Cricket

Timosity · Fri 23/03/2007 22:29:57

India is most likely out as well after being beaten by Sri Lanka

India will be praying Bermuda beats Bangladesh, but I can't see that happening.

It doesn't surprise me too much as Pakistan have always been really inconsistent, and India find it hard playing outside the sub continent.

I think Bangladesh have improved a lot over the last few years, and may become one of the better sides, I have no idea about Ireland, although the guy that scored a century for them, Jeremy Bray, is Australian

Da_Elf · Sat 24/03/2007 03:45:27

and now the windies win again

Jon · Sat 24/03/2007 17:59:04

Quote from: Timosity on Fri 23/03/2007 22:29:57
I have no idea about Ireland, although the guy that scored a century for them, Jeremy Bray, is Australian

Yes, I heard that he went to Ireland as the best man for his mate's wedding (also in the Ireland team...also australian

), met an Irish bird, got married and never went back! I think this is his only connection with Ireland.

Timosity · Sun 25/03/2007 15:57:10

We won our Grand Final Today, there was a bit of rain which only made it harder for us with less overs to get them out, but we did it.

Yesterday we scored 240 all out and they were 0-18 at the end of day 1

we eventually rolled them for 137 with 9 balls left in the match. If it ended in a draw (if we didn't get them all out) they would have got the premiership for being ahead on the points table (by 1 point after the whole season)

So it was a very sweet victory, and quite convincing.

Ive just got home from the pub after celebrating, left my car at the first pub, I'm on holidays from work for the next week so I can pick my car up tomorrow (remember boys and girls, don't drink and drive)

Haven't seen any games yet in the world cup, but Australia beat South Africa last night quite well, scoring more runs than they did against the easy sides (377) beating SA by 83 runs

quite a good win with SA getting a score that would beat most sides, (this is the 1 and 2 ranked sides in the world with SA being 1 and AUS being 2 after the recent wins against AUS by NZ and ENG)

This will give AUS a lot of confidence with Andrew Symonds coming back from injury (which makes a shitload of difference in the field) going into the Super 8's

I'm on such a high after the way we won our Grand Final, It was so deserved after a very long season (29 weeks) which we only lost 3 games out of 16 (including 5 outright wins and all by more than an innings [fucking awesome effort])

I got 28 runs batting at no. 8 (in a 61 run partnership which was the highest in the match) and 2-23 bowling in the final and finished with 46 wickets with an average of 9.89 for the season from 176 overs which is the best I've ever done, and was the best for the whole association in every grade, not bad for achieving this passed the age of 30, I am fitter than when I was 20

Jon · Sun 25/03/2007 18:07:41

Well done Timosity!

With the SA Vs AUS match, they're always good for the neutral, with bucketloads of runs being scored.

It looks like India are out as well as Pakistan, with Bermuda 11-3 after 6 Overs.

Da_Elf · Tue 27/03/2007 05:59:53

soooo. any predictions yet on who will win overall?

Jon · Tue 27/03/2007 18:17:52

Quote from: Da_Elf on Tue 27/03/2007 05:59:53
soooo. any predictions yet on who will win overall?

After Australia lost 5 on the trott, I thought that they would be low on confidence and low on runs. But they are now, proberly the best team in the world cup, with Matthew Hayden hitting 153 off 140 (still playing) and his second ODI hundred in a row. But my prediction would go to Sri Lanka.

Out of the super eights I think that these teams will qualify:

Australia
Sri Lanka
West Indies
South Africa

Timosity · Tue 27/03/2007 18:56:06

I've just seen my first Live action in the World Cup, I'm on Holidays this week so, I've stayed up till 3:40am to see the first half of this match between WI & AUS. Hayden batted really well after a slow start

With AUS getting 322, it should be a hard task for WI

I think Aus, Sri Lanka, S Africa, NZ or WI

which is most of the teams left, so no solid prediction

Australia just got their 6th score above 300 in a row which is a record, this 322 is the lowest of them

Edit: Interesting, The rest of the day was washed out, but they have a reserve day, and because Aus batted a full 50 overs, the game will continue tomorrow with WI chasing the runs off a full 50 overs. This must be a new rule (prob only for world cup from the super8's onward)
Hope it doesn't rain tomorrow

Edit 2: Stayed up again to see 2nd half of the match, Australia won quite comfortably bowling the Windies out for 219. They never looked like getting the runs, Lara got 77 and Ramdin 52, but the run rate kept going up the whole time. Australia bowled pretty well, but I think it was more bad batting, with the pressure of having to score fast.

Jon · Fri 30/03/2007 22:12:23

I think that it is now getting interesting in the Super8's, as now there are three teams which are vying for the final spot (as I think that SA, Aus and SL are through). New Zealand, West Indies and England are the teams I am refering too.

Da_Elf · Sat 31/03/2007 14:07:47

i seriously doubt WI will make it though (some team spirit i have huh hehehe)

Timosity · Mon 02/04/2007 04:55:16

It's going to be very tough for WI now after losing to SL, they have 3 games left with SA and ENG being the harder ones, they should beat Bangladesh.

It's hard to pick, but I think it may be AUS, SA, NZ & SL going on form, ENG & WI have the players but the form doesn't seem to be there yet, but teams can turn that around, even single players, It's hard to write off a side with Brian Lara or Kevin Pietersen. England have still got more games in hand, but against tough sides. It will be interesting seeing it unfold

The crowds have been disappointing, understandable at neutral matches but not when the Windies play, It may have to do with ticket prices which I've heard are high, also food. I guess it's just big business trying to rob people who can't afford it. I'd rather see people on seats, If they were smart, they would have cheaper tickets and have an increase of people (attracting more people) and sell more food and drink. and If the Windies don't get thru (likely) there won't be much local interest, leaving empty stadiums in big matches

Jon · Mon 02/04/2007 18:12:02

Bangladesh have just made 174 (48.3 overs), with the Penguin taking 4 wickets, so New Zealand look as though they are going to win comfortably.

I have to say, unfortunatly Da_Elf, that I think that the West Indies are out with New Zealand and England looking to get the 4th place.

Da_Elf · Mon 02/04/2007 19:18:11

ah well. i didnt hold much hope for them

Jon · Thu 05/04/2007 15:29:44

England Vs Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka wins by 2 runs.

What a game this was, with good bowling, fielding, and cricket all round. Although I think this defeat leaves England well short of 4th place and now, we are just playing for pride.

Timosity · Thu 05/04/2007 16:25:59

Very interesting game, when you look at the stats it was a great bowling effort by both sides, although I haven't seen any pros say it ended up a difference between extras. if you look England bowled 4 wides and 4 no balls (8 runs) Sri Lanka bowled 2 wides and 2 no balls (4 runs)

The difference was 2 runs, (but 3 for England to win) so it did come down to bowling if you want to look at slight technicalities.

2 good sides, with close game.

England pretty much have to beat Australia on Sunday to be a chance, luckily England beat Aus in the recent series, which is the only hope for them to cling on to.

I think the teams Australia are most vulnerable against are NZ and SL, if ENG beat AUS, then that will do a lot for NZ and SL.

Still got no idea who will win, but it's a pretty close encounter between the top remaining sides

Jon · Sat 07/04/2007 22:16:22

Bangladesh 251-8, 50 overs beat South Africa 184 all out, 48.4 overs by 67 runs.
Bangladesh caused a sensational World Cup upset by beating South Africa in an extraordinary Super 8 match in Guyana. The Tigers amassed a brilliant 251-8, their highest ever World Cup score, with Mohammad Ashraful hitting a truly magnificent 87 from 83 balls. In reply, South Africa were shot out for 184, with Syed Rasel, Saqibal Hasan and Abdur Razzak among the wickets. The result improves England's hopes of qualifying for the last four ahead of their game against Australia on Sunday. This shows that the win over India was no fluke, and that they are real contenders, and not the minnows some experts predicted

Timosity · Sun 08/04/2007 03:34:17

Bangladesh are definitely an improved side, they now have a slim hope of making the finals, This game has opened up hopes for every side except Ireland.

It will probably come down to the Net Run Rate to decide 4th spot, with England in the better spot as long as they aren't thrashed by the Aussies tonight. Maybe they'll thrash the Aussies and give them a wakeup call (but I think they already did that in the previous series)

If West Indies can turn around their form right now, they still have a hope

Jon · Sun 08/04/2007 18:03:29

England/Australia game coming to an end, we were steaming at 158-2 off 27, but Tait was bowling brilliantly moving us down to 204-5 off 42. Flintoff was an total failure, 4 runs off 19 balls - what a waste, especially when we were going so well. I'm predicting an emphatic win for the Aussies, by 7 wickets.

Timosity · Sun 08/04/2007 18:25:22

I'm not predicting a 7 wicket win, The runs are on the board for England so That's always important, but they'll still have to bowl well.

They were heading for a large total, Pietersen 104 and Bell 77, they were eventually bowled out with 1 ball to spare, great recovery by AUS to keep them to 247.

I always look forward to see Gilly start the innings, Hopefully I can stay awake long enough, lucky it's a public holiday tomorrow

EDIT: next day

Well Jon, you were right, Aus won by 7 wickets, pretty comfortable win. The only problem Aus have is the lack of batting for the late middle and lower order, which they may need later on. Hayden, Ponting and Clarke have done pretty well all tournament.

NZ should be leading the comp after the next match which is against Ireland, with a better net run rate

AUS just regained the No.1 world ranking for ODI's after this match, which they lost it in the recent series in NZ in late Feb.

They were only out of the no.1 position for just over a month, and had been in that position since the ranking system began in 2002, unfortunately on the 1st of April (like a week ago) the team in the no.1 spot got the annual US$175,000 bonus, which was South Africa, Australia got $75,000 for being 2nd.

I'm sure that money for these sides isn't that important, but I'd like to see stats of how much they donate it to charities

Timosity · Tue 17/04/2007 09:41:39

There's been quite a few games since the last post

Australia is still undefeated with one match left to play against NZ before semi's. They comfortably beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets.

It was a very strange tactic for them to rest their 3 top bowlers for the match (Malinga, Muralitharan and Vaas) I guess the reason for this is if they have to play AUS in final, the batsman haven't got any practice against them yet.

AUS will finish on top, NZ & SL will be 2nd or 3rd and either ENG or SA will make up the 4

England and South Africa play tonight, so that will almost be like a semi final, If England win they will probably make it thru but West Indies are still able to cause some trouble for England in the final match of the Super 8 if they smash them. If SA win tonight, they will take 4th