Rest of the World

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Blimey...just flicked back to see Australia making a meal of chasing 34 to win. Warner another fail (is that a strong hint that his time is all but done ?)

But also Smith Khawaja and Head gone...29/4 and extras has made 14 of them !

Only need five more so no problem...but SA might wonder what might have been if they'd been able to produce a bit more resistance in that awful second innings.

Supports kingraf's pitch assessment , I guess

I'll concede it was a bit of a troll comment. Probably one of the most overhyped IPL products I've ever seen though. There is of course a lot of ability there, but a long way to go to translate that into several formats at international level

VTR wrote:I'll concede it was a bit of a troll comment. Probably one of the most overhyped IPL products I've ever seen though. There is of course a lot of ability there, but a long way to go to translate that into several formats at international level

He's also 32, time isn't really on his side.

Some very good cricket by NZ to end their Test summer after being well beaten in the first England Test.

As sides generally do after following on, SL put up a much better fight in the second innings.

What do people think about Stokes playing in the IPL when he's not fully fit? Madness, IMHO, with an Ashes series coming up.

Good win for New Zealand, at least their reign as World Test Champions ends on a high, and they'll be pleased the nature of this win was a fair bit more comfortable than the previous two victories!

It brings an end to the round-robin stage of the 2021-2023 WTC, which started all the way back with England's home series v India.

Australia finishing 1st, India 2nd, South Africa 3rd, England 4th, Sri Lanka 5th, New Zealand 6th, Pakistan 7th, West Indies 8th, and Bangladesh 9th.

The top three teams are the only ones to finish with over 50% of points, although England would have also exceeded this figure had it not been for slow over rates. I think Australia and India is the right final, they are the best two nations in test cricket at the moment, and I'm expecting an Australian win in the one-off final in England.

South Africa look to have finished a touch high relative to their current strength, but they were stronger earlier in the cycle and were able to inflict the only series defeat on India in this run. England finished strong, after their first nine tests were against India and Australia, it got a bit more downhill from there. Sri Lanka solid in 5th, and New Zealand well in decline in 6th.

Pakistan will likely be the most disappointed side. They had eight home tests, all against non subcontinent opposition, but failed to win a single one as they prepared strangely non subcontinental pitches. The West Indies managed to be undefeated at home, in terms of series results, but lost six tests out of six on the road. Bangladesh lost ten out of twelve tests in total; their sole win coming when they somehow beat New Zealand.

Overall, there were 27 test series played: 15 were home wins; 7 were draws; and 5 were away wins (Australia and England winning in Pakistan; India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka winning in Bangladesh). So I think we can see how difficult winning a series on the road is!

For batsmen scoring over 750 runs in this cycle, Williamson had the highest average with 75.2. Khawaja, Babar, Mitchell and Chandimal all breached 750 runs and averaged 60+. Root had the most runs overall, 1915, but England did play the most games. If you look at bowling averages with a minimum of 20 wickets, the figures of Scott Boland (13.4) and Kyle Mayers (17.65) have the lowest, which is quite something! Shaheen, Bumrah and Ashwin all averaged under 20 as well. Anderson took 58 @ 20.37, with Robinson not too far behind with 53 @ 20.75, to lead England's figures. Lyon took the most wickets with 83.

The final is on the 7th June at the Oval. I think six days are pencilled in again, in case of rain. Six days were needed for the NZ-India final.

Unlike the ODI Super League, this tournament will be continuing, and the 2023-2025 cycle starts with the first Ashes test in June. It will be the same nine teams, so no chance for Zimbabwe/Ireland/Afghanistan, at least not yet.

Yeah I think it is fair enough that we have an Australia-India final : they have been the best two teams over the cycle (though the flawed nature of this competition is surely shown by the fact that a couple of rogue results in this last month or so could have eliminated either of them in favour of SA or Sri Lanka - neither of which could reasonably have claimed to be one of the best two , or even three)

You'd think Australia will be favoured by playing in England where spin will matter less. But if Bumrah is fit India also have a very strong seam contingent so I wouldn't be raking anything for granted. Main reason I'd have my money on Australia is that I think India are struggling to identify their best batting line-up ; and since they probably won't be picking three spinners who bat better than half the specialists they may have problems making enough runs. Might be an interesting match though...

sirfredperry wrote:Some very good cricket by NZ to end their Test summer after being well beaten in the first England Test.

As sides generally do after following on, SL put up a much better fight in the second innings.

What do people think about Stokes playing in the IPL when he's not fully fit? Madness, IMHO, with an Ashes series coming up.

I think it's looking less and less likely that Stokes will be in the World Cup squad later this year. He's playing in the IPL, then coming back before the end to play in the Ireland test, then pushing on to play five Ashes tests. The Ashes does end by the 31st July, but the ECB are also pressuring him to play in the Hundred nonsense, which he missed last year.

I think a choice then has to be made by Stokes. The ODI World Cup is in October and November this year, but also England are playing five tests in India in January/February 2024, and I think it's highly unlikely that Stokes will be able to play all of the Ashes, the World Cup and the test series in India, without breaking down with injury. He'll need to decide between the World Cup and the test series in India, I reckon.

Surely Stokes will be guided by the actual state of his body as he proceeds...if the usual issues are recurring I'd imagine he won't be playing as much IPL as he might like ? He apparently believes the short format might be OK for him but you'd think he won't know that for sure until the action gets under way.

Reckon he will be putting his England Test commitments first anyway - the WC will be an afterthought at most.

Duty281 wrote:Good win for New Zealand, at least their reign as World Test Champions ends on a high, and they'll be pleased the nature of this win was a fair bit more comfortable than the previous two victories!

It brings an end to the round-robin stage of the 2021-2023 WTC, which started all the way back with England's home series v India.

Australia finishing 1st, India 2nd, South Africa 3rd, England 4th, Sri Lanka 5th, New Zealand 6th, Pakistan 7th, West Indies 8th, and Bangladesh 9th.

The top three teams are the only ones to finish with over 50% of points, although England would have also exceeded this figure had it not been for slow over rates. I think Australia and India is the right final, they are the best two nations in test cricket at the moment, and I'm expecting an Australian win in the one-off final in England.

South Africa look to have finished a touch high relative to their current strength, but they were stronger earlier in the cycle and were able to inflict the only series defeat on India in this run. England finished strong, after their first nine tests were against India and Australia, it got a bit more downhill from there. Sri Lanka solid in 5th, and New Zealand well in decline in 6th.

Pakistan will likely be the most disappointed side. They had eight home tests, all against non subcontinent opposition, but failed to win a single one as they prepared strangely non subcontinental pitches. The West Indies managed to be undefeated at home, in terms of series results, but lost six tests out of six on the road. Bangladesh lost ten out of twelve tests in total; their sole win coming when they somehow beat New Zealand.

Overall, there were 27 test series played: 15 were home wins; 7 were draws; and 5 were away wins (Australia and England winning in Pakistan; India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka winning in Bangladesh). So I think we can see how difficult winning a series on the road is!

For batsmen scoring over 750 runs in this cycle, Williamson had the highest average with 75.2. Khawaja, Babar, Mitchell and Chandimal all breached 750 runs and averaged 60+. Root had the most runs overall, 1915, but England did play the most games. If you look at bowling averages with a minimum of 20 wickets, the figures of Scott Boland (13.4) and Kyle Mayers (17.65) have the lowest, which is quite something! Shaheen, Bumrah and Ashwin all averaged under 20 as well. Anderson took 58 @ 20.37, with Robinson not too far behind with 53 @ 20.75, to lead England's figures. Lyon took the most wickets with 83.

The final is on the 7th June at the Oval. I think six days are pencilled in again, in case of rain. Six days were needed for the NZ-India final.

Unlike the ODI Super League, this tournament will be continuing, and the 2023-2025 cycle starts with the first Ashes test in June. It will be the same nine teams, so no chance for Zimbabwe/Ireland/Afghanistan, at least not yet.

It really is quite outrageous that despite being full members, Zimbabwe/Ireland/Afghanistan have been excluded from the cycle twice already, and will be for a third time now. Absolutely ludicrous!

WTC final I think will come down to the batting - both Aus and India can call on very good seam bowling attacks for English conditions, but I reckon the Aussies are a bit more competent batting against lateral movement than the Indians are - at least, if it comes down to Smith against Kohli I know who I would expect to make runs...

The competition does appear flawed, even if the right teams have reached the final (if not necessarily the most in form teams at the end of the qualifying period) - England have played twice as many qualifying Tests as some of the other nations, which clearly can't be right.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Good win for New Zealand, at least their reign as World Test Champions ends on a high, and they'll be pleased the nature of this win was a fair bit more comfortable than the previous two victories!

It brings an end to the round-robin stage of the 2021-2023 WTC, which started all the way back with England's home series v India.

Australia finishing 1st, India 2nd, South Africa 3rd, England 4th, Sri Lanka 5th, New Zealand 6th, Pakistan 7th, West Indies 8th, and Bangladesh 9th.

The top three teams are the only ones to finish with over 50% of points, although England would have also exceeded this figure had it not been for slow over rates. I think Australia and India is the right final, they are the best two nations in test cricket at the moment, and I'm expecting an Australian win in the one-off final in England.

South Africa look to have finished a touch high relative to their current strength, but they were stronger earlier in the cycle and were able to inflict the only series defeat on India in this run. England finished strong, after their first nine tests were against India and Australia, it got a bit more downhill from there. Sri Lanka solid in 5th, and New Zealand well in decline in 6th.

Pakistan will likely be the most disappointed side. They had eight home tests, all against non subcontinent opposition, but failed to win a single one as they prepared strangely non subcontinental pitches. The West Indies managed to be undefeated at home, in terms of series results, but lost six tests out of six on the road. Bangladesh lost ten out of twelve tests in total; their sole win coming when they somehow beat New Zealand.

Overall, there were 27 test series played: 15 were home wins; 7 were draws; and 5 were away wins (Australia and England winning in Pakistan; India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka winning in Bangladesh). So I think we can see how difficult winning a series on the road is!

For batsmen scoring over 750 runs in this cycle, Williamson had the highest average with 75.2. Khawaja, Babar, Mitchell and Chandimal all breached 750 runs and averaged 60+. Root had the most runs overall, 1915, but England did play the most games. If you look at bowling averages with a minimum of 20 wickets, the figures of Scott Boland (13.4) and Kyle Mayers (17.65) have the lowest, which is quite something! Shaheen, Bumrah and Ashwin all averaged under 20 as well. Anderson took 58 @ 20.37, with Robinson not too far behind with 53 @ 20.75, to lead England's figures. Lyon took the most wickets with 83.

The final is on the 7th June at the Oval. I think six days are pencilled in again, in case of rain. Six days were needed for the NZ-India final.

Unlike the ODI Super League, this tournament will be continuing, and the 2023-2025 cycle starts with the first Ashes test in June. It will be the same nine teams, so no chance for Zimbabwe/Ireland/Afghanistan, at least not yet.

It really is quite outrageous that despite being full members, Zimbabwe/Ireland/Afghanistan have been excluded from the cycle twice already, and will be for a third time now. Absolutely ludicrous!

Agreed, especially seeing as how there doesn't appear to be any way for them to access the competition through promotion or a play-off or whatever, and that Bangladesh (16 losses from 19 games) are hardly justifying their place.

Not sure if it's a popular view or whatever, but I'd split it into two divisions of six, so you could have Australia, India, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in one division; then Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland in the second.

Maybe the top team from division two gets promoted, the bottom team from division one gets relegated, and 5th in division one plays a play-off against the second team in division two? Would also give the lesser placed sides something to fight for, as the likes of Bangladesh and the West Indies are miles away from winning the WTC, plus it would give more regular test cricket for the likes of Ireland and Afghanistan.

dummy_half wrote:WTC final I think will come down to the batting - both Aus and India can call on very good seam bowling attacks for English conditions, but I reckon the Aussies are a bit more competent batting against lateral movement than the Indians are - at least, if it comes down to Smith against Kohli I know who I would expect to make runs...

The competition does appear flawed, even if the right teams have reached the final (if not necessarily the most in form teams at the end of the qualifying period) - England have played twice as many qualifying Tests as some of the other nations, which clearly can't be right.

I think the WTC is impossibly flawed and the only way it could be fixed is if limited-over and franchise cricket didn't exist!

I don't think it's possible to equalise the number of tests played. The marquee series, such as Eng v Aus, Aus v Ind, Ind v Eng, do need to be four or five tests, in my view, but there simply isn't the same interest in making, say, England v Sri Lanka or West Indies v New Zealand a four or five test series. So I think the percentage system is a justifiable method.

I am, however, frustrated by the number of two test series that are happening. I think three should be a minimum. The next cycle of the WTC has 27 series, 19 of which are just going to be two test matches (including all of Bangladesh's, South Africa's and Sri Lanka's games).

My biggest gripe with the WTC is probably the unequal opponent roster, as every team will miss out on two opponents, which I do understand because of time constraints, but it is annoying nonetheless and creates inequality of difficulty. Looking at the 2023-2025 cycle, South Africa have the easiest fixture list. They will not play Australia or England, but they will play India at home. Compare this to the West Indies who will have to play all of Australia, England and India, two of them on the road, plus an away trip to Pakistan.

Again this is where I feel a tiered system would be better. If you had two divisions of six, everyone would play everyone at some point, plus you could have more tests between nations. Imagine if, at the upcoming ODI World Cup group stage, New Zealand didn't have to play India or England, but Sri Lanka did. There would be outrage, justifiably so!

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/major-league-cricket-aaron-finch-mitchell-marsh-quinton-de-kock-wanindu-hasaranga-marcus-stoinis-anrich-nortje-1364474

The USA will see their own foray into the crowded T20 franchise league market in July, with a six-team competition to be played in Dallas, Texas. Some very impressive signings have been made - Finch, Marsh, Hasaranga, Stoinis, Nortje, de Kock and Plunkett.

With this new league, plus the USA co-hosting the 2024 T20 World Cup, it could be a very big year for American cricket. The USA have made steady progress internationally over the past decade and a bit - in 2010 they were in Division Five of the World Cricket League, taking on the likes of Fiji and Bahrain; in 2019 they gained ODI status; now they're in League 2 and have most recently finished 5th, ahead of the UAE and PNG, and they retain a decent chance of making the final 2023 ODI World Cup qualifier, where they would be playing test nations.

With a sizeable population and plenty of potential for growth, might the USA follow the path of Afghanistan and Ireland? May we one day see test matches in Texas?

Duty281 wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Good win for New Zealand, at least their reign as World Test Champions ends on a high, and they'll be pleased the nature of this win was a fair bit more comfortable than the previous two victories!

It brings an end to the round-robin stage of the 2021-2023 WTC, which started all the way back with England's home series v India.

Australia finishing 1st, India 2nd, South Africa 3rd, England 4th, Sri Lanka 5th, New Zealand 6th, Pakistan 7th, West Indies 8th, and Bangladesh 9th.

The top three teams are the only ones to finish with over 50% of points, although England would have also exceeded this figure had it not been for slow over rates. I think Australia and India is the right final, they are the best two nations in test cricket at the moment, and I'm expecting an Australian win in the one-off final in England.

South Africa look to have finished a touch high relative to their current strength, but they were stronger earlier in the cycle and were able to inflict the only series defeat on India in this run. England finished strong, after their first nine tests were against India and Australia, it got a bit more downhill from there. Sri Lanka solid in 5th, and New Zealand well in decline in 6th.

Pakistan will likely be the most disappointed side. They had eight home tests, all against non subcontinent opposition, but failed to win a single one as they prepared strangely non subcontinental pitches. The West Indies managed to be undefeated at home, in terms of series results, but lost six tests out of six on the road. Bangladesh lost ten out of twelve tests in total; their sole win coming when they somehow beat New Zealand.

Overall, there were 27 test series played: 15 were home wins; 7 were draws; and 5 were away wins (Australia and England winning in Pakistan; India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka winning in Bangladesh). So I think we can see how difficult winning a series on the road is!

For batsmen scoring over 750 runs in this cycle, Williamson had the highest average with 75.2. Khawaja, Babar, Mitchell and Chandimal all breached 750 runs and averaged 60+. Root had the most runs overall, 1915, but England did play the most games. If you look at bowling averages with a minimum of 20 wickets, the figures of Scott Boland (13.4) and Kyle Mayers (17.65) have the lowest, which is quite something! Shaheen, Bumrah and Ashwin all averaged under 20 as well. Anderson took 58 @ 20.37, with Robinson not too far behind with 53 @ 20.75, to lead England's figures. Lyon took the most wickets with 83.

The final is on the 7th June at the Oval. I think six days are pencilled in again, in case of rain. Six days were needed for the NZ-India final.

Unlike the ODI Super League, this tournament will be continuing, and the 2023-2025 cycle starts with the first Ashes test in June. It will be the same nine teams, so no chance for Zimbabwe/Ireland/Afghanistan, at least not yet.

It really is quite outrageous that despite being full members, Zimbabwe/Ireland/Afghanistan have been excluded from the cycle twice already, and will be for a third time now. Absolutely ludicrous!

Agreed, especially seeing as how there doesn't appear to be any way for them to access the competition through promotion or a play-off or whatever, and that Bangladesh (16 losses from 19 games) are hardly justifying their place.

Not sure if it's a popular view or whatever, but I'd split it into two divisions of six, so you could have Australia, India, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand in one division; then Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland in the second.

Maybe the top team from division two gets promoted, the bottom team from division one gets relegated, and 5th in division one plays a play-off against the second team in division two? Would also give the lesser placed sides something to fight for, as the likes of Bangladesh and the West Indies are miles away from winning the WTC, plus it would give more regular test cricket for the likes of Ireland and Afghanistan.

Yep I wouldn't be against this idea either Duty - would give plenty of context to some now rather "meaningless" bi-lateral series if there was promotion/relegation implications, plus you could probably pretty easily organise a home and away series in the cycle with only 5 other teams to play.
If the ICC was smart, they'd pool the broadcasting rights and sell them off across the globe to help finance it...(of course the BCCI would never allow this, but allow me to live in an ideal world for a bit!)

West Indies off to a decent start against SA in the last ODI.  I think the team that wins this one will be the team that can be slightly more arsed than the other team.

South Africa won it. An odd chase, because they needed 261 to win but knocked it off in 29.3 overs! Klassen with a 54-ball ton, ending up unbeaten with 119 off 61.

And in a different ODI series, which started today, the Dutch made a remarkable comeback to defeat Zimbabwe in Harare. The Netherlands were 64/5 chasing 250, but another unbeaten ton, this time for the number seven Nidamanuru, got them home with three wickets and a ball to spare.

I mentioned, also, that Nortje has signed up to the USA T20 league. This has already had a superb knock-on effect as he has pulled out of the Hundred draft, according to Cricinfo, because the Yanks are paying more.

Australia v India in an ODI today. Aus batting first, and just coming to the end of their innings at 261-9 with a couple of overs left. Solid enough start, but generally have just lost wickets at regular intervals. Only Smith not getting double figures but no-one making a 50.
Pandya and Yadav with 3 wickets a piece.

All out 269 with an over left

VTR wrote:The world's first 360 player with two golden ducks in a row!

Three golden ducks in a row! Even though they sent him out at 7 for this one. All that 360ing is making him dizzy.

Spoiler:

India have slumped from 146/2 to 185/6.

That's hilarious. He certainly puts the 0 into 360!

61 needed from 9 overs with 4 wickets in hand. A bit like the Aussie innings, with several batsmen getting in and getting out and only Kholi getting past 50 (and then only just). Pandya and Jadeja in at the moment but limited batting behind.

Pandya gone and 52 needed in 6.2 overs. Looks to be advantage Australia now

Australia seal the win and get the series as well, bringing an end to India's 8 consecutive ODI series wins at home, and denting any invincibility they may have felt ahead of the World Cup, which is being hosted by them. Also means India are stuttering their way through ODI cricket, losing 3 of their 5 most recent series.

Australia are quietly becoming the momentum team ahead of the ODI World Cup. They've won 8 of their last 10 ODI series, and all of their last 4; although that 4 does include a second-string England team and Zimbabwe (who Australia actually lost to in 1 of the 3 games). Their recent record in the sub-continent was pretty poor as the 2 ODI series they did lose in that batch of 10 were against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

I'd probably rank Australia as my 4th favourites for the World Cup, currently, and a bit behind the 3 in front. Not much to separate the leading trio of India, England and Pakistan, for my money, it's not like 2019 when I had England clear favourites.

Bookmakers currently got India 11/5; England 3/1; Australia 4/1; Pakistan quite a bit back at 7/1.

India are a weird ODI side these days. Their selections appear very conservative as opposed to their T20 side.

Even though the ODI world cup will be in India, I do not see them among the favourites. Australia, as always, a timing their run to the ODI world cup perfectly and have a very strong team. England and Pakistan will be solid but I also feel they may struggle.

South Africa are my dark horses for this one.

I reckon anyone who fancies a bet on the next WC at the moment is nuts...might as well throw a dart at the board. Results - as Duty shows above - are all over the place and since most teams are experimenting anyway it is practically pointless trying to read anything into them.
A lot is going to come down to which teams can get to the event with all or most of their key players fit for action , surely ? And as we can see by looking at the current injury status of several star names from different countries around the world that , is pretty hard
to predict many months out.
Have a feeling there will not be a clear cut favourite for this one at least until we actually see the early rounds...

The added complexity for this WC is how the wickets are going to play. The groundstaff could prepare very flat wickets that allow scores in excess of 350 to be the target, in which case England's batting power becomes more favoured, or ones that have a reasonable amount of turm from the off, making each game more of a lottery, where 200-250 might be a really challenging score.

And of course, not every venue needs to play the same, and I fully expect India's games to be played on pitches that favour them relative to whoever they are playing (so flat against sub-continental teams, probably more spin friendly against the likes of England and Australia).

While I enjoy the slow and low pitches that make a 250 score an uphill battle - like that which we saw in England's series in Bangladesh recently - the reality is that, for a global showpiece event, the ICC will want sixes, boundaries and lots of runs, so I think we'll see good batting wickets for the duration of the competition.

I thought, but may be wrong, that the ICC prepare the pitches for these tournaments. I think this is one of the issues England faced in 2019, quite a few of the pitches were not of the type that they would have chosen to play on themselves

The ICC, as far as I'm aware, don't prepare pitches at major tournaments as such, but they do guide and oversee the process through the means of an independent consultant. How much influence the ICC hold over this process is somewhat of a mystery.

That has led to accusations that the ICC has instructed local groundsmen to prepare slower surfaces than normal. But world cricket’s governing body said: “Essentially the venues are responsible for the pitch preparation which is done with oversight and guidance from the ICC and our independent pitch consultant.

“The guidance we give any host of an ICC event is to prepare the best possible pitches for the conditions in that country – so in this case the best possible ODI pitch for typical English conditions and we would also look for even bounce and good carry. The ICC does not instruct groundsmen to prepare pitches in a certain way to advantage, or disadvantage, any team.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/09/world-cup-low-scoring-pitches-icc-deny

“We employ an independent pitch advisor to work with the host curators at all ICC events and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 is no different,” an ICC statement read.

“We are happy with the wickets that have been produced across the event so far in English conditions."

https://scroll.in/field/927075/world-cup-2019-sri-lanka-cry-foul-over-pitches-preferential-treatment-but-organisers-refute-claims

Ireland's confidence will have taken a hit - bowled out for 101 in the third ODI v Bangladesh, who promptly chased it down in 13.1 overs. 2-0 series win for the home side, Ireland saved from 3-0 by the rain. Chastening tour thus far.

Ireland by and large don't play spin very well or bowl spin particularly well. Not the best matchup going to Bangladesh. Generally speaking they are in a rebuild having lost that golden generation that propelled them to greater prominence though. Missing Josh Little and Craig Young here too. It surprises me that Barry McCarthy is out in the cold for ODIs as well.

Bangladesh are a decent outfit at the moment in spinning conditions. If the pitches in India are as expected I could see them doing well later this year.

In other news Kyle Coetzer retired from all cricket today. A great servant, skipper and batter for Scotland. They've seen huge improvement especially in their professionalism during his time at the helm. He's the sort of player that should make the transfer into coaching very well.

The three-match ODI series between New Zealand and Sri Lanka begins in the early hours of Saturday. A highly important series for Sri Lanka as they will need a 3-0 win, or 2-0 and one abandonment, to guarantee qualification for the 2023 World Cup, ahead of the West Indies, South Africa and Ireland. Anything less and they'll be relying on South Africa to slip up v the Netherlands, and even that may not be enough for them to avoid the final qualifier.

Ordinarily, you wouldn't say Sri Lanka have much of a chance, but the scheduling for this series means that New Zealand are severely weakened - they're missing Williamson, Southee, Conway, Ferguson, Bracewell and Santner for the whole series due to IPL commitments, while Allen and Phillips will only be available for the first ODI. No sign of Boult whatsoever. Sri Lanka, by contrast, are nearly at full strength. So, really, Sri Lanka couldn't have asked for a better opportunity!

If that doesn't quite satisfy your thirst for ODI cricket, the World Cup Qualifier Play-Off begins early on Sunday, hosted in Namibia and broadcast for free (I think) on the ICC website. Unlike Sri Lanka, the six teams competing in this event are trying to make the final qualifier for the World Cup, and such a prize will be awarded to the teams that finish in the top-two of the simple round-robin format, where everyone plays everyone once. It's being contested between Canada, Jersey, Namibia, PNG, UAE and the USA.

This is a huge step up for Canada and Jersey, who got here by finishing top of their respective groups in the Challenge League, and beating the likes of Italy, Vanuatu and Qatar. Indeed, this play-off event has ODI status, which means that games in this play-off will be Jersey's first ever ODI matches, a sign of how far they've improved in recent years. The other four teams finished between 4th and 7th in the higher tier of League 2. PNG were a long way off the pace of the other three, so you'd think the top two placings would be a tight battle between Namibia, UAE and the USA.

Our clubs former overseas player Chad Bowes will make his ODI bow for NZ tonight! Super excited for him - not sure I’m gonna make the 1am start tho

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Our clubs former overseas player Chad Bowes will make his ODI bow for NZ tonight! Super excited for him - not sure I’m gonna make the 1am start tho

Bowes made a brisk 14 in an opening stand of 36. NZ now 172/5 in the 34th so need a few more from Phillips and the tail.

Ha. So much for Sri Lanka having a decent chance due to NZ missing lots of first choice players ...

Currently 62/9 "chasing" 274. Only question being : can they avoid the follow on

Nice little NZ win by 198 runs in the end.  Henry Shipley , tall 26 year old pace man in only his fourth ODI , impressive with 5/31 from 7 overs - and rewarded by PoTM

Oh dear, Sri Lanka. They didn't bowl too badly, although they bowled too many wides and no-balls, and probably let NZ have at least 30 too many. But the batting was a car crash, which started from that dreadful run-out. That's them into the qualifier now, almost certainly, where progression is far from a guarantee.

Very good from Shipley. It's quite a crowded NZ field in terms of seamers, so he's certainly taken his chance here and given his prospects of making the World Cup a timely boost.

Cricket history today as South Africa completed the highest ever chase in T20 internationals. The West Indies made 258/5 on a tiny ground, with Charles getting 118 off 46. De Kock would almost match him with 100 off 44, as South Africa chased it down with 7 balls to spare.

A total of 35 sixes were hit. I never enjoy games like that, as a viewer. The balance between bat and ball so horrendously tilted that it makes maximums a non-event. One of the reasons I enjoyed the recent T20 World Cup was the sizable boundaries, and the almost even battle between bat and ball that persisted.

The USA also beat Namibia in the first qualifier play-off game. USA won by 80 runs, which may indicate a comfortable win, but they had to fight back from being 5/2, 91/5 and 150/7, to post 231/9, thanks to a spirited effort from the middle and lower-order. Though Namibia struggled with the new ball bowling of Ali Khan, they were looking good in the chase at 118/3, but from there they collapsed sensationally to be bowled out for 151.

Even at this early juncture, that puts one foot for the USA into the next stage of the elongated qualifying process, as Namibia were one of their two closest rivals.

That Windies vs South Africa game sounds like utter garbage. Who cares about the records when, given the totals both teams made, it was clearly a lot easier to score here than anywhere else.

Scoring feats not accomplished by England shouldn't be recognised.

VTR wrote:That Windies vs South Africa game sounds like utter garbage. Who cares about the records when, given the totals both teams made, it was clearly a lot easier to score here than anywhere else.

That can be said of many many cricket records though. It's such a conditions reliant game.

I frequently argue that of the great 90s/00s batters Lara had the highest peaks for instance. At their respective very best I thought Lara was that tinniest bit more sublime than the similarly incredible Sachin and Punter. That said his 400 was scored on an absolutely abysmal pitch, where Vaughan and Trescothick bowled about 30 overs and when he could sweep pretty much with impunity due to the pre DRS era meaning the big stride meant he wasn't going to be given.

All records and stats require perspective.

The combination of the rise of the wobble ball, spicier pitches, the Kookaburra ball finally getting its seam reinforced and the huge impact of DRS on decisions and bowling tactics means that there are many bowlers from recent years who have FAR better records then they likely would've done bowling in the 00s and 10s when pitches were generally a lot flatter, balls more useless and less LBWs getting given.

All that said I absolutely agree that games such as that are tedious. It's part of the reason the Blast slipped a bit IMO. You've already got some small grounds in the UK then they were producing roads 'for the spectacle'. It often became a bit homogenous. The consistency of huge scores at somewhere such as Trent Bridge was just farcical for instance.

Galted wrote:Scoring feats not accomplished by England shouldn't be recognised.

I don't think anyone is saying that. 260 plays 260 is not a good T20. It is extremely unlikely that we saw two of the best batting performances of all time on the same day. Clearly, conditions for this match were so far in favour of the batsmen, it was bordering on ridiculous

Regardless of conditions, you have to give the SA openers credit for performing brilliantly under pressure. Even on an easy wicket and small boundaries, chasing at going on 13 an over takes some quality consistent hitting - de Kock and Hendricks really broke the back of the chase with 150 in the first 10 overs.

Agree that this sort of match should not become the norm, but on occasion is probably OK.

I often feel there's not much pressure on batsmen in T20 cricket. Perhaps in the death overs there is, when a target is being chased and the outcome is in the air, but generally batsmen just need to go hard and hope for the best. No one will have a go at them for picking out long-on after an innings of 16 after 9 balls. It was the same with the South African chase - swing hard and hope for the best. It's where T20 cricket falls short for me in comparison to fifty-over and first-class cricket, where there is pressure on batsmen to balance the risk and reward options.

Speaking of T20s, Afghanistan defeated Pakistan 2-1 in a three-game series, which marks out Afghanistan's first ever wins over Pakistan in cricket - albeit, Pakistan were largely a second-string unit for this series. Rashid Khan and Mujeeb continue to be stupendous, and Afghanistan's quality seam bowler, Farooqi, has continued to excel. He can bowl in the PowerPlay and the death overs, giving their attack a crucial new dimension. He's played 22 T20 internationals now, with a career economy below 6.5. Afghanistan are just a couple of decent hitters away from being a very good T20 team.

And Sri Lanka's second ODI v NZ was washed out. Best Sri Lanka can hope for now is a win in the final game, leaving them with 91 points, and praying that the Dutch beat South Africa once in the upcoming two games between those nations (which start on Friday).

Another T20 between the West Indies and South Africa today. I kept one eye on the score, the Windies seemed to be floundering, but they finished up with...220/8, after 43 came off the last two overs. Just the 16 sixes in that innings. Shepherd, at 9, managing 44 off 22. Curious to make 220 and not a single batsman bringing up the half-century.

Cricinfo's win predictor puts South Africa's chances down at 7%, but it's probably higher than that in actuality! Certainly the bookmakers think so, with South Africa almost evens to chase 221, which just shows how nonsensical this all is!

South Africa fall 8 runs short, so just the 433 runs in this T20. A pittance.

Bit of a surprise in the World Cup Qualifier Play-Off games, as Canada managed to topple the USA, in the oldest international rivalry in cricket. Canada were bowled out for 198, after being 9/3, but the bowlers dug in to seal a 26 run win.

Coupled with their win over Jersey, this puts Canada in charge of the group, alongside the UAE.

Ireland's horrible tour of Bangladesh continues. They've been hammered in both T20 games so far, the home side putting up 200 both times without ever batting the full 20 overs. Just one T20 left, then the test.

Also, there's still plenty of doubt about Pakistan's participation in the ODI World Cup. India have refused to play their Asia Cup games in Pakistan, where the tournament is being hosted, and will instead play them at another overseas venue. Pakistan, acting in a tit-for-tat manner, are looking to play their World Cup games outside India - but will the ICC allow this for their flagship tournament?

I guess it comes down to: who runs this bloody game? The ICC, or the BCCI? I think we all know the answer...

Sri Lanka sliding to defeat v New Zealand, after another terrible batting performance. Henry and Shipley continuing to enhance their reputations in ODI cricket.

This will confirm Sri Lanka's place in the qualifying event. With only two teams making it from ten total in the event, will this be the first ODI World Cup where Sri Lanka don't make an appearance?

South Africa cruising to a win over the Dutch, despite some earlier concerns about the weather. The Dutch actually made a brilliant start, 53/0 after 9 overs batting first, but their early momentum ran aground and they were bowled out for 189. South Africa, unsurprisingly, have had no problems with the chase.

This result puts the West Indies into the qualifier*, alongside Sri Lanka. The West Indies were in the qualifier for the 2019 ODI World Cup as well, and only got through to the main event that year because of a howler of an umpiring decision that went their way. Will the West Indies squeeze through again? Nothing would sum up their horrible decline as a cricketing power more than missing the World Cup; a World Cup which they won in each of the first two iterations.

The only thing left to sort in the Super League now is the matter of South Africa or Ireland. Presuming South Africa beat the Dutch again in the final ODI, Ireland will need to win 3-0 over Bangladesh in May, and hope their NRR is better (which it should be, if they win 3-0). Anything worse for Ireland and they'll be in the qualifier.

*Barring the Netherlands hammering South Africa in the final game, which I don't expect to happen! Actually the first tie-breaker is wins, then NRR. So if the Dutch beat South Africa by any margin, which I still don't expect to happen, then the West Indies will finish above South Africa.

This doesn't alter any potential tie between Ireland and South Africa, because if South Africa do win the final game, and Ireland beat Bangladesh 3-0, they'll have the same number of wins, so it'll go down to NRR.

Duty281 wrote:South Africa cruising to a win over the Dutch, despite some earlier concerns about the weather. The Dutch actually made a brilliant start, 53/0 after 9 overs batting first, but their early momentum ran aground and they were bowled out for 189. South Africa, unsurprisingly, have had no problems with the chase.

This result puts the West Indies into the qualifier*, alongside Sri Lanka. The West Indies were in the qualifier for the 2019 ODI World Cup as well, and only got through to the main event that year because of a howler of an umpiring decision that went their way. Will the West Indies squeeze through again? Nothing would sum up their horrible decline as a cricketing power more than missing the World Cup; a World Cup which they won in each of the first two iterations.

The only thing left to sort in the Super League now is the matter of South Africa or Ireland. Presuming South Africa beat the Dutch again in the final ODI, Ireland will need to win 3-0 over Bangladesh in May, and hope their NRR is better (which it should be, if they win 3-0). Anything worse for Ireland and they'll be in the qualifier.

*Barring the Netherlands hammering South Africa in the final game, which I don't expect to happen!

I came on here for the Duty update on who stands where in the qualifying, appears to be the best place on the internet to find to-the-point information regarding this.

Jersey got their first ever win in ODI cricket today, defeating PNG. Jersey racked up 291 batting first, and just about held on. Probably won't be enough for Jersey to advance to the Qualifier, and PNG are certainly out after losing all three of their games so far.

The battle for the top two places is as close as can be - Canada, UAE, Namibia and the USA all have four points from three games, with two games left. Only two can go through.

USA probably have the advantage as their remaining two games are against the weakest two sides - Jersey and PNG - so it's expected that they'll win both. Canada, coming off a loss today, have Namibia and PNG left. UAE, who beat Canada today, have Namibia and Jersey left. Namibia no games against the weaker two, just Canada and the UAE to play.

I would love Canada to get through, but their batting hasn't looked especially strong so far.

NZ/Sri Lanka played a T20 today. Sodhi hit a six off the last ball to tie it and send it to a Super Over...you don't need me to say who lost the Super Over!

South Africa battered the Netherlands again, Markram and Miller launching a savage assault with the bat. 146 run win, West Indies definitely out of automatic contention, gives their NRR a huge boost. It currently stands at -0.077, with Ireland's at -0.382. One thing I'm unsure of is that South Africa's three games v Australia, which they forfeited, haven't yet been entered into the table. Will the forfeiture have any effect on their NRR? If it has no effect, Ireland will not only need an unlikely 3-0 over Bangladesh, but some hefty wins in that three.

USA managed a comfortable win over PNG; and the UAE won a tighter one v Namibia. Looking almost sure now that the USA and UAE will be the top two, as they only have games v Jersey to come, unless Canada pull out an unlikely double at the last over Namibia and PNG.