The summer of cricket 2020

[Duty281]

Great ton from Morgan. Came in at 44/3 - now victory looks assured for England after this partnership.

(Spoiler: It wasn't.)

[alfie]

All happening ! Fifty for Banton ...and a splendid free spirited hundred for Cap'n Morgan

(Wrong bottle , I know...don't think we have a rum icon )

Indeed a terrific partnership this...

[GSC]

Ireland have scrapped hard in this series but it's looking like they've ran out of steam now

[Duty281]

Highest score for Morgan in ODIs (and indeed all internationals) is 148...he probably won't get a better opportunity to exceed that than today.

[Gooseberry]

Fair play to Banton, finally an innings of note under pressure. Vince however, well. Roy will be very frustrated with his own performances but at least has a lot of credit in the bank as a proven world class opener.

Morgan though...remember when him retaining his place in the squad let alone being captain was a controversial thing. If anyone sums up Englands transformation in batting being freed to play shots its him. (As I write he gets caught)

Does look like Ireland are already done from this despite a handy start. Roy will be very frustrated

[Gooseberry]

Highest score for Morgan in ODIs (and indeed all internationals) is 148...he probably won't get a better opportunity to exceed that than today.

Classic kiss of death!

[alfie]

Not to dance on Vince's grave , as it were ...but is anyone else a little surprised they didn't give Livingstone a run out in this third ODI , with the series won ?
Is it only bowlers who are subject to rotation ?

[JDizzle]

Not to dance on Vince's grave , as it were ...but is anyone else a little surprised they didn't give Livingstone a run out in this third ODI , with the series won ?
Is it only bowlers who are subject to rotation ?

Topley is injured to be fair. So think it is more injury forced than anything.

[Gooseberry]

I think if they were going to try Livingstone it would've been in the mid order, they have more than enough depth in the top 3 so it wouldve bene for Banton rather than Vince. Remember Livingstone was only a reserve to begin with behind Denly.
In terms of rotation that exists to protect the fast bowlers from overwork, so yes.

Does that mean I think its right Vince got all 3 games? Not really, but then I wouldnt have had him in at all.

As things are two quick wickets suddenly shift the balance of the game and give Ireland a vague sniff. Mo always looks like hes about to gift his wicket early doors.

[alfie]

Banton follows the skipper out...handy 58 : scoring rate is supercharged but with five out in 29 overs (should have been six ! Run out missed badly there !) there's a danger of England being bowled out...

And now it is six ! Moeen fails again ...203/6

[Gooseberry]

Christ Mo ...Ok this is distinctly dodgy all of a sudden!

Is Campher eligible for England?

[alfie]

I think if they were going to try Livingstone it would've been in the mid order, they have more than enough depth in the top 3 so it wouldve bene for Banton rather than Vince. Remember Livingstone was only a reserve to begin with behind Denly.
In terms of rotation that exists to protect the fast bowlers from overwork, so yes.

Does that mean I think its right Vince got all 3 games? Not really, but then I wouldnt have had him in at all.

As things are two quick wickets suddenly shift the balance of the game and give Ireland a vague sniff. Mo always looks like hes about to gift his wicket early doors.

No I get the fatigue issue with bowlers ...just that even apart from that they seem to me to be less interested in trying out batsmen when a chance presents itself. In this case it would arguably have been reasonable to bat Banton at three and play Livingstone in his spot (I wasn't screaming for Vince to be in the side either !)
Possibly they felt pushing Banton up the order wouldn't have been fair to him at this point. Anyway , was just a thought.

Ireland nearly back in the match after those quick wickets. Can these two batter them out of it again ?

[Gooseberry]

I think if they were going to try Livingstone it would've been in the mid order, they have more than enough depth in the top 3 so it wouldve bene for Banton rather than Vince. Remember Livingstone was only a reserve to begin with behind Denly.
In terms of rotation that exists to protect the fast bowlers from overwork, so yes.

Does that mean I think its right Vince got all 3 games? Not really, but then I wouldnt have had him in at all.

As things are two quick wickets suddenly shift the balance of the game and give Ireland a vague sniff. Mo always looks like hes about to gift his wicket early doors.

No I get the fatigue issue with bowlers ...just that even apart from that they seem to me to be less interested in trying out batsmen when a chance presents itself. In this case it would arguably have been reasonable to bat Banton at three and play Livingstone in his spot (I wasn't screaming for Vince to be in the side either !)
Possibly they felt pushing Banton up the order wouldn't have been fair to him at this point.  Anyway , was just a thought.

Ireland nearly back in the match after those quick wickets. Can these two batter them out of it again ?

Well it wouldve been Livingsotne for Banton, not Vince that was my point. Theres a piece on cricinfo where they talk about Englands difficulties with the middle order/middle overs that suggests the unfairness is putting the new players in the 4/5 positions. Unlike tests the mid order isnt always the easy place to be, and Banton as with almost all Englands batsmen, bats most of his cricket at the top of order with field restrictions and less slow bowling.
It also makes a point of just how much Billings has stood up in whats been a (relatively) problematic area for England. Looks on his way to another decent score here, certainly started full of confidence.

In terms of rotation if they were really doing it with bowlers to give more chances wouldnt they have tried a different spinner as well? One game isn't much for a batsman or a bowler, so I dont have a big issue with them not trying out the whole squad just for the sake of it. But Mo is starting to look like a problem, still short of confidence in both disciplines. England can win without him as they showed in the world cup, but you'd think they'd want two spinners for the T20 world cup.

[alfie]

Yeah I think there was also a case for Dawson , to be honest. But without disrespecting Ireland I did expect a little more experimentation. As you say , goose ; one game isn't really a lot for a player. But having deprived these fellows of a round of county games a chance to get a bit of game time in didn't seem too unreasonable.

As for this game : with Billings gone it is rather up to Willey and Curran to see most of the innings out from here. Given the score they were on an hour ago it would be a bit dispointing to not even reach 300...

[Soul Requiem]

I do think it's got to the point now where Mo just isn't going to discover any form in any format of the game, he looks completely done as a batsmen now and without that his bowling is more open to scrutiny and again he's not been performing there either, might be time for Liam Dawson.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

If you’re looking at the first choice XI, I think I’d go with Livingstone over Dawson, if Moeen gets dropped and we wanted someone to bowl a few overs of spin in the middle overs.

I don’t think Dawson offers enough with the bat at 7, doesn’t really have that fifty off thirty balls at the end of the innings or destructiveness that Livingstone would. And with the way Woakes has batted the past year or so...

[Gooseberry]

Hadn't really thought of Livingstone as any more of a spinner than Root really, and he moves the ball the same way as Rashid...England have always wanted to spinners who move the ball in different directions ( although also Dawson and Denly ...) . They did bowl him in the warm up and the lions game though tbf.

This innings has been all over the place, should be enough for England but both sides couldve done a lot better after solid periods.

Willey and Billings are the two players who will come out of this series big positives for England, both of them felt like place fillers in the squad to me but cant argue with the results.

[alfie]

Good knocks for Willey (well in the mix for PoTS ) and Curran

328 ought to be plenty.

[Gooseberry]

328 a lot more than was on the cards early on, a lot less than was on the cards at halfway, and a lot more than was on the cards at 35 overs.

Ireland shouldn't get close to this, but at least they can freely knowing they need to score quickly. And Campher exists.

[Gooseberry]

RRR around 7 now, lots of swinging and missing.

[alfie]

Stirling taking a liking to Mahmood's bowling...two big sixes in a row...

44 off the first 8 so they're giving it a go . Big task , 329 : I think I'm too weary to watch it all - need to keep fresh for the Test Match

But if they can run this down they'll have earned a win !

[Duty281]

Don't know what Delany was doing there. Ruined Ireland's solid start, though Stirling looks as though he's playing a decent innings for the first time in this series.

[Duty281]

88/1 after 15. The best start Ireland could have realistically hoped for; both Stirling and Balbirnie looking in good touch.

Rashid's ten over spell will be key.

[Duty281]

England in trouble at halfway. Balbirnie brings up a 43 ball fifty and Stirling's closing in on a ton.

160/1 after 25. Ireland certainly ahead and even three overs from James Vince hasn't produced anything.

Morgan bringing back his quick bowlers now.

[Duty281]

Should have said Ali of course, Morgan's off the field injured.

Only 25 runs added in the last five overs, but no further wickets. Excellent platform for Ireland to go on and win this, especially with Tector, KOB and Campher still to come. Stirling's been explosive for Ireland, an innings of raw power and exquisite timing.

[Gooseberry]

Turning into a classic

[king_carlos]

It seemed unlikely that Stirling would fail 3 innings in a row. He is a very good player.

This could be very close, England need their key man in Rashid to bowl well in this spell.

[Duty281]

Ireland should waltz home from this position. 116 off 96 balls with nine wickets in hand. 7.25 per over.

England look as though they've run out of ideas. They've tried so many different variations/plans - now it looks as though they're hoping for Stirling to play one shot too many.

[king_carlos]

That's a cracking shot from Stirling. First ball of the over and piles the pressure onto Willey.

[king_carlos]

Time to get Mahmood or Curran on at this end. England will be saving them for the death but the game's going to be gone by then at this rate.

[Duty281]

Lolz at Winviz - England 60% chance of winning.

England's only chance is sparking a dramatic, and very unlikely, collapse of four or five wickets for practically nothing.

RRR is lower than 8 with only 12 overs remaining.

[king_carlos]

Balbirnie is a very good player of spin. This is a brilliant partnership.

[Duty281]

200 partnership.

Phenomenal effort to eclipse Morgan and Banton's effort earlier in the day. Really intelligent partnership as they've 'managed' all of England's bowlers very adeptly.

[Gooseberry]

if this were Pakistan they were playing we would all know what was going on ... unbelievable!

[Duty281]

Really poor effort from Vince in the field there. His first 'drop' was an almost non-existent chance, but that was a bad miss to not get anywhere near it.

Century for Balbirnie now. Top effort.

[Duty281]

Stirling run out for a stupendous score of 142. Probably match-winning, but England have got the faintest bit of life left in this game.

Tector out in the middle before KoB.

[guildfordbat]

Delighted for Balbirnie. He's been out of form lately but, as said before - particularly to goose, he's a clever and unselfish player.

[Duty281]

Great innings of 113 by Balbirnie, but probably not the best call to take on Rashid.

50 from 33 needed. Ireland still ahead, but two new batsmen at the crease.

[king_carlos]

That's a disaster in the circumstances from Willey. No-ball, full toss, goes for 6, wide on first free hit, another free hit, goes for only a single. Effectively 9 runs from one ball.

[Duty281]

That was probably the over that sealed it for Ireland.

The RRR around 8 with plenty of wickets left...now Banton misses one in the field.

[Duty281]

Any good feeling Willey may have had from this series has probably evaporated, as he serves up another full toss to KoB.

17 needed from 12...a Super Over if its a tie. Doubt it'll be needed. One 6 and one 4 will get the Irish home.

[Duty281]

Mahmood can't defend the 8 required from the final over - another above waist-high no-ball from an English bowler along the way - and Ireland win. Never really in doubt, even though it went right to the end. It was comfortable.

Brilliant chase from their batsmen, led by Stirling and Balbirnie. A potentially pivotal ten points towards World Cup qualification added into the mix as well, with the small matter of 21 games left.

Well done Ireland.

[Soul Requiem]

That is absolute garbage from England, pathetic.

[westisbest]

Caught the last 40 odd balls. Great batting and a great win for Ireland.

Great opening partnership.

Looked a big ask for Ireland.

Will give the lads confidence.

Well done

[guildfordbat]

Caught the last 40 odd balls. Great batting and a great win for Ireland.

Great opening partnership.

Looked a big ask for Ireland.

Will give the lads confidence.

Well done

Tonight's win for Ireland and Villa staying up! What's next for you, Westi?

[westisbest]

Caught the last 40 odd balls. Great batting and a great win for Ireland.

Great opening partnership.

Looked a big ask for Ireland.

Will give the lads confidence.

Well done

Tonight's win for Ireland and Villa staying up! What's next for you, Westi?

Ha not been a bad couple of weeks.
Hope your well Guildford

[Gooseberry]

Sorry to have missed the end of that ...what a roller coaster! Who wouldve though Campher wouldnt be the stand out man of the series for Irleand after all. Couple of historic knocks for Irelands seasoned vets and some nerveless finishing from the middle order.

Did England take their foot off the gas a bit? Lack of leaders on the field?

[guildfordbat]

Pretty good, thanks, Westi. Although not helped by Surrey crashing to Middlesex today. Hopefully we'll get Roy and Tom Curran back for a bit now.

[king_carlos]

Sorry to have missed the end of that ...what a roller coaster! Who wouldve though Campher wouldnt be the stand out man of the series for Irleand after all. Couple of historic knocks for Irelands seasoned vets and some nerveless finishing from the middle order.

Did England take their foot off the gas a bit? Lack of leaders on the field?

Just outplayed by two excellent innings in my opinion. There was some poor fielding and average bowling but Stirling and Balbirnie played excellently, England will feel they should have put 20-30 more runs on the board.

Willey bowled averagely in the middle overs. Moeen got the treatment from Balbirnie when he came back on. Bowling so straight to one of the best sweepers about was pretty poor. Better to get cover on the offside and bowl a bit wider rather than stump to stump.

Rashid bowled OK but not his best in his latter two spells. Curran did some good things with his variations as ever. Mahmood once again impressed in bursts but that no ball full toss in the final over will play on his mind for a while.

England's biggest position to replace from the World Cup is Plunkett's bowling in the middle overs. Moeen once again failed to rediscover his form of 18 months ago when bowling well in tandem with Rashid in those overs. Willey again struggled to bowl with the older ball.

Personally, I think Curran is our best bet to perform that Plunkett role in the middle overs. He was saved for the death today and in my opinion he or Mahmood should have come back earlier before the game was pretty much won.

Mahmood has put himself in a good position to cover Archer/Wood when they need rotating. Banton will likely leapfrog Vince as number 3 cover for Root. Willey scoring runs and being potent with the new ball could perhaps make him an outside option to bat at 7 and bowl 6ish overs a game. I'm not sure he has the ability with the older ball to break into being more than a squad player though.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Onto the test stuff, this Pakistan series should be really exciting. A word on the visitors, very interested to see how they lineup. Feels like they need to decide what to do with 7 and 8 in their lineup, and consequently who they go with spin wise. You’d think if they play Shadab at 8, they could include someone like Wahab at 8, but if they go Yasir at 8, someone like Ashraf would play at 7. Either way, the tail looks a bit long...but what a seam attack Abbas, Shaheen and Naseem is! Cannot wait to watch them bowl

As for the batting, Azam is pure class, and Shafiq also good in the middle order. Top order a bit shaky with Azhar struggling the past year at 3, and Rizwan as keeper is a good bat, but do fear how he might keep in English conditions for the first time.

Be surprised if they don’t win one of the three tests, and who knows, if the batting fires they could nab the series

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