2015 World Cup

First topic message reminder :

March

Semi-finals

24 Semi-final 1, South Africa v New Zealand, Auckland (01:00 GMT)

26 Semi-final 2, India v Australia, Sydney (03:30 GMT)

Final

29 Final, Melbourne (05:30 BST)

KO-KING wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Another CLOSE minnow v. Minnow game.
BD and Zim inspite of their full status are closer to Ire, afganistan, Scot etc....and should be relegated to some kind of 6 nation B group that ICC should form.

Haven't BD Whitewash Zim, Beat WI and Whitewash NZ twice, draw vs SL, Go to Asia Cup Final, all in recent years?

Zim, Ire, Afg, Scot haven't come close to that

Mainly because they never get those sort of games.

Read somewhere that the match a few days ago was the first time Zimbabwe had played Ireland since 2010. This is the 10th and 11th ranked teams in the world - Never play each other

Whilst a 64-run win might look comfortable on paper, I can tell you that during two of those partnerships (Dilsan-Sangakkara and Chandimal-Mathews) there was a uncomfortable feeling that the match could turn out much closer than the end result proved. Even an epic SL win perhaps.

SL were well on track to produce an almighty reply to the 377-run target and the atmosphere created from their fans at the ground was incredible (TV doesn't do it justice judging from the highlights I saw this morning). It was like watching valuable spring water pouring down a hole in the earth - and it seemed as though there was nothing Australia could do about it at the time. Quite a sinking sort of feeling (for an Australian fan) to see Johnson getting taken to task for that one over (although he bowled very well otherwise!) and Doherty and later Watto haemorrhaging runs.
It was almost too much to bear.

Guildford, I take your point about Watson v Marsh but it seems they both have that knack of making a much needed contribution in one part; then undoing it all in the next. Added to that there is always this dark cloud of another injury (new or old one... cropping up again)
It's mental torture I tell you!

Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, that 41st over was like witnessing a very large bubble burst before one's eyes. It felt as though they were so far ahead up until that point. Sure, we had some overs from Starc & Co. still to come -  but I thought that Chandimal and Mathews could well and truly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Australia were around 40 runs in arrears at that point in SL's chase (I knew Australia had some high scoring overs near the end of their innings) but after that fateful over you could feel the energy dissipate from the SL fans... and dare I say... small trickles of fans leaving the ground. (it reminded me of Aus fans in those frustrating matches v the Windies in the early 80s where folks would make haste for the exits)

I thought the Smith-Clarke partnership was very timely. It seemed to go along slowly at first but gathered some steam as they both went past 50. That was a good old-fashioned ODI partnership, imo... solid & steady... grafting towards a stable platform for Maxwell and Watto to make some hay. The Finch dismissal looked horrendous - impatience personified, whist Warner could have expected that slower ball from Malinga after his slingy yorker the ball before.

Raf, it was a more responsible knock from Maxwell... someone must have emphasised the importance of team over individual glory and to get off the mark first before expressing his natural game. He waited about 5 balls this time. Like SA, we still have that unresolved problem of a confidently consistent 5th bowler (a la Vettori) and it was glaringly obvious last night. Who else is there though? Our "spin department" is a joke and the prospect of relying upon a Marsh or a Watson to get through 10 overs doesn't convincingly paper over our cracks against stronger batting line-ups.

Olly wrote:

KO-KING wrote:

KP_fan wrote:Another CLOSE minnow v. Minnow game.
BD and Zim inspite of their full status are closer to Ire, afganistan, Scot etc....and should be relegated to some kind of 6 nation B group that ICC should form.

Haven't BD Whitewash Zim, Beat WI and Whitewash NZ twice, draw vs SL, Go to Asia Cup Final, all in recent years?

Zim, Ire, Afg, Scot haven't come close to that

Mainly because they never get those sort of games.

Read somewhere that the match a few days ago was the first time Zimbabwe had played Ireland since 2010. This is the 10th and 11th ranked teams in the world - Never play each other

Sure those teams deserve bigger matches, but to suggest BD are close to teams like Ireland, Afg on a consistent basis series basis, is stretching it a bit considering they recently quite easily beat Zim the team ranked just below them 5-0. I can never see these teams whitewashing New Zealand or Beating WI, or Drawing a series in SL, BD were also number 8 in the world until a poor 2014 which saw players injured and Banned for idiotic reasons, Sure Ireland beat WI in the World cup, but put them in a 5 match series I doubt Ireland would be able to win more than one match vs WI.

Why why why, are we still not giving Woakes the new ball

Ko King obviously you are passionate BD fan.
Today is their day......put 250+ on the board and then press Eng down under pressure of runs.

I have heard rave reviews of Soumya Sarkar.....bats like a Gower, bowls like a Botham
BD are batting firs and that's a third of the battle already won

After a fine partnership between Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah, the former edged Jordan behind to make it 94-3 in the 21st over for Bangladesh. Shakib joins Mahmudullah. Bangladesh need the 2 of them to first build for a while before going on a greater attacking mode.

Shakib fails, Ali with a massive, massive wicket, thing it will now be difficult for Bangladesh to put up a fighting score here.......

Eng should be doing this all the time when vs. BD....ie hustle them with pace and bounce...force them on backfoot.
BD does not like short into the body stuff

Thought for this must win game, Bangladesh should have stuck with Nasir Hossain. Sure he hasn't been at his best for some time now, but not too long ago, he was one of the bright young players in the world, and what he has is a fine temperament. Besides, this was a pitch that looks like offering a bit of something for the spinner, Nasir's offspin could have been handy.

Bangladesh batsmen do not indeed like the short stuff at the body, but then there are not many who likes it anyways.
A top-edged 6 now of another short one.

140 in 30 overs and with 6 wickets in hand.....you'd expect BD to get to atleast 250 which would be just about fighting total.

Eng should attack more and try to bowl them out for 220.....while BD would look to maximize to 275

Kind of par for bang so far. Not to bad for either team really. But if england can't chase under 300 here we do not deserve to stay in. Bang should get between 250 and 280 I would think

Bangladesh close to the powerplay. Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah should be careful, they should bat sensibly during the powerplay and just ensure they are there for the final charge.

Bangla have to be looking at 280 against a team historically woeful at chasing about run a ball. As well as historically woefuller at showing any proficiency against spin. A Bangladeshi win would basically rip uo any hope I had of a good predictor... but dammit I'm tired of mediocrity. Might as well have underdog mediocrity

7 of Broad's over, the first of the powerplay.

Jordan kind of doing ok today. But this isn't a world class batting line up.. Commentators are saying we are not bowling full enough but it seems they hate the short ball(as long as you can get it over 140). So I disagree with them tbh.

I hope we can bowl well at the death, that will give this adjusted line up some confidence.

I am confident we can reach 300 or under but it won't be a battering which is what we really needed..

So the powerplay is over, and Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah see it through without damage, and they added 37 in between. Mushfiqur also gest to a half-century.

If I had to pick between Watson and Marsh, especially if he is gonna be a middle order batter. I'd pick Marsh. Seems a really good big game player.

kingraf wrote:If I had to pick between Watson and Marsh, especially if he is gonna be a middle order batter. I'd pick Marsh. Seems a really good big game player.

¨

I second that....Marsh is a more organized and seemingly consistent batsman
and not much to choose between their bowlings....as the 4th bowler.

Hazlewood if in the squad should come in for Johnson.

and dunno what rationale was behind leaving out Nathan Lyon from the squad

Listening to the game on ABC, what is wrong with this guy Peter Walsh?

On the Australia all-rounder scenario, what is the latest on Faulkner's fitness?

Thing with guys like Watson, and to a degree JP Duminy and Rohit Sharma. The fact that they make the game look so easy even when they fail tends to give the illusion that they are capable of so much more. The reality (not sure about Sharma because he is still youngish) is that these guys have been pros for a decade plus, and are really maxing out.

Not sure I regard Marsh as a better batter than Watto, but he looks more relaxed, more able to play well consistently. Especially if, as is the case in the middle order, you don't really have time to build a knock

A fine over from Broad, after scoring 27 of the first 3 slog overs, just 2 of it........

After bowling well for 4 balls of his over, Woakes messes things up, A low full-toss was smashed for 6 by Mushfiq, and next ball he was caught of a no-ball. Ended up with 11 of the over.

Good bowling by Jimmy and broad at the end so far. It's what we need . The big boys to step up.

An excellent knock comes to an end from Mahmudullah, run-out for 103, first world cup hundred for Bangladesh.

Morning all. These two from Bangladesh have certainly put England under some pressure here. Aah Mahmudullah falls to a run out... Shame as he had a great knock.

England certainly have some work to do.

msp83 wrote:On the Australia all-rounder scenario, what is the latest on Faulkner's fitness?

He's fine, got 3-48 last night.

I agree with raf and KP_f; I'd much rather have Marsh in the team as well.

Bangladesh should get it up around 270 in these last few overs... still an OK total but England should win this match one would think.

Last 3 overs coming up, how much can Bangladesh hurt England? They are 251-5 after 47. Think England will settle for 275-280, tough but certainly getable score even for this English side.

No hundred for Mushfiqur, he goes, holding out for 89. Fabulous knock nevertheless. Hope Mortaza can connect a few big shots now to take his side pass 280.

You would think that England should chase 270-280 but the Bangladeshi bowlers aren't that bad and coupled with Englands mental block of run chasing, still very close this.

Bangladesh batting like India in the final overs here. Getting totally stuck.......

Good death bowling.. Call me shocked !!


But it's only bang

To Eng's credit they pulled it back in the last 5 overs or so.....clever bowling by Jordan...
Eng have given themselves 20 runs less to chase

That's fine enough. It's a pancake. We didn't have high enough class to bowl them out. But we did bog them down to reduce that total

So Bangladesh finish on 275-7. They do have a decent total on the board, but think England will chase this.......

But Eng's not gonna win or lose narrowly.....either they will choke to a huge defeat or will coast thru easily.
So really 250 or 290 means the same in my view here

KP_fan wrote:But Eng's not gonna win or lose narrowly.....either they will choke to a huge defeat or will coast thru easily.
So really 250 or 290 means the same in my view here

I doubt they have that attack mate.

We can play spin well enough these days. It's a myth we can't. Root, bell and Taylor are very good. Add hales who doesn't have any mental issues within this team. 

I would like us to smash the score in 25-30 as SA/NZ or Oz would , but this is england. We will probally just play defensive and win in about 43....Well that's my prediction.

Quite frankly if we can't chase 275 against Bangladesh we don't deserve to get through

Olly wrote:Quite frankly if we can't chase 275 against Bangladesh we don't deserve to get through

Yep I mentioned that earlier.

It's true though and needs to be repeated....

mystiroakey,

England certainly do have the batsmen capable of chasing this total quite comfortably. I do, however, question the mental strength in recent times. There is a lot of pressure to get this total and given England's recent run chase capabilities (especially if the RRR gets over 7) then I feel they may struggle slightly.

The Bangladeshi bowlers aren't so bad that teams would be able to smash 275 off 25-30 overs, I would personally prefer England just get the much needed win. Smashing out can be high risk and leave England in a deep hole if they loose early wickets.

Yep we can win this in a defensive way, and it's probally the only way to go for a team in our current position.. But if we were a team that had already qualified things may be different. You may want to smash them.


The problem I can see is if bang get this total off NZ and then they go nuts as they have done v eng and one other team(where they lost 7 wickets chasing 150 odd)

Bang could take england out of the tourny..

I am very pessimistic about qualifying due to that.

England *should* win this.

Hopefully Hales can get England off the blocks with a bang. Haven't seen much of him so now would be the right time to see what he can produce.

I am not sure that any team can be seen to bat defensively to chase 275, its still a very decent total and some risks have to be taken. Its a two edged sword, bat defensively and get bogged down or go all out attack and risk loosing early wickets.

I have long said that chasing totals between 270 and 300 are the worst to chase as it puts batsmen and captains in two minds as to how to go about the chase. Its even worse for England, considering there performances so far, confidence and the added pressure of a must win match.

I still see this as being very much game on.

kingraf wrote:England *should* win this.

That seems to be the consensus... except for KO-KING.

Not sure they'll mash Bangers though but it's about time they did something brutal.

I thought Ian Bell was Richard Kettleborough (under a helmet) there for a moment, lol.

Oof that was close. Good review but my heart was in my throat then.

mystiroakey wrote:

KP_fan wrote:But Eng's not gonna win or lose narrowly.....either they will choke to a huge defeat or will coast thru easily.
So really 250 or 290 means the same in my view here

I doubt they have that attack mate.

We can play spin well enough these days. It's a myth we can't. Root, bell and Taylor are very good. Add hales who doesn't have any mental issues within this team. 

I would like us to smash the score in 25-30 as SA/NZ or Oz would , but this is england. We will probally just play defensive and win in about 43....Well that's my prediction.

should Eng lose...it's pressure that would do them in...and not the quality of BD attcak

Boring bell.

Great 4 then 5 dots of balls you should be scoring at least singles off.

Yawn fest