The summer of cricket 2020

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A very strong position for England with runs on the board and a series lead in hand.

Pakistan going to have to produce something special from here to rescue the series

Aussies for a few years now just haven't been able to pick Rashid

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Aussies for a few years now just haven't been able to pick Rashid

Yeah they've been guessing a bit tonight ! Actually somehow maintaining a decent run rate ; but they're at risk of running out of batsmen...

Wonder what a good score is on this ? Hard to tell given England's chasing record I guess. But I imagine they'll want to go fairly deep before trying to launch a late assault against the seamers.

Carey gone now ...another one for Rashid

England keep picking up the wickets every time Aus look to get going. 250 will be a struggle for them now.

I don't think Carey picked one delivery from Rashid that innings

Oh Moeen

At least his bowlings been tidy enough

Archer might not appreciate that bit of fielding from Moeen

Marsh and Maxwell doing a half decent repair job here. 162/5 in the 32nd.
Not a lot to come - although Cummins and Starc can handle the bat. But if these two can stay into the last ten (long way yet ) they might do some damage.

Morgan changing his bowlers around so he's keeping his options open. Think he'd like to grab one of these two soonish.

It's like the second T20 this. England did plenty of damage up front, but now the intensity is starting to waver and Australia are just getting back into the game.

Australian hopes of getting something in the region of 260+ are increasing. That wouldn't make them favourites, though it would be defendable.

200 up in the 39th ... Good fifty for Marsh .

Aussies could still turn this into a handy sort of total. They have plenty of variety in their bowling group today, so even 260-270 might not be a walk in the park. Maxwell seems to be seeing it well now so they will be eyeing at least that. Fifty for Maxwell

In fact with 218 and ten overs left even 300 remains possible...

Wicket now might peg 'em back a bit though.

Maxwell taking Archer to the cleaners ... He can be very destructive and he's really going for it now.

That 300 could well be on : England need a wicket...and there it is ! Played on . Phew ...needed that. 249/6

6, 6, but a ballsy comeback from Archer to deliver a slower ball does for Maxwell in the end.

Think England missed Plunkett in the middle overs! Will likely be chasing 280+, bar a clatter of wickets.

Good comeback from Archer after getting smashed for the two big sixes

Added Cummins to his bag now. Seven gone but they still look like getting 280 - which is more than you'd have expected at 120/5.

Well bowled Wood

Marsh plumb lbw for a vital 73. Might save a few more runs in the last couple of overs. Just rabbits left...

Duty281 wrote:6, 6, but a ballsy comeback from Archer to deliver a slower ball does for Maxwell in the end.

Think England missed Plunkett in the middle overs! Will likely be chasing 280+, bar a clatter of wickets.

Moeen was tidy enough and didn't go for too many but he offers zero wicket taking threat which allows the batsmen to get their eye in. Never been a great fan of his bowling in ODI's.

Starc nails a six on the last ball. 294 = very much game on.

Good death bowling from the three pace men...but the Aussies will probably be pleased to have got over 290 after their early struggles. Might have got out of jail with that sixth wicket stand.

England might be looking at a fine for slow over rate too.

Think they'll probably still fancy chasing it down but going to take some good batting ...six to finish ! 295 to win. Woakes deserved that late wicket

First time in odis all 5 bowlers went for 50 somethinhg

Few moments of sloppy fielding or missed half chances could have cost england big there. Very unexpected epic stand from marsh and maxwell has put aus in a decent position, although youd still expect england to knock off 300 more often than not.

Gooseberry wrote:First time in odis all 5 bowlers went for 50 somethinhg

Just saw that on the BBC live text. A gloriously meaningless stat from Andy Zaltzman.

Following the marvelous Bill Frindall is a thankless task but I really enjoy Zaltzman as an addition to the BBC cricket team.

king_carlos wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:First time in odis all 5 bowlers went for 50 somethinhg

Just saw that on the BBC live text. A gloriously meaningless stat from Andy Zaltzman.

Following the marvelous Bill Frindall is a thankless task but I really enjoy Zaltzman as an addition to the BBC cricket team.

I was listening on TMS and he git very excited at the prospect of a no ball 6 ruining it.

Do agree hes really stepped up. Helps bowadays that they have computerised records of course but apparently he maintains his own spreadsheets to cross check querries the main databases don't allow. He was at cricinfo for a long time so assume he helped developed stats guru which is a brilliant tool

The weight of history (previous successful run chases at Old Trafford) suggests the odds are against England running this down. Not sure how much thus means...team has broken a few scoring records the last year or two.

Nevertheless it's a challenging total and one might think England will be wondering (if they are disposed to ponder these things) where they "went wrong " after having half the team out for 120. I'm not sure they did a lot wrong. Maybe , as Soul suggested , the ten tidy but unthreatening overs from Moeen were "milked" a bit too easily ? Or maybe we just have to credit Maxwell and Marsh...

On with the chase :

Roys making zampa look like a comfortable batsman so far ....

...and out next ball

No great shock but fabulous catch

Just going back to Mo ... a big part of what got him dropped during the world cup was his lack of wickets in those middle overs. He was cheap enough and never let Maxwell get going, but were that pair ever going to try and go at it with the game situation in the overs he bowled? Rashid coudlve had a few more wickets on another day and did bowl toward the death, you get the feeling Mo couldve bowled for 2 years and not created any real chances other than by genuine batsman error.

As much as I want him to be a success he really is the weak link still in this england side ( ignoring Billings and Roys rank form)

England struggling.

Early wicket...not many runs...some good new ball stuff from Starc and Hazlewood under the lights. Not giving me much confidence : I'm wondering if sending Australia in was the best choice ? Though we know Morgan likes chasing...

Long way to go I guess .

Gooseberry wrote:Roys making zampa look like a comfortable batsman so far ....

He really didn't look happy. Of course it was always going to be hard for him - he's not had much cricket this season. Coming in cold against this classy opening pair ain't easy.

Same could be said for the Australians I suppose...

The Aussie openers very good so far with Cummins still to come.

They will need 20 overs from Zampa, Maxwell and Marsh though so a lot will hang on how Zampa bowls you'd imagine. If this England lineup can get after Zampa then suddenly those other 20 overs can relieve a lot of pressure.

They need wickets in hand to do that though.

Apparently england are the best batting side in the world .

Hazlewood puts Root out of his misery...hardly laid bat on ball : and he seemed to face some very good ones , to be fair .

Aussie pace trio all over England . Hope Morgan is in the mood for one of his Big Days...

alfie wrote:

Same could be said for the Australians I suppose...

His was in poor nick prior to his injury and its only a few weeks since he last played so not really an excuse.

alfie wrote:Hazlewood puts Root out of his misery...hardly laid bat on ball : and he seemed to face some very good ones , to be fair .

Aussie pace trio all over England . Hope Morgan is in the mood for one of his Big Days...

Does feel like one of those situations that asks for someone to come in and not worry about chuckimg their wicket away just to get some momentum back.

Fair enough Aus showed you shouldnt hit panic too early in an innings but englands scoring rate has been absolutelu dreadful. After 7 overs it was their second worst since the 2015 change, I suspect now its the absolute worst in those 99 innings.

Good bowling sure but whats Roots excuse for looking rusty?
Bairstow would normally be hitting enough to cover for a struggling partner.

44 dots in the first 51 deliveries...think that says everything!

Got to try and stick in, rotate the strike where possible with this left/right partnership, and wait for the 20 overs from the lesser bowlers.

Thought that was going down in real-time + feared Bairstow would get a harsh umpire's call against him, but not to be thankfully.

Have to say the Aussie bowling has been quite outstanding .

The England pace men got a lot of praise ; and Archer and Wood were both dangerous early - but they didn't apply the relentless pressure that these three have done. There has hardly been a loose delivery.

Think Jonny is gone here...review won't save him.

Oh yes ... It did...just missing leg. Stroke of luck !

But after just 22 from ten this looks an uphill battle...

Bairstow is one of those players that when he doesn't time the ball he looks like a guy trying to derive batting from first principles.

A required rate of 7 is not out of control though given the second change bowlers can be targeted.

England need this pair to hang in though.

3 scoring shots in 6 overs and one of those was an edge ....unbelievable from Hazelwood ( then Morgan hits him for 6)

Interesting time to put Zampa in, with Morgan starting to nail a few.

England still well in this, but they're only a couple more wickets away from a position of great strife.

Oh bugger.

I'd ve more confident if any player in the game had managed to score at a solid rate for a sustained period. 7 an iver isn't out of it but takes someone to go long and hard.

And Morgan out ...mo and Billings? It'll tell a hell of a thing from here

Wobbly old over from Zampa ...but he got the wicket. Morgan was trying to take the attack to them , as he had to . Just picked the fielder out.

Hope Buttler can keep his run of form going. Asking a lot to win from here...

...and Buttler ain't doing it today I'm afraid. Gone to Zampa.

I think we can call this one.

Hilariously vaughn was asking why aus aren't copying england

Yep, that's the game I think, Alfie.

Barring something extra, extraordinary.

That was a fine catch by Labuschagne , after initially misjudging it. As in the t20 the other night , excellent outfield catching

Despite losing early wickets , Australia have been right on the ball all round in this match. Pretty good for a team that hasn't had a lot of match play recently. And they didn't even have Smith !

Did Labuachagne not ground that?

Also someone tell Bairstow to quit his Nick Compton impression!

Duty281 wrote:Yep, that's the game I think, Alfie.

Barring something extra, extraordinary.

Think it was effectively gone a while back , to be honest. No one has even looked like getting on top of the bowling (Morgan struck a couple of good ones , but he always seemed to be dicing with death to try and score )

In truth it seems 294 was massively over par on a pitch that , as Stuart Broad said , appears to be a bit two paced. Marsh and Maxwell were able to turn it around for them after the early wickets ; but we should probably also praise Stoinis for getting the score ticking over even amongst the early mayhem. Meant they were never as far behind the clock as England have been.

Can't think when I've seen Roy scratch around to no effect , Root score just one off eleven balls , and Bairstow unable to get out of first gear for twenty overs - all on the same day.

Aussies have bowled brilliantly though. Credit where due

Second slowest in 764 25's for England in ODI's by Bairstow

Zaltman on fire today unlike the rest of England

Jonny's slowest fifty in International cricket... Even with the two sixes.

On the bright side : if this were a Test Match , they'd have just avoided the follow on

Not sure why I'm still watching...

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Yep, that's the game I think, Alfie.

Barring something extra, extraordinary.

Think it was effectively gone a while back , to be honest. No one has even looked like getting on top of the bowling (Morgan struck a couple of good ones , but he always seemed to be dicing with death to try and score )

In truth it seems 294 was massively over par on a pitch that , as Stuart Broad said , appears to be a bit two paced. Marsh and Maxwell were able to turn it around for them after the early wickets ; but we should probably also praise Stoinis for getting the score ticking over even amongst the early mayhem. Meant they were never as far behind the clock as England have been.

Can't think when I've seen Roy scratch around to no effect , Root score just one off eleven balls , and Bairstow unable to get out of first gear for twenty overs - all on the same day.

Aussies have bowled brilliantly though. Credit where due

Yes, Aussies have bowled very well, unlike England in the second half.

English ODI batting on slow pitches could be a concern going forward. Hopefully they'll get loads of practice on such pitches ahead of the Indian World Cup.

alfie wrote:Jonny's slowest fifty in International cricket... Even with the two sixes.

On the bright side : if this were a Test Match , they'd have just avoided the follow on

Not sure why I'm still watching...

Because England are still going to win! Bairstow 150, Billings 100 and Moeen to hit the winning runs.