ICC Cricket World Cup - Part 2

First topic message reminder :

Table

New Zealand	5	9	1.591
England	5	8	1.862
Australia	5	8	0.812
India	4	7	1.029
Bangladesh	5	5	-0.27
Sri Lanka	5	4	-1.778
West Indies	5	3	0.272
South Africa	5	3	-0.193
Pakistan	5	3	-1.933
Afghanistan	5	0	-2.089

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

Ooof, Maxwell batters 22 off that erratic Pradeep over. 350+ looks assured.

350 not so assured, after all, with Marsh dragging down the scoring rate.

Duty281 wrote:Ooof, Maxwell batters 22 off that erratic Pradeep over. 350+ looks assured.

He needs all the strike then...Marsh not going anywhere .

Oh , he is now...caught in the deep. Probably a good thing for Australia as it lets Carey in... 310/5 , three to go.

350 might be a stretch.

Yeah, that was an excellent wicket for Australia to lose.

Good work at the death from Udana His last over was good and now he produces a crafty slower ball , neat fielding and the run out of Carey...

And so nearly had Maxwell next ball ! Sri Lanka finishing well.

And Cummins run out too !

All a bit late , really. Think Australia have enough even if their late charge has rather broken down. Finch saw to that.

324 plus whatever Maxwell can take from this last over...can't see Sri Lanka running that down even on this good surface.

Good death bowling from Sri Lanka, and some silly running by the Aussies. 302/4 after 45 - you would have thought 350 from there, but instead they only made 32 in the final 5.

Doesn't matter anyway. 334 will surely be too much for Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan have made a solid start, but rain has seen them off the field.

Really well paced innings and very professional from aus. Sri Lanka are rubbish but these guys are switched on and clinical too.

Duty281 wrote:Good death bowling from Sri Lanka, and some silly running by the Aussies. 302/4 after 45 - you would have thought 350 from there, but instead they only made 32 in the final 5.

Doesn't matter anyway. 334 will surely be too much for Sri Lanka.

Afghanistan have made a solid start, but rain has seen them off the field.

Bloody Welsh weather

Sri Lankan openers have taken off as if they fancy the chase...30/0 off four...

Behrendorff on now. Bit of drizzle unfortunately ...hope it isn't going to cause interruptions today.

Really taking a liking to Cummins... but that's getting closer. He's going for plenty at the moment.

If they do come off, it shouldn't be a long interruption. Rain radar looks mostly clear afterwards.

Spirited start from the Sri Lankans - 40/0 after 6.

Really enjoying Sanga's commentary.

No wonder he was such a good player. So precise and knows exactly what both batsman and bowler is trying to do.
He explains things with such economy. He'd be a great coach too I reckon... and will be a great MCC President.

Blimey, this is a hell of a start. Fire and fury. 79/0 after 9. 18 off the last over.

A couple of quick wickets will restore Australian order, but they might be starting to feel somewhat concerned at the moment.

Behrendorff started well but is going round the park now...Sri Lanka going at nearly nine per over.

Long way to go but Finch might be getting just a little anxious. The backup bowling is a concern for Australia. Still a wicket or two will change things...

Oops, now Australia have thrown away their review on a very innocuous caught-behind shout.

Sri Lankan fans in the ground absolutely loving it.

That Max Merritt & the Meteors song - "Slipping Away" - is coming to mind now.

This is what could happen when the main strike bowlers are getting carted... and also a proper 5th bowler short. Getting severely exposed.
Australia has somehow got to get a breakthrough and change the scoring tempo or else this match will be a walk home for SL.

Now Australia have a close LBW shout declined...would have been 3 reds if they had the review left and used it.

100 partnership. It's getting close to 50-50 now. Sri Lanka bat deep, too, tail doesn't start until Malinga at 10.

Haven't got hold of Maxwell yet. But they are going well - hundred in the 13th

Generally you'd say the chasing team was favored to win from here , on a batting track like this. But Australia have a habit of pulling these innings back. And , as I'm sure KP_fan will point out , the pressure of doing this in a World Cup match will make it tough to keep it up...

But it is good to see a contest

I'm praying for a lack of concentration after the drinks break... more in hope than for any logical reason.

oops.. it worked.

Starc does the business...Perera clean bowled for 52 Fine delivery...Australia needed that !

Starc brought back and does the necessary. Need to follow it up now, this is still a position of strength for Sri Lanka.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/gb/london/ec4a-2/minute-weather-forecast/328328

Some rain on the way to London. If they keep wickets in hand, a shortened chase could benefit the Sri Lankans. Also lashing down in Cardiff, too, the weather gods conspiring to keep Afghanistan and South Africa winless.

Sri Lankan running not the best. If Australia had landed the odd direct hit, they would be in a much better position. Instead, 148/1 as it stands. Sri Lankans will be very pleased.

176/2 after 30. Exactly 8 an over needed for the Sri Lankans. Nicely in the balance.

Imran Tahir doing the full celebration for removing a couple of Afghanistan rabbits. Looks ridiculous

And Karunarante falls short of 100 with a soft dismissal. That turns the game strongly in Australia's favour, though the Sri Lankans have plenty of batting to come.

Afghanistan appear to have crumbled.

Australia picking off the Sri Lankans with their seam attack. 209/5. Sri Lanka have really struggled to score consistently since the 16th over, so many dot balls.

Afghanistan busy proving why the world cup doesnt need expanding again. The gulf is huge.

So a day where the rains didn't ruin the cricket, but 2 borring one-sided games. Sri Lanka's batting and bowling, as expected, not up to the mark, and Afghanistan's batting continues not even turn up so that there bowling abilities do not even matter. South Africa set to win their first game of the tournament.
Tomorrow its India-Pakistan, and seems stupid rains will be playing a big role yet again. Will it be the decisive role, hope not, but not very hopeful..
When the World Cup was played last time in England, there were reserve days, remember India-England game getting finished on the 2nd day. They even had a sensible enough provision to continue the game from previous day's finishing point. In a country wlike England where it rains quite a bit, what was the ICC thinking with no reserve day provision?

msp

They saw last year's weather and thought they'd get the same. Last June was blazing hot (several days in the high 20s or low 30s deg C in the south) and many places had no rain (literally: 0 mm). This year there are some areas that have had 3 times their average June rainfall in the space of 3 or 4 days, and even the good days are struggling for the temperature to reach 20 deg C.

All in all, typical British weather - never predictable.

Sri Lanka had the Australians worried for 20 overs or so, but that was all. Still yet to be fully convinced by the Australians, who seem a level below England and India.

I think tomorrow is the last chance for any real interest in the group stage. If Pakistan win, a big if, they still have a viable chance of getting into the semi-finals. If they don't, the top four is sealed and the only battle will be for the exact placings in the 1-4 grid.

It looks as though the rain will stay away long enough for there to be a completed contest. Let's hope so anyway!

-Today's Game another case in point....300+ totals are rarely chasable in big events

Even when you have a starting stand of 100+ at ~8RPO and half the runs knocked off in nearly half the overs with 8 wickets in hand

-Another point in 280-330 runs chases the tempo of team batting second is set by the score of the first  i,e because a team falls for 310 chasing 330 does not mean it would have chased 310...but rather would have fallen for about 295

--The Australian Juggernaut is rolling quite well...the BIG 3 i,e Warner,Finch and Smith  have all found form, although Smith still hasn't hit the 5th gear.

They have a couple of wrinkles to iron out

1-Khwaja if not opening, doesn't work....replace him with a bowling all-rounder and if Stoinis ain't getting better...get Mitch Marsh in

2- When Stoinis / Marsh is in get Lyon in, in place of one of the seamers
OR
Get coulter Nile in as one of the 4 seamers...consider him your bowling allrounder and replace Khawaja with Lyon...given that Starc, Cummins and Lyon can all hold bat.

The Maxwell 5th bowler ain't gonna work always....and can cost them in a BIG game

Re: Afghanistan: All that i can say is one whose game against Afg gets rained out is the cursed child of god.

Yeah Afghanistan are a bag of pants as feared. I think England is the worst place for them to play in and it's showing. Can't see them pulling off any shocks like Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ireland in the past

VTR wrote:Yeah Afghanistan are a bag of pants as feared. I think England is the worst place for them to play in and it's showing. Can't see them pulling off any shocks like Zimbabwe, Kenya and Ireland in the past

I really miss watching the cricket world cup but I'm boycotting cricket and their conservative ways after reducing the number of teams in the tournament. Given the sheer amount of upsets we've seen in the past, it would have made more sense to expand not contract.

The way table stands now it'ss still quite open, because of rained off games & I think :

1-11 points means thru to semis
2-and 10 means in with a mathematical chance based on NRR and how  rain hits further  and how clear the lead two are above the rest.

3-On the current standings in the world cup,its safe to assume Lanka and Afg have no chance.

4-Aus with 8 points and a game against BD in hand is closest to qualifying...they need one more to be 100% safe and have to beat one of NZ, Eng or SA

5-the biggest unknown is NZ....whose world cup hasn't materially started yet.....coz they have only beaten the lowest 3 sides and came quite close to losing to the highest of the lowly sides i.e Bangladesh.

They need 2 wins and have to play SA, WI, Pak, Eng, Aus

6- Ind with games against Lanka, BD and Afg should count on 6 points and will get to 11 even if they lose the rest

7- Eng can count on beating lanka and Afg and have to win atleast one against either Aus, NZ or Ind to be certain

8-SA's can still make it if they win all of their 4 games and since Eng /Ind are out of the way...they have a task at hand of beating all of Aus, WI, NZ and Lanka

9-WI have to win 4 games but have 3 games vs Lanka, Afg and BD....so the have to beat only 1 of India or NZ

It's open and the most exaggeratedly inflated position is of NZ

Yeah dont worry KPF South Africa are back on course for second spot.


Can we all just go back and ask how DLS managed to increase the score SA needed to win. Like no system can be perfect but that's so obviously broken ..after all they've invested in it over the years ( and yes it's an improvement!) Youd think they could put a simple extra line in the calculation to stop it asking for more than a team managed all out.

I'd love to have KPF's optimism this is wide open, but I can't see it with those permutations. Of course SA could make it in theory, but they have been absolutely rubbish other than dispatching the completely rubbish Afghanistan. Windies are sinking fast and lack the fitness/professionalism to keep up their bumper barrage, plus its predictable now.

If India beat Pakistan tomorrow for me it’s pretty much solidified barring some miraculous collapse in form from one of the top 4

Pakistan win tomorrow then it does become interesting indeed imo

Going back to Leinsterfans comment . ...

It's all very well and romantic but Ireland have been given all the chances to build on their success including test status. But since being given more exposure their team has gone backwards horribly.
They are now back behind Zimbabwe, overhauled and on recent results Scotland too, neither of whom are close to and Afghanistan side that is getting absolutely ruined here. The gap between the top sides and the likes of Sri Lanka is bad enough, but we could do without 13-0s.

Sadly the likes of Kenya and Holland just don't feature at all anymore.

Let the Olympics have 10 over amateur pajama rounders to pretend that it's a global game and let the 1% of the world population outside India who care get on with enjoying a competitive professional sport.

Snobbery? Absolutely, its cricket.


Sadly cricket just isnt ready for that many teams. Even Sri Lanka cant provide a decent team any more , we would be much better placed ensuring the few countries that do have a culture and following for it can rebuild and sustain that. They've lost Zimbabwe already, Ireland tried and failed, Bangladesh Sri Lanka and the West Indies are all in danger.
Inviting more junk that largely exists to enable board members to pocket ICC cash isnt going to help save the few boards that are producing decent teams.

I'm also a touch baffled by why KPF feels NZ are an unknown. They are ranked number 3 in ODIs ...and whilst I do agree that the bilaterals arent always a good indication of what teams will send to the world cup it's pretty clear that NZ have the tools to do well here, and the points on the board.

BET365 currently have it thusly on the 'to reach semi-final' market:

England 1/20. India 1/12. Australia 1/12. New Zealand 1/3. Windies 5/2. Pakistan 9/2. South Africa 9/1. Bangladesh 20/1. Sri Lanka 33/1. Afghanistan 250/1.

Like most of us, they don't think it's particularly open either.

I hope we get a game today......I think India will brink Shankar at No. 4 who in addition to being a technically solid, organized batsman....is a handy Stoinis type seamer also.....giving India a 4th seam option.

Because of rain possibilities, team winning toss might chase....I would prefer though we bat first and put some kinda total on board and let the pressure work on pak

Should be a full game hopefully. The danger now is rain towards the end so batting first might well be better. There certainly will be more cloud later which could benefit the seamers.

Good win for Australia in the end

Sri Lankan chase started really well and they were right in it for a long time...but the rest of the order couldn't follow Karunaratne's example and it all fell away : much credit to Starc who did the serious damage.

But also a word for Maxwell who made a significant contribution in not getting smashed so solving the fifth bowler problem...

Australia in an interesting position right now : on course for the semis barring catastrophe ; not quite sure what their best XI is ; not over impressive really - yet managing to get the job done in all except the India game...are they near favorites or just hopefuls ? Perhaps the contests with England and NZ will give us a better idea...

One thing we can say : Finch is doing a wonderful job as leader in both the captaincy and opening bat areas : full marks to him

I just revisited the qualifying and Ireland had some poor results so can hardly complain. I think what messed it up was the Windies ended up in there, which pretty much left everyone else fighting for one spot. They did lose the final but that was a meaningless match.

Im not sure Sri Lanka ever were in danger of making that chase, had it been a competent side in the same position then maybe Aus would've been concerned but Sri Lanka are really awful. The only score theyve made over 350 in the past few years was with Dickwella and Chandimal against a second string bowling attack. Leaving out so much experience from the squad seems to have made things worse rather than better even if they aren't exactly world beaters.

I agree with the analysis of Australia, with Smith Warner Finch Starc and Cummins they have the bones of a very strong team, but havent quite yet figured out how to back them up properly. Some of the chopping does seem to be driven by looking at the opposition and conditions, and theyve played smart cricket. Keeping the wickets in hand was key to making sure they didnt slip up, and despite the slow start they still managed to get far more runs on the board than they needed.
Warner and Khwaja is still a question for them. Usman doesnt really work in any position but opener, so do they move Warner whos struggled to make the best of the power plays? The batting depth is the most obvious problem though. 8-11 in that side all average around 11. Carey and Maxwell around 30 with 1 century between all of them. Their best lower middle order bat is Stoinis, but he cant get in the side. As it is the top are doing their job admirably, but against the better bowling attacks like India this has to be a worry.
They also are very reliant on Starc and Cummins. Two absolute stars so far in the world cup but again looking at the semi finals its not good to just have two wicket takers. The three second string seamers tried so far are decent but not real threats, Maxwell can do a job like a Moeen/Root , Zampa like a lot of the leggies hasn't really had the impact he'd want and is vulnerable, Stoinis is just a change bowler like Stokes or Pandya.
Finch does indeed seem to have them on the right track and developing into a potent force again. When you consider where they were at the end of the England tour last year this is a very different side.

VTR wrote:I just revisited the qualifying and Ireland had some poor results so can hardly complain. I think what messed it up was the Windies ended up in there, which pretty much left everyone else fighting for one spot. They did lose the final but that was a meaningless match.

It was a very odd qualification campaign. West Indies had a woeful umpiring decision go in their favour in their last game - without that, Scotland would have qualified at their expense. And Zimbabwe somehow lost to the UAE which saw them knocked out. In the end, the Irish had enough chances - if they had beaten Afghanistan and/or Zimbabwe, they would have made it through, but they lost both games.

VTR wrote:I just revisited the qualifying and Ireland had some poor results so can hardly complain. I think what messed it up was the Windies ended up in there, which pretty much left everyone else fighting for one spot. They did lose the final but that was a meaningless match.

You have to go back to early 2015 to their last victory against a side other than Afghanistan that made it to this world cup (25 games).  That includes playing 8 games at home this year and managing just one win against Afghanistan. Their record against Afghanistan is about 50/50 but at least they managed to beat some of the top 9 (West Indies, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) and in theory have the ability to cause some shocks. Getting tonked by Sri Lanka though shows just how big a gap there is when sides field their top squads and care. They would add absolutely no value by being here.

The romance is nice, but there has to be some quality control. It doesnt really matter which team had qualified along with the west indies, afghanistan are the best of bad bunch but they are all woeful. Having 3 of them here rather thand one wouldnt change that.

I was very impressed by Finch, how can you not be with a score like that, but his shots in the early stages were commanding and clean. 

I must admit, I was surprised by Sri Lanka in parts, they were better than I thought they'd be. It could have really got away from them, and I think the Aussies will have wanted 30 more on the board coming into those last overs, but suddenly it went pear shaped. The running takes a lot of blame, but it was a surprise to see them tied up a bit nearer the end.

Didn't realise that Scotland got so close, but per Goose's post, what would they add to the tournament. Yes, I know they beat England last year, but they won't ever string together the set of results to be competitive overall. Afghanistan could yet win a match, but are overall cannon fodder and involved in some very poor matches

alfie wrote:Good win for Australia in the end

Sri Lankan chase started really well and they were right in it for a long time...but the rest of the order couldn't follow Karunaratne's example and it all fell away : much credit to Starc who did the serious damage.

But also a word for Maxwell who made a significant contribution in not getting smashed so solving the fifth bowler problem...

Australia in an interesting position right now : on course for the semis barring catastrophe ; not quite sure what their best XI is ; not over impressive really - yet managing to get the job done in all except the India game...are they near favorites or just hopefuls ?  Perhaps the contests with England and NZ will give us a better idea...

One thing we can say : Finch is doing a wonderful job as leader in both the captaincy and opening bat areas : full marks to him

Hi Alfie - yes, Maxwell undoubtedly made a significant contribution to Australia's win. He bowled well and effectively.

I did feel though that the Sri Lankan batsmen were a little too respectful of him. Worth remembering that Richardson and Behrendorff were leaking runs when he came on early in the proceedings (12th over, I think). Having just checked, Richardson had gone for 16 in 2 overs and Behrendorff for 32 in 3. I wondered if they were a bit too wary about getting out to a part-timer when he first bowled and that they were confident that they could comtinue to milk Richardson and Behrendorff whenever they were bowling. As things transpired, Maxwell got into a groove (perhaps not too surprisingly having been treated with respect from the start) whilst Richardson and Behrendorff were better later on.

I agree with KP_f that Maxwell is unlikely to always bowl as well in this tournament as he did yesterday. That's not taking anything away from what he achieved yesterday. However, I suspect Australia would be better off regarding him as the sixth bowler who might be turned to and be effective rather than relying on him as the fifth bowler to have to bowl a (near) full allocation and be effective.

I don't know this Aussie ODI side and the rest of their squad well enough to be categoric but I would look to get Lyon in the eleven. Maybe for S Marsh from yesterday's team although I don't know if that would weaken the batting too much?