win hearts or put in good efforts, they've come to win at least one match. They had a very good chance of doing that yesterday, and couldn't quite manage it because of a few little (and for a team their level basic) mistakes. This in itself isn't a negative, it's just something they'll want to work on for next time. When they'll have more experience. If there is to be a next time.

If this game has taught us anything, it's that experience plays a huge part - both Ireland and Afghanistan suffered from a lack of it, and they're the associates/affiliates with the most experience anyway. Further reducing associate/affiliate participation in major tournaments isn't exactly going to help...

The afghan coach gives his thoughts:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-world-twenty20-2012/content/current/story/583009.html

Agree with Mike's assessment of the Zaheer situation. He takes his time getting into the groove, and I expect him to deliver under challenging situation.
Another thing with Zaheer is that although he burst into international cricket with those lethal yorkers, with his reduced pace and stuff they haven't been as effective as they used to be in the past. More often than not he ends up bowling length and gets taken for runs at the end. Perhaps he should bowl 3 overs upfront and just the 1 later. Pathan and Balaji will have to to the thankless stuff at the death, might just be a bit more effective than Zaheer would be. But in a high pressure situation I'd have only Zaheer doing the job. .

SA win the toss and will bowl first.

Sensible from Zimbabwe, Ray Price is back in.
South Africa are playing Farhaan Behardien. Both Petersen and Botha are in and there is no place for Lonwabo Tsotsobe.
Tsotsobe I feel could have been effective on the Lankan tracks with his cutters and slower balls But SA have plenty of bowling options besides the 4, there of course is Kallis, Albie Morkel and Behardien can bowl some seam while JP Duminy can chip in with an over or 2 of brisk off spin.

Zimbabwe will have to bat a lot better than they managed against Sri Lanka if they have to give themselves even the right to hope.

Not that Zim will win today...but they are the most likely of the minnows to cause an upset...because of their sheer better organization where BD rank after them, followed by IRE and Afganistan respectively

This has the potential to be a bit of an embarassment...

People still think Zimbabwe deserve test status ahead of Ireland?

6-2 already, seems like the makings of another poor batting performance from Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe developing a little bit of a partnership. Enters Jacques Kallis and gets the breakthrough of his 3rd ball.

51-4 decent partnerhsip broken by the ever green Kallis.

Chimbungura gone first ball now...

On a related topic, is Russel Arnold the most boring commentator ever? Not just his voice, but I struggle to think of one interesting thing he's said.

Kallis didn't stop at that, he gets Elton Chigumbura 2nd ball. Elton was the one who could take the attack to the bowling for a while.

Will be a struggle for Zimbabwe to beat their first match score here.

Steyn bowling with decent wheels.

Zimbabwe have been very poor, so it's hard to say anything.

South Africa-Sri Lanka should tell us a bit.

golden arm Kallis strikes again. Zimbabwe have been dreadful this tournament unfortunately, though Ervine today has done OK.