ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP 24

[PhilkSVR]

Scabutz said:

If India win this, and that seems likely, and AFG beat BAN tomorrow then its bye bye Aussies.

Wouldn’t that be great. We will see. Any semi is going to be tough. We have done it before though.

[PhilkSVR]

I think we are at the stage where anyone can beat anyone in a one off game. Aus could still win this one. Sure India are strong but no one is unbeatable. If we go out in the semis then it’s no disgrace, but you never know

[PhilkSVR]

Gargamel said:

Plenty of examples of Beefy batters around. Starting with er.. Beefy. Mike Fatting (late model) Inzaman, Ranatunga and probably a load who were merely a little chunky.

Colin one eyed Milburn springs to mind.

[PhilkSVR]

I reckon that’s it for him. International retirement beckons. Not done too badly in his career though.

[PhilkSVR]

thegreenhell said:

Aussies giving this a good go. Even if they scrape a win they'll still be vulnerable to an Afghan win passing them on NRR, though.

I’m interested to see how India perform under pressure. The Aussies will certainly try.

[PhilkSVR]

Wow. What a catch.

[PhilkSVR]

You know that feeling when they ‘stick’ that was one of those. Great stuff.

[PhilkSVR]

type-r said:

On that performance, we're screwed!

Don’t agree. India are strong, but these are one off games, so we are still in with a chance

[PhilkSVR]

I should clarify what I said by saying India are strong favourites without doubt, however, we can beat them in my opinion and if we do then we could even win the tournament. But… we will have to play to our full potential and put India under pressure. Let’s see, yes we could get stuffed, but all I am saying is we are still in it and can win.

[PhilkSVR]

Murph7355 said:

Gotta be in it to win it. (Eh Warner? )

[PhilkSVR]

DeejRC said:

Have to be honest, it really doesn’t feel like Eng should be anywhere near the semis. In fact I can’t actually fathom out how we got there!
I’m struggling to work up any enthusiasm for this given the poor performance of the team so far. The only real joy in the tournament has been seeing so many additional associate countries and giving traditional countries some right old contests. More of the same pls!

Yes it is a strange format, and if you add in the uncertainty of the weather and the quality of the early US wickets we have what we have. Still, it has been great to see the associates have the opportunity to play the tier one teams. They need more of that to develop their game. Afghanistan deserve their place in the semis and Thursday may bring yet more surprises, or not……

[PhilkSVR]

I think that whilst India have historically fallen short at the last or second to last hurdle, they are without doubt a more skilled and resilient team these days. Their pool of players is massively deep and the IPL has benefitted them enormously. I always hold out hope for England and believe we can beat them but the odds are not in our favour. I think that valiant though they have been, Afghanistan will lose to SA dependant on conditions. If it’s a turner then this brings the Afghans into the game. Head says India v SA final. Heart says England v Afghanistan

[PhilkSVR]

No reserve day if it rains in our semi as opposed to the Afghan/ SA match. If our match is rained off India go through as they were top of their group. An unlikely scenario perhaps but how can there be different playing conditions for the two semis? The whole tournament schedule has had anomalies driven primarily by the Indian influence who knew they were going to play in Guyana regardless. Always playing at times to appease Indian audiences just reinforces the influence that India and their money have on the game.

[PhilkSVR]

Afghanistan did well to get so far. I guess this was on the cards if they didn’t play to their full potential. Shame about the pitch. What was the problem?

[PhilkSVR]

M11rph said:

Cracked with wildly varying bounce. A ball pitching in essentially the same place might hit the bottom of the bat or rear up and miss the batsmen's gloves.
SA recognised this and bowled straighter, 7 of the Aghan team were dismissed LBW or Bowled, mainly to balls keeping very low.

Not an isolated case at this venue, 5 All Out scores under 95 indicates it really wasn't acceptable. Should have played the matches at the Queen's Park Oval.

Yep, that’s not good. SA would have exploited that. Lateral movement ok. Variable bounce is a nightmare at that pace, plus the spinners would love it. I think the wickets have had an impact, along with the weather has made it tough at times for some teams. Having said that I’m surprised Afghanistan didn’t take advantage when they bowled. I guess chasing such a low total reduced the risk. At this stage in the competition having a pitch ‘not suitable’ is poor, but WI do have form. Let’s see how we get on this afternoon

[PhilkSVR]

Sport v Cash. We have our answer. I don’t think it’s fair on the Indian team either. They can win without any help. These are money/political decisions. I can just imagine India going to Australia or here and having the same influence. We can’t watch matches in Aus live. It is the most India influenced World Cup ever, but we mustn’t blame the Indian team.

[PhilkSVR]

They are going to move heaven and earth to get a match on even of it’s only 5 overs.

[PhilkSVR]

Doable.

[PhilkSVR]

I will always give my team the benefit of the doubt but, even though the Indian bowlers were on point the least said about our batting the better. That was a hammering and well played India. They were a different class.

[PhilkSVR]

His lad Rocky looks useful;)