Cricket World Cup 2019

[George C.]

Gonzo, I think you're confusing "inflammatory" with "tedious".

How so...

PS.
I'm NOT "Gonzo'.

WTF is that anyway?

[E10 Rifle]

This has all fizzled out a bit, though Mortaze did just hit the highest-altitude six of the tournament

[longeared]

Great stuff from Shaheen, looking forward to seeing more of him when Pakistan are here once again next summer.

[E10 Rifle]

Yeah if he'd come in earlier for 2017's Hasan Ali, Pakistan might have got further, though they were stiffed by the weather too. They would have beaten Sri Lanka, and India would have beaten New Zealand.

[Satchmo Distel]

And stiffed by the schedule having no reserve day, and by NRR being the tiebreaker.

[Duncan Gardner]

NRR is convoluted, but it means that a big win or lose in any of your games can be significant. With head to head that can become irrelevant

[George C.]

My money's on SL for this one, nothing to do with anything spurious.

I just don't fancy India.

[Satchmo Distel]

South Africa are headed for a big total whereas India seem to be cruising home. Australia are going to get the tougher semi-final if they don't pull off probably the biggest successful chase of the tournament, probably on a wicket that will get lower and slower. OTOH Warner, Finch, Smith...

[Nocturnal Submission]

My money's on SL for this one, nothing to do with anything spurious.

I just don't fancy India.

Hmmmmmm.

[Satchmo Distel]

189 opening stand. India were on course for the highest chase without losing a wicket in World Cup history. Still a very one-sided game.

[Etienne]

Brilliant game between the Saffers and the Aussies. Australia are running out of batsmen though, both in the match and the tournament.

[Etienne]

Carey is playing his way into my team of the tournament - a major motivating factor for him.

[Etienne]

Interesting. I think England might have preferred India all things being equal, but an Aussie side with Marsh having gone home, and Khawaja likely to be injured too? And Edgbaston always is a good ground for them. Hope it isn't one decided by who bats first.

[diggedy derek]

Stoinis an injury worry too? Interesting.

[Ray de Galles]

Starc an injury worry too apparently and Australia haven't won at Edgbaston in any format since 2001, looking horribly ominous.

[Hot Pepsi]

Why does it matter so much who bats first?

[Sporting]

One reason is that the pitch often tends to break up over the course of the day, making conditions better for the bowlers later on.

[Satchmo Distel]

It's easier to bat when the bounce is fast and consistent because you can convert that into timed shots. It's harder to time the ball when the pace gets slower and bounce lower, and the pattern has been that this affects teams batting second in current English conditions.

Australia will need to bat first and get a big ton from one of their top four, but the same is true for England.

I haven't checked the odds but assume India have become tournament favourites due to the easier semi-final.

[Etienne]

As well as the pitch issues that Satchmo correctly describes, there's added pressure batting second having to keep up with the run rate. This is exacerbated when the pitch isn't true. But India and England in particular have fine recent records batting second so they should be able to win even if they do lose the toss.

[tee rex]

I was wondering why I had so few memories of India-NZ at the World Cup, and it turns out that there's a good reason for that. They hardly ever play each other, at least in this century. Kept apart in pools (earlier formats) and missing each other in the knockout stages. Try this one - Who was man of the match last time NZ beat India (1999)?

[longeared]

I'll guess Roger Twose, seeing as I think he hit the winning runs.

[tee rex]

And Longeared treats the bouncer with imperious contempt, smashing into the stands. Yes, Roger Twose. The English loan swap with Kiwi Andy Caddick (I think England got the better of the deal).

[Duncan Gardner]

Roger Twose. The cricketer Chris Gayle could have been.

[San Bernardhinault]

We should point out to HP that in the past batting first has been much harder. If morning conditions are damp, the ball can move in the air more making scoring much harder and meaning wickets fall. For reasons that aren't clear to me, that appears not to be an issue in this tournament. And, often in the past it's been easier to chase run batting second because you can pace yourself, you don't try and score faster than you need to so you are better able to control how much risk you need to take.

But if you're chasing very high scores - anything over 300, certainly - that seems to reverse; the pressure is there from there from the start and teams batting second have lost wickets early. So the new paradigm with a higher scoring game seems to have made batting first highly preferable.

[Hot Pepsi]

Thanks.

That would seem to put too much on the luck of the coin flip.

But I don’t know what they could do to change that except to somehow do something to the pitch so that it’s similar for both teams.