<blockquote class="Quote" rel="sillymid" Afghanistan came very close to pulling off the shock of the tournament by nearly chasing down India's 224. When Nabi smeared a hard-to-hit low full-toss off Shami for four straight of long-on, Afghanistan needed just 12 off the last five balls with three wickets in hand. It was Shami who secured the victory for India with a hat-trick, which began with the prized scalp of Nabi and ended with a whirring yorker that demolished the stumps of No.11 Mujeeb. [From cricinfo].
West Indies also fell agonisingly 5 runs short of their target of 292 against New Zealand, Carlos Brathwaite scoring a brilliant century but caught on the boundary going for the big hit to win the match. On Sunday, the underwhelming South Africans went out of competition after failing to chase Pakistan's 308. Not a big fan of cricket BUT even i was engrossed by yiur examples....
Wins in the last few days for Pakistan (who can still possibly qualify for the semis) - they play Afghanistan tomorrow; India, who face England in a crunch game on Sunday and South Africa, who showed England how easy it can be to beat Sri Lanka.
New Zealand v. Australia at Lords tomorrow should also be interesting.
Yesterday Australia recovered from 92-5 to finish on 243-for 9, which seemed eminently gettable but New Zealand could only stutter to 157 all out.
Edited reports from BBC Sport
Pakistan survived a scare to beat Afghanistan by three wickets with two balls remaining in a thriller at Headingley. Chasing 228 for victory, Pakistan fell to 81-3 and 156-6 as Afghanistan turned the screw and, with 48 needed from 36 balls, it looked out of Pakistan's hands. However, a disastrous 46th over by Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib went for 18 runs to put Pakistan back in control.
Despite Shadab Khan being run out with 22 runs needed for victory, Imad and Wahab Riaz held their nerve, with Wahab striking the first six of the innings to take the rate down to a run a ball. In an astonishing finish, Imad drove Gulbadin to the boundary to reach an unbeaten 49 and tie up victory.
Today we saw the kind of England performance we have been expecting.
Jonny Bairstow crunched 111 as he reunited with the fit-again Jason Roy for an opening stand of 160. Roy made 66 and Ben Stokes added some late impetus with 79 to lift England to 337-7. With 102 needed from the final 10 overs, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya briefly raised the hopes of the ecstatic India fans, only for England to hold their nerve and restrict India to 306-5.
Semi-finalists sorted now. England will play at Edgbaston, almost certainly against India with Australia to face New Zealand. One of my picks for the semi finals, West Indies, fared abysmally while Pakistan had a poor start but better finish; missing out on Net Run Rate.
Pompeynic, in his original post to start this thread said:
"I think England and India are certain to be there. They have the two best batting lineups, both are better than average in the field and have competent bowling attacks. Of the rest New Zealand look the best “team” strong batting, well organised and energetic in the field and a decent bowling side. Australia, on paper, have a strong looking team, they have pedigree and are always fiercely competitive." -so he was absolutely spot on.
Semi-finalists sorted now. England will play at Edgbaston, almost certainly against India with Australia to face New Zealand. One of my picks for the semi finals, West Indies, fared abysmally while Pakistan had a poor start but better finish; missing out on Net Run Rate.
Pompeynic, in his original post to start this thread said:
"I think England and India are certain to be there. They have the two best batting lineups, both are better than average in the field and have competent bowling attacks. Of the rest New Zealand look the best “team” strong batting, well organised and energetic in the field and a decent bowling side. Australia, on paper, have a strong looking team, they have pedigree and are always fiercely competitive." -so he was absolutely spot on.
@sillymid surely it looks like Australia are gonna lose this game,so will then play England in the semi or have I missed something?
Semi-finalists sorted now. England will play at Edgbaston, almost certainly against India with Australia to face New Zealand. One of my picks for the semi finals, West Indies, fared abysmally while Pakistan had a poor start but better finish; missing out on Net Run Rate.
Whoops. That didn't go as expected. I was going on previous form.
As you say lucy4, England will play Australia at Edgbaston. while India will play New Zealand at Old Trafford. South Africa had their swan song in the competition with a fine victory over their nemesis in the 1999 World Cup - the famous tie on an unnecessary run out which ended their dreams.
First semi-final at Old Trafford today. New Zealand have won the toss and will bat.
One change each for both teams. New Zealand have brought back Lockie Ferguson for Tim Southee, while India have brought in Yuzvendra Chahal for Kuldeep Yadav.
Australia lost to South Africa in their last group game, which means that they will play England on Thursday. This will probably suit us better than playing India (which we would have done if Australia had won). India would have had overwhelming support if their game was in Birmingham.
Egbaston is a favourite ground on which to play the Ozzies and also they have some injuries. Hopefully, England have confidence and momentum on their side.
Upset on the cards on the 2nd day of the ODI (can you have a 2nd day in a ODI?) between India and New Zealand, with the winner going to the Final on Sunday.
Day one was cut short due to rain, and New Zealand, batting first, eventually stuttered to a modest 238/8, a total India would expect to reach comfortably.
Not after they were 5/3 though, with Kohli in the shed already. The pitch is a bit lively, and this could be interesting.
India are the best side in this IMO, and it will be a major upset if they can't knock these runs off.
I am not going to say they won't but I will be surprised if India, even with the great Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the crease, can knock these runs off with only 4 wickets left and an over rate of over 8 to contend with.
If every sporting contest was won by the team which is stronger 'on paper' then there would be no point in staging it. Before it started, no one really thought that New Zealand would win this game and probably even fewer after the overnight delay for rain.
No matter that India are stronger man for man or that the Kiwis were on a losing streak; what matters is how you perform on the day. Really looking forward to watching the highlights of this one while eating my supper.
Comments
Afghanistan came very close to pulling off the shock of the tournament by nearly chasing down India's 224. When Nabi smeared a hard-to-hit low full-toss off Shami for four straight of long-on, Afghanistan needed just 12 off the last five balls with three wickets in hand. It was Shami who secured the victory for India with a hat-trick, which began with the prized scalp of Nabi and ended with a whirring yorker that demolished the stumps of No.11 Mujeeb. [From cricinfo].
West Indies also fell agonisingly 5 runs short of their target of 292 against New Zealand, Carlos Brathwaite scoring a brilliant century but caught on the boundary going for the big hit to win the match. On Sunday, the underwhelming South Africans went out of competition after failing to chase Pakistan's 308.
Not a big fan of cricket BUT even i was engrossed by yiur examples....
New Zealand v. Australia at Lords tomorrow should also be interesting.
Edited reports from BBC Sport
Pakistan survived a scare to beat Afghanistan by three wickets with two balls remaining in a thriller at Headingley. Chasing 228 for victory, Pakistan fell to 81-3 and 156-6 as Afghanistan turned the screw and, with 48 needed from 36 balls, it looked out of Pakistan's hands. However, a disastrous 46th over by Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib went for 18 runs to put Pakistan back in control.
Despite Shadab Khan being run out with 22 runs needed for victory, Imad and Wahab Riaz held their nerve, with Wahab striking the first six of the innings to take the rate down to a run a ball. In an astonishing finish, Imad drove Gulbadin to the boundary to reach an unbeaten 49 and tie up victory.
Today we saw the kind of England performance we have been expecting.
Jonny Bairstow crunched 111 as he reunited with the fit-again Jason Roy for an opening stand of 160. Roy made 66 and Ben Stokes added some late impetus with 79 to lift England to 337-7. With 102 needed from the final 10 overs, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya briefly raised the hopes of the ecstatic India fans, only for England to hold their nerve and restrict India to 306-5.
One more semi-final spot to be decided. Either New Zealand (most likely) or Pakistan to join Australia, India and England.
Pompeynic, in his original post to start this thread said:
"I think England and India are certain to be there. They have the two best batting lineups, both are better than average in the field and have competent bowling attacks. Of the rest New Zealand look the best “team” strong batting, well organised and energetic in the field and a decent bowling side. Australia, on paper, have a strong looking team, they have pedigree and are always fiercely competitive." -so he was absolutely spot on.
As you say lucy4, England will play Australia at Edgbaston. while India will play New Zealand at Old Trafford. South Africa had their swan song in the competition with a fine victory over their nemesis in the 1999 World Cup - the famous tie on an unnecessary run out which ended their dreams.
One change each for both teams. New Zealand have brought back Lockie Ferguson for Tim Southee, while India have brought in Yuzvendra Chahal for Kuldeep Yadav.
Australia lost to South Africa in their last group game, which means that they will play England on Thursday. This will probably suit us better than playing India (which we would have done if Australia had won). India would have had overwhelming support if their game was in Birmingham.
Egbaston is a favourite ground on which to play the Ozzies and also they have some injuries. Hopefully, England have confidence and momentum on their side.
Upset on the cards on the 2nd day of the ODI (can you have a 2nd day in a ODI?) between India and New Zealand, with the winner going to the Final on Sunday.
Day one was cut short due to rain, and New Zealand, batting first, eventually stuttered to a modest 238/8, a total India would expect to reach comfortably.
Not after they were 5/3 though, with Kohli in the shed already. The pitch is a bit lively, and this could be interesting.
India are the best side in this IMO, and it will be a major upset if they can't knock these runs off.
India now 10/3 after 7 overs.
India now 24/4 after 10 overs.
Have to watch the highlights later.
72/5 after 22 overs.
Required run-rate 6.4
This is after 24 overs.
Required run-rate is now 7.8.
No matter that India are stronger man for man or that the Kiwis were on a losing streak; what matters is how you perform on the day. Really looking forward to watching the highlights of this one while eating my supper.