ICC Cricket World Cup - Part 4

First topic message reminder :

Yes, England expected to be unchanged. Long boundaries apparently, which will suit England's excellent running ability!

If there were a decent replacement in the wings, I think Rashid's place would be under severe threat. He's got figures of 7/403 from 69 overs in the World Cup so far, which is hardly illuminating stuff.

What wrist spinners do ...get wickets even when not bowling well

Stoinis ahead of Maxwell . Plan is obvious. Smith remains the key as always...goes to fifty

But Stoinis gone for a duck !

Rashenius returns!

Two quick wickets to pull back control.

Time for The Big Show!

Rashiiiiiiiiid! He just needed a little motivation, ahem. Bless him, he was so desperate for that to be given.

And that goes back to what I was saying earlier. A couple of quick wickets and England have the game in the palm of their hand. Will be a struggle for Aussies to make 200 from here.

As much as it was commentators curse there is a legitimate point about Rashid, it does show how much England keep backing their stars. Plunket looked absolutely goosed 6 months ago too. 


Stoinis too as I type, legit wicket from a classic bit of bowling

And to be fair Moeen has been awful and short of confidence recently. But Dawson also exists, and doesnt seem to have been considered at all. 

I think though that Stoinis wicket really shows why Rashis in, finger spinners just cant do that. 



Aus shouldve picked Wade ahead one of the all rounders.

Have to laugh...just as we all diss Rashid - not unfairly - he gets gifted one wicket with a careless hoick - and then wins a very marginal lbw .
His lucky day ? Will he now take a Michelle ?

Lot on the shoulders of these two bats now. Smith is impervious to pressure ; but Maxwell may be tested...

Could be great for Rashid if it brings him some confidence and control. A couple more from him here (Smith please) would do him wonders.

Maxwells edged two off this over from rashid , one very close to Root. he looks very different all of a sudden.

29 off his first 4 for no wickets
5 runs off his last two overs, 2 wickets and 2 chances.

Amazing what a little dollop of confidence will do. Rashid starting to look very difficult to play. Can't imagine how Carey's feeling in the dressing room.

Goose sums it up there : the upside of the leggie trumps any average finger spinner's potential.
Lbw was , as I said , marginal...but it was also excellent bowling . And those first few balls to Maxwell have been right on the money

130/5 at 30. Thinking Australia would be very happy with the Benaud Formula 260 from here.

Archer back now. Hasn't actually taken a lot of middle over wickets in this WC for all the commentators excitement ; more at the death. But if he can dislodge one of these two now...

Duty281 wrote:Amazing what a little dollop of confidence will do. Rashid starting to look very difficult to play. Can't imagine how Carey's feeling in the dressing room.

To be fair on Carey he did what should be expected of a guy who usually bats 6/7 and whos relatively early in his career. Taking one literally on the chin and not being noticeably affected another big plus for him. Sure he may have chucked it away a bit in the end but he shouldnt be feeling bad, hes played his part.

Lets just hope that Maxwell continues his CWC form now.

alfie wrote:Have to laugh...just as we all diss Rashid - not unfairly - he gets gifted one wicket with a careless hoick - and then wins a very marginal lbw .
His lucky day ? Will he now take a Michelle ?

Lot on the shoulders of these two bats now.  Smith is impervious to pressure ; but Maxwell may be tested...

to be fair after some of the sitters put down off his bowling during the groups, he was due a few lucky ones!

eirebilly wrote:Lets just hope that Maxwell continues his CWC form now.

Averaging about 20 with the bat and has bowling figures of 0/295 in this tournament!

Yes Carey was good value today. He will still be annoyed at getting out like that but they aren't machines...easy for us watching.

Maxwell getting going with a couple of nice blows. If he can back up the inevitable Smith century Australia could still get a defendable total.

Lot of cricket left in this.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:Have to laugh...just as we all diss Rashid - not unfairly - he gets gifted one wicket with a careless hoick - and then wins a very marginal lbw .
His lucky day ? Will he now take a Michelle ?

Lot on the shoulders of these two bats now.  Smith is impervious to pressure ; but Maxwell may be tested...

to be fair after some of the sitters put down off his bowling during the groups, he was due a few lucky ones!

That's true. He did cop a few bad fielding errors. The good thing is his confidence must have come back a bit with those two scalps...could do some more damage yet.

Rashid has done well to get two wickets but its time for him to go off now, Maxwell will carve him and it will only give him confidence.

I'm a mile or so from the ground and theres a couple of spots of rain in the air.....more like a damp breeze a drizzle. Clouds pretty patchy still but theres that heavy feeling around....

eirebilly wrote:Rashid has done well to get two wickets but its time for him to go off now, Maxwell will carve him and it will only give him confidence.

He will if he keeps dropping short ! I'd give him one more ...just might see Maxwell over reach...

England need to break up these two or a decent score is still on the table.

Archer gets Maxwell !

Get in Archer, Maxwell gone

Very positive captaincy from Morgan here. I think he is overly conservative but not today

Maxwell gets out for about an average score. Just stuck in the pitch. Good captaincy from Morgan to bring Archer back and keep him on.

Come on England, keep 'em below 200. Cummins in next and averaging about 8 at this World Cup.

Aus again needs to go back in wicket preservation mode......and have a 10 over 50 run partnership

That ball seemed to hold up a bit : short but surprised him and popped up. Looks as if it was planned ? Excellent

Ironically he wouldn't have had that ball if not for bowling two wides in the over

The pace change of Archer is most hard to pick...esp if the ball gets stuck in the pitch

Rashid stays on now Maxwell has gone. More rebuilding for Smith. Does he try and stick in and just punish the bad one while Cummins and Starc take more chances at the other end? Then go for it when he gets down to 10 and 11?

160-6. Under 200 is definitely on, if we can either get Smith or keep going at the other end.

alfie wrote:That ball seemed to hold up a bit : short but surprised him and popped up. Looks as if it was planned ? Excellent

Ironically he wouldn't have had that ball if not for bowling two wides in the over

Yep slower ball knuckle ball - excellent bowling.

Going to bowl Archer out it seems...fair enough. He's in the groove ; and the other three are all highly competent death bowlers anyway.

He's really testing Cummins with the short ball ! 165/6 , thirteen left.

Absolutely right to keep the pressure on by bowling Archer out here. Almost at the point of not worrying about Smith, and keep the pressure on the lower order guys.

Oh what a catch Root

3rd for Rashid as Cummins goes

Tidy catch. Cummins was playing with all the confidence of a man averaging 8. Rashid has classic-Rashid figures.

Rashid gets Cummins. Sharp catch Joe Root

Starc next : Smith in danger of running out of support...

Bowling out Archer is a real foot-on-the-throat move, and could pay off if he picks up another. And like you say, we have other death bowling resources.

We'll need to find 11 from Woakes (4), Stokes (6), Wood (6) and Plunkett (5), so we have plenty of options.

Because Rashid is bowling out now, we can also protect anyone who goes for a few if needed.

And now Rashid gets his third. Going to finish with nice figures - 3 wickets and under a run a ball.

amazing how he found zippp back again after a couple of wickets

Rashid has bowled beautifully. Found his form just at the right time

Looks very unlikely that Australia will bat out the full complement of overs. Smith may as well play some shots now and try to get his team to 220; can't see the three tailenders hanging around for too long.

Smith is showing the difference between a top class batsman and the bits and pieces middle order Aus have. As much as I want to hate him you cant help but admire his temperament (unlike Warner) he just doesnt look phased by it.

Any players had a worse tournament than Maxwell without getting dropped?

And Rashid finishes with a couple of rippers to Starc ! Pity he's bowled out now ...he's conceded some runs but three important wickets.

Must be a chance to bowl them out now. Whoever comes on next - compulsory double change - needs to keep the pressure on...

I would have brought Woakes back for a couple with Plunkett instead of Wood who has not looked that controlled today.

2/32 for Archer ...well bowled. Think that has been his best bowling since the initial South African game . Concentrated his lengths better than in some of those middle matches ; always looked more likely to get good batsmen out today.
Pace was good too. Recovered from that minor niggle ?

Hoping woods pace will blow the tail away I assume

The pitch had seam movement at the start and grip for slow cutters and spin too
Aus should first ensure they do not get bowled out, cross 200 atleast and then wahtever on top is bonus and something to bowl at

Duty281 wrote:Looks very unlikely that Australia will bat out the full complement of overs. Smith may as well play some shots now and try to get his team to 220; can't see the three tailenders hanging around for too long.

Starc can give it a whack. But it is tricky for Smith now as if he falls they probably won't get 200 so he can't go overboard on the big hits just yet.
Ball will swing for Australia so he will be thinking "get what you can"...

Tight over from Plunkett Don't see many "last ten" overs go for just one single.

Can these be described as "English Conditions" - hence in theory favouring the English team.

Tight from Wood and Plunkett at the start of powerplay 3 - Starc hits the first 4 of this powerplay period in the 4th over. Australia have lost too many wickets to really attack and both men are keeping it tight.

These two could bowl out if they're going at 4s and 5s, with Woakes and Stokes standing by if either starts to get loose.

No name Bertie wrote:Can these be described as "English Conditions" - hence in theory favouring the English team.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando_nightclub_shooting

Starc giving good support to Smith here...though he's stealing a lot of the strike. Could still see 230 plus from here with a finishing flourish - which would represent a good recovery from 14/3.

Mabe even more ! Starc with a six down the ground ...

Comfortably Starc's highest score of the World Cup so far. It's a fine effort to drag Australia to somewhere approaching 'competitive' territory, although he's depriving Smith of much of the strike.

Get Woakes on!

Plenty of signs that theres not that much in the pitch, England made the best of the early swing. Since then its taken some magic from Rashid a nerves to keep Aus down. 

Even if they creep up to 240 England should be massive favourites.

Only real downer today is that we still haven't worked out how to get Steve Smith out. Might not be so important today (although without him, Aus would have been 150 all out), but with the Ashes coming up it's a conundrum we need to work out.

Duty281 wrote:Comfortably Starc's highest score of the World Cup so far. It's a fine effort to drag Australia to somewhere approaching 'competitive' territory, although he's depriving Smith of much of the strike.

Get Woakes on!

He's striking it better than Smith is though. May as well let Starc have a swing at everything and Smith just see it through to the end.