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Super Eight
- Thread starter James
- Start date
JBH001
International Regular
Jeez, what a thriller!
I watched it this morning at my gym after my workout and lost a few more hairs from my already prematurely thinning scalp. At first I thought 235 was not enough - but then at 6 down for 130 odd after Freddie and Colly imploded, and KP lost against Murali, it seemed all over. Great work by Nixon and Bopara though. Nixon has fight in him, and I am quite impressed by Bopara (never having seen him before). Impressive, cool, calm play.
Kudos to Dilhara though, his gamesmanship with the last ball may have done it, as Bopara really played a nothing shot to what was, essentially, a rather innocuous length ball.
SL should make it through to 8 points after the Ireland game, and from there it gets interesting. I do not think that SL can defeat Aus, so the game against the BC is the crucial one - again there, my money is on NZ (as much as I would like SL to win).
The batting really needs some sorting out, the tail is pretty ineffective, and Vaas has made little contribution of late. Silva needs to step up too after some good knocks in the early stages, he has done little so far. But most of all, Sanga seems to have hit the form doldrums at the worst possible time. He needs to get in good nick, fast.
Still, I am stoked that SL won!
(It always nice seeing the English get done
)
I watched it this morning at my gym after my workout and lost a few more hairs from my already prematurely thinning scalp. At first I thought 235 was not enough - but then at 6 down for 130 odd after Freddie and Colly imploded, and KP lost against Murali, it seemed all over. Great work by Nixon and Bopara though. Nixon has fight in him, and I am quite impressed by Bopara (never having seen him before). Impressive, cool, calm play.
Kudos to Dilhara though, his gamesmanship with the last ball may have done it, as Bopara really played a nothing shot to what was, essentially, a rather innocuous length ball.
SL should make it through to 8 points after the Ireland game, and from there it gets interesting. I do not think that SL can defeat Aus, so the game against the BC is the crucial one - again there, my money is on NZ (as much as I would like SL to win).
The batting really needs some sorting out, the tail is pretty ineffective, and Vaas has made little contribution of late. Silva needs to step up too after some good knocks in the early stages, he has done little so far. But most of all, Sanga seems to have hit the form doldrums at the worst possible time. He needs to get in good nick, fast.
Still, I am stoked that SL won!
(It always nice seeing the English get done
)
_Ed_
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Not sure I agree with that. Vaas and Murali sure, they're amazing. But Malinga's hardly consistent and for some reason I just don't rate Fernando. Now I've said that he'll probably go and take 6-15 when they play NZ.
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pup11
International Coach
Aussies would be pumped up for the game against England, because they were beaten pretty badly by England recently in the CB Series.
Some changes that England need to make for their future games :-
1. Play Plunkett, it doesn't matter even if Mahmood needs to be dropped for that.
2. Bring Strauss instead of Joyce, because England can't afford to have 2 non-performing openers.
3.Promote Bopara in the batting-order ahead of Fred.
Some changes that England need to make for their future games :-
1. Play Plunkett, it doesn't matter even if Mahmood needs to be dropped for that.
2. Bring Strauss instead of Joyce, because England can't afford to have 2 non-performing openers.
3.Promote Bopara in the batting-order ahead of Fred.
the best bowling attack when teams are chasing i think..... in other words when they defend
its like anything over 200 they defend like dogs.... and do it really well
i think the key for England is their middle/lower order... KP, Collingwood, Flintoff, Bopara and Nixon... thats pretty good and they could chase anything between 200-300 
but the pitch is flat (i dont know how both batting lineups today only managed 230 odd) no sideways movement and not a lot of spin (correct me if im wrong) so Aussie batsmen should have a field day and Aussie bowlers should be too good for England... but who knows.. cant wait
but the pitch is flat (i dont know how both batting lineups today only managed 230 odd) no sideways movement and not a lot of spin (correct me if im wrong) so Aussie batsmen should have a field day and Aussie bowlers should be too good for England... but who knows.. cant wait
Dissector
International Debutant
I was really puzzled by England's batting when Dilshan and Jaysuriya were bowling. Both KP and Bell were batting well and had gotten the RRR below 5 but they were content to get just 3-4 per over off the part-timers which got the pressure right back up. Then they were forced to attack during the power-play and we know the rest. I think that certainly KP could have hit 2-3 boundaries off the part-timers without taking risks. It could have made the difference.
LA ICE-E
State Captain
Didn't Mahmood get 4 wickets today though? Also promote Bopara up on the basis on one good performance? But he was the man that got them close to winning.
pup11
International Coach
But wasn't Plunkett also getting a lots of wickets against Australia and New Zealand just recently in the CB Series, and he didn't have that bad a game against New Zealand in the WC either for him to be dropped.
Freddie isn't in good enough form to bat at no.6 thats why i think Bopara should come ahead of Freddie in the batting order.
Freddie isn't in good enough form to bat at no.6 thats why i think Bopara should come ahead of Freddie in the batting order.
marc71178
Eyes not spreadsheets
You can never say never, the series in Australia showed us that, but I'd say it's unlikely.
marc71178
Eyes not spreadsheets
No, they weren't forced to attack in the PP - KP just decided that having already taken the danger man for 1 boundary in the over, he couldn't just settle for that.
As soon as he went the pressure was back on.
Up to that point they were doing exactly what they'd done previously, batted to ensure that there was a platform to attack in the last 10.
Dissector
International Debutant
Forced is too strong a word but they did seem to treat the powerplay as an opportunity to get boundaries and lower the RRR. The point is that they shouldn't have let the RRR increase in the first place when the part-timers were bowling. Hitting Dilshan for a couple of boundaries with a defensive field is less of a risk than taking on Murali even with the PP. At the very least they should have pushed a few more two's with the part-timers and scored at about 5-6 an over.
Blaze
Banned
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
But you said England can't afford to have 2 non-performing openers - how will bringing in Strauss help?
That was a pretty poor decision , by the adjudicators in giving Man of the Match to Bopara, when the guy who held the nerve to win the match and was key in getting 3 crucial wickets fails to get recognised.... Pretty stupid , if you ask me.
The award may have been shared but to fail to recognise the bowler who won the match in a thriller - pretty poor...the adjudicators are mostly English. So I really shouldn't have been surprised !!
