The FINAL--> Westindies VS England

[biased indian]

i dont think paksitan can come back from this position

so the first concern for me is will brian lara be fit for the final
any news on his injury

 

[Jono]

I'm so glad that in both semis the underdog came out on top. That's just good for cricket on a whole.

Regarding Lara, Akhtar may be one of my favourite bowlers, but damn him to hell for hurting Lara I hope he gets fit, because if WI want to beat England they need their best team out there, and obviously the great Lara is part of that team.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Whoever wins the toss and chases will win... unless the pitch is Lordsesque from the Natwest Series.

 

[luckyeddie]

I certainly hope that the toss isn't influential in the end result, but you never know at this time of the year.

Lara'll be OK, I'm sure - might have a headache for a day or two but he'll be physically ok to face England on Saturday.

 

[luckyeddie]

Regarding Lara, Akhtar may be one of my favourite bowlers, but damn him to hell for hurting Lara

Lara's fault for not getting out of the way - and there's a big guy who will be doing his damnedest to make him jump around on Saturday too (and another big guy who will be trying to bowl him round his legs).

Incidentally, Lara's one of my favourite batsmen too, but I hope he gets 0

 

[anzac]

congrads to both ENG & WIN for making it thru to the final................

watched ENG beat AUS last night but don't know what happened to PAK today - so I'd say that ENG would go into the final as favorites despite their not making it to the Tri-series final.................

this final can only be good for intnl cricket so far as AUS & PAK NOT making it thru...........as both ENG & WIN are due some success.............

 

[Magrat Garlick]

60-40 England for me. If McGrath, Gillespie and Kasprowicz can't get them out, I struggle to see how Collymore (the only one at their level IMO), Bradshaw and Bravo can - but then again, they just did it three months ago.

(Halsey to say it's 110-negative 10 England in 5...4...3...)

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

60-40 England for me. If McGrath, Gillespie and Kasprowicz can't get them out, I struggle to see how Collymore (the only one at their level IMO), Bradshaw and Bravo can - but then again, they just did it three months ago.

(Halsey to say it's 110-negative 10 England in 5...4...3...)

If Collymore bowled like he did today, he'll take wickets.
If Bravo bowls like he has almost all year, he'll take wickets.
Bradshaw's job isn't to take wickets as far as I'm concerned.
If Gayle bowls like he typically does, he'll take wickets.
If Dillon is fully fit and plays, he may take wickets. I didn't see his Bangladesh demolition and haven't seen him bowl since Eng/WI in the Caribbean earlier this year, so I don't know what sort of form he's in.
If the West Indies field like they have against South Africa and Pakistan, they'll take wickets.

Many many ifs.

Basically I'd say that if the West Indies play like they have in the Champions Trophy so far, they likely will win. They've shown enthusiasm, guts and pure talent, which is so refreshing because it's only been 1 of the 3 in the past. I'm not saying that they've 'turned the corner', as I am well aware of the problems at the basic level of West Indies cricket, but I do think that people should give them more credit than they've gotten so far. At the moment the West Indies are playing better than I've seen them play over a series of matches since Pakistan and Zimbabwe toured the Caribbean in 2000.

 

[luckyeddie]

I'm not even going to THINK about analysing the likely outcomes. Two sides who undoubtedly could put on a feast on saturday equally could serve up meagre fare.

 

[roseboy64]

West indies have a much better chance of beating England than they do Australia.Thankfully it worked out like this.The result may well come down to the toss.

 

[luckyeddie]

West indies have a much better chance of beating England than they do Australia.Thankfully it worked out like this.The result may well come down to the toss.

I hope the result will not be influenced one iota by the toss.

Excellent weather forecast for this weekend, 19 degrees (not bad for this time of year) - and they've already (I hope) got the steam-roller on the wicket to ensure it's like concrete, lightning quick and as bouncy as hell.

(It'll be a slow pudding in reality on a freezing, overcast morning, where the toss is everything)

 

[JASON]

I will be barracking for the Windies!! I am pleased that the final is Eng v WI , as both teams are capable of beating the other on the day.

I want Windies to win because that will give their players something to be proud of after all the fierce criticism they have faced from players past and present (either justified or not).

It can only increase the confidence of players who have been poised to perform better in the past but failed to deliver. May be this is the turn around and may be after all, they will come good!!

It will also give those magnificent island nations that make up this unique Team confidence and enthuse them in looking ahead to the Caribbean Cricket Carnival - World Cup 2007.

 

[Jono]

Lara's fault for not getting out of the way - and there's a big guy who will be doing his damnedest to make him jump around on Saturday too (and another big guy who will be trying to bowl him round his legs).

Incidentally, Lara's one of my favourite batsmen too, but I hope he gets 0

I wasn't actually blaming Akhtar. It's like going "Damn McGrath for getting Sachin". Maybe that wasn't clear.

Anyway, I'm hoping the Windies can somehow come out on top in this match. It'll be a big boost for cricket over there

 

[SupaFreak2005]

I will try to be as positive as possible... please do not take me seriously.
My prediction is...
WI WILL DEFINITELY WIN!!!!

 

[Waughney]

England by 6 wickets.

 

[garage flower]

Annoyingly, I haven't been able to catch much live coverage of Windies' majestic progress to the final (particularly frustrating was Sky's inability to show the run chase against South Africa).

The problem's going to be taking wickets. The bowling and fielding will have to be as uncharacteristically disciplined as they appear to have been throughout the tournament and Dillon's inclusion (for R Hinds) - if he's bowling as well as his figures against Bangladesh suggest - would be a big bonus.

I'd have to go for England though.

 

[Chubb]

England will win. The West Indies have the abilityto beat us in ODIs as they proved in the Triangular. But I think England have better bowlers by quite some way. And we have Flintoff.
Maybe a knock on the head will do Lara's captaincy some good... He does make some "eccentric" decisions sometimes.

 

[wpdavid]

I don't think he NW series will have any bearing on Saturday's final, as England are in much better shape than they were 2-3 months ago. Apart from having Flintoff available to bowl, we're actually seeing some runs from the top 3 now, which just didn't happen then. Hopefully Tresco can manage to concentrate for one more game and maybe Vaughan's ODI career has been kick-started. Even Solanki is contributing more runs than the openers were against WI & NZ.

I wonder how much Harmison will benefit from the game being played where had had his most successful test against WI this summer. And I wonder how Wharf will go if he has to bowl his full complement, which he's not had to do yet. I'm not convinced he's a better bet than Anderson, and I hope he won't prove to be cannon fodder if there's nothing for him in the pitch.

 

[V Reddy]

England to win with Flintoff and Solanki , Harmison and Giles doing the damage with bat and ball respectively. It was great to see WI making the finals though

 

[Neil Pickup]

I've now got Sky Sports fitted. Yay.

Heart says England, and so does the head. Nonetheless, I know the West Indies bowlers can be dangerous early on when the ball's moving around and if we bat first I can see a few wobbles. Still, I have complete faith in Freddie and the rest of the team isn't half bad either.

Can't wait.