Cricket

[23.21.159]

Normally not a fan of white ball cricket but I think this tournament has been fascinating, despite the weather.
The everyone-plays-everyone format makes it so much better and you would think the players find it much more of an "event" getting to play against every other team.
It's a shame they didn't opt for a football-style final four with a Preliminary Final. Well aware that that kind of thing is unique to Australian Football tournaments and it's very hard to get anyone else to see the benefits of it, but they have used it in the IPL in recent seasons so someone must be seeing the sense. In this case even a final five might have been better.
I reckon 50-over cricket has almost morphed into the most intriguing format tactically.
Players find it easier to know how hard to go in Test Cricket (not very hard at all) or T20 (very hard all the time). In 50-over cricket it's more of a mystery and really the key to the game is to know how much to attack, particularly in the first innings when you just don't know how high-scoring a game is going to be. It's surprising how many sub-300 scores there have been that have been enough to win.

 

[jb03]

Normally not a fan of white ball cricket but I think this tournament has been fascinating, despite the weather.
The everyone-plays-everyone format makes it so much better and you would think the players find it much more of an "event" getting to play against every other team.
It's a shame they didn't opt for a football-style final four with a Preliminary Final. Well aware that that kind of thing is unique to Australian Football tournaments and it's very hard to get anyone else to see the benefits of it, but they have used it in the IPL in recent seasons so someone must be seeing the sense. In this case even a final five might have been better.
I reckon 50-over cricket has almost morphed into the most intriguing format tactically.
Players find it easier to know how hard to go in Test Cricket (not very hard at all) or T20 (very hard all the time). In 50-over cricket it's more of a mystery and really the key to the game is to know how much to attack, particularly in the first innings when you just don't know how high-scoring a game is going to be. It's surprising how many sub-300 scores there have been that have been enough to win.

Nearly always best to bat first. No matter what score you make, the team batting second seam to want to use all of the 50 overs to make it, hence why chasing teams can get into strife chasing smaller totals

 

[Mr Brightside]

Great seeing Finch do well, conducts himself so much better with the media then Smith an Warner

 

[tigertim]

Australia off to a rocky start: 3/50 from 12. Guptill after dropping 2 catches pulled off a ripper to get Smith. At least now Stoinis has plenty of time to show what he can do.

 

[tigertim]

Stoinis out for 21. Straya now 4/81. At least now Maxwell has plenty of time to show what he can do......

 

[tigertim]

Stoinis out for 21. Straya now 4/81. At least now Maxwell has plenty of time to show what he can do......

Maxwell out for 1. Australia 5/92 after 21 overs.

At least now Carey has plenty of time to show what he can do.....

 

[jb03]

Carey was good last game from memory

 

[taztiger4]

flogged the Kiwis

 

[22nd Man]

India sponsored by Worksafe?

 

[lukeanddad]

India sponsored by Worksafe?

Meaning?

 

[craig]

India sponsored by Worksafe?

Is that the same India where 200 people sit on the roof of a moving train in searing temperatures because it's already carrying double or triple the amount of people that it should ......... I can see that

 

[marella jube]

unlike most other nations, India prefer Pakistan out than England missing

 

[23.21.159]

unlike most other nations, India prefer Pakistan out than England missing

Agree with this. The finals system means there is no incentive to finish higher within 1st to 4th, so they'd rather lose to see Pakistan out.

 

[jb03]

Meaning?

Think he is referencing the flouro safety vest style shirts

 

[22nd Man]

Meaning?

The high vis orange on the Indians uniform. Looked like lunchtime on a construction site here (not there)
The Indians have just about always been light blue over the years.
Would be interesting reaction back in India... Orange is the colour associated with Hindu nationalists. Whilst having a large Hindu majority, it only functions as a nation because it's nominally secular and all minroities feel they have a roughly equal voice.

 

[22nd Man]

Agree with this. The finals system means there is no incentive to finish higher within 1st to 4th, so they'd rather lose to see Pakistan out.

Yep it's more political than tactical.

But the afghani and Pakistani spectators were having a decent crack at each other. Lots of bad blood there too but each uses the other when it suits them.

 

[tigerman]

England will be a bit disappointed, at 2/206 in the 32nd over they would've thought they were a chance to get close to 400.
Instead they have to do with 8-305.

 

[23.21.159]

Was way more than enough.

Surely New Zealand's progress has been blessed by the sequence of their draw and the washout.

In order:
Belted Sri Lanka who have had an all-round shocker.
Just got over Bangladesh.
Easy win over Afghanistan.
Wash-out over India, maybe the best team in it and that one point will see them fall into the finals.
Just a win over the biggest disappointment of the tournament, South Africa.
Very lucky to get over another big disappointment, West Indies.

Now the rot set in ...
Easily beaten by Pakistan.
Big 86 run loss to Australia despite having us five for not much.
Flogged by England.

They're going to make the finals but they have been so lucky to finish with a better record than Pakistan, whose wash-out was against Sri Lanka and had an abberration loss in their first game against West Indies.
Think NZ are just not up to it but the likes of Smith and McCullum (both seriously biassed commentators IMO) refuse to see it.
No batting apart from Williamson and Taylor.

Having said all that they will probably draw us in a semi and win.
Still not sure we are as good as our results have shown although our very balanced bowling appears to be a factor (especially with Lyon in for Zampa), and makes up for some suspect batting in our middle order.

 

[MD Jazz]

NZ won't beat us. They are simply not good enough. Just need to beat the saffers to ensure we play them.

 

[tigerman]

Was way more than enough.

Surely New Zealand's progress has been blessed by the sequence of their draw and the washout.

In order:
Belted Sri Lanka who have had an all-round shocker.
Just got over Bangladesh.
Easy win over Afghanistan.
Wash-out over India, maybe the best team in it and that one point will see them fall into the finals.
Just a win over the biggest disappointment of the tournament, South Africa.
Very lucky to get over another big disappointment, West Indies.

Now the rot set in ...
Easily beaten by Pakistan.
Big 86 run loss to Australia despite having us five for not much.
Flogged by England.

They're going to make the finals but they have been so lucky to finish with a better record than Pakistan, whose wash-out was against Sri Lanka and had an abberration loss in their first game against West Indies.
Think NZ are just not up to it but the likes of Smith and McCullum (both seriously biassed commentators IMO) refuse to see it.
No batting apart from Williamson and Taylor.

Having said all that they will probably draw us in a semi and win.
Still not sure we are as good as our results have shown although our very balanced bowling appears to be a factor (especially with Lyon in for Zampa), and makes up for some suspect batting in our middle order.

Yep, as it turned out.

The pitch got slower as the game went on, hence England struggling at the back end of their innings.
Williamson was very unlucky, he was set on 27, and averaging over 100 for the World Cup, and got run out at the non strikers end by a deflection off the bowler.