Semi Finals and Final Discussion

[tooextracool]

They lost 4 wickets only.. Why did not they go for the big shots.. Dont tell me that Gul and Ajmal were unplayable. SA were scared and didnt know what to do. THey choked simple.

You dont think they tried? Its not like Kallis and Duminy were trying to take singles. They tried to slog out of the park but they just couldn't hit the ball very far. SA missed a trick in not sending a power player or someone like Boucher who's a good player of spin in early, because Duminy and Kallis are hardly known for being able to tear apart bowling attacks.

You could argue that they should have tried to be more inventive and they werent and Duminy really should have thrown away his wicket at some point during that innings given the way he was going. At the end of the day, t20 is all about being versatile, and SA missed a trick by sending in the exact same batting order they are used to. Pity that Jennings isnt the coach, cause if he was, it might have been quite different given the way he led the Royal Challengers in the IPL.

 

[Inferiority]

Not many people are giving SL a chance, which is surprising considering they have already beaten them in this tournament. Pity Vaas isn't playing, he was well and truely Gayle's nemisis

 

[BoyBrumby]

Not many people are giving SL a chance, which is surprising considering they have already beaten them in this tournament.

?

Start as favourites in my book &, more importantly, the bookies' too. SL are 8/13, but you can get 6/4 on the Windies.

 

[Inferiority]

You dont think they tried? Its not like Kallis and Duminy were trying to take singles. They tried to slog out of the park but they just couldn't hit the ball very far. SA missed a trick in not sending a power player or someone like Boucher who's a good player of spin in early, because Duminy and Kallis are hardly known for being able to tear apart bowling attacks.

You could argue that they should have tried to be more inventive and they werent and Duminy really should have thrown away his wicket at some point during that innings given the way he was going. At the end of the day, t20 is all about being versatile, and SA missed a trick by sending in the exact same batting order they are used to. Pity that Jennings isnt the coach, cause if he was, it might have been quite different given the way he led the Royal Challengers in the IPL.

Agreed, they should have promoted Albie Morkel up the order.

 

[tooextracool]

After 5 overs SA had to score another 111 runs @ under 7.5 with 10 wickets left. It's a very, very generous assessment to say that isn't a choke.

Would be apoplectic if we'd failed from there and we're not the team SA are.

Given the way Afridi and Gul bowled, you can hardly call it a choke. Once the field restrictions were no longer in place it was visibly quite hard for anyone to score, and its incredibly obvious from the way Pakistan batted as well (with the exception of Afridi) that run scoring was difficult. You can't put a chokers tag when individual brilliance is involved IMO, and there was plenty of it from Pakistan yesterday. How does anyone score at 8-9 an over when someone is bowling yorker after yorker on the spot?

They got their batting order wrong and you could argue Duminy choked but that's pretty much it.

 

[Smith]

Your such a sore person.. Here is for you...

 

[tooextracool]

Not many people are giving SL a chance, which is surprising considering they have already beaten them in this tournament. Pity Vaas isn't playing, he was well and truely Gayle's nemisis

Who isnt giving them a hope? They are favorites to win, no on has yet managed to unravel their bowling of Mendis, Murali and Malinga but it is rather annoying when they have a side composed of about 4-5 brilliant players and a bunch of passengers.

 

[Jono]

Who isnt giving them a hope? They are favorites to win, no on has yet managed to unravel their bowling of Mendis, Murali and Malinga but it is rather annoying when they have a side composed of about 4-5 brilliant players and a bunch of passengers.

Clearly more than 5.

Even if you don't rate Mahela

Sanath
Sanga
TilDil
Murali
Mendis
Malinga

That's 6 on its own.

And isn't it cool to have a team winning games on the back of their bowling?

 

[Smith]

Who isnt giving them a hope? They are favorites to win, no on has yet managed to unravel their bowling of Mendis, Murali and Malinga but it is rather annoying when they have a side composed of about 4-5 brilliant players and a bunch of passengers.

I can count only 3 players who are mediocre in SL side : Mubarak (he is in because he is the lucky mascot of the SL team, heard SL authorities have pitched to ICC to allow icon players who merely add their names to the team sheet, neither bat or bowl, and is substituted in the field), Silve, and Kulasekara. The rest 8, namely, Jays, Dilshan, Sanga, Jaya, Malinga, Murali, Mendis, Mathews are all good.

 

[Smith]

Clearly more than 5.

Even if you don't rate Mahela

Sanath
Sanga
TilDil
Murali
Mendis
Malinga

That's 6 on its own.

And isn't it cool to have a team winning games on the back of their bowling?

Jaya is as good as Pietersen in T20s.

 

[tooextracool]

Clearly more than 5.

Even if you don't rate Mahela

Sanath
Sanga
TilDil
Murali
Mendis
Malinga

That's 6 on its own.

And isn't it cool to have a team winning games on the back of their bowling?

Sangakkara might not be a passenger, but hes an especially ordinary player. Hes barely managed to score at a run a ball all tournament, including the game against Ireland. Hes had one game this tournament where hes made a difference, that against Australia but hes been especially poor since then. His t20 intl record is currently 22 @105.
Look, I just dont rate this Sri Lankan batting card, you could argue that they arent the best one, but they are arguably as poor as any other batting side this tournament. Their middle order has no power player or anyone capable of coming in and scoring at SRs of 130+ and is filled with stroke makers. Not to mention that they are carrying not 1, not 2, but as many as 3 batters who have struggled to get into double digits all tournament in Matthews, Silva and Mubarak. Their overdependence on Dilshan and a 40 year old opener is evident.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Well the England Women just chased down 164 to win, so looks like it could be a high scoring semi final later between WI & SL.

 

[Jono]

Sangakkara might not be a passenger, but hes an especially ordinary player. Hes barely managed to score at a run a ball all tournament, including the game against Ireland. Hes had one game this tournament where hes made a difference, that against Australia but hes been especially poor since then. His t20 intl record is currently 22 @105.
Look, I just dont rate this Sri Lankan batting card, you could argue that they arent the best one, but they are arguably as poor as any other batting side this tournament. Their middle order has no power player or anyone capable of coming in and scoring at SRs of 130+ and is filled with stroke makers. Not to mention that they are carrying not 1, not 2, but as many as 3 batters who have struggled to get into double digits all tournament in Matthews, Silva and Mubarak. Their overdependence on Dilshan and a 40 year old opener is evident.

Sure, I'm not saying you're wrong. Their batting isn't as strong as other teams, but their batting is stronger than Pakistan's, and so is their bowling.

So if Pakistan win, will you be as annoyed as you will be if SL win?

EDIT: Interestingly enough I just read your post saying Pakistan has the better batting team (below)

Perhaps so, not like that says much because WI are also in there based on individual brilliance rather than a team performance.
Pakistan has the best batting card left IMO, possibly the best all round team as well, if they can just maintain their level of play to what its been like the last couple of games they should win. I know who Im supporting for the final.

So heavily disagree with that. On what basis do Pakistan have a better batting line-up?

 

[funnygirl]

Pak-WI finals will be fair than Pak-SL, WI and Pak are both equal and have chance to win if it is a WI-PAK final.. If SL comes they will steam roll pakistan

U said the same about SA match too. I can very well say Pakistan will be the champions regardless of the opposition. Yes the way they came back from nowhere, stuff of the champions.

 

[Jono]

I fail to see how SA didnt perform effectively. They weren't brilliant, but there's no way that they collectively underperformed during the game. Its not like the 1999 when half their batting failed and Klusener ran someone out.

They did collectively underperform, and half their batting did fail

Smith failed
Gibbs failed
Devilliers failed

 

[Steulen]

I can count only 3 players who are mediocre in SL side : Mubarak (he is in because he is the lucky mascot of the SL team, heard SL authorities have pitched to ICC to allow icon players who merely add their names to the team sheet, neither bat or bowl, and is substituted in the field), Silve, and Kulasekara. The rest 8, namely, Jays, Dilshan, Sanga, Jaya, Malinga, Murali, Mendis, Mathews are all good.

Kulasekara a passenger? He's one of the best limited-overs bowlers in the world! He's not having a great tournament, admittedly, but I wouldn't call him a passenger.

 

[Jamee999]

Someone who looks a lot like a geography teacher is concerned about Sarwan's injury.

 

[Mahindinho]

Kulasekara a passenger? He's one of the best limited-overs bowlers in the world! He's not having a great tournament, admittedly, but I wouldn't call him a passenger.

I think his ranking is somewhat misleading -- keeps it fairly tight and is getting better, yes, but one of the best in the world? Nah.

Still, I'd describe him more as a second-tier bowler than a passenger.

 

[shivfan]

Someone who looks a lot like a geography teacher is concerned about Sarwan's injury.

Oh, dear....

It's looking very difficult for the WI in this semi-final.

 

[gvenkat]

Oh, dear....

It's looking very difficult for the WI in this semi-final.

I think he will play.. it's 20 overs should not matter....