ICC Cricket World Cup - Part 4

First topic message reminder :

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:Good to see Morgan handling the short ball.  Has seen Behrend - orff...now taking to Lyon.

Keep the foot down lads I fancy an "early" night

Alfie I'm afraid this is the worst thing I have seen posted all World Cup.

I do my best

Cat-n-mouse game continues and Eng take another wicket  as NZ was edging towards a platform

210-5 is what NZ needs to aim for in 45......bowl out for 220 still possible....upside no more than 260

Another New Zealand batsman, Neesham this time, just when he seemed to have set, is snaffled by Liam Plunkett. He is dragging New Zealand back every time they started to get going.

As India found out, New Zealand have the bowlers to do exactly the same damage to England's batsmen as the England bowlers have done today. Game not over by a long shot.

This is why Morgan is England captain and I'm not. Good move to stick with Plunkett.

Latham still there looking good. He'll be looking to stick around while 7 and 8 hit out.

And thankfully, the bloody umpires didn't have to do much this time as he got out to a catch in the field.

Bairstow there. Unbelievable ground fielding. I think we're up to about 4 or 5 good boundary stops today - that is ones that weren't drilled straight at the fielder.

22:49:24

Duty281 wrote:A mistake duly arrives. Plunkett has very attractive figures for a World Cup Final! This game and the trophy is in England's grasp.

Bit premature. Bowlers are doing the job ; but unless NZ fold up completely - still possible ! - they will have more than the 221 England made here against Australia last visit to this ground.

I'd fancy England to chase whatever they have to. But it ain't written in stone yet.

New Zealand one short of KPF's 40 over par score, but with one more down. That could be crucial as there is not much batting left... Colin de Grandhomme is a hitter and not a sticker. But he doesn't quite have the licence to hit out at least for the next 5 overs and that might end up confusing him.

3/42 in 10 overs. Magnificent from Plunkett. Likely to get him a man of the match accolade.

Incidentally, he took 3/51 on his ODI debut, nearly 14 years ago in Lahore.

What a performance from Liam Plunkett. He finishes with 3 for 42. Could be the difference between 240 and 270 here.

Archer has got half of the last 10. Even 240 might be difficult for New Zealand.

240 might be a stretch ...theres still 5 overs of archer who will terrorise the tail

Excellent second post msp

Plunkett completes what could be a cup winning spell

Funny to think there were plenty of "experts" ready to ditch him from the squad when they were agonizing over how to fit Archer in ! Sanity prevailed.

Now Archer needs to get his closing spell on target. He's certainly targeted de Grandhomme there

Duty281 wrote:3/42 in 10 overs. Magnificent from Plunkett. Likely to get him a man of the match accolade.

If England win, he'll definitely be in contention. Outstanding, especially after changing ends.

Plunkett finishes on 3-42. Possibly better than what Moeen would have offered, making a bit of a mockery of his non selection earlier in the tournament.

I think England will be comfortable chasing up to 240 quite comfortably. There's not much behind the first 3 and they'll look to be positive against those guys but more importantly stay in, then cash in against the others.

De Grandhomme looks rather unsure out there. He might be better off playing his shots. Looks more like a walking wicket currently.

That New Zealand scoreboard makes for pretty grim reading. They just needed one player to go on with the start...

Score predictor is saying 249 and they'd need to go just under 8 to get there.

That was 307 earlier in the innings. And I'd say it's still a little high.

every one of top 7 batters has gotten into double figures.....NZ fighting hard and hanging in the game

I think keeping Archer's overs for the end is sensible. He doesn't have to take wickets - just bowl dots. Which he is well equipped to manage with his pace.
Woakes can close out the other end now. And Wood has one left if they need to vary it. Morgan looks to have got this right.

Amazingly, de Grandhomme is still out there, even though he's barely picked one delivery correctly!

Score predictor's been high all tournament as it's calibrated on these grounds over the last few years when they've been prepared to be as flat as possible by the ECB. ICC now in charge and they're more bowler friendly so throws off the calculations

It is not always easy determining whether a batsman has nicked a ball with bat or glove. Hence the importance of using your reviews judiciously. When Roy was deemed to have gloved a ball when he hadn't (against Australia) it was Roy who had blown the review earlier by telling Bairstow that the ball was missing stumps when Bairstow was out plumb.

KP_fan wrote:every one of top 7 batters has gotten into double figures.....NZ fighting hard and hanging in the game

They are. As NZ do...

You'd think England should chase the eventual target , as this is a decent batting wicket albeit not a complete road. But anything over 220 gives good bowlers a fighting chance.

Archer bowling poorly there ...overexcited , wides galore. Settle down lad ! Just get it on the spot your pace will do the rest...

No name Bertie wrote:It is not always easy determining whether a batsman has nicked a ball with bat or glove.  Hence the importance of using your reviews judiciously.  When Roy was deemed to have gloved a ball when he hadn't (against Australia) it was Roy who had blown the review earlier by telling Bairstow that the ball was missing stumps when Bairstow was out plumb.  

There is no difference between hitting the bat or glove as the glove is deemed part of the bat...

after missing the par platfform in 30, 35, 40 overs
...NZ get to a par platform in 45
211-5 in 45

gives them a chance to do a very gettable 50 in last 5 and cross 260

Cant see them getting that myself KP_fan, think anything between 240 - 250 will be excellent from here.

I agree KPF re: the NZ batsmen fighting.

With Williamson going relatively cheaply and Taylor getting a shocker, the rest of the guys have fought hard against some good bowling and some of their own rotten form.

They've given the bowlers something to bowl at. They'd have to bowl very well to complete the job though.

Wood' s last over goes for 7 and tells the story right now. A 6, a single, 4 dots and a run out referral. These NZ batsmen are struggling to hit the ball, with any consistency, but just about keeping in the game.

Archer outclassing this partnership. Anything above 250 from here is highly unlikely, as it has been since Williamson was removed all those overs ago.

Can Woakes finish a great tournament with a flourish?

They've managed a decent score at least. Can tee off at this last few now.
Looks like short of "par" ...but as we've already seen in this WC low(ish) scores can be defended.

Last 4 overs can make a big difference one way or the other...

KP_fan wrote:after missing the par platfform in 30, 35, 40 overs
...NZ get to a par platform in 45
211-5 in 45

gives them a chance to do a very gettable 50 in last 5 and cross 260

Nope - not vs Archer and Woakes

The most tortured innings of 16 you will ever see. Vince taking another catch as sub fielder!

Duty281 wrote:Archer outclassing this partnership. Anything above 250 from here is highly unlikely, as it has been since Williamson was removed all those overs ago.

Can Woakes finish a great tournament with a flourish?

Yes he can De Grandhomme gone...

Duty281 wrote:The most tortured innings of 16 you will ever see. Vince taking another catch as sub fielder!

As I said the other day, Vince has been given loads of shoite but he has turned up every game and given it all. Ok, he is not good enough at this level as an opening ODI batsman but nobody can fault his commitment to the squad. He deserves his medal as much as everyone else if England win.

eirebilly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:The most tortured innings of 16 you will ever see. Vince taking another catch as sub fielder!

As I said the other day, Vince has been given loads of shoite but he has turned up every game and given it all. Ok, he is not good enough at this level as an opening ODI batsman but nobody can fault his commitment to the squad. He deserves his medal as much as everyone else if England win.

Agreed, can not fault the fella for effort.

CDG getting out to Woakes before he had to go face Archer again. These lower order players don't know how to play him.

Woakes somewhat burning the review in the 49th. Worth a shout, possibly shouldn't cost us. Definitely better than burning it in the 9th.

5 wides. Most awful piece of cricket. Bowling and keeping.

Some horrible village cricket costs England five runs, followed by the equally delightful sight of a batsman chipping an ugly wide full toss to an infielder. Vince again with the catch!

Fair effort from Latham in the circumstances. England have bowled the slower balls well most of the innings.

Good comeback from Woakes. 232-7 then with nine to go. England will be hoping to restrict this to below 240.

Fair play to Latham, he has had a horrid tournament but he has stood up today and help New Zealand get to a somewhat defendable score.

I would imagine that if Taylor had not been incorrectly given out that New Zealand would have got close to 270.

England have been close to about half a dozen run-outs in this innings, but narrowly missed all of them!

Jofra gets the wicket he deserves for his bowling in the second half of the innings. Sensational tournament for him. Hopefully he doesn't need to bat later!

30 extras but the consensus is England bowled well.

so NZ get to their standardish total  of 241 and every one of the 7 top batters who got out did the double figures.
and should NZ win the world cup it would be reminder, that percentage-scrapy-sum of parts cricket is still the best form of game.

10-15 runs more would have been nice to have.....BUT that's not the material issue.

It might sound cliched...but the BIG factor is for NZ to get atleast 1 Eng opener in first 6 or 7 overs and both in 15 overs....and then  they wouldn't  have won but are in the game with a strong fight & nose ahead.

It is a defendable total but its down to the opening 10 overs for England now.

Play natural game or be defensive and see the new ball out?

For me, play natural game.

Well bowled all round

Plunkett the standout ; but the other three all did their part . One bad over each from Woakes and Archer but the rest of their death bowling was excellent.

It looks like a bit under par. I'd think England chase this nine and a half times out of ten : but this is the World Cup Final ...

241/8. Just about in the competitive bracket, but unlikely to be enough. As expected, NZ didn't have the firepower in their batting order to score heavily, even though England were rather wasteful with the new ball.

Plunkett bowled the key spell which did for Williamson and the set Nicholls, and NZ never really recovered from there.  That is likely the point where England won this final.

Now 242 to win. England have got five batsmen averaging 45+ and six batsmen capable of scoring centuries, so it should be a doddle on a good pitch with a decent outfield. New Zealand's hopes depend on what Boult can do with the new ball - and the slope will suit him - and what Ferguson does at the start of the second power play.

Incidentally, Root needs a century to end the tournament as the highest individual run-scorer! Would be a nice double.

Yeah we've looked better playing our natural game. Which isn't looking to go at 10po from the start, it has to be said.

Have a look, get in and then push on. Be positive, look to rotate, take the boundaries that are on offer and put NZ under pressure.

No name Bertie wrote:30 extras but the consensus is England bowled well.

The wides were a bit of a flaw in an otherwise fine bowling performance. But yes they did indeed bowl well. 241 is a bit short of what you'd want to get on this track having chosen to bat.