World Cup 2015

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Warm Up game between Ind and Aus ongoing...
it's an official ODI...though after so much cricket why do these sides need a "warm-up"

India's bowling in melt-down and the two most dangerous guys in Aus side Warner and Maxwell get 100s

Looks like Ind will be chasing 375

It's not predominantly Greek. The people are from everywhere. Large numbers of Chinese, Vietnamese and just about every other country in Asia these days. Especially since the mid 00s... large numbers from African nations as well (Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, etc)

Excellent performance by the Proteas

Excellent performance from India, well don't them.

Not the end of the world for SA and I still see them going far in this tournament.

its great to see Indians in the field these days.

Such a turn around in there effort.

As an england fan I feel a bit better, we are not the only team to get battered. Most teams(test) seem as inconstant as each other bar the home nations.


Well played india.. Great win. I thought they were to conservative last ten. But they did enough.. More than enough..

The Loaded Dog wrote:It's not predominantly Greek. The people are from everywhere. Large numbers of Chinese, Vietnamese and just about every other country in Asia these days. Especially since the mid 00s... large numbers from African nations as well (Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, etc)

Didn't mean to offend The Loaded Dog, I was just going on my experience when I was in Melbourne.

So first world cup win for India against South Africa, in the 4th attempt....... They win by 130. A big win that.......

You probally don't remember much bar waking up with a half eaten kebab next to your face....

Nachos Jones wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:It's not predominantly Greek. The people are from everywhere. Large numbers of Chinese, Vietnamese and just about every other country in Asia these days. Especially since the mid 00s... large numbers from African nations as well (Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, etc)

Didn't mean to offend The Loaded Dog, I was just going on my experience when I was in Melbourne.

You didn't offend, mate. Just preparing you for the cultural change we've undergone since you were here. It's really noticeable.

At the recent Asian Cup I was surprised to see hordes of people from Iran, Korea, Iraq, etc in large numbers. They created a special vibe at the matches. Some very passionate (more so than us!) fans at this WC.

Compare the noise today with the Aus-Eng match last weekend... which sort of lacked a cracking atmosphere.

The Indians cheer for a quick single... we mostly clap (with some cheering) for the same thing. Just my observation.

India v england in england is almost like an away game. We may see a similar fate if Oz meet them.

Yes, it's approaching that situation here too.
Just that we have less (a few hundred k in Melb/Syd combined) v your million(s)? or so in the UK.

In the end a surreal result for the Indian team that struggled so much in Aus and especially in the triseries.
What's worked for India are some upsides that they hit unexpectedly in both games:

1) 215 runs from dhawan in 2 innings

2) a century and a near 80 from one of top-4 in both games

3) Won the toss and got to bat in better conditions.....the ball seams in a skiddy way under light.

4) Shami and Mohit have bowled well......good control and hitting 140kph +......and Ashwin ain't bad either.....all getting good purchase from the pitch under lights.

Now if we top and BD Push Eng off the cliff thru a win or atleast rain affected draw vs Eng / Nz......then ind can look to play BD in QF

Ind however will be tested if top 4 don't fire big .....the next 4 are all weak against pace, bounce and seam.

Surreal and enjoyable cricket from Ind so far

We must have about 3 million. But I would say 2 million of them are of Pakistani origin.

But england is so small. Any ground is only a few hours away.

KP_f...and you have got 2 hard games out of the way.
That should take the pressure off you to perform v Ireland, Windies, etc.

Just hope you haven't "peaked too soon".

The best thing about India's win today was that they managed to not only outbat and outbowl South Africa, but outfield them too.

Now that the hardest couple of games are done, India should now guard against getting complaisant.

Bit early for the saffers to be choking ain't it?

The Loaded Dog wrote:KP_f...and you have got 2 hard games out of the way.
That should take the pressure off you to perform v Ireland, Windies, etc.

Just hope you haven't "peaked too soon".

My friend thx for your concern......That though sounds more like " I hope you have peaked and hence don't pose a threat in knock-outs

Olly wrote:Bit early for the saffers to be choking ain't it?

They want to spare us the expectation that things will go well this time, instead they want us to expect nothing and then be surprised if we actually do something.

But then, we already expect nothing, so maybe they are doing it for themselves to remove the favourites tag?

It's all a clever ruse to draw Bangladesh in the quarters. You laugh now, but we'll see who laughs when India get knocked out by England having their obligatory one off freak occurrence perfect storm performance.

kingraf wrote:It's all a clever ruse to draw Bangladesh in the quarters. You laugh now, but we'll see who laughs when India get knocked out by England having their obligatory one off freak occurrence perfect storm performance.

I'm a big fan of the lulling the opposition into a false sense of security. Continue south Africa please

Superb, unexpected victory for India.

The first upset of the tournament.

Now I am absolutely dreading the England game tonight.

ICC lolz

Tonight is our chance to win, and win well. We've played the big boys, now we have to qualify. Finishing fourth, and potentially playing India in the QF's won't be a bad result. India have a very good top five, granted, but are short in other departments. Gotta win and get there first though.

Can see England scraping over the line tonight. Think it'll be a real close game, but hopefully i'm wrong and Bell and Morgan get some runs under their belt. Would like to see Bopara and Hales come into the side.

The issue with shortening the boundaries, not regulating batting manufacturers (not sure they should be, if I'm honest mind), and flattening the pitches beyond repair is that while the ICC has created an environment where teams reasonably well matched can just blow each other off the park if one is a little better than the other. This creates an environment where games are basically dead 70% of the way in if that team batted first. It's a bit like basketball where a small variance in quality on the day can lead to a blow out. The difference is that while basketball fans only have to sit through a blowout for for ten odd minutes... We have to watch a team whimper home for two hours. Not good TV, and no wonder the ICC is forever trying to tinker the rules to curb 50-overs death. They can't give bowlers too much though, because the market is India and batters are worshipped there.

At least under the old regime and rules, where 250 was a reasonable days work, being 80/4 after 20 still had a semblance of hope.

I'd go: Bell, Hales, Taylor, Root, Morgan, Ali, Buttler, Woakes, Broad, Anderson, Finn/Tredwell.

Would like to see Tredwell in, but allegedly there is a bit of rain in the air so the pitch could be a little spicy and in that case I would want more than the three seamers out there.

Be a good game this.
Surely England wo t lose.
Bell is quality. Like watching him bat.

JDizzle wrote:I'd go: Bell, Hales, Taylor, Root, Morgan, Ali, Buttler, Woakes, Broad, Anderson, Finn/Tredwell.

Would like to see Tredwell in, but allegedly there is a bit of rain in the air so the pitch could be a little spicy and in that case I would want more than the three seamers out there.

Rumor is Hales and Tredwell will come into the side. Cannot see there being a unchanged side

kingraf wrote:It's all a clever ruse to draw Bangladesh in the quarters. You laugh now, but we'll see who laughs when India get knocked out by England having their obligatory one off freak occurrence perfect storm performance.

Aye..

Olly wrote:

JDizzle wrote:I'd go: Bell, Hales, Taylor, Root, Morgan, Ali, Buttler, Woakes, Broad, Anderson, Finn/Tredwell.

Would like to see Tredwell in, but allegedly there is a bit of rain in the air so the pitch could be a little spicy and in that case I would want more than the three seamers out there.

Rumor is Hales and Tredwell will come into the side. Cannot see there being a unchanged side

I'm fully behind the no kneejerk reaction policy, you can't constantly be tinkering with a side. England actually began to look competent during the tri-series by sticking with the same team (then changed the team, duh), but sometimes there are results so bad that it would be disrespectful to the reserves that they don't get a go. The NZ was most definitely one of those results, changes have to happen.

If they bring Hales in and bat him at 6 though...

Unlike you JDizzle I'd drop Broad for Tredwell. He's been awful since coming back from the layoff, and baffling that he got the new ball instead of woakes (who'd done brilliantlit with it)

He offers bugger all with the bat too let's face it

Think being Mitch'd and that blow to the face over the summer has finished off Broad's batting. Doesn't fancy it anymore. Thought Broad was getting back into a bit of a rythmn in the end of the tri series and in the warm-up games, and Finn still isn't near the bowler he was despite that five for against India. Woakes should definitely get the new ball though.

Duty281 wrote:Superb, unexpected victory for India.

The first upset of the tournament.

Now I am absolutely dreading the England game tonight.

I don't think this was an upset, India is always very competitive against us, the last 10 result matches are 6-4 in our favour, not a huge margin, of those 10 matches only one has been played in Asia.

Biltong wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Superb, unexpected victory for India.

The first upset of the tournament.

Now I am absolutely dreading the England game tonight.

I don't think this was an upset, India is always very competitive against us, the last 10 result matches are 6-4 in our favour, not a huge margin, of those 10 matches only one has been played in Asia.

Maybe if Australia hadn't sharpened (i.e. battered and bruised) India up so much it might have been a different story yesterday?

I must admit, I was giving SA the benefit of the doubt beforehand. At the same time, however, I could feel that India had made a start on getting back on the rails in their match against Pakistan. You could see it in their faces afterwards. They are a big match side in WCs with the ability to switch their game on when it counts.

England could be the same. It's just that they've had a bad run of "luck" but have also made things harder for themselves.
As I said above, they need to put all that behind. It starts from today. One confident contribution leads to another... just get out there and play!

Take control like NZ did.

I have picked England by 47 runs or 5 wickets... but I've been under estimating by around 50% in a few games. They could win by a big margin.

As for the other possible (but highly unlikely outcome)... well, that would almost be too much to bear, wouldn't it?

I love Scotland... but surely they couldn't tame the 3 Lion Cubs?

Respectable performance by Afghanistan earlier. Gave Sri Lanka a few scares along the way but couldn't quite find the killer touch with bat or ball.

Afghanistan's final group game is against England and by then - with Australia and New Zealand still to come - they'll realistically have little chance of reaching the QFs. That could work one of two ways - Afghanistan will be demoralised and can't wait to go home or they'll be determined to go out on a high and give it everything. I'm still assuming it'll be a meaningful game for England!

If Afghanistan are up for it, that game won't be a stroll for England either.

The cynic in me is sure that England will make one or, probably, two changes for today's Scotland game. Moores has to make some show of what has gone on in the opening two games not being satisfactory. The problem now is we're making plans on the hoof. If Bopara comes in and does ok or better, that'll again give him another little run in the side even though he wasn't considered good enough to play the earlier more difficult games.

As said before, I'm not convinced we have the players (or, at least, players in form) for a properly balanced team. Mind you, we're not alone there. South Africa always looked a batsman light for their game against India. Maybe no way round that, Raf?

Cracking performance and result for India anyway. How can a team that fields so abysmally in Tests be so good in ODIs?

Really enjoying this World Cup. Nearly all the games have been competitive. The associates are more than capable of defeating a test team (I won't say 'pulling off a surprise'). Also, as mysti said earlier, the two hosts are looking very strong so far but everyone else is certainly beatable.

guildfordbat wrote:Respectable performance by Afghanistan earlier. Gave Sri Lanka a few scares along the way but couldn't quite find the killer touch with bat or ball.

Afghanistan's final group game is against England and by then - with Australia and New Zealand still to come - they'll realistically have little chance of reaching the QFs. That could work one of two ways - Afghanistan will be demoralised and can't wait to go home or they'll be determined to go out on a high and give it everything. I'm still assuming it'll be a meaningful game for England!

If Afghanistan are up for it, that game won't be a stroll for England either.

The cynic in me is sure that England will make one or, probably, two changes for today's Scotland game. Moores has to make some show of what has gone on in the opening two games not being satisfactory. The problem now is we're making plans on the hoof. If Bopara comes in and does ok or better, that'll again give him another little run in the side even though he wasn't considered good enough to play the earlier more difficult games.

As said before, I'm not convinced we have the players (or, at least, players in form) for a properly balanced team. Mind you, we're not alone there. South Africa always looked a batsman light for their game against India. Maybe no way round that, Raf?

Cracking performance and result for India anyway. How can a team that fields so abysmally in Tests be so good in ODIs?

Really enjoying this World Cup. Nearly all the games have been competitive. The associates are more than capable of defeating a test team (I won't say 'pulling off a surprise'). Also, as mysti said earlier, the two hosts are looking very strong so far but everyone else is certainly beatable.

See now I have to take an opposite view to you Guildford, a lot of the games between "the big teams" so to speak have been very uncompetitve and rather dull. Thinking Windies/Pakistan, both England games, India/Saffers, Pakistan/India wasn't really close either.

I'm hoping for a sharp improvement in the competitiveness towards the end of the group stage and into the knockout rounds

Olly - I take your point. That's the way a lot of games have ended up. I was more thinking of (although didn't explain, apologies) how they have stood after 25 or even 50 overs. Not many have been so clear cut at that stage.

That's also when I've often been heading for bed and leaving the game which has undoubtedly influenced my thinking!

I hope you don't sleep with the radio on, Guildford.

Even a great cricketing mind needs a rest, you know.

No chance, LD. Mrs Bat is generally pretty tolerant but that would be a step too far!

guildfordbat wrote:Olly - I take your point. That's the way a lot of games have ended up. I was more thinking of (although didn't explain, apologies) how they have stood after 25 or even 50 overs. Not many have been so clear cut at that stage.

That's also when I've often been heading for bed and leaving the game which has undoubtedly influenced my thinking!

Ahhh I see, I've been getting to the 75 over mark and usually all over by then (although with England I presume you see everything! )

Stella wrote:Tonight is our chance to win, and win well. We've played the big boys, now we have to qualify. Finishing fourth, and potentially playing India in the QF's won't be a bad result. India have a very good top five, granted, but are short in other departments. Gotta win and get there first though.

Hmm....So are you planning that Eng should ( or would definitely) lose to Lanka ??
assuming Eng and Lanka will go past Afg, BD and Scot each........the loser of Lanka -Eng will finish 4th

guildfordbat wrote: ?

Cracking performance and result for India anyway. How can a team that fields so abysmally in Tests be so good in ODIs?

efffing Dhoni just didn't care for tests...
and such high was his stature in India cricket after winning the world cup and with the hand of Srini on his head that he could do what he like and go unstopped

England unchanged. Gulp

There is cloud in Christchurch.

Which means England are under tremendous pressure if they lose the toss, and have blessed relief if they win it.

England team unchanged, cracking banter from Peter Moores.

Scotland win the toss and bowl first. Good toss for them to win.

Ideally England must have wanted to bowl first and skittle Scotland cheaply and take some pressure off the batsmen. If Scotland grab some early wickets now then England might begin to feel the nerves...

Same England time as before. Surprised by that although it's more a case of many individuals needing to play much better rather than whether A replaces B.

Imagine being one of those on the bench, not getting a game after those thrashings

Oh bugger.

Scotland will fancy this. Massively.

A slither of a bet placed on Scotland to shock the world over the course of the next few hours.

And speaking of "shock the world", I dusted off my England 2007 RWC DVD today. That began with humiliation, and nearly ended with England transforming themselves into world champions.

Same again, perhaps? England's World Cup starts here, and all that?

Good to see we are unchanged, at least. I do not believe that the replacements would add an awful lot.

Olly wrote:Imagine being one of those on the bench, not getting a game after those thrashings

At least good news for Stokes. After this WC, his place has probably been cemented for a couple of years!