2022 T20 World Cup thread

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

First topic message reminder :

Marsh put down, Aus right on the edge

Might have been the turning point of this one

[eirebilly_01]

Again, hitting out when not required and getting out. This is not clever...

[KP_fan]

w,t,f is Livingstone thinking
If someone from pak did that we would suspect "motives"

[alfie]

Easy fellas, they’re in no danger here

They shouldn't be. But just as I was about to praise Livingstone for sensible restraint he's gone and holed out...

Four down. Couple more silly shots and they could still throw this away.

[KP_fan]

Eng need a 12 run over
Lanka a wkt maiden

[KP_fan]

CHOKING has begun

[Pal Joey]

Nelson, Duty.

I can't believe this.

[eirebilly_01]

Squeaky bum time now...

Sri Lanka proving again that they are an excellent side at defending totals...

[alfie]

oh dear...Moeen ! England really don't want to win this , do they ?

If Malan can't bat , this is going to be very dicey...

[alfie]

Nelson, Duty.

I can't believe this.

I can. This England mob are good with backs to wall ; but they are way too ready to think they're invincible when they have a few good minutes. Have seen some very dumb batting tonight.

29 from 30 should be easy...but...

[KP_fan]

oh dear...Moeen !  England really don't want to win this , do they ?

If Malan can't bat , this is going to be very dicey...

There are things you absolutely cannot attempt with a tweaked groin
batting ain't one of them

[KP_fan]

This is going like an old fashioned ODI from 1980s

[Pal Joey]

Sri Lankan fielding far too casual. Apart from some good catches they've looked very ordinary.

[alfie]

oh dear...Moeen !  England really don't want to win this , do they ?

If Malan can't bat , this is going to be very dicey...

There are things you absolutely cannot attempt with a tweaked groin
batting ain't one of them

Is "tweaked groin" a regular medical term , KP_fan ? Sounds a bit more one for the morning tea mob...

[alfie]

Good stuff from Lahiru...keeping this tight.

[eirebilly_01]

jaysus wept...

[alfie]

...and gets Curran ! This is going down to the wire...

Great catch

Sri Lankan fielding rising to the occasion and England are on the brink now.

[KP_fan]

The only way Eng can lose from here is by freezing like rabbits in headlight and CHOKING
RRR more than a run per ball now as Curran throws it away

[alfie]

All the "lets leave out Malan" theorists might like to reconsider - though the injury might have done the job for them.

England making a meal of this. Need five from one over...

[KP_fan]

RRR 5RPO for last 12 overs

[KP_fan]

should get field in and tempt eng to go over the top

[alfie]

should get field in and tempt eng to go over the top

Captains never do - until it's too late.

[alfie]

Job done...

But if that is your idea of a "stroll" , Duty ...I am never going for a "run" with you

[eirebilly_01]

Wow, that was very tight. As expected, Sri Lanka defended very well but it was just not enough. England through and the Aussies out.

[KP_fan]

Eng Limps and crawls past the finish line
Lanka were short not by a lot but a just a little bit

If Indians learnt a lesson from this.......take pace off and keep both your spinners in the 11 for Adeliade
( unless they rare upset by Zim tomm)

[alfie]

Thank heavens for Ben Stokes . T20 ain't his best format ; but tonight we saw the advantage of having a real cricket brain...unlike a lot of the others , he sized up the situation and played accordingly. Top innings. Does tend to do it on the big occasions , no ?

Going to need to improve on that in these finals...

[GSC]

England made a bit of a flap of what should have been a procession after the openers took the run pressure out.

Bit more game management needed

[eirebilly_01]

I have been a big critic of Ben Stokes in this T20 team but today he has been absolutely stand out with the bat.

[GSC]

Still, job done, and as we know from the last T20 WC, form in the group stage doesn't matter for much in the semis

[alfie]

Rashid PoTM ? Fair enough ; great bowling effort.

But I reckon Stokes saved them from throwing that away and he'd have been my choice.

[Pal Joey]

They made heavy work of it but they got the job done in the end. However I wouldn't call it 'brilliant' or 'outstanding' as Nasser did. Then again, he is never short of superlatives!

So they will play India in Adelaide for a place in the final. Heart is with England but my head says India might just have too much all round firepower given a couple of the England players seemed to be struggling near the end and India have shown more strength in key areas in general.

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Hard lines England. Better luck next time.

[GSC]

Good knock from Hales too, though it seems a long time ago

[eirebilly_01]

There is definitely still a wee bit of tension between hales and Morgan... Hales did not look at him once during that interview.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Easy fellas, they’re in no danger here

You guys got yourself in quite a fuss over nothing there - lovely knock by Stokes, nobody I’d rather have there in a run chase bar Jos

Be interesting to see what they do if Malan is out - it’s just Salt as reserve bat right?

[eirebilly_01]

Easy fellas, they’re in no danger here

You guys got yourself in quite a fuss over nothing there - lovely knock by Stokes, nobody I’d rather have there in a run chase bar Jos

Be interesting to see what they do if Malan is out - it’s just Salt as reserve bat right?

I think, as its an injury, England can call up a replacement. Duckett may be getting a call.

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Easy fellas, they’re in no danger here

You guys got yourself in quite a fuss over nothing there - lovely knock by Stokes, nobody I’d rather have there in a run chase bar Jos

Be interesting to see what they do if Malan is out - it’s just Salt as reserve bat right?

Spot on. Classic England cricket supporting. Dig them out all through the innings, then continue digging even though they won.

It is just ingrained in British sporting history.

[alfie]

They made heavy work of it but they got the job done in the end. However I wouldn't call it 'brilliant' or 'outstanding' as Nasser did. Then again, he is never short of superlatives!

So they will play India in Adelaide for a place in the final. Heart is with England but my head says India might just have too much all round firepower given a couple of the England players seemed to be struggling near the end and India have shown more strength in key areas in general.

No I think Nasser was getting a bit carried away there ! "Fell in" might be more appropriate...

Lord knows what it means for semis - and potentially final. If they play (bat) like that they won't beat SA or India...or even Pakistan which is still possible , no ? Am hoping it was just nerves but I do fear the batting just isn't quite good enough. Won't write them off but a bit less confident than I was before this game.

[alfie]

Isn't Duckett back in England ? Be a bit of a rush bringing him out now. Salt for Malan is logical. Concern with Brook not doing much either though. Don't really need another bowler so poor old Willey looks like being restricted to drink carrying again...

Reckon after this game , anyone winning the toss against England is going to choose to bat first.

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Lord knows what it means for semis - and potentially final. If they play (bat) like that they won't beat SA or India...or even Pakistan .

Why not? If they bat like that but SA or India score 140 they will win.

It isn't just dependent on England's seemingly inevitable terrible performance. There will be another side facing them. Another side that are also allowed to have stinker. Let's at least let England crash out before we lambast them for crashing out.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Easy fellas, they’re in no danger here

You guys got yourself in quite a fuss over nothing there - lovely knock by Stokes, nobody I’d rather have there in a run chase bar Jos

Be interesting to see what they do if Malan is out - it’s just Salt as reserve bat right?

[JDizzle]

And, for all of England’s fragility with the bat, they are only ever one Jos Buttler innings away from winning any game of cricket. A useful trump card to have!

[alfie]

Lord knows what it means for semis - and potentially final. If they play (bat) like that they won't beat SA or India...or even Pakistan .

Why not? If they bat like that but SA or India score 140 they will win.

It isn't just dependent on England's seemingly inevitable terrible performance. There will be another side facing them. Another side that are also allowed to have stinker. Let's at least let England crash out before we lambast them for crashing out.

Oh come on Tino - you can't call that performance (with the bat) even a "pass" mark. Certainly hope they can do better - but if they have to chase , the way they struggled to beat Afghanistan , failed to beat Ireland - and now this : well it isn't too encouraging , is it ? The ability is there ; but the mental approach...maybe not ? If they bat "like that" against SA or India I doubt they will make 140.

I reckon the bowling has generally been pretty good - which gives me hope. And I am certainly not writing them off. But I won't call them favourites now - which I think I would if they'd won this convincingly.

TBH , any of the semi finalists can win on a day. Just glad they're still in it.

[alfie]

And, for all of England’s fragility with the bat, they are only ever one Jos Buttler innings away from winning any game of cricket. A useful trump card to have!

True. Only trouble is , Buttler doesn't look quite in his best groove at present. Yes , runs last two games ; but he's had a fair share of luck , and just hasn't looked at his commanding best - so hopefully he is working up to it for the finals.

I know no one will agree with me : but if Salt has to replace Malan , I would consider going Salt Hales Stokes Buttler Moeen etc... Yes stats say Jos has his best figures as opener ; but in this England side , with other opening options , I think it is more important to have Jos there in the last six overs than the first...especially if chasing. I know who I want at the wicket if they need twenty five off the last two...

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Just glad they're still in it.

You should tell the person that writes your posts then.

[GSC]

Easy fellas, they’re in no danger here

You guys got yourself in quite a fuss over nothing there - lovely knock by Stokes, nobody I’d rather have there in a run chase bar Jos

Be interesting to see what they do if Malan is out - it’s just Salt as reserve bat right?

Not sure it was quite nothing, SL probably one wicket away from making a serious game of it. But after Hales knock England were always heavy favourites to win.

Could've been a bit cleverer after Hales I guess, be my only critique of that.

[eirebilly_01]

Watching an interview with Eoin Morgan, he said that he would be in the changing room discussing why they lost their batting composure and how not to do it again. Not tomorrow morning but immediately whilst it was still fresh in their heads.
That's Australia type winning mentality.

Get that man into a coach role with England soon before other countries snap him up.

[Duty281]

Well I don't know what happened. I had to step out with England 70/0 after 6 overs, which is the equivalent of being 4-0 up in football. I come back to check the inevitable win and find England scraped through, very, very narrowly, after a shocking collapse. Dear me, I can't leave England alone for a minute!

Rashid got MOTM - sorry, POTM - which I find somewhat odd. His bowling was decent tonight, but still lacked the wicket-taking thrust required on a helpful surface for his type of bowling. I would have given it to Stokes for showing the type of nerve that was the probable difference between victory and defeat.

Thank goodness England didn't need a NRR boost, eh? Let's pay our thanks to Lorcan Tucker and Rashid Khan who both hurt Australia's NRR in various ways.

England will have to show a big improvement to win the competition. They didn't show the type of finesse that suggests they'll be able to chase down 154 in the final, and the PowerPlay bowling and fielding was dismal today. England seem to be winging it through the PowerPlay, without any real clear plan as to which bowlers to use, and the fielding has to be sharper (far too many Sri Lankan singles inside the circle). I'm guessing Malan is out, so it should be fairly obvious to put Salt in.

NZ are probably the weakest of the four semi-finalists, England are a bit ahead and then India are second strongest, followed by South Africa out in front, who we all know are going to win this competition, right?

That's presuming, of course, that India beat Bangladesh and SA beat the Dutch tomorrow, which I'm sure will happen. The semi-finals would then be:

NZ v SA - strongly favouring SA - and Ind v Eng - narrowly favouring India, unless England bat first which would put it 50-50.

Weather looks fine for the remaining games...except for the final, which is now threatened by a few showers.

[eirebilly_01]

People seem very quick to write New Zealand off... I would not be so sure about that. I honestly think tat they are a more balanced team than South Africa. I would almost have them as favourites...

England can beat India as well. Todays batting performance (exception of Buttler, Hales and Stokes) had a truly awful time but that may not happen again. I know Wood is express pace but I think that Willey will be more valuable against India than him. Salt in for Malan and Willey in for Woods would be the changes I would make.

[Duty281]

Yeah, I'm not writing NZ off, I think they're the weakest of the four but, realistically, any of the four teams can win this competition. It's quite narrow margins, as it often is in T20!

[Duty281]

Very early start for Netherlands-South Africa. Dutch batting first. Easy day for South Africa, or the biggest upset of the competition?

Dutch 48/0 after the PowerPlay, they're giving it a right go.

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