The All New World Cup 2023 Thread.

[Durhamfootman]

just 11 needed from 3 overs

Afghanistan have negotiated the chase handsomely without having to take any risks, by the looks of it

[Arthur Crabtree]

Expertly judged run chase.

Pakistan's WC going all wrong.

[Arthur Crabtree]

England at the foot of the table.

[andy]

What a victory and what a run chase from Afghanistan!! A thumping victory.....ooh it's gonna get loud back in Pakistan the fans will not be happy.....they have been horrendous with the ball and in the field

[mikesiva]

Afghanistan 286-2

Zadran 87
Gurbaz 65
Rahmat 77*
Hashmat 48*

Impressive victory!

[Slipstream]

Excellent running between the wickets. Pleased for Trott and Afghanistan.

[bigfluffylemon]

So at the tournament half way mark, looks as if 6 wins will guarantee a semis spot, and it is very unlikely a team could qualify with less than 5 wins, barring some very weird combination of results.

India, New Zealand and South Africa look all but nailed on for a semis spot. The final spot is theoretically up for grabs by any of the remaining teams, although strangely enough Australia, despite their weak start, are best placed. Even England aren't out of it, but need to win all five of their remaining games to realistically have a hope of qualifying. Hard to see that happening.

I can't quite work out just how England are doing so spectacularly badly. The batting has just been abject - all time top performers like Buttler and Bairstow have just been absent without trace. Only two batters have passed 130 runs in 4 games, and one of them (Malan) scored nearly all his runs in one innings. Root's the only one who's shown any degree of consistency, but he can't do everything.

This article does help make some sense of it - when you see how little ODI cricket England have played in the run up to this tournament, is it any wonder they're undercooked?
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/icc- ... up-1404965

[alfie]

Guess this latest wasn't really such a shock. Pakistan are notoriously up and down and the pitch certainly suited the Afghanistan attack. Arguably they have been a bit under rated : may well win at least two more so getting close to threatening for the knock outs...

This round robin does drag on a bit but it is - for now at least - keeping the tension up re qualification. I suspect five wins will probably be enough for the side with the superior NRR to secure fourth spot as I'm not sure there will be enough to go around for more than three teams to win six. But who all these will be is still unclear.

India are nailed on , sure. But even NZ , despite their great start , still have work to do to cement their spot. They play Australia , SA , Pakistan - none can be called certainties really. I think they will be fine , given the way they are playing but it isn't carved in stone.

Down at the bottom now , England. And honestly the way they are performing even Sri Lanka looms as a serious obstacle. But if somehow they were able to summon the spirit of 2019 they probably have the potential to go on a run of wins - and as they are yet to play upper and mid-table Australia and Pakistan their fate is not yet out of their hands. Like bfl I struggle to understand quite how they have fallen apart like this : granted the bowling is light , especially with Woakes having an unexpected 'mare of a competition ; but what ails the batting ? If you'd told me before the start that Buttler and Bairstow would have , what , 93 runs each in four games ? I think I'd have scoffed...A pity Stokes got injured early on but even so their lineup is surely better than it has been showing. Next game I believe they must (a) bat first if possible ; and (b) dial the bazball back just a little at the very start as it is fifty overs not 20 and you can't accelerate if you are back in the pavilion. Not saying go back to Trott-style accumulation but just a bit of sensible attention to setting yourself up for an attack on the bowling. Question really is though : do they really believe in themselves after those early reversals ? Not sure ...

[sussexpob]

In England's case, it is pretty simple for me; this team were World Champions, coming off a period where they absolutely dominated OD cricket for a while. The names on the teamsheet are certainly good enough at the highest elite levels, so the question is why are they not performing? I think when I checked the in-between WC stats for our batters last month, only Buttler had played 20 ODI games in the period at that point, with Roy second at something like 18 (I can be corrected, going on pure memory)....

And there is the answer. Its as simple as that. We just haven't played any games in the format at all, and the players haven't been able to build form in the format.

The ECB gave up on 50 over cricket since 2019, and this is the result. The coaches wont pick anyone from the 50 over cup because its essentially a B team competition with all the talent at the hundred, so we end up with the squad picked as a mix of players on terrible form who have proven their worth + players who excel in T20 cricket.

The only real choices I think you can question are:-

Not taking Roy..... Taking Brooks with his OD record didn't seem sensible a few weeks back, and is increasingly looking bad.

Stokes batting at 4..... He scored his first ODI 100 since 2015 in the warm up games, so there is little proof he can play the long innings you need up in the top 4. Surely he's more suited to bat 5/6 for quick fire contributions.

Mark Wood is there for the shock and awe pace contribution, to knock wickets away, but averages 40 in over 60 ODI games... not good enough.

[Arthur Crabtree]

SA rampant again, though they've just lost a third wicket.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Going to be 300+. So a long way shot of their score v England.

[sussexpob]

De Kock could be on for a 200 here...

[Arthur Crabtree]

Going to be 300+. So a long way shot of their score v England.

Though got from 250 to 300 in a blink.

[sussexpob]

De Kock out for 174... no 200 today, but still... incredible innings

[mikesiva]

De Kock out for an entertaining 174!