World T20 Champs, Second Round, Oct 22 - Nov 13

[alfie]

Very much better from England last night. Wasn't able to watch their batting but I thought 179 would be pretty defendable , even if they weren't able to take full advantage of their big opening stand. The order changes seem to have worked well for Livingstone , not so for the rest. Not easy to come in and just start blasting off immediately so hardly a shock there were a few low scores. Glad to see Hales and Buttler hit form after a couple of poor starts...the opening pairing can make such a difference in this short format.

Apart from Moeen missing a dolly , England seem to be holding their catches better than almost any other team in this - which may well be crucial going forward. Thought the bowling was generally encouraging too - Woakes a lot more controlled this time , Curran and Wood continuing to impress and the spinners were OK - though I do worry a bit that Rashid still doesn't seem quite "on". Not taking wickets (though he should have had one this time) and sometimes getting smacked around more than usual. Would like to see him turn in a big performance in one of these knockout games - and they are all knock outs now ...

Still have to beat Sri Lanka , and ensure NRR stays north of Australia's : neither a given , but playing last ought to be an advantage at least in knowing exactly what is required. More confident of their chances than a week ago.

[alfie]

Netherlands surprising by dismissing Zimbabwe for just 117 ! Zimbabwe would have reasonably assumed they'd win this one ; but they are going to have to bowl and field out of their skins to defend that...and keep their finals hopes alive.

[bigfluffylemon]

Well deserved win for Netherlands.

Zimbabwe as good as out.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Presumably India will win their game with Bangladesh. Which will put them through if head to head score counts ahead of NRR.

[Arthur Crabtree]

On the other hand, great start to Banglas' chase...

[Arthur Crabtree]

Litton Das on 56 off 24 balls. Najmul on 4 off 12. Strange scorecard.

Rain possible, but BD are ahead.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Players off for rain, with BD ahead on DLS.

Raining hard. And it's Brisbane... BD will go top if this is terminal.

[Arthur Crabtree]

That run out looks key for India.

[mikesiva]

Players off for rain, with BD ahead on DLS.

Raining hard. And it's Brisbane... BD will go top if this is terminal.

Why does the ICC keep staging tournaments in countries where it rains a lot?

[Durhamfootman]

Still have to beat Sri Lanka , and ensure NRR stays north of Australia's : neither a given , but playing last ought to be an advantage at least in knowing exactly what is required. More confident of their chances than a week ago.

worth pointing out that England batted first against NZ. This team seem to be stubbornly resistant to chasing down totals. Very much a 'bat first' team and it's been this way all year. Any team that wins the toss and puts England in first will need their heads examining. It might not matter against SL (although equally it might), but when a team has to play 4 KO matches on the trot to win a world cup trophy, it's a bit of a stretch to be able to rely on winning the toss and batting first every time. I can't help but feel that if they do qualify for the semi's they might very well find themselves having to chase down a target.... and they couldn't do that even when facing an Ireland team that they ought to be beating 999 times out of a 1000

[bigfluffylemon]

Wasn't it Adelaide rather than Brisbane?

Feel a bit sorry for Bangladesh. They were ahead on rate and D/L when rain arrived, but the resumption seemed to put Bangladesh off. Then Das slipped on a wet field and was run out and they lost their way. I can't help but feel Bangladesh would have won if rain hadn't intervened, but we'll never know.

Not only Pakistan, but Bangladesh and Zimbabwe need South Africa to lose to Pakistan today to have any hope of progression. Even then, one of those teams going through would require a very unlikely series of results including South Africa losing to the Netherlands. Bookies should already be paying out on India/South Africa advancing from this group.

[bigfluffylemon]

Big total for Pakistan on a ground it's tough to chase on. This group may yet be alive.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Great recovery from them. QDK is out for zero. Only Pakistan could lose from this position.

Probably still too late for them though.

[bigfluffylemon]

Pakistan keep group B alive.

Still needs a pretty unlikely series of results for anyone other than India and South Africa to go through, but if either of them lose, the door is open for the winner of Pakistan/Bangladesh.

[bigfluffylemon]

After all the rain of the last couple of weeks, forecast looks set pretty fair for the last round of matches, touch wood.