2023 ICC Cricket World Cup (50 over version)

^ No need to worry! comfortable win for England (for now back in champions trophy quali position) Netherlands were really poor with the ball - particularly at the back end (aping Afghanistan yesterday) and let England (well Stokes actually) get away from them. their batting wasn't much better!

I heard that moeen gave an interview in which he said several things were brought to the surface which contributed to the teams awful WC showing! What particular 'light bulbs' went off with him - or the rest - to reach these conclusions?? Maybe one was, and I have become increasingly confident of this, over reliance on the 'Ben is back, he will sort it out'?? mindset?? What else has come to 'light'??

England beat a side a level below any County side, no disrespect. Stokes got them off the hook today. The bowling has at least improved. The batting will need to step up in order to beat a talented Pakistan attack. Only 2 innings of note in the top 6, and not one decent ball took a wicket.

The 3rd umpiring needs looking at with regards to catches being given as grounded or with fingers under the ball.
Root's catch was given not out despite Root insisting that he had his fingers under the ball. I've seen simular given out even though the ball looks to have hit the ground.

^ The foreshortening of the camera means that there will rarely be a definitive conclusion in such circumstances, meaning 'benefit of the doubt'. Why we can't just rely on player to player trust i don't know! It saddens me somewhat to see that 'integrity' (much more valuable than morals in my world) is in short supply! J Root would have been found out potentially had the batter (apparently a term these days) taken his word, with reviewing the tapes afterwards potentially proving he didn't take a clean catch

On today's match, a walk in the park for NZ against Sri Lanka. I can't decide whether SL have met expectations, or whether we should be disappointed with their showing??

Sri Lanka are still a relatively young and inexperienced side, still rebuilding after so many hard to replace superstars retired. I expect they will be disappointed with this comp after making the Asia Cup final v India (despite the 50 all out).
New Zealand got the perfect result, aside from a 10th wicket stand that was nuisance value, the Kiwis have opened up a gap over Pakistan and Afghanistan in terms of run rate, Pakistan will have to thrash England (not imposable) to jump ahead of the Kiwi's into a Semi final spot. Afghanistan will also require a large margin of victory over South Africa to overtake the Kiwi's.
England could book a Champions Trophy spot (top 8) even with a narrow defeat against Pakistan, as it is highly unlikely that we will see Australia lose to Bangladesh and Netherlands beat India.

(09-11-2023 18:18 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  Sri Lanka are still a relatively young and inexperienced side, still rebuilding after so many hard to replace superstars retired. I expect they will be disappointed with this comp after making the Asia Cup final v India (despite the 50 all out).
New Zealand got the perfect result, aside from a 10th wicket stand that was nuisance value, the Kiwis have opened up a gap over Pakistan and Afghanistan in terms of run rate, Pakistan will have to thrash England (not imposable) to jump ahead of the Kiwi's into a Semi final spot. Afghanistan will also require a large margin of victory over South Africa to overtake the Kiwi's.
England could book a Champions Trophy spot (top 8) even with a narrow defeat against Pakistan, as it is highly unlikely that we will see Australia lose to Bangladesh and Netherlands beat India.

I can see both results coming true in terms of Pakistan beating England, and Afghanistan beating South Africa. NRR on the other hand, will not help either Pakistan or Afghanistan after today's result, so I think we have our final 4. Once again, kudos to the campaign Afghanistan have had. We can't let this be the end of their story (situation at home etc)

Well sadly, it didn't end well for Afghanistan with back - to - back defeats. Overall though, they can walk away from this tournament with heads held very high, as they solidified their place at the upper echelon of the game! How to sustain it, and find a way to win those 1%ers is their next challenge! Should see much more of them on the schedule now?? assuming bi -laterals are kicked in to touch, and a much more streamlined fixture list with an overarching single purpose created??. Will India let those discussions take place?? - If the game was governed instead of just facilitated to suit, the answer would be yes. We must reach that point!

For South Africa, onwards to the Semi - Finals. On todays showing, they didn't inspire confidence they are a threat to the trophy, but they are there, and have a chance to get 'the monkey off their back'

Sri Lanka suspended from the ICC!!

A nice way to end the campaign for England with a 93 run win over Pakistan.
A series of good contributions with the bat and David Willey bowing out in style with the ball claiming his 100th ODI wicket. Bit of pride restored after a tournament where so much went wrong. Always important to finish on a high.

A good performance today.

Champions Trophy spot also secured which is a positive.

England's top 6 all contributed, they finally constructed an innings. Buttler made 2 of the worst reviews ever, brainless.
Interesting stat showed that side that have won the toss have only won 33% of matches.