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)

Not so boring bell.great  over..

You numpty Ali..

Moeen's run one and a half there, Bell ball watching

Nothing happening and we gift a wicket through a runout. This team!

Moeen's stand and hit style is danegrous if he lasted too long...because he gets the runs on the board.

Lucky break for BD

Pressure of elimination acting up

Olly wrote:Moeen's run one and a half there, Bell ball watching

No communication. There wasn't a single on with bell the whole wicket to run.

I agree with Olly, had Bell been awake then the run was on. That said, this early in the chase with the scoreboard ticking along nicely, no need to take the risk. Poor all round.

Bell was in his crease.. Ali was allready down the wicket on the hit. It went fast to a fielder close . Not a run. Never.

The thing for me is, as the non striker, Bell should have been following up. The call (as the ball was behind Bell) should have been Ali's. I believe that there was a run there.

Bell was ball watching and so was Ali, he was not aware that Bell was firmly in his crease and realised it far too late.

Bad play from both and totally avoidable.

Nachos Jones wrote: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.

Morning / evening folks - the post above is particularly applicable to England in ODIs over the years. We too often bat for too long in second gear and then crash badly as we move up to and try to stay in top gear.

That said and despite a comics cut run out (both batsmen were at fault), England going along pretty nicely at the moment. Bell is some way off scintillating form but - as I said when he was batting against Scotland - you have to judge this innings of his when it's finished. The job is to take us to a win or at least have it near to guaranteed when he gets out. Hales and England benefiting from him not carrying recent baggage.

Not being funny but why aren't Bangladesh just bowling spin - everytime they've bowled pace we've creamed it

Well Hussain talked that up

Morning all,

Just getting up to speed but a bit concerned that England are being a little bit too passive against the spinners at the moment. Yes the required run-rate at the moment is fine, but if England trundle along at 3-4ish per over for much longer it can quickly get up towards and above 7. Whilst we all know in today's game that shouldn't be anything to worry about, in a must-win game the stakes are higher and you don't want to rely on scoring 80 odd off the last 10 IMO.

As a coach we talk a lot about making sure you take risks on your own terms. I just wouldn't want to see England get into a situation where suddenly they have to go for the big shots off the spinners, because that's when you lose your shape and tend to miscue.

Having said that, an "interesting" bowling change by Bangladesh gives Hales a couple of boundaries and that really eases the pressure.

And now Hales gone. What do I know?

Its hard to figure out if Bangladesh is bowling a very good defensive line or if England are playing overly cautious... Either way, England are finding themselves sinking into a hole here, pressure is mounting.

I would say Eng are comfortably placed with a RRR of 6.33 over 27 overs is nothing these days with 8 wickets in hand....for a sdie that has batting down to No.10

when the RRR goes to 8 these days is when there is some pressure...Eng ahead right now

Eng needs this pair to bat till the 35th over.....at whatever RR doesn't matter...and they would have a a firm grip then.

BD need to get two wickets preferably Bell in next 10 overs and they would have a firm grip.

anywhere in between those scenarios it would be anyones games

Mike Selig wrote:

... What do I know?

Morning Mike - well, do you and/or others know this one which I dont? Motivated by Moeen's 'reprieve' early on today.

What's the rationale on a lbw review by the batsman that it's not out if less than half of the ball is pitched outside leg? I would have thought it more logical for the decision to stay with 'umpire's call' if the ball pitched at all on leg stump, in the same sort of way that an 'out' decision is upheld even where the ball is only shown to be clipping the wicket. Thanks.

Eng are way ahead, but if you can find two odd wickets.. It becomes very interesting. Sides havent chased too well in this world cup, but I think England pulling it back by 20-odd runs at the end may have saved their world cup campaign

I agree that England are ahead but history tells me that England can just as quickly go into their shell and allow the pressure to mount and as a result, cause them to take extra risks leading to wickets.

Oh and Morning Guildford

Bells gone.

Time for the capo to bring us home.

Ian bell with an Ian bell innings

Olly wrote:Ian bell with an Ian bell innings

Perfectly put

Omg. Morgan is a muppet

Il Capitan needs a hand here. Would be farcical if Englad come home, and he didnt once put his hand up and perform.

we replaced cook for that....

So everybody feared us getting done by spin - we go one better and get done by the seamers.

This is what happens when you let the game drift as we do over and over again.

Taylor and root . Our best two young uns.. Not power hitters. But it's a small ground.

Well I thought it had the potential to be precarious, and now it is.

Two best batsmen at the crease now.

Still have the batting to win this but really this is a nothing team. Its probably best if they lose today so we don't have to follow any more of their pathetic, spineless efforts.

Wickets and rising run rate make Jack a dull boy.

Cue the Stanley Kubrick horror music. This smells bad for England.

kingraf wrote:Eng are way ahead, but if you can find two odd wickets.. It becomes very interesting. Sides havent chased too well in this world cup, but I think England pulling it back by 20-odd runs at the end may have saved their world cup campaign

Two wickets later. Horror show from Morgan. Someone needs re pen a book on the art of the chase. Not sure anybody in this world cup actually knows how

Duty281 wrote:Well I thought it had the potential to be precarious, and now it is.

Two best batsmen at the crease now.

When your captain lets you down every game it's allways precarious....

For some reason Morgan instills false confidence..

Well this changes the scenario somewhat. Root and Taylor have a very big job to do here.

Yeah, exactly on Bell. Tough to have a pop at someone who got 60 plus but he didn't stay long enough to do the job required. A useful innings but not the commanding one he and England wanted.

The first 3 wickets falling when there was relatively little pressure and we seemed to be doing comfortably. Not just frustrating but maddening.

And now Morgan goes to an excellent boundary catch, appearing to be very well planned.

Becomes rather farcical if you select a new captain now, but Morgan was both in hindsight, and at the time a poor decision.

England are still ahead at this junction though. Really should still be winning from here against a disciplined, but limited attack.

KP_fan wrote:I would say Eng are comfortably placed with a RRR of 6.33 over 27 overs is nothing these days with 8 wickets in hand....for a sdie that has batting down to No.10

when the RRR goes to 8 these days is when there is some pressure...Eng ahead right now

Eng needs this pair to bat till the 35th over.....at whatever RR doesn't matter...and they would have a a firm grip then.

BD need to get two wickets preferably Bell in next 10 overs and they would have a firm grip.

anywhere in between those scenarios it would be anyones games

So BD has a grip now unambigously

I really like Mog's but he is far from being the batsmen he once was and it really was a mistake to make him Captain. Personally I would have gone for Root.

I do really like Taylor, reminds me a little of Neil Fairbrother...

Root needs to absolutely stay in here. He's just chewed up so many balls that a dismissal would be horrible.

We are fuc*ing awdul.

Captaincy is a tough gig. Its as much a personality thing as it is a tactical thing. When youre captain, you have all these functions to go to, all these extra team meetings. It basically cuts your private batting and training time in half. This is why captains going through batting slumps seem to take so much longer to get out of it. It is also why selecting a captain who averaged 25 last year was asking for trouble

Please lose so this can end and a more deserving team goes through

Taylor does his pigmy giraffe impression.

I wouldnt say awful... but you are pretty bad.

If Bangla win this... WE get them in the Quarters!!!

England heading out.

Bye Moores.

I honestly cant believe this, I suspected it may happen but it still shocks me when it does. Root has to go for it now.

Morgan was a temporary captain.

No wait... I forgot they havent played NZ yet.

Nachos Jones wrote:I really like Mog's but he is far from being the batsmen he once was and it really was a mistake to make him Captain. Personally I would have gone for Root.

I do really like Taylor, reminds me a little of Neil Fairbrother...

It was just too late in the day.

Morgan was in terrible form without the captaincy pressure. We should have dropped him to county and then maybe given him the captaincy after the WC anyway.

We had a plan that was on going for a year or so that Cook would be capo with no exception .

Typical england.

By the way this isn't hindsight . I was saying it all along. As were others I am sure

What a shower of poo. Nice Guy Moores has got to go, just as bad second time as the first.

Tear everything up and start again. Make some tough decisions and stop putting Yes Men in charge of everything.