Decent performance from England. The pitch was not as true as it looked, I think they would have been reasonably happy with their total, might have wanted another twenty or so. Archer then showed impressive pace and as I thought South Africa did not have enough in the batting department. I also mentioned about fielding and England were excellent, plenty of runs saved with diving stops and Stokes' catch was superb ( although, he did admit he was out of position, so he had to catch it.) Good start to the campaign.
To be honest I think England would expect to average 350 at the Oval. Our batting line-up is so strong that it almost went unnoticed that 2 of our most destructive batsmen didnt get any in this game (Bairstow and Buttler).
Archer looked absolutely exceptional. I really cannot wait to see him line up with Jimmy and Broad in the Ashes, i just pray that he stays injury free for a good length of time.
Buttler was a bit of a worry behind the stumps, with the likes of Rashid in the side, you really need a top top gloveman and he's just not quite there yet.
I love the balance of our squad for this WC. In reflection, Curran would probably have been useful on a pitch that offered a bit for the slower change-up bowlers. Plunkett did a reasonable job though, even if he was pretty fortunate with the wicket of deKock.
In other news how on Earth did South Africa think picking Duminy and Pretorius ahead of Miller and Morris was a good idea. Duminy shouldn't even get in their squad, let alone their XI.
Two of my semi-final picks meet today at Trent Bridge and it turns out to be a one sided affair with Pakistan only posting 105 against the West Indies. Chris Gayle will probably knock off the runs by himself.
I think West Indies could actually be real contenders this WC. They're definitely a bit hit or miss, but when Lewis comes in for Bravo they've got a batting line-up packed full of match winners. A bit inconsistant with both bat and ball, also lacking a quality spinner (where is Narine?), but on their day they can beat anyone. Pakistan's batting line-up is too weak to pose any genuine threat of reaching the semis imo.
I do not understand the decision to bowl first today by SA. It did not help that Ngidi picked up an injury, but Bangladesh batted very well and as predicted, SA did not field well. It will be very interesting to see how Bangladesh do against New Zealand on Wednesday.
Interesting rain affected game in Cardiff yesterday between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The Afghans are stronger in bowling than batting and restricted Sri Lanka to 201. They made a reasonable fist of chasing the the total down, but the lower order collapsed leaving them 34 runs short.
(We will leave an explanation of the Duckworth-Lewis method until you all have lots of time, your pencils are sharpened, workbooks ready and no distractions from mobile phones or sport on the telly.)
Interesting rain affected game in Cardiff yesterday between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The Afghans are stronger in bowling than batting and restricted Sri Lanka to 201. They made a reasonable fist of chasing the the total down, but the lower order collapsed leaving them 34 runs short.
(We will leave an explanation of the Duckworth-Lewis method until you all have lots of time, your pencils are sharpened, workbooks ready and no distractions from mobile phones or sport on the telly.)
India finally got their campaign under way with a comfortable victory over South Africa but New Zealand had a little wobble in overhauling the Bangladeshi total of 244.
The thinking before the tournament was that bat would dominate ball but this has not proved to be the case, with only five totals over 300 so far.
Australia take on the West Indies at Trent Bridge today, so we may see a big score on a good batting track.
The D-L target for Afghanistan completely confused me yesterday, but I just went with the flow.
The rain benefitted SL as from 182/8 after ~32 overs (I think) when the rain happened, they probably weren't gonna bat the full 50 overs anyway.
More often than not, SL are just losing overs they wouldn't have batted anyway because in all likelihood the side would have been dismissed, whereas Afghanistan were losing overs that you would expect them to use in their run chase (if they had batted better).
It's also an advantage for SL when they do get back on the field to have the reduced inning, because the tail doesn't have to bat out as long and they're more likely to be around to slog for a couple of overs at the end of the innings.
The lower D/L target for Afghanistan reflects those advantages that SL gain from a shortened innings
EDIT: Cracking game between SL and Afghanistan btw. Just a shame the group stage is SO long that the weaker sides in the tournament are as good as out before the tournament even begins.
Australia take on the West Indies at Trent Bridge today, so we may see a big score on a good batting track.
So much for that!
I haven't watched much of the game as I have been out and about but I look forward to watching the highlights of this one. Thought that the West Indies were on track to win but Australia have pulled through.
Australia take on the West Indies at Trent Bridge today, so we may see a big score on a good batting track.
So much for that!
I haven't watched much of the game as I have been out and about but I look forward to watching the highlights of this one. Thought that the West Indies were on track to win but Australia have pulled through.
The last 3 overs of the WI chase were just bizarre.
Need 32 or 33 off with last wicket pair at the crease, blocked everything for some reason. Then needing 32 off 4 balls, Ashley Nurse hits four straight 4s. If only they'd tried to score off Starc and particularly Stoinis in the two overs before - I can kinda get blocking out Starc as a number 11 with three balls left in the over, but the Stoinis over was odd.
Nurse even turned down a couple of singles in the penultimate over too with Stoinis bowling, which to me makes no sense unless you're batting with Chris Martin.
TMS were saying they thought they couldn't win it from there so they played for net run rate, but whether the last wicket falls or not has no effect on WI's NRR. Very unusual.
Comments
Archer looked absolutely exceptional. I really cannot wait to see him line up with Jimmy and Broad in the Ashes, i just pray that he stays injury free for a good length of time.
Buttler was a bit of a worry behind the stumps, with the likes of Rashid in the side, you really need a top top gloveman and he's just not quite there yet.
I love the balance of our squad for this WC. In reflection, Curran would probably have been useful on a pitch that offered a bit for the slower change-up bowlers. Plunkett did a reasonable job though, even if he was pretty fortunate with the wicket of deKock.
In other news how on Earth did South Africa think picking Duminy and Pretorius ahead of Miller and Morris was a good idea. Duminy shouldn't even get in their squad, let alone their XI.
Is it time for Imran's cornered tigers speech already?
South Africa are underperforming; losing again today by 21 runs against a strong Bangladeshi batting line-up.
Glad to see Bangladesh do well though.
(We will leave an explanation of the Duckworth-Lewis method until you all have lots of time, your pencils are sharpened, workbooks ready and no distractions from mobile phones or sport on the telly.)
The D-L target for Afghanistan completely confused me yesterday, but I just went with the flow.
Was really hoping the Afghans would get a result.
What did you think of Sri Lanka's fielding? This was awesome;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cricket/48520171
The thinking before the tournament was that bat would dominate ball but this has not proved to be the case, with only five totals over 300 so far.
Australia take on the West Indies at Trent Bridge today, so we may see a big score on a good batting track.
More often than not, SL are just losing overs they wouldn't have batted anyway because in all likelihood the side would have been dismissed, whereas Afghanistan were losing overs that you would expect them to use in their run chase (if they had batted better).
It's also an advantage for SL when they do get back on the field to have the reduced inning, because the tail doesn't have to bat out as long and they're more likely to be around to slog for a couple of overs at the end of the innings.
The lower D/L target for Afghanistan reflects those advantages that SL gain from a shortened innings
EDIT: Cracking game between SL and Afghanistan btw. Just a shame the group stage is SO long that the weaker sides in the tournament are as good as out before the tournament even begins.
I haven't watched much of the game as I have been out and about but I look forward to watching the highlights of this one. Thought that the West Indies were on track to win but Australia have pulled through.
Need 32 or 33 off with last wicket pair at the crease, blocked everything for some reason. Then needing 32 off 4 balls, Ashley Nurse hits four straight 4s. If only they'd tried to score off Starc and particularly Stoinis in the two overs before - I can kinda get blocking out Starc as a number 11 with three balls left in the over, but the Stoinis over was odd.
Nurse even turned down a couple of singles in the penultimate over too with Stoinis bowling, which to me makes no sense unless you're batting with Chris Martin.
TMS were saying they thought they couldn't win it from there so they played for net run rate, but whether the last wicket falls or not has no effect on WI's NRR. Very unusual.