ICC Cricket World Cup

First topic message reminder :

Table
England 2pts (+2.08nrr)
Afghanistan
Australia
Bangladesh
India
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
West Indies
South Africa 0pts (-2.08 nrr)


Pool Fixtures

Thu, May 30 
10:30 England vs South Africa  (The Oval)

Fri, May 31 
10:30 West Indies vs Pakistan (Trent Bridge)

Sat, Jun 1 
10:30 New Zealand vs Sri Lanka (Cardiff)
13:30 Afghanistan vs Australia (Bristol)

Sun, Jun 2 
10:30 South Africa vs Bangladesh (The Oval)

Mon, Jun 3 
10:30 England vs Pakistan (Trent Bridge)

Tue, Jun 4 
10:30 Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka (Cardiff)

Wed, Jun 5 
10:30 South Africa vs India (Southampton)
13:30 Bangladesh vs New Zealand (The Oval)

Thu, Jun 6 
10:30 Australia vs West Indies (Trent Bridge)

Fri, Jun 7 
10:30 Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (Bristol)

Sat, Jun 8 
10:30 England vs Bangladesh (Cardiff)
13:30 Afghanistan vs New Zealand (Taunton)

Sun, Jun 9 
10:30 Australia vs India (The Oval)

Mon, Jun 10 
10:30 South Africa vs West Indies (Southampton)

Tue, Jun 11 
10:30 Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (Bristol)

Wed, Jun 12 
10:30 Australia vs Pakistan (Taunton)

Thu, Jun 13 
10:30 India vs New Zealand (Trent Bridge)

Fri, Jun 14 
10:30 England vs West Indies (Southampton)

Sat, Jun 15 
10:30 Australia vs Sri Lanka (The Oval)
13:30 Afghanistan vs South Africa (Cardiff)

Sun, Jun 16 
10:30 India vs Pakistan (Old Trafford)

Mon, Jun 17 
10:30 Bangladesh vs West Indies (Taunton)

Tue, Jun 18 
10:30 England vs Afghanistan (Old Trafford)

Wed, Jun 19 
10:30 New Zealand vs South Africa (Edgbaston)

Thu, Jun 20 
10:30 Australia vs Bangladesh (Trent Bridge)

Fri, Jun 21 
10:30 England vs Sri Lanka (Headingley)

Sat, Jun 22 
10:30 Afghanistan vs India (Southampton)
13:30 New Zealand vs West Indies (Old Trafford)

Sun, Jun 23 
10:30 Pakistan vs South Africa (Lord’s)

Mon, Jun 24 
10:30 Afghanistan vs Bangladesh (Southampton)

Tue, Jun 25 
10:30 England vs Australia (Lord’s)

Wed, Jun 26 
10:30 New Zealand vs Pakistan (Edgbaston)

Thu, Jun 27 
10:30 India vs West Indies (Old Trafford)

Fri, Jun 28 
10:30 South Africa vs Sri Lanka (Edgbaston)

Sat, Jun 29 
10:30 Afghanistan vs Pakistan (Headingley)
13:30 Australia vs New Zealand (Lord’s)

Sun, Jun 30 
10:30 England vs India (Edgbaston)

Mon, Jul 1 
10:30 Sri Lanka vs West Indies (Riverside Ground)

Tue, Jul 2 
10:30 Bangladesh vs India (Edgbaston)

Wed, Jul 3 
10:30 England vs New Zealand (Riverside Ground)

Thu, Jul 4 
10:30 Afghanistan vs West Indies (Headingley)

Fri, Jul 5 
10:30 Bangladesh vs Pakistan (Lord’s)

Sat, Jul 6 
10:30 India vs Sri Lanka (Headingley)
13:30 Australia vs South Africa (Old Trafford)




Knock Out Fixtures


To Follow

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Windies win the toss...and bowl first. At Trent Bridge.

That's bold!

I honestly think they would much rather have a look at whats possible with the bat first and chase down a total. The biggest threat to them is going out chasing the 500 and implode for 200 only to find out its a par 300 day. Theres a touch of green and a lot of grey cloud around earlier, with the sun due late. This could be the other Trent Bridge we know from tests, as well as the one where Gayle can put anything into the Trent. Its certainly more likely to offer something to seamers early than late.
I reckon West Indies would back themselves to chase down another 340 as England did if Pakistan do get that.

I'm predicting Pakistan all out for 499, then Windies win by 7 wickets chasing it down

Actually, I'm predicting neither side to pass 350 despite all the hype. Pakistan to make about 330 then defend it

Getting in early, Sheldon Cottrell's celebration is horrific and should be banned from the game

This should be Scotland's first game, of course, had they not got a shocker of an LBW decision at the back end of their crucial qualifier against the West Indies.

But I reckon people would rather be seeing Gayle and Hetmyer this afternoon!

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Getting in early, Sheldon Cottrell's celebration is horrific and should be banned from the game

+1000000000

I'd rather watch Tahir do a full lap of honour.

One innovation I do like in this World Cup (Guildford and modernisation?! ) is the use and showing of tthe DRS timer. Previously there's been too much leeway and inconsistency concerning the use of DRS.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Getting in early, Sheldon Cottrell's celebration is horrific and should be banned from the game

As opposed to Tahir lapping the ground faster than he runs when he fields?

Windies vs South Africa could be one to avoid....

Gooseberry wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Getting in early, Sheldon Cottrell's celebration is horrific and should be banned from the game

As opposed to Tahir lapping the ground faster than he runs when he fields?

Surrey have signed Tahir for the t20s and his celebrations are already getting mixed comments from the Oval regulars. As one of those has said, the way our season is going he'll probably get injured in his first Surrey training session and never get the chance to bowl, let alone celebrate!

One of the worst deliveries to yield a wicket.

Seeing Lewis and Gabriel out was making me revise my opinions a bit toward Pakistan, but that early wicket is very big. Its going to be difficult for Pakistan to risk scoring quickly now. (He types as Fakar takes 7 off two balls!). Runs form teh top 3 are vital for their innings though.

Gooseberry wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Getting in early, Sheldon Cottrell's celebration is horrific and should be banned from the game

As opposed to Tahir lapping the ground faster than he runs when he fields?

Don't even get me started on Tahir

14 off 4 balls shortly after a wicket suggests Pakistan have taken a lesson from the England series and are taking more of an all or nothing approach to this game.

And inevitably there goes the second wicket. Looks like nothing then.

Pakistan taking the same mentality to proceedings as South Africa did yesterday.

And really struggling against the short ball.

Very hostile bowling from the West Indies, helped by some generous umpiring.

Pakistan in real trouble at 45/3.

Hetmyer drops Babar at point - not easy, but one that should've been taken

MSP is going to be fuming at all these high scoring games. Trent Bridge Ruining Cricket.

This is in danger of being one sided and therefore pretty boring vs what was expected

Duty281 wrote:Pakistan taking the same mentality to proceedings as South Africa did yesterday.

And really struggling against the short ball.

Not quite sure about that, but this does sum up why a team would want to bowl first when they trust their batsmen.

It looks like Pakistan have bought they hype around Trent Bridge and been intimidated by the West Indies power hitters. Also having set scores around the 350 mark only to see England having taken them apart it appears like theyve gone out with too much intent this time and their top batsmen have come unstuck.
from here they now have no choice but to bat for time and hope to get something in the high 200's or maybe push to 300 if someone goes berserk at the death. Its a tough ask to get there though , but if they do theres always a chance that the West Indies who are incapable of batting sensibly (certainly Gayle) getting themselves in a similar mess.
But really it does look a pretty done deal now, and points to why the half way house approach theyd been taking in the England series wasnt a bad a idea. Theres no magic formula if you arent very good.

Well 62/4 now. Tough ask to get to even 250 here.

Pakistan getting owned by a Windies bouncer onslaught. Cowardly batting too scared to dig in and fight. Embarrassing

Gooseberry wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Pakistan taking the same mentality to proceedings as South Africa did yesterday.

And really struggling against the short ball.

Not quite sure about that, but this does sum up why a team would want to bowl first when they trust their batsmen.

It looks like Pakistan have bought they hype around Trent Bridge and been intimidated by the West Indies power hitters. Also having set scores around the 350 mark only to see England having taken them apart it appears like theyve gone out with too much intent this time and their top batsmen have come unstuck.
from here they now have no choice but to bat for time and hope to get something in the high 200's or maybe push to 300 if someone goes berserk at the death. Its a tough ask to get there though , but if they do theres always a chance that the West Indies who are incapable of batting sensibly (certainly Gayle) getting themselves in a similar mess.
But really it does look a pretty done deal now, and points to why the half way house approach theyd been taking in the England series wasnt a bad a idea. Theres no magic formula if you arent very good.

Fair point. It's quite easy to say score 100 in the powerplay, run-a-ball for the next 30 and then 100 in the last 10, gets you up around 380, but actually doing it is a different thing.

Pakistan are currently 62-4, that doesn't tell us whether they've failed to execute the correct plan or failed to execute the wrong plan, just that they've failed to execute. They are looking uncomfortable out there though, especially against the short ball. Credit to West Indies for getting the wickets up front.

Babar gone as well really does end any hope.

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Pakistan getting owned by a Windies bouncer onslaught. Cowardly batting too scared to dig in and fight. Embarrassing

Unlike Amla who bravely took England head on

West Indies have bowled well, but there ain't half been some soft dismissals for Pakistan. And another as I type, Wasim somehow fending one to first slip off his hip...?!?

Its horrid now. Its pretty clear that morales blown in this team, and positivisty went with the Fakahm.

Annoying for anyone who picked Gayle as tournament top run scorer

Shambolic batting display. All over by 2.

Shadab dropped his bat on his walk out. Made a golden duck. Sums it up.

Pakistan are so bad I'm in danger of actually having to do some work this afternoon now

I was out for a lesisurely, sunny Zurich afternoon lunch hoping to come back and watch a leisurely game on my Laptop
and Whoaa......Game is almost finished with Pak crashing for 100 runs

Eww, this is utterly pointless and leaves nothing to pass the afternoon at work

VTR wrote:Eww, this is utterly pointless and leaves nothing to pass the afternoon at work

OK Im gonna chuck this out there...any suspect betting patterns? Gayle RAN a quick single , this is very fishy!

Gayle also proving you can score quickly on this if you have the ambition. Consecutive sixes ...23 off 9 balls, more than any Pakistan batsman reached. Babar, the number one T20 bat in the world, took 33 balls to reach 22.
This is a shellacking of embarrassing proportions.

10 overs gone, WI 71-2. With Gayle still in, this would look like a good start for a chase of 300-350, especaiily at Trent Bridge. Chasing THIS total...

Good for Pakistan for Amir to be bowling well and getting himself into some form

Well that was absolute garbage, the match over by the scheduled innings break, and we had to endure Cottrell's celebration at one point. Let's hope for a better match tomorrow

I don't rate Pakistan. I know they have a record of sometimes turning the form book upside down at the crucial time ; but I just can't see them doing so this year . They're just getting beaten too often - by several different teams of rather mixed quality.

The Trent Bridge 400 plays 400 predictions proved something of an overestimate

VTR wrote:Well that was absolute garbage, the match over by the scheduled innings break, and we had to endure Cottrell's celebration at one point. Let's hope for a better match tomorrow

Two games tomorrow! Two, on paper, one-sided games: Afghanistan v Australia and NZ v Sri Lanka.

alfie wrote:I don't rate Pakistan.  I know they have a record of sometimes turning  the form book upside down at the crucial time ; but I just can't see them doing so this year .  They're just getting beaten too often - by several different teams of rather mixed quality.

The Trent Bridge 400 plays 400 predictions proved something of an overestimate

Well I hope England aren't complacent for Monday's game against Pakistan!

Those fixtures look poor tomorrow, and then Sunday another game that doesn't look particularly interesting. You never know though, and surely can't be worse than this one

WI delivers the first blow and rises to clear No. 6

Having watched some highlights from SA 's innings , a couple of late comments :

Very good display in the field from England.  Archer really turned up with the new ball and showed why they were so keen to get him in the squad. I do still find some of the commentators' love affair with him a bit OTT : you'd think he was the only England bowler to ever crack 90 mph ! But you have to like his smooth and relaxed action - which suggests he is unlikely to have his career hobbled by injury in the way some recent English pace men have experienced (looking at you , Mark Wood ) I was not actually as impressed by him in the Pakistan series - think some of the praise was being laid on more in anticipation than based on his actual performance - but it appears he was saving the good stuff for the serious matches : great start

Stokes of course the big hero of the day. Bat , field and eventually bowling...he looks to be running into form at the right time . That innings - a little restrained at first , perhaps ; but looking at the failure of other batsmen in the match to go big it seems he judged his pacing rather well. Very important hand for England as the match turned out.
Buttler has had a few problems behind the stumps recently : I imagine this may have something to do with the fact that he probably doesn't actually keep wicket very often these days ? Really only in these games...I accept that Foakes is clearly better but he is nowhere near the ODI team . Think Bairstow is also a superior keeper ; but there isn't such a huge difference and in any case Jonny is a far better outfielder too so it makes sense to leave them in the roles they are accustomed to in this format - despite a few comments on BBC HYS (mixed in with all the usual rubbish about foreign born players ...grrrr)
Generally encouraging to see that England appear to have learned to moderate their approach in the light of pitch conditions - something they haven't always seemed able to manage in the past. Hope it isn't a mirage...

As for SA I feel they might struggle.  They lost a lot when ABdV called it off ; Amla isn't what he was , and the bowling is a bit mixed - more honest than brilliant except for Rabada , I think. Steyn may help if he gets fit but they are going to have trouble balancing their order. Quite liked the look of the new chap van der Dussen with the bat but they are going to need a lot from De Kock and Du Plessis , you would  think.My SA workmates are not optimistic...

alfie wrote:I don't rate Pakistan.  

Cannot imagine why

Its incredible that they won the CT with the same coach and many of the same players less than two years ago on the same grounds they are now being humiliated on though. Theyve also been ranked number one in tests not that long back and are still the top ranked T20 team by some margin. It cant just be a lack of talent, there must be something seriously rotten in the backroom as well. The decline has been pretty extreme and rapid, but they are now consistently losing even when they dont have this kind of horror show.

KP_fan wrote:WI delivers the first blow and rises to clear No. 6

You still rate SA above them?
You rated Pakistan above them prior to this?

Gooseberry wrote:

KP_fan wrote:WI delivers the first blow and rises to clear No. 6

You still rate SA above them?
You rated Pakistan above them prior to this?

-My ratings were Aus, SA, Eng India top-4
and NZ 5
I still hold those top-5 although SA may end up a bit lower than No. 2

-I hadn't paid attention to Nos 6 thru 8...but Now I see WI is clearly 6....and I take note because i have a feeling they could rise higher ( and I have 20$s on them)

--We have to wait to see the early form of India, Aus , NZ too to form better impressions

I am a bit surprised to note that India's first game will be SA's 3rd

That SA Bangladesh fixture is looking ripe now. Given SA are collectively poor against spin and Bangladesh as good a unit as they have been for a long time an upset is on the cards.
Then having to play India a couple of days later...it could easily be all but over for SA in the opening days.
I do think they are better than the margin they lost by suggests but equally people seem to operate them based on it being SA. They got exposed because they arent very good, theres glaring weaknesses through the side including some of the most senior players. I'm not even convinced Steyn is a magic cure all, he will need to be hidden in the field and weakens the batting further unless Ngidi is ditched.
I reckon 3 months agonypud have got some very odds on west indies making the knockouts and they've come in a touch underrated based on being dog awful for so long.

Why did the schedule not had India playing over the weekend? Granted their first match is against South Africa but surely some tweaking could’ve got India a game on the first weekend. Lost revenue considering how many Indians usually turn out where ever they play.

I'm not sure about lost revenue, think you will find the India matches are all sold out anyway. Still, I agree with the general point from a viewing perspective, and don't get how their opening game can be another team's third match as KP Fan points out