Champions Trophy - England and Wales 2013

First topic message reminder :

We have had a few prediction/ speculation type threads but this will be the discussion thread for matches in the Champions Trophy which starts this morning.

The first game is India v South Africa at the Swalec Stadium, Cardiff.

Come on England, make the pressure count.

Spin for Tredwell, a fair bit of it. Aussies not playing a spinner looking more like a mistake...

suddenly england's slow rate doesn't seem so slow

Hughes started well , but he is looking clueless facing Tredwell. Not a good player of spin at the best of times.

Bailey can play. And they do bat very deep , so this game isn't over. But England are squeezing them well at the moment.
Cook will be considering when to bring in Bopara (and/or Root) for his fifth bowler

Hopefully get a couple of decent overs off Root here...

some rooty bops now.

will they share ten or give bops more?

Turn the screw time.

LivinginItaly wrote:suddenly england's slow rate doesn't seem so slow

True...I think a few of us may be eating some humble pie. Aussie batsmen struggling at the moment. England's bowling and fielding looking pretty sharp.

Then again, this isn't the mighty world-class Aussie team of years gone by. 20 overs gone and they're only on 63. Could be leaving too much to do in the latter overs.

root could get some wickets here as they will have to try and get after him.

Mike Selig wrote:England showing the value of genuine bowlers at this level. Maybe the pitch isn't as much of a belter as people assumed.

Australia look short of class to me.

I was thinking that myself , Mike - about the pitch , I mean. England only seemed fluent at the very start and the final few overs , and Australia have struggled throughout.
Credit the bowlers , yes , but it can't be a total coincidence that all these international batsmen are unable to force the pace...

plenty of overs though for aussie to open up. I would never write them off.

Englands rate wasn't bad, the middle order just didn't do their job, Ravi aside.

Uh-oh...spoke too soon. They're making mincemeat of Bopara's bowling.

and they are smashing ops now. in the blank of an eye they have changed the scoring rate.

more over like that and they win.

please don't Dernbache us Bops.

Will the Australians realize they are chasing 270 rather than 170? Agree with Mike though, they do seem short of real class. Watson is a seriously good ODI player going through a rough patch, Clarke is a very good ODI batsman who can offer some solidity to the batting lineup. Warner has the potential, but he's not much consistent. Hughes has had a good start to his ODI career, but then we saw the same with his test career. The rest of the lineup looks not much more than average for me. They are capable of playing some good knocks, but not consistently enough at this level.

msp83 wrote:Will the Australians realize they are chasing 270 rather than 170? Agree with Mike though, they do seem short of real class. Watson is a seriously good ODI player going through a rough patch, Clarke is a very good ODI batsman who can offer some solidity to the batting lineup. Warner has the potential, but he's not much consistent. Hughes has had a good start to his ODI career, but then we saw the same with his test career. The rest of the lineup looks not much more than average for me. They are capable of playing some good knocks, but not consistently enough at this level.

they just hit 13 off an over and destroyed Bopara.. they realise and are looking unmovable now.

I would certainly not be writing Australia off yet , trebs. Think it is fair to call it advantage England at the moment though.

Long way to go , but the way it has panned out so far , perhaps preferring Bopara and Bresnan over Finn might not have been so crazy as many thought ?
Could it be that Giles and his team are not complete mugs after all ?

Don't think Australia have to panic just yet - 120-130 off 30 will give them a chance as they have plenty of good hitters down the order.

Agree with Shane that bowling your 2 part-timers at the same time is probably not the way forward...

yeah aussie have this Mike. with the hitters down the order and these two set like cement? their day.

Good proactive captaincy from Cook...one loose over from Bopara and he immediately brings Broad back

Doesn't mean Ravi is done for the day , but now isn't the time...good move.

Good move. Broad back on. Don't let it drift.

and only has to make up 6 overs now Alfie. some of root and probably a couple more of Bops later.

alfie and I agreeing a bit too much today for my liking...

Although I was called old-school and he was accused of being young...

I actually think both captains have been very much on the ball today...not easy on a pitch which doesn't give the bowlers a lot , and they've done well...

Root strikes ! Yes thats out...

The 5th bowler has already gone for 30 in 5 overs. Tredwell was bowling very well, thought England should have given him a longer spell, Hughes was having no idea whatsoever against him. Cook could have brought one of Root and Bopara from one end, and keep Tredwell from the other.
Better from Cook, Broad brought back from one end, and Root continues from the other.

ph gone next to young Root.

but the score looks good for the Aussies.

I though that was missing from my armchair........let's see after the ad break

Phil Hughes really cannot play spin can he?

Great stuff, just what was needed. Young Root can keep going

so aussie have a deep line-up.. is there any tail at all?

impossible to tell from the india game.

Nope, I'll stay at square leg!!

Mike Selig wrote:alfie and I agreeing a bit too much today for my liking...

Although I was called old-school and he was accused of being young...

Yes it is a bit of a worry , isn't it Mike ?

Never mind , we have Le Tour coming up and I'm sure we can clash over Sky or Evans or something

Brilliant JR! Just what England needed.

Root has Hughes lbw for 30 and Aus are 96-3.

Now if he or Ravi can do the same to Bailey that would swing the game back in England's favour.

a highlight reel of our missed chances makes our fielding look terrible but they looked tough ones to me.

yeah Dyre more wickets needed to give eng a chance. Aussie still have the men to open up and then some.

Yeah, I don't think we missed any dollies trebs.

trebellbobaggins wrote:a highlight reel of our missed chances makes our fielding look terrible but they looked tough ones to me.

Half of them weren't even chances, just great ground fielding. Weird package

Anderson all over Voges there...

Cook ringing the changes - Tredwell back now. Some good running by Bailey...and now he brings off a reverse sweep. Game still very much alive.

Tredwell getting tonked a bit this over.

aussie look in control, how do you get these two out? Bailey is set for the day.

20 overs left. Need to pick up Bailey sharpish!

Off to work I go, hopefully I return to an English win!

So Australia, at the start of the T-20, are 0-3.

with an ipl master in control msp.

Aussie run rate the highest its been at 3.8 an over (115 off 30).

Expect they'll try to really push it now for the last 20.

Really need Anderson and Broad to pick up a couple of wickets now.

I rather like Bailey. Not sure he'd make a Test player , unfortunately for Australia , as he'd be a good captaincy option for them after Clarke. But I think he might have been worth trying in the Ashes squad given the way the batting has fizzled recently.
He needs to hold them together here - they have some good hitters to finish if the target doesn't get too far away from them.

They are pushing on a bit now...if Mike's suggestion that we should consider adjusting the formula to "double the score at 32/33 overs" were adopted it would look fairly close...

Power play now...this might be crucial.

Another wicket and Voges goes! Not the one we wanted, but it all helps! Bresnan proving us all wrong haha

Brezza you beauty!

He bowls Voges who went for a big drive, but missed. Aus now 127-4 and possibly in a spot of bother.

I can go watch the F1 a lot happier now.

Voges gone...no surprise. Didn't look at all happy against Jimmy , and Bresnan went straight through him there...

Actually may be good for Australia , as Marsh can really hit the ball.

Fine over from Bresnan

Finn : who he ?

Great, tight bowling by all 3 seamers so far

Bresnan's done a very good job, as have all the England bowlers. Think Cook's done a good job with his captaincy.

Hughes looked at sea against the slower stuff you have to say.

Voges looked short of class, and will surely make way for Clarke.

I'm interested to see what Marsh does. A few years ago he looked a fine player, but hasn't quite come on. Plenty of time for him still of course.

Top over from Broad. Just one off it.

Everytime I saw Marsh play in the IPL he was awful, but looking at his stats it actually looks like he can play cricket after all. That was a poor over from him though.