CWC- NZ v Sri Lanka and Afghanistan v Aus

[Foley]

It should be two comfortable wins for NZ and Australia today.
It would be good to see a shock, or even a close game but I dont hold out real hope.

 

[Sarge]

unlikely, but Im hoping the convict(ed) cheats get battered by Afghanistan

agree with @Foley that both NZ & Oz are favourites to win their respective matches today

 

[makv]

Should be interesting watching NZ today. I’m expecting them to at least reach the semis. Going well for them so far - SL 46-3 at the moment.

 

[unification]

Ooh. SL struggling. Admittedly, they’re not a 1996 vintage but you’d expect them to be a bit more competitive. TMS said that they struggle in the short form so have called upon their Test players for this. They’ve become England from 2015!

EDIT. Dipped into their form a bit further. 41 defeats in their last 55 ODIs, a captain who has played one ODI in four years and no idea who their best XI is. All signs point to a NZ victory before the first delivery came down!

 

[makv]

Oh dear

 

[Foley]

Well they have reduced he number of teams and the hope was that it would be more competitive.
Very early days but both Sri Lanka and Pakistan so far have been hugely disappointing. Hope that Sri Lanka can get at least 200 but I doubt it.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

SL 136 all out with 20 overs left, so NZ should walk this.

Let's hope for a few close matches soon (I don't think the other match today will be a nail-biter either).

 

[Sarge]

SL 136 all out with 20 overs left, so NZ should walk this.

Let's hope for a few close matches soon (I don't think the other match today will be a nail-biter either).

agreed .... SL did manage to score more than Pakistan yesterday

 

[Banbury2018]

Personally I think there are going to be 2 groups at this World Cup plus the wildcard. Group 1 is potential winners eg England India Australia and New Zealand. Group 2 contains the others with the exception of West Indies who could be anything. All teams will have at least a sprinkling of quality but to me England are packed with match winners and have conditions in their favour.

 

[Gary Baldi]

SL look like England did at the last CWC. A team where the game has moved on and they haven't.

 

[Foley]

10 wicket win for NZ.
Afghanistan are fighting v Australia unlike Pakistan and Sri Lanka did.
154 for 5 with 17 overs left. Would be good to see Afghanistan get 250+

 

[Sarge]

10 wicket win for NZ.
Afghanistan are fighting v Australia unlike Pakistan and Sri Lanka did.
154 for 5 with 17 overs left. Would be good to see Afghanistan get 250+

Heard that DIY stores in Brizzle are reporting an unexpected demand for sandpaper earlier today... it must be a coincidence?

 

[ZeroTheHero]

10 wicket win for NZ.
Afghanistan are fighting v Australia unlike Pakistan and Sri Lanka did.
154 for 5 with 17 overs left. Would be good to see Afghanistan get 250+

162 - 7 now. They'll get nowhere near 250 unfortunately...

 

[unification]

Afghanistan just being here is the achievement. Bearing in mind where they have come from to where they are now, they’ve made great strides. Just remember where Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were and how long it took each of them to catch up with the established Test sides.

Avoiding finishing bottom of the 10 would be huge for Afghanistan. Considering the spirit they play with, I wouldn’t bet against them finishing above Pakistan and Sri Lanka at this rate.

 

[Sarge]

convicts have both cheats batting now ...Warner looked nailed on lbw ... Umpire didnt want to know ... has Langer been handing out cash stuffed brown paper envelopes?????

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Very disappointing matches today IMO. Let's hope tomorrow's (SA vs Bangladesh) is closer.

 

[unification]

Dare I say it, has it been a bit of a disappointing World Cup so far? Admittedly not every game can come down to Super Overs or a last wicket stand needing two off the final ball, but seeing sides bowled out in a handful of overs and routine chases isn’t much of a spectacle. The pundits were billing this as a batman’s World Cup.

I guess we may see the fireworks start when we have the likes of India, England, Australia and New Zealand (and maybe the Windies) start playing each other.

 

[tonyw]

Personally I think there are going to be 2 groups at this World Cup plus the wildcard. Group 1 is potential winners eg England India Australia and New Zealand. Group 2 contains the others with the exception of West Indies who could be anything. All teams will have at least a sprinkling of quality but to me England are packed with match winners and have conditions in their favour.

Agree, although I think South Africa could be somewhere in the middle - they weren't good enough to compete with us, but I think they should have too many big players for the four non-Indian Asian teams. Guess we'll find out tomorrow when they play Bangladesh!

But it is disappointing how much of a mess both Pakistan & Sri Lanka seem to be. Could well be that the old two groups then quarters structure would've been better........