2024 T20 World Cup

by Duty281 Wed May 22, 2024 12:04 pm

First topic message reminder :

Just over a week away now from some glorious six-hitting in the cricketing heartlands of Barbados, Trinidad, Saint Lucia and, um, New York City.

England are defending the crown they won at the MCG in front of 80,000 people in November 2022. They'll probably be hoping it goes a bit better than their defence of the 50 over title! The tournament is, as T20 competitions are, very wide open. If England were to win it again they'd be the first men's team to win back to back World T20 titles in the history of the competition.

Chasing them keenly are the bookmakers favourites India, who are very, very thirsty because of a drought that has existed since 2013 in ICC tournaments. Australia will obviously be there or thereabouts, and there's plenty of excitement around the West Indies, twice winners of this competition, and how glorious it would be to see them lift a trophy at home.

Or perhaps South Africa will finally stop being Tottenham and actually win something? But it's T20. So it could be anyone. Ireland, Scotland, Uganda....USA?

I thought the format of the last couple of T20 World Cups was absolutely perfect. Naturally, then, the ICC have altered it for this year! So we've now got 20 teams, up from 16, and 55 matches in total, up from 45.

There's no preliminary round this time. All teams start off the same. Four groups of five teams. All play each other once. Top two in each group go through to the Super 8s. Super 8s is split into two groups of four. No points are carried over and all teams play each other once in the Super 8s. Top two in each Super 8 group go through to the semi-finals, from which it's a straight knockout. Means a team will play nine games if they are to lift the trophy, in comparison to England's seven games to win it in 2022.

One curious thing about the format, and the ICC love curious things (such as there being no reserve day for one semi-final), is that the finishing places in the initial group are seeded. For example, England are designated B1 in their group, and Australia are B2, which means that it's irrelevant if England come first or second. They will go through to Group 2 of the Super 8s regardless of finishing first or second. I suppose it guarantees certainty for fans, as they know where teams are playing after the initial group stage.

While I don't think it's been directly said, the draw was not a fair and open one. It took place behind closed doors and ensured India/Pakistan were in the same group, as well as some other long-standing rivalries, such as USA v Canada. I'm surprised the ICC didn't put India and Pakistan in the same Super 8 group as well! The groups are:

Groups:

The fixture list is all over the place with timings, so try and keep up! If you're in the UK, games can start at 01:30, or they might begin at 18:00, and quite a few matches seem to overlap in the early stages.

Fixture List (All times BST):

Squads (Not yet finalised):

Outright Odds (Bet365):

The USA and Canada will be starting this one off in Texas. That's the most unlikely cricket sentence ever uttered.

by king_carlos Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:20 pm

Ouch. England getting their selection right for the day and looking seriously fired up as a team. Oman on the wrong end of a quick attack and Dilly bowling beautifully.

Bilal Khan is the best Oman bowler by a distance, so if they're to chase this in 32 balls I'd expect 18 of them to come from him. This ought to be explosive. I wouldn't be surprised if half or more of that 48 comes in 6s if they really go for it.

by king_carlos Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:21 pm

VTR wrote:
GSC wrote:Australia about to call up Darren Pattinson for the Scotland game

Ha, also Bryce McGain to be drafted in to replacd Adam Zampa

In a cricketing world of mostly bland interviews, Michael Jones saying he hopes they open the bowling with Warner made me smile.

by Duty281 Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:26 pm

Salt trying to get this done in eight balls. Laugh

by king_carlos Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:29 pm

6, 6, bowled

Salt understood the assignment Laugh

by Duty281 Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:44 pm

Buttler did the business there.

All over in 3.1 overs and scoring 50 is better for NRR than scoring 48. Well done England. Very professional performance.

England's NRR goes from -1.800 to +3.081, well beyond Scotland. Shocked

by GSC Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:44 pm

Didn't even get a full 20

by VTR Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:45 pm

Well that was fairly amusing, but also a pathetic spectacle. Someone correct me but I think that now means England beating Namibia and Scotland losing to Australia puts England through regardless of run rates in those matches

by king_carlos Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:47 pm

22 from Bilal's second over. Very clean striking from Buttler.

Jacks was a bit more wild the previous over. Just swinging as hard as he can. Somewhat understandable given the odd equation in front of them.

YJB finishes it off with a 4. Gives him a SR of 400 after one of the worst T20i knocks I've seen against Oz. Very Bairstow.

That takes them well past Scotland's NRR. Win against Namibia will mean that Scotland have to beat Australia. Or get a wash out in either game...

by Duty281 Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:47 pm

VTR wrote:Well that was fairly amusing, but also a pathetic spectacle. Someone correct me but I think that now means England beating Namibia and Scotland losing to Australia puts England through regardless of run rates in those matches

I think NRR can come down even with a win, I profess to not fully understanding it, but I don't think it can go down by so much that England would miss out through beating Namibia.

So, yeah, beat Namibia and on to the Super Eights (unless Scotland beat Australia!).

by GSC Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:48 pm

Scotland would have to get a draw if England beat Namibia yeah

by Duty281 Thu Jun 13, 2024 9:50 pm

king_carlos wrote:22 from Bilal's second over. Very clean striking from Buttler.

Jacks was a bit more wild the previous over. Just swinging as hard as he can. Somewhat understandable given the odd equation in front of them.

YJB finishes it off with a 4. Gives him a SR of 400 after one of the worst T20i knocks I've seen against Oz. Very Bairstow.

That takes them well past Scotland's NRR. Win against Namibia will mean that Scotland have to beat Australia. Or get a wash out in either game...

Weather looking good for both games, thankfully. Grateful it's not in Florida!

by Duty281 Thu Jun 13, 2024 10:26 pm

Afghanistan v PNG in a few hours. Afghanistan should seal qualification with a win.

Then tomorrow afternoon the USA v Ireland. USA just need a point, or two, to get through to the next stage, otherwise the door is wide open for Pakistan. The forecast, fortunately for the USA, is very bad, with Cricinfo saying that 'It'll need a miracle even for the curators to simply have a look at the surface underneath,' with flood warnings throughout Florida.

If the rain does hit, and Afghanistan net the win over PNG, that's making the rest of this initial group stage look rather drab. It would mean that this time tomorrow three of the groups would be pretty much resolved, with just England/Scotland to sort out the final placing. And the Super Eights don't begin until Wednesday, so a fair few meaningless games to sift through first.

by KP_fan Fri Jun 14, 2024 8:19 am

I read the pitch used in PNG vs Afg game was substandard....ball was often scooting & skidding on the surface

by alfie Fri Jun 14, 2024 8:27 am

KP_fan wrote:
Duty281 wrote:Cricinfo have also thrown some light on to the extent of England's task:

If Scotland lose to Australia by 20 runs (say, chasing 161), England will have to win their last two games, against Oman and Namibia, by a combined margin of at least 94 runs to go ahead of Scotland on run rate.

I would expect Eng to rather comfortably get the 94 run margin.
Actually they may be able to get that margin in a single game..........it's Oman & Namibia

Spot on with your prediction there , KP_fan ... I now look forward to your advance nominations for the knock out matches Smile

by Duty281 Fri Jun 14, 2024 8:32 am

Yeah, sounded like a tough pitch. Comfortable win for Afghanistan, Farooqi extending his lead as the tournament's leading wicket taker with three dismissals.

Super Eights currently looking like this:

Group 1 - India, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh
Group 2 - USA or Pakistan, England or Scotland, West Indies, South Africa

Presumably Australia will be forfeiting against Afghanistan ( Whistle

), so will be quite tough for the Aussies to squeeze through.

by alfie Fri Jun 14, 2024 8:38 am

Duty281 wrote:
king_carlos wrote:22 from Bilal's second over. Very clean striking from Buttler.

Jacks was a bit more wild the previous over. Just swinging as hard as he can. Somewhat understandable given the odd equation in front of them.

YJB finishes it off with a 4. Gives him a SR of 400 after one of the worst T20i knocks I've seen against Oz. Very Bairstow.

That takes them well past Scotland's NRR. Win against Namibia will mean that Scotland have to beat Australia. Or get a wash out in either game...

Weather looking good for both games, thankfully. Grateful it's not in Florida!

A pity the weather seems to be having such influence in this WC. Anyone would think it was being held in Manchester Smile

But seriously , hope those predictions for WI weather hold so England aren't pushed out (other than by a well earned Scottish win over Australia !) At the same time , it might be a little rough on Pakistan if the rain kills their hopes - but (A) They have been saved by rain in previous WCs so fair is fair ; and (B) Would be good for cricket in USA if the home team progressed - so not so motivated to call for dry days there.

by alfie Fri Jun 14, 2024 8:49 am

That carve up of Oman was fairly spectacular. Imagine Jos had a bit of a smile at the thought of doing post match interviews (didn't hang around to watch same) as it was a pretty good response to some of the media doom and gloom stuff.

Did it mean much overall though ? I mean , it was Oman. However : different pitch , couple of games under their belt , (correct) selection of Topley (and no silly giving the new ball to Jacks !) saw the bowlers look a completely different bunch from the previous outings. OK you have to take opposition limitations into account ; but I don't think Australia would have made 200 against the attack on display this time.

And the bats did the business very neatly . Again : no pressure - and it was Oman. Let us see how they handle Namibia first ; but I fancy there will be a lot more confidence in the camp now ... and if they can go on to the next stage with another good performance then (as in Australia last time) they have to be a chance . One game at a time , eh ?

by wisden Fri Jun 14, 2024 9:07 am

England's bowlers just had too much pace for Oman, a lot of them backed away they didn't fancy it at all....Rashid had the ball ragging was a complete mis-match.....Can see USA turning over Ireland today!

by VTR Fri Jun 14, 2024 9:10 am

It's amazing really to think that Jofra Archer is a better opening bowler than Will Jacks! Does seem like the right team now, only doubts are what the purpose of Bairstow and maybe Livingstone in the team are, though its not like they are keeping a host of world class replacements out.

by alfie Fri Jun 14, 2024 9:11 am

Also pleased to see Cummins making a point of stating he would never contemplate "fixing" qualification by playing dead against Scotland. It was actually pretty obvious that Hazlewood was just embarking on a bit of a wind-up ; and Tim Paine's "semi-serious" suggestion that it might be a good idea to take a bit of a holiday in order to see England eliminated can be seen in the same light : but in the extreme unlikelihood of an upset - or even a very near upset - by Scotland , it would not have been a good look if the skipper hadn't killed off that talk in advance.

At the same time , it makes perfect sense to rest players as and when needed and this is a good time. While the players may quite reasonably and totally unintentionally be just a little less committed. However , with all due respect to the Scots , I think Australia will be far too strong. They certainly won't want to spoil a winning habit ahead of the next stage. And I doubt they are that bothered about England progressing since they won't have to meet them again , if at all , until a lot later - when whoever is the opponent is going to be a side in some good form...

by Duty281 Fri Jun 14, 2024 9:12 am

alfie wrote:
Duty281 wrote:
king_carlos wrote:22 from Bilal's second over. Very clean striking from Buttler.

Jacks was a bit more wild the previous over. Just swinging as hard as he can. Somewhat understandable given the odd equation in front of them.

YJB finishes it off with a 4. Gives him a SR of 400 after one of the worst T20i knocks I've seen against Oz. Very Bairstow.

That takes them well past Scotland's NRR. Win against Namibia will mean that Scotland have to beat Australia. Or get a wash out in either game...

Weather looking good for both games, thankfully. Grateful it's not in Florida!

A pity the weather seems to be having such influence in this WC. Anyone would think it was being held in Manchester

But seriously , hope those predictions for WI weather hold so England aren't pushed out (other than by a well earned Scottish win over Australia !) At the same time , it might be a little rough on Pakistan if the rain kills their hopes - but (A) They have been saved by rain in previous WCs so fair is fair ; and (B) Would be good for cricket in USA if the home team progressed - so not so motivated to call for dry days there.

If the USA's game gets rained off I don't think it would be terribly unfair on Pakistan, as they did lose to the USA. Bit different if Scotland's game v Australia is washed out, as Scotland and England didn't get a result.

by Duty281 Fri Jun 14, 2024 9:14 am

wisden wrote:England's bowlers just had too much pace for Oman, a lot of them backed away they didn't fancy it at all....Rashid had the ball ragging was a complete mis-match.....Can see USA turning over Ireland today!

Yeah, I saw the Oman captain say his side didn't have much experience in dealing with the pace of Wood, Archer and Topley, so perhaps not a surprise they were so routed.

Still odds against a game being played between USA and Ireland, but they have apparently had a few dry hours in Florida.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Fri Jun 14, 2024 9:23 am

Duty281 wrote:

Presumably Australia will be forfeiting against Afghanistan ( ), so will be quite tough for the Aussies to squeeze through.

Can't expect the Aussies to have a stance when it actually matters Duty, cmon now... censored

by Duty281 Fri Jun 14, 2024 2:32 pm

Maybe a few shoots of optimism in Florida. Apparently the worst of the rain has blown through, but the outfield is quite saturated.

by king_carlos Fri Jun 14, 2024 3:19 pm

alfie wrote:Also pleased to see Cummins making a point of stating he would never contemplate "fixing" qualification by playing dead against Scotland. It was actually pretty obvious that Hazlewood was just embarking on a bit of a wind-up ; and Tim Paine's "semi-serious" suggestion that it might be a good idea to take a bit of a holiday in order to see England eliminated can be seen in the same light : but in the extreme unlikelihood of an upset - or even a very near upset - by Scotland , it would not have been a good look if the skipper hadn't killed off that talk in advance.

At the same time , it makes perfect sense to rest players as and when needed and this is a good time. While the players may quite reasonably and totally unintentionally be just a little less committed. However , with all due respect to the Scots , I think Australia will be far too strong. They certainly won't want to spoil a winning habit ahead of the next stage. And I doubt they are that bothered about England progressing since they won't have to meet them again , if at all , until a lot later - when whoever is the opponent is going to be a side in some good form...

Australia have never lost to an non-Test status nation as well. As seen against Oman, high pace can often be decisive in these games. Australia pretty much always have that in one form or another. Scotland are a decent team but Australia are a very good, should have too much power in their batting and bowling.

Being pedantic, Cummins isn't actually skipper here. He's still very key part of that setup though. I'm expecting Cummins to potentially rest after his IPL workload - Nathan Ellis is a very good T20 bowler though. The 'weakest' the other changes could make them would be Green for Head and Agar for Zampa. They should still have far too much.

Hazlewood's comments seemed tongue in cheek from a guy who's pretty dry anyway. Journalists suddenly had 3 days where they needed to write about England vs Oman though. So it was absolute music to their ears. Similar to Duckett's nonsense recently that was feasted on by journalists when they needed copy. When you actually watch the interviews, it seems pretty clear that Duckett is knowingly doing a bit of a pantomime act.

by king_carlos Fri Jun 14, 2024 3:48 pm

VTR wrote:It's amazing really to think that Jofra Archer is a better opening bowler than Will Jacks! Does seem like the right team now, only doubts are what the purpose of Bairstow and maybe Livingstone in the team are, though its not like they are keeping a host of world class replacements out.

I can't see them dropping Bairstow. I would if the conditions are looking likely to spin. He used to smash wrist-spin in particular. His record with the ball turning away from bat was very good in general though. His attempts to hit Zampa were genuinely dire though. He just doesn't look the same athlete.

Livi and Surran are odd ones. Surran bowls seam and hits spin better. Livi bowls spin and hits seam better. So it's difficult to line them up with conditions. If it's a slow turner, you'd want Livi's bowling but Surran's batting. If it's going to be quicker then you want Livi's batting and Surran's bowling. I'd lean towards Livi even though he's been flattering to deceive as an international batter for a long while now. Surran's bowling record is best in the PP by a mile. I'd still prefer Topley and Jof to be our seamers up top though.

I'd still consider Jordan ahead of Wood depending on conditions.

by Duty281 Fri Jun 14, 2024 4:42 pm

Game called off. They gave it a chance, but too much water had drenched the outfield.

Means the USA are through, congratulations to them. Pakistan, Ireland and Canada can all leave via the exit.

10 group games left, but only three are of any relevance. England v Namibia, Australia v Scotland, and Bangladesh v Nepal. The rest are ultimately irrelevant (unless Bangladesh lose, we can add SL v Ned as a relevant game, but that's highly unlikely), so it could be a few days of mostly waiting until the tournament picks up again.

(Actually, Cricinfo change their mind, this one isn't quite called off yet)

Now called off after further rain. Umpires really gave it every chance.

by KP_fan Fri Jun 14, 2024 7:05 pm

India, BD, Afg & Aus.....difficult group all can beat all

Eng,SA, WI & USA...relatively easier group
everyone beats USA + win 1 more and you are thru

by KP_fan Sat Jun 15, 2024 5:46 am

How did Nepal come to within a run of beating SA 2024 T20 World Cup - Page 7 1f635

by alfie Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:14 am

So SA are in the next round with a "perfect" record...

But : 1 run win over Nepal ; 4 run win over Bangladesh , 7 balls to spare beating Netherlands (after recovering from 12/4) : apart from thrashing Sri Lanka they have been surviving by inches. Does this indicate : (a) They aren't too good (b) They have developed some very cool heads in a crisis (c) They are practising for the inevitable "choke moment" in the semi-final ?

Seriously , it is hard to get a handle on them from this first group stage. On paper they look pretty handy so will be interesting to see how they cope with the presumably tougher second group. They'll certainly hope they haven't used up their luck quotient from these close ones...

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 9:17 am

Nepal should have won! They needed 18 off 18 with seven wickets left, but chewed up too many dots in the final reckoning. Which is often the difference between test and non test teams - the ability to rotate the strike and keep things ticking.

Means Nepal are officially out. But maybe they can upset Bangladesh and give the Dutch a chance? Maybe. Certainly has been an odd tournament from SA. 4-0, but as Alfie notes, could easily be 1-3 and hometime.

And NZ smashed Uganda, bowling them out for 40, but all too late for NZ. Uganda and PNG have been utterly out of their depth in this competition, so I'm not sure on the wisdom of expanding to 20 teams. Having said that, Uganda upset Zimbabwe to get here, so if it had been Zimbabwe I wouldn't be questioning the expansion to 20 teams.

But look at Uganda's batting. 58ao, 78/7, 39 and 40. Ouch.

England later and Scotland/Aus in the early hours.

by VTR Sat Jun 15, 2024 9:21 am

KP_fan wrote:How did Nepal come to within a run of beating SA

Shows that we can't assume that England are through. No one saw this one coming, and Nepal pretty much choked, which is understandable.

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 10:35 am

Cricinfo are speculating that Archer and Wood will be rested, with Curran and Jordan coming in. Will look bloody daft if England end up losing!

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 11:27 am

Duty281 wrote:
VTR wrote:Well that was fairly amusing, but also a pathetic spectacle. Someone correct me but I think that now means England beating Namibia and Scotland losing to Australia puts England through regardless of run rates in those matches

I think NRR can come down even with a win, I profess to not fully understanding it, but I don't think it can go down by so much that England would miss out through beating Namibia.

So, yeah, beat Namibia and on to the Super Eights (unless Scotland beat Australia!).

The BBC have speculated on the type of scenario where England win and Scotland lose, but Scotland still go through on NRR.

There are unlikely scenarios where Scotland go through despite losing and England winning, but it would require something like Richie Berrington’s side scoring 200 in defeat by Australia and England taking all 120 balls to chase a target below 100.

So it's possible, but about as possible as me winning the lottery. And I don't play the lottery.

by GSC Sat Jun 15, 2024 12:22 pm

Think the greatest threat at this point is probably the weather. Even if Australia rest players you'd have to go pretty deep into their ranks to find a team you'd fancy Scotland to beat sadly

by alfie Sat Jun 15, 2024 2:51 pm

Not sure about resting both Wood and Archer. Be happier if one of them played ...if they really want to play Curran and Jordan maybe rest one of the spinners. Must not take Namibia for granted.

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 3:17 pm

Good thing India don't need the points. Their game against Canada is under threat due to the Florida rain. Thankfully England don't have to play games there!

Forecast looking fine for England and Scotland's games, but we all know how unpredictable the rain can be in the Caribbean!

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 4:52 pm

India/Canada abandoned. A respectable tournament for Canada, and with the USA automatically qualifying for 2026, we should see Canada again for the 2026 version.

And, oh dear, currently raining hard in Antigua. But over an hour until play should start.

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 5:43 pm

Raining, toss delayed. Sad

One of those days? Going to be very rotten if England get eliminated based on two rain dominated matches.

Absolutely pouring. Sad

No update until 19:00, apparently. Overs will start being lost at 19:30.

by alfie Sat Jun 15, 2024 6:10 pm

WTF happened to your fine weather forecast , Duty ? Not the scene I was expecting this 3am wakeup...

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 6:12 pm

Beats me! Looked fine before. But, like I said, Caribbean weather is unpredictable.

21:45 the approximate cut off for a five over thrashathon.

I don't think we'll get a game. Puddles everywhere on the outfield.

by KP_fan Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:01 pm

KP_fan wrote:India, BD, Afg & Aus.....difficult group all can beat all

Eng,SA, WI & USA...relatively easier group
everyone beats USA + win 1 more and you are thru

That relatively easier group is about to become a cake-walk entry for SA &WI into semis

by KP_fan Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:04 pm

so they have 2:45 hours from now to make a start for a 5 over game
hope it dries out enuf and rain does not return

by GSC Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:07 pm

Would be England getting eliminated after having 2 games rained off

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:09 pm

Pitch inspection in 50 minutes, but I think we're living in hope.

Can't be mad if England go out like this. Just a twist of fate.

by king_carlos Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:27 pm

I reckon we're f***ed. The outfield looks cooked. There are ponds in parts of it. Even if it didn't rain anymore between now and the 21:45 cut off, they'd surely be struggling.

I have seen some grounds in England dry insanely fast after heavy rain. The state of the art drainage in the best grounds is really impressive in that regard. No idea what drainage is like here though.

And it's raining again anyway.

Going out a tournament because 2 of your 4 group games get rained off is brutal. As an England fan, it's coming hot on the heels of the Old Trafford Test as well. F**k this.

by alfie Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:28 pm

I have rather more sympathy for England if this rain sinks them than for Pakistan who actually lost two games. OK they got thumped by Australia but elimination without playing half your allotted matches is really unfair.

Have to say this tournament has been ridiculously impacted by the weather , in both host country locations. With this rather overdone number of games I guess it was impossible to schedule spare days ; but it does make a mockery of it as a proper competition. Raises the question of whether it really makes sense to have a 20 team tournament ; because this sort of weather mess could easily happen in Australia , NZ , UK - anywhere except India Smile

So perhaps more logical to get back to qualifying tournaments leading to a more realistic WC final with all teams getting a proper chance to actually compete on the field ...

by Duty281 Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:39 pm

No reason why there can't be reserve days for every group game, but yes England have been harshly done by the weather.

We'll see what impact rain has on the Super Eights, because the tournament risks entering a farce if a good chunk of those games played across seven days are rained off. And let's not talk about one of the semi finals which doesn't have a reserve day...!

Still got about two hours left to live in mindless optimism.

by alfie Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:43 pm

...and if I seem a bit grumpy it is possibly because I have (unwisely) got up at 3amand nothing to do but hang around looking at a TV set merely showing a graphic of raindrops and the caption "weather delay - please stay tuned"... all rather depressing , waiting for the Official "Abandoned !" Not as if I even much like t20 but reluctant to go back to bed now without some kind of closure.

Suppose Italy v Albania will kick off soon - though that doesn't sound like the Match of the Day exactly...

by GSC Sat Jun 15, 2024 7:45 pm

Think we can call it. No chance this is going to dry out even if it stopped.

Unfortunate for England but that's how it goes

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