The 2023 Cricket World Cup

First topic message reminder :

After the drama-free finish to the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the 2023 Cricket World Cup will finally get under way on the 5th October, having been initially delayed by Covid and then threatened by a Pakistani boycott.

England are the defending champions, and they're also the reigning T20 World Champions. Doubleplusgood, eh? They're looking to be the first nation to win consecutive ODI World Cups since the Aussie vintage of 1999-2007. Biggest adversaries to that are likely to be India, who haven't won a major global competition since the 2013 Champions Trophy, but will no doubt be heartened by the knowledge that the last three ODI World Cups have been won by a host nation.

Five-time winners Australia can never be ruled out, while Pakistan are fueled by a burning motivation to win the World Cup in the homeland of their greatest rivals. New Zealand have made the last two finals - losing the last on boundary count, would you believe? - and will hope to make the final step this year.

South Africa will presumably think they're due to win something, as they've not won a global competition since the 1998 Champions Trophy, while the Afghans will believe they can spin anyone into submission. Bangladesh will be hoping to make a sizable impact at the ODI World Cup for the first time.

Sri Lanka breezed through qualifying and will be encouraged by making the recent Asia Cup final, even if they did get hammered in said final. The Netherlands round off the ten teams after performing minor miracles in qualification, which of course means the West Indies, the winners of the first two ODI World Cups, will be missing out on this tournament for the very first time.

The ten-team format for the World Cup remains as simple as ever. Ten teams all play each other once, and the top four teams in the group at the end of it go through to the semi-finals, where it becomes a straight knockout. 48 matches total. There will be reserve days for the three knockout matches and, if necessary, Super Overs. But you can't win games on boundary count anymore...

Fixtures:

Tournament Odds:

Squad Lists (Teams have until the 28th September to finalise their squads):

Duty281 wrote:It's another 350/375 type road with tiny boundaries.

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A team conceding 368 doesn't make it a 360 pitch
The.defnition of Par is what can be chased down comfortably 50% of the times
And that score is not exceeding 300

Eng needs to do a lot of work for sure to Pull SA back

Hail Rashid, king of the middle overs.

Things looking a bit rosier now.

Big wicket Rashid getting Hendricks...he's bowling beautifully looks rough though he's struggling with the heat

KP_fan wrote:

Duty281 wrote:It's another 350/375 type road with tiny boundaries.

.

A team conceding 368 doesn't make it a 360 pitch
The.defnition of Par is what can be chased down comfortably 50% of the times
And that score is not exceeding 300

Eng needs to do a lot of work for sure to Pull SA back

The definition of par is what you expect a competent batting order to get in present conditions. That's about 350-375, as it's an absolute road with tiny boundaries.

I wouldn't say par is about what can be chased, as chasing can be influenced by different nighttime conditions and scorecard pressure.

Don't mind the move to bring Willey back ...expect him to bowl lots of cutters and change ups

Mark Wood has been atrocious. Absolutely awful

Topley back and back in the wickets. Very key to get Markram because he can be lethal in the death overs.

Looks like Sri Lanka will beat the Dutch - 139/3 at halfway.

Willey's gone down now...looks like cramp in the calf!!!

Thankfully it does look like just cramp and not a more serious problem.

Miller gone early now. Some good fielding from Stokes in that mid-off position. England fighting back well and can applaud themselves if they limit SA to below 350.

South Africa still on for a very good score and England bowlers/fielders not moving around very well

Some of England's fielding has been quite good, they've saved a few boundaries. But the errors are coming in now, perhaps as a cumulative result of the heat.

Who does he turn to now?? Assuming mark wood won't be trusted to bowl anymore?

England looking very ragged now as Klassen hits top gear. 400 could still be on if Klassen bats through.

Went out for an hour or so and three wickets taken...shouldn't have come back 'cos they're getting slaughtered again now !

Heat is knocking them around , eh ? Might not have been a smart choice to field first ... in fact I am not sure why they did.

If Klaasen stays in that 380 is still on.

We needed another bowling option so stokes really needs to justify his selection today with big runs...otherwise leaving out LL and Mo looks silly

61-ball century for Klassen, a top effort as he's pushed himself through gruelling conditions, and led his team to a score well beyond 350.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Mark Wood has been atrocious. Absolutely awful

Somehow he’s got worse - the bowlers have been truly horrendous this tournament. Can’t do a lot as a side if your main guys don’t show up

I wonder if it's worth opening with Harry brook instead of Malan and trying to get a rapid start?

Brutal innings from Klaasen ... wonderful hitting

Never mind 380 this will be 400

50 for Jansen monster score here game is done no way we get anywhere near this!

Yep, this looks to be over. Flat deck and small boundaries fine, but given the pressure they surely won't get anywhere near this total. That will also pretty much be them out of the tournament as well

400 to win...not a chance!

There is only one way Eng can win this & that's if Stokes is unbeaten at the end with another one of his Superman innings.
Else Eng have been outbatted already by atleast 80 runs
I heard some commentators say it's a small ground
The straight V area is 74m and shortest are 64 m square and remaining oval in between 64 and 74m
Not small,just average

Jansen shows for the first time why SA plays him as a No.7 as SA pummel.400 target second time and nearly 145 in last 10

England chased down 230 at this venue against South Africa in 20 overs in 2016 - so I expect them to knock this off in about 35 overs, no bother.

That was brutal. Full credit to Klassen for that knock, assisted by Jansen. 399 is quite a bit above par! England did actually do well to fight back in the middle overs, but energy, morale and strength steadily deserted them in the final ten overs.

England's bowlers still haven't shown up in this tournament and they're running out of time for that to happen. Wood is one of England's key bowlers, but he's delivered 31-0-210-3 at this World Cup so far. It's simply well short of what is needed, and England can't make a serious attempt at this competition when such a key player is off key. But I was quite impressed with Atkinson (especially the last over) and Rashid, and also Topley in the early stages.

I'm not ruling England out of chasing it, but they're heavy outsiders. Their batting hasn't properly shown up yet. At the very least, England's batsmen need to find some form.

Worth noting also that England would still be in the World Cup if they lost here. Yes, their record would be a perilous 1-3, but Australia/Pakistan occupy 4th/5th with four points, just two ahead of England with five to play. So still in it. Yesterday's result was the best one for an England loss today. And England still have to play Australia and Pakistan.

Good effort from Atkinson at the death to keep them under 400

But can't see England getting near that : the batting just doesn't seem to have its old conviction at present. Would love to see them prove me wrong , but...

Duty281 wrote:That was brutal. Full credit to Klassen for that knock, assisted by Jansen. 399 is quite a bit above par! England did actually do well to fight back in the middle overs, but energy, morale and strength steadily deserted them in the final ten overs.

England's bowlers still haven't shown up in this tournament and they're running out of time for that to happen. Wood is one of England's key bowlers, but he's delivered 31-0-210-3 at this World Cup so far. It's simply well short of what is needed, and England can't make a serious attempt at this competition when such a key player is off key. But I was quite impressed with Atkinson (especially the last over) and Rashid, and also Topley in the early stages.

I'm not ruling England out of chasing it, but they're heavy outsiders. Their batting hasn't properly shown up yet. At the very least, England's batsmen need to find some form.

Worth noting also that England would still be in the World Cup if they lost here. Yes, their record would be a perilous 1-3, but Australia/Pakistan occupy 4th/5th with four points, just two ahead of England with five to play. So still in it. Yesterday's result was the best one for an England loss today. And England still have to play Australia and Pakistan.

Reckon their tournament is over if they lose this , I'm afraid. Technically could still get the required number of wins (5 might even be enough) ; but the bowling is just not good enough however they shuffle it. Have not replaced Archer and Plunkett , Woakes hasn't turned up and Stokes can't bowl so despite Topley's worthy efforts they've not been at the races. Their only hope at this WC was for their formidable batting lineup to score regular monster totals - and they just haven't been able to do so. Asking a lot for them to reverse the trend and win five in a row...

Meanwhile Sri Lanka have chased down the target to defeat the Dutch, hauling themselves off 10th spot and moving ahead of Afghanistan on NRR.

NED stretched Lanka to 49th over
Has not been thrashed or disgraced even a single time

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:That was brutal. Full credit to Klassen for that knock, assisted by Jansen. 399 is quite a bit above par! England did actually do well to fight back in the middle overs, but energy, morale and strength steadily deserted them in the final ten overs.

England's bowlers still haven't shown up in this tournament and they're running out of time for that to happen. Wood is one of England's key bowlers, but he's delivered 31-0-210-3 at this World Cup so far. It's simply well short of what is needed, and England can't make a serious attempt at this competition when such a key player is off key. But I was quite impressed with Atkinson (especially the last over) and Rashid, and also Topley in the early stages.

I'm not ruling England out of chasing it, but they're heavy outsiders. Their batting hasn't properly shown up yet. At the very least, England's batsmen need to find some form.

Worth noting also that England would still be in the World Cup if they lost here. Yes, their record would be a perilous 1-3, but Australia/Pakistan occupy 4th/5th with four points, just two ahead of England with five to play. So still in it. Yesterday's result was the best one for an England loss today. And England still have to play Australia and Pakistan.

Reckon their tournament is over if they lose this , I'm afraid. Technically could still get the required number of wins (5 might even be enough) ; but the bowling is just not good enough however they shuffle it. Have not replaced Archer and Plunkett , Woakes hasn't turned up and Stokes can't bowl so despite Topley's worthy efforts they've not been at the races. Their only hope at this WC was for their formidable batting lineup to score regular monster totals - and they just haven't been able to do so. Asking a lot for them to reverse the trend and win five in a row...

I think four more wins (5 total) might be enough, beating SL/Aus/Ned/Pak and losing to India, however that may rely on other nations doing favours* and a good enough NRR, but agree it's a big ask for England based on current form. Still time to find that form, however. England came late in 2019, many wrote them off after the defeat to SL or the defeat to Aus in that year, but the English caught fire towards the end and went on a powerful run.

*e.g. at least one of Ned/NZ/Afg/Ban beating Australia, at least one of Afg/SA/Ban/NZ beating Pakistan

But we can put it all to one side and enjoy England chasing this 400.

Hopefully roots cramp isn't too serious and he is okay to bat 3 gonna need everyone to stand up here in this chase

Well unlike Pakistan yesterday, I don't think England will even tempt us with hope, as Bairstow picked out a man in the deep and Root fell into a leg slip trap, all in the first five overs.

Salvaging the NRR as best as possible should be the aim from here.

24/3

NRR might be unsalvageable. Might be a good time for me to get some sleep ahead of the Rugby - which hopefully will go a bit better...

Horror show performance this...like you say even if 3 defeats dosent put us out, net run rate surely does!

alfie wrote:24/3

NRR might be unsalvageable.  Might be a good time for me to get some sleep ahead of the Rugby - which hopefully will go a bit better...

Probably the best thing to do, though I struggle to imagine the rugby being much better!

Stokes falling to a caught and bowled, so no pleasant return for him.

Chance for runs now with coetzee bowling.....not sure why ngidi only got 3 overs and then hauled off did a decent job

Beginning to think England might not retain the trophy

Heading towards England's biggest defeat at a WC, I imagine.

GSC wrote:Beginning to think England might not retain the trophy

Never give in?

Never give in...but too much damage done now surely

100 up!! For 8...

Wood is clearly in the side for his batting

Not really much to say about that. Dreadful performance all round bar maybe Rashids bowling. Semi final hopes may remain on life support but pretty hard to see nearly enough improvement to win the games to get there

After everyone has played 4 matches the defending champions currently are in 9th place and just 0.002 of a run rate away from rock bottom.

On table standings, but more important form.....Ind, NZ, Aus & SA are making it to the semis it seems
Pak has mathematical chance but lacking form & cohesion.
Eng's mathematical chances would have also evaporated by this 230 run defeat i guess.

Eng was bowled out for 170, doesn't make 170 the par score. It was around 275
when you have a grass cover like this....in Indian conditions, there is seam movement if you hit length....full pitched gets hit apart as there is no swing.....short or even just short of good length sits up to be hit thru the line on what becomes true bounce good pace.
It has to be good length & then it seams....nothing for finger spinners...wrist spinners are in game on all pitches
Under lights it does just a bit more....but if you are chasing 275...you go test match like 4.5 to 5 RPO leaving 80  to knock off in the last 10 overs.....keep wickets in hand.

Entire Eng 11 played like a bunch of pinch hitters but they had no other option but for this desperate approach. The die was cast when they conceded 400.
Sad to see the winner of last two white ball world cups and the last one less than a year back look a shadow of their peak

That was pathetic.

The bowling toiled hard on a 350 pitch and were doing a credible job at 243/5. But in a game of endurance, Klassen outlasted the bowling, and destroyed England with that phenomenal innings, and Jansen feasted on what was left.  I wouldn't have dropped Livingstone and he needs to come back in at 7. Atkinson deserves the most credit of the bowlers and needs to be stuck with. Wood needs to be dropped for Sri Lanka, he's had a horror tournament. Hope Topley can play on.

The batting was atrocious, unfortunately, characterised by Root's dopey dismissal. It's one thing to lose, but for none of the top six to score 20 on that wicket is an absolute embarrassment. And this represents rock bottom now for England. Will they have enough to pull themselves up? It seems unlikely, but I'd never like to rule out this squad.

England's equation is quite simple from here. If, in the remaining five matches, England manage:

0/1/2/3 wins - they're out; 4 wins - They would likely need NRR and for the likes of Aus to lose to NZ and/or Bangladesh, and also Pak to lose to Sa and/or NZ; 5 wins - they're almost certainly through.

So, no mistakes from here, right? Starting with Sri Lanka.

Every team has played four games now. The way I see it:

Virtually secure - New Zealand + India
Good progress - South Africa
In the hunt - Pakistan, Australia
On life support - England
Brown bread - Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Netherlands

South Africa have solidly got to six points, two ahead of Pakistan and Australia, however SA have the toughest fixture list left of those three teams. They still have to play Ban, Pak, NZ, Ind and Afg, so getting the magical six wins is still far from certain.

Pakistan and Australia are tied on points, Australia with a marginally better NRR. Australia have a slightly easier fixture list of the two. Both Australia and Pakistan have to play NZ, Eng, Afg and Ban (amazing symmetry!), but Australia's other game is against the Netherlands, while Pakistan's is against South Africa. It's so tight between these two that some rain could prove the difference.

England as discussed, basically need four wins to have a chance and two of those four have to be over Australia and Pakistan. That would give them a chance, perhaps dependent on the old NRR. Five wins should take them through outright. England's NRR is perhaps not as bad as you may think - it's on -1.248, while Australia's is -0.193 and Pakistan's -0.456.

Looking ahead to the fifth round of games. NZ v India is tomorrow, that's basically a game for 1st v 2nd. Pakistan v Afghanistan on Monday, a chance for Pakistan to put the pressure on Australia. South Africa v Bangladesh on Tuesday, a potential banana skin for SA against a Bangladesh side on three straight losses. Australia v the Dutch on Wednesday. And England v Sri Lanka on Thursday. England in the last chance saloon.

Still trying to digest that horror show from the defending champs... After SA racked up 399  the England players all looked either physically wrecked or shell-shocked ; or both. Wasn't expecting them to get within 100 of the target , though that total foldup was a bit embarrassing even with the tail end runs.
In the past this group has demonstrated great resilience in coming back from bad defeats ; but it is hard to see them overcoming the scale of this one - especially after the other two awful results they've had. I am inclined to put this one down largely to the daft choice to gift their opponents the opportunity to cook their players in roasting heat on a total road (what were they thinking ?!) ; but when you look at the NZ humiliation and the Afghan shock it is hard to escape the conclusion that they are just collectively mentally gone. Hard to credit that these usually excellent players have all become rubbish overnight so I am lost for reasons to explain their sudden fall from grace

Duty has them "on life support". Unless there is a remarkable change I can see them struggling to overcome Sri Lanka let alone India so I think they probably belong in his "brown bread" category. The one thing they have going for them is games against Pakistan and Australia so in theory they still have their fate in their own hands. In theory...

As to who will actually contest the finals : still reckon it is a little too early to be certain. India and NZ have been unchallenged so far but both have some theoretically tougher games to come - but would need a dramatic form loss to come unstuck. Australia looked very poor early but have bounced back well and have a few "easybeats " left to play so ought to be eyeing a spot ; while Pakistan and SA have both produced brilliance and garbage at times so hard to know what is coming next from either, though SA are best placed.
None of the bottom five are actually that far behind in terms of points. But even if some of the leading/middle group chop each other around it's hard to see any of them stringing together five wins or four plus big NRR gains to overtake. (I'd like to believe England is an exception to that gloomy outlook but finding that idea hard to justify at the moment !)

India NZ SA and Australia for the semis ? That ought to jinx at least one or two of them

India has replaced Pandya with SKY
and Shardul with Shami and put NZ in on winning the toss
So now India has pure bowlers from No. 8 thru 11 and if Ind needs 40 runs for eg with 6 overs to go......and 6 wkts down....they won't get across the line with this lower order

Ball not coming on to the bat, stopping a bit and batsmen going thru with their shots on the up are popping to fielders
Conway was caught and Rachin dropped.

This pitch appears like the one against Pak

GSC wrote:Beginning to think England might not retain the trophy

You may think that, I am not waivering in my belief. The lads will make it out the group for certain.