Group B - Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe

[James]

Discussion around Group B involving Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Zimbabwe

Schedule

Fri Apr 30
New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Mon May 3
Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe
Providence Stadium, Guyana

Tue May 4
New Zealand v Zimbabwe
Providence Stadium, Guyana

 

[DingDong]

nz should finish at the top with mccllum in form now...

 

[Raghav]

nz should finish at the top with mccllum in form now...

30 days to go and not sure the form lasts till then. hope so it does

 

[Hurricane]

If the TAB takes bets on it I am tempted to place $1000 on NZ to beat Zimbabwe. Our team always seems to win against the weaker teams. With a few upsets against Bangladesh discounted.

For whatever reason our players are world beaters in these games. We always take the opposition seriously I think while other teams rest players etc.

 

[Smudge]

If the TAB takes bets on it I am tempted to place $1000 on NZ to beat Zimbabwe.

I'm 99 percent sure there'd be a head to head market on that game. You'd only get, probably, $1.10 at most.

 

[Amobokobokoboko]

NZ should go thru

 

[cbuts]

I'm 99 percent sure there'd be a head to head market on that game. You'd only get, probably, $1.10 at most.

id be very very suprised if its anything more than $1.01

 

[Lostman]

SL's bowling is in good shape.

Murali/Malinga have been bowling really well in the IPL.
With Mendis and Mathews for support.
Even the pie chucker Fernando has looked semi decent in the IPL, so he would probably be the 5th bowler.

the batting on the other hand is a big worry.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Fernando's not in the squad. But yea same story as last time really. You'd fancy SL to win batting first and setting a moderate total. And they can bowl first and restrict sides to pretty low totals. But if a team strings a partnership together against them, or they put SL in and take wickets, then it's looking like curtains.

 

[DingDong]

omg nz look sooo good

ryder

 

[Migara]

Like last time SL squad carries some passengers. Jayasuriya, Kapugedara and Kulasekara do not deserve to be in the squad over Jeevantha Kulatunga, Farveez Maharoof and Vaas / Thushara.

Biggest worry for SL is Dilshan has lost form. On the other hand Jayawardane, Sangakkara, Chandimal and Mathews all are in red hot form.

Possible team against NZ,
Dilshan, Jayawardane, Sangakkara, Chandimal, Mathews, Jayasinghe, Perera, Randiv, Murali, Malinga, Welagedara

It would have looked much nicer if Maharoof was replacing Perera.

 

[Migara]

SL might open bowling with Randiv, and see whether McCullum and Ryder can dominate quality off spin, together with Malinga.

 

[Athlai]

McCullum will probably struggle but I think Ryder quite likes spin bowling.

 

[Prince EWS]

McCullum will probably struggle but I think Ryder quite likes spin bowling.

Yeah. Bats five in proper cricket for a reason.

 

[Migara]

McCullum will probably struggle but I think Ryder quite likes spin bowling.

Only difference is he's rarely served with off spin of Murali's or Randiv's quality on slow wickets like these.

 

[Athlai]

In such a short format though I reckon its pretty much a coin flip over whether someone who likes to go after spinners does well or is dominated. If this were a Test I'd say in these conditions he'd be up **** creek without a paddle.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Well Murali is very predictable in T20. You know apart from the very occasional doosra he's going to bowl it on a length to whatever the obvious plan of attack is. The fact he gets so much spin means he's got to bowl it wide of off or wide of leg for the lefties. Obviously his raw bowling skill is so good that it's still very difficult to play him (particularly for tailenders), but if you can find a particular shot that works he'll keep feeding it. Like he got slog swept over deep midwicket a number of times in the IPL (Mathews messed his figures up on a turner if I remember rightly) and he had no comeback for it. The reverse sweep is good because he spins it so much and you know where he'll bowl it (plus a low risk of lbw). But in between those shots he'll be very miserly because he is consistent and he'll get dot balls spinning it so much.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

I hope Nicol gets the nod ahead of Hopkins.
Hopkins does little for team balance and I don't have much faith in him replicating his small patch of form he showed against Oz.

On another note, did anyone else notice Franklin's List A ton opening the other weekend?
Group B: Gloucestershire v Derbyshire at Bristol, Apr 25, 2010 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com
He sure likes giving County bowlers a tonk.

 

[Hurricane]

I am not usually a fan of the TAB - but they have really impressed me with the betting options for the T20 - it is awesome. I plan to spend my whole account on the different betting options that they have. Hats off to whoever thought of these options. They even have first to score 10 runs out of ryder and mcCullum. I am certain this will be Ryder as McCullum likes to **** around for the 1st over to get a few sighters while Ryder will hit it if it is in the zone.

Also hats off to whoever did the odds on the highest scorer of the competition. Obviously shane watson is the front runner and he has the lowest odds. I wonder if the TAB has a different bookie for each sport to set the odds or if it is like one guy who just watches the crowd goes wild every day and reads the dom post.

 

[Smudge]

I wonder if the TAB has a different bookie for each sport to set the odds or if it is like one guy who just watches the crowd goes wild every day and reads the dom post.

Oh, for ****'s sake.