4th Match - Afghanistan v Australia

[Gob]

I always imagine a dressing room meeting before a game in which Langer is assigning each and everyone a particular job for the game except Warner before finally looking at Warner and saying "Davey, Smash"

 

[trundler]

Decent recovery from Afghanistan.

 

[PikeyB]

I liked a lot of what Afghanistan tried to do . Some nice striking ; some lovely pace bowling . They were well beaten but not blown away by Australia .

 

[Gob]

Usman at 3 doesn't work. Also don't like both Maxwell and Stoinis inside top six although having Coota-Nile adds lots of depths. Would personally go with

Warner
Usman
Arun
Best batsman in the world
Marsh
Maxwell

 

[Athlai]

It's amazing to me how quickly Afghanistan have looked like they belong with their first generation of international cricketers.

 

[stephen]

It's amazing to me how quickly Afghanistan have looked like they belong with their first generation of international cricketers.

Certainly they've been a much better side than Bangladesh or Zimbabwe were for a long time.

 

[trundler]

Usman at 3 doesn't work. Also don't like both Maxwell and Stoinis inside top six although having Coota-Nile adds lots of depths. Would personally go with

Warner
Usman
Arun
Best batsman in the world
Marsh
Maxwell

I propose the term 'Best Batsman Ever Excluding Bradman' AKA BBEEB.

 

[morgieb]

Certainly they've been a much better side than Bangladesh or Zimbabwe were for a long time.

You underrate the 20th century Zimbos. They only became a Test team in 1992 and even before then they had some pretty handy cricketers.

 

[Daemon]

Hassan looks world class. 140s, accurate, gets movement. Best bowler on show yesterday.

 

[cnerd123]

Hassan looks world class. 140s, accurate, gets movement. Best bowler on show yesterday.

He looked every bit as good as he did when he first came on to the scene, except now he isn't as erratic and doesn't have a no ball problem. I was expecting that he would have lost a step due to injuries and time away from the game, but he's looking fantastic. Great player

 

[TheJediBrah]

I liked a lot of what Afghanistan tried to do . Some nice striking ; some lovely pace bowling . They were well beaten but not blown away by Australia .

Yeah they recovered well, especially after how bad they were looking in the first 5-10 overs. Definitely more at home when spinners come into the game, and they are bowling/fielding in general. Still need a few really decent batsmen to genuinely challenge though.

 

[trundler]

They're better than SL and Pak. Almost beat us in the Asia Cup too.

 

[aussie tragic]

Have Aus missed a trick here by having slow scoring against the weakest ranked team? The NRR puts Aus in 4th on the table as its the lowest NRR of the 4 games completed so far.

 

[stephen]

Have Aus missed a trick here by having slow scoring against the weakest ranked team? The NRR puts Aus in 4th on the table as its the lowest NRR of the 4 games completed so far.

Honestly I think it's better to secure the win with a slightly slower run rate than try to compete against sides that have dismissed their opposition with 100 runs on the board.

Run rate is important. Winning is more important.

And Afghanistan will almost certainly win a couple of games this tournament.

 

[srbhkshk]

Have Aus missed a trick here by having slow scoring against the weakest ranked team? The NRR puts Aus in 4th on the table as its the lowest NRR of the 4 games completed so far.

The first focus should always be about winning the match - WI/NZ got totals which allowed them the luxury of going at 6+ an over - the same approach can easily backfire against what Afghanistan managed - it was an easy total to chase but not a trivial one. Australia's approach was absolutely correct.

 

[stephen]

This was the closest match of the tournament so far.

 

[aussie tragic]

I understand that the WI & NZ NRR could not be matched but SA scored 207 vs Eng, which is the exact same score (and similar overs) as Afghanistan got . So Aus could have tried to at least beat that with so many wkts in hand.

I know its a long tournament

 

[Borges]

Aus could have tried to at least beat that with so many wkts in hand.

I think it was important for Warner to play himself in and get some international runs under his belt. He did very well.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I understand that the WI & NZ NRR could not be matched but SA scored 207 vs Eng, which is the exact same score (and similar overs) as Afghanistan got . So Aus could have tried to at least beat that with so many wkts in hand.

I know its a long tournament

Pretty sure Aus are better off 4th than 7th or 8th which is where they'd be if they lost the game by trying to score unnecessarily quickly

 

[Victor Ian]

Rashid Khan is such a gun player for a guy approaching 40

welcome back dude. Now gimme the 300 likes I've been deprived of.