[quote=“Beasley Hutton post=223257 userid=847”]Even for a dyed in the wool Test Cricket man like myself, that was an incredible T20 WC game last night between India & Pakistan at the MCG in front of 91,000 and probably a billion watching around the world.
To go down to the very last ball is all you can hope for as a neutral viewer.
Kohli turned back the clock with some of his hitting a combination of sublime timing and power!
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Kohli is on another level BH. He even gave the umpires a bit of a hand with their no ball calls last night!
Would make a cracking final if India & Pakistan made it through to the top two…considering Babar was out for a golden duck, I would fancy Pakistan turning the tables on their neighbours TBH…that game went down to the wire due to Kohli making runs, and Babar not making any…can’t see Babar missing out like that again.
Mark Waugh’s called for the axing of Test Captain Pat Cummins, from the national T20 side.
After the final Australian over went for 20 runs.Also the bowling performance v Nz.
Comments made about issues outside Cricket.Have also created tension in the change room,Waugh stated.
The Stoinis innings last night papered over what was a very nervous performance against a side that was missing 3 of its best fast bowlers and lost another one in the first over. Finch was painful to watch and his batting put pressure on the other batsmen leading to unnecessary dismissals.
The bowling and fielding was patchy, better than the NZ game but then again the opposition wasnt as hard.
Mark Waugh is spot on about Cummins. He should not play another game in the tournament. He is too predictable for this format. Nathan Ellis is not in the squad so Kane Richardson is the only other quick option. He is a lot better in 20/20 type bowling than Cummins.
In general the team looked unhappy and tense last night. I was wondering if they have been distracted by all the noise surrounding Tim Paines book this week and particularly around his revelations about the sand paper incident in South Africa and the appalling way that Justin Langer was treated.
Well that Irish win and NZ washout has certainly given Finch et al a lifeline…though looking at that Melbourne weather, the Aust v Eng game might be a washout too…well done to the Irish, great to see their cricket developing…
Given the ongoing atrocious weather in the ES, more games should be shifted over here to Optus with the lesser nations games played at the WACA, at least we wont get these contrived DLS results. Although I did LMFAO at the Irish Pommes result.
mikeh: good post; some how it was always hard to believe the claims of the NSW bowlers regarding the events in Africa; all have prosperred since too, unlike their mates from outside of the state–bancroft, paine, lehmann, langer
I posted at the inning’s change BH..The Zimbabwe keeper done an amazing stumping, great match.
The Optus wicket made us play our Wafl GF at an alternative location.But what a beautiful cricket wicket,can’t wait for the test match.
Good double header at Optus yesterday.The Dutch bowled and fielded well again.There just a few batsman short of challenging,the test ranked nations.Good to see Pakistan open there account.
Huge allmost capacity crowd Sunday night at Optus.India V RSA..RSA have a awesome fast bowling attack.India pushed them to the last over but didn’t have enough runs.
Interesting listening to Darren Sammy on Abc radio commentary yesterday.DS believes Optus is the best Cricket wicket in the World.And by far the best T20 wicket as it gives the bowlers something,and not just a bat fest.
The Zims and Bangladesh played a thriller at the Gabba ,last ball finish.
Thank fu#k games are now to be played in Brisbane and Adelaide.Melbourne domestic cricket hasn’t started yet.Its been washed out 5 Saturdays in a row.
Last nights result means that it is pretty much all she wrote for Australia unless Ireland beat the Kiwis, Sri Lanka beat England or there is more rain. It has been a very patchy performance by Australia even in the games they have won. They had a chance to dramatically improve their net run rate when they reduced Ireland to 5 - 25 but they took their foot off the throat and Ireland reduced the margin to 40. They are now battling injuries and its likely that Smith and Green will play against Afghanistan in what now shapes as a dead rubber.
India, South Africa, England and New Zealand are the best teams and are likely to be the 4 semi finalists
Spot on mikeh, the NZ loss hurt, but the number crunching would be far easier for Aust, if they had rolled Ireland for under 100. Starc going for 30 in his last 2 overs didn’t help. I have no doubt fatigue, injuries and rain will come out as the main excuses for Aust coming up short…but realistically the selection policy has been pretty poor and blinkered…too many have done to little leading up into this comp…the selectors just keep dealing the same hand over and over again…India v Eng would bring in a huge crowd if they make it to the final.
The run rate was destroyed by the margin of the NZ defeat. Once they had lost a few early wickets chasing 200, the team talk should have been on damage minimisation, lets get to 160 so the NRR wasnt so affected. Maybe they did aim for that but they just appeared to keep swinging away and got bowled out for 120.
The whole team have stuttered through this tournament, relying on individual performances to get their wins. Their fielding has also been below the usual standard.
Mikey, I wonder if people are getting too comfortable because the players are chummy with the coach and taking shortcuts rather than putting the head down and working hard
Pretty sure JL would of kept the same players from last years WC win…JL is loyal as they come, and no way Finch, Warner, Smith, Maxwell, Cummins, Starc, Stoinis et al weren’t going to have first crack at defending the cup…especially at home.
[quote=“premiership hangover post=223411 userid=1206”]Mikey, I wonder if people are getting too comfortable because the players are chummy with the coach and taking shortcuts rather than putting the head down and working hard
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This could well be the case PH. I think there is an element of predictability about the team which oppositions have prepared for, some players are past their use by date and others are not suited to the T20 format even though they are good test and ODI players. There has been no opportunity for guys like Ellis, Phillipe and Mcdermott who have excelled in the BBL competition over the last few years so it does appear like a closed shop