[Eddy]

DRS being down in the middle of the game was quite risky. I hope there are enough fallbacks and contigencies built in to prevent this from happening again.

Could have a match changing impact in a crucial game.

[KaartooS]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I'm glad the stadium has barely any spectators (although I do think it'll fill by evening). This stadium in Pune, is as inconvenient has it gets.

Why should spectators tolerate and suffer this nonsense.

Completely agree. Sports infrastructure is for the fans, but unfortunately the last thought is spared about the fans here. Having worked in this industry previously, I stopped going for live matches (even for IPL) long back even though I always had access to tickets. The last time I went for an IPL match, there was no water after 9:30 pm in the stadium and washroom were overflowing with drainage water. I have heard similar stories in this WC too.

[Shumi_21]

Both Australia and Pakistan started extremely strong with the bat and then collapsed to end up way off their expectations. How nice of them to honour RCB at their home ground by playing like them

Meanwhile, Hardik is going to miss tomorrow's game against NZ. Shami in place of Thakur and either one of Ishan or Surya in for Pandya at 6. Looking at the conditions in Dharamsala and Iyer's issues against bounce/swing, I'd be tempted to play Ishan at 4 and Surya at 6.

Today's game might end up to be a last over finish. And I hope SA beat England

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by Revvatron

Aussies don't have a middle order that can handle the innings. Maxwell is always boom or bust so can't count on him. Smith isn't the player he is anymore.The lower order can't even be trusted to score 30 odd runs. Can't see how they can make it to finals.

Yes, luck played a good role here. Aus was lucky to win the toss and the choose to Bat as expected for this ground. Pak lost due to the huge target but otherwise they played better than Aus as a team. Aus loosing 7 wickets in quick succession is simply not an easy fact to digest for a World Cup going forward. In contrast, the middle order for Pak faired much better. Of the two, Pak seems to be the better team to progress further.

If it was revers, with Pak playing first, I guess things might have been reverse indeed.

[rx100]

Originally Posted by sunilch

Yes, luck played a good role here. Aus was lucky to win the toss and the choose to Bat as expected for this ground.

But it was Pakistan who won the toss and send Aussies to bat first. In these conditions, everyone prefers to chase due to the dew factor later on at evening.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by rx100

But it was Pakistan who won the toss and send Aussies to bat first. In these conditions, everyone prefers to chase due to the dew factor later on at evening.

Pakistan doesn’t chase well. It’s a well accepted fact that stands irrespective of conditions. Their players lack big match experience in 50 over cricket. That’s why they are prone to loosing wickets in a heap, playing rash shots, misfielding and dropping simple catches. They panic under pressure. The game against Sri Lanka was an aberration against a relatively weak bowling attack on a small ground with a flat pitch. In subcontinent condition, it is Pak101 to bat first, get a half decent score and then back your bowlers + scoreboard pressure to get the job done. They made a bad call after winning the toss.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by rx100

But it was Pakistan who won the toss and send Aussies to bat first. In these conditions, everyone prefers to chase due to the dew factor later on at evening.

My bad, but if that were the case then Pak should have chosen to bat first like Shreyans_Jain says above. But I guess we still have a long time to go before the final four teams qualify and it still is a wide and open field for many teams to continue to fight. So hope both Aus and Pak shall learn to get better.

All upcoming matches till next weekend are important now for any one to stay in race.

[antz.bin]

Pakistan is overawed by Australia and barely believe that the Mighty Australians are beatable. They are still stuck in the 2000s and 2010s when this was actually true.

I saw a stat prior to the match that said that they have lost 15 out of their last 18 matches against Australia. It is now at 16 losses out of 19. That's ~85% loss rate. That is the worst amongst all test playing nations who have played > 10 ODIs in the past 10 yrs vs Australia.

It was good to see them fight but Pakistan themselves barely believed that they could win. That's probably what led to those catch drops that cost them the game.

[rx100]

Another good recovery from Dutch after losing 6 wickets for around 100 runs. This is the second match in a row they did this and it should boost their confidence.

[Revvatron]

Bavuma's absence might be blessing in disguise for Proteas. He is painfully slow at the top and have never seen him perform much at big stages. He is classy batsmen and suits better to red ball cricket. Maybe he can slot in middle order to act as anchor but at the top they need someone else.

[AtheK]

Had quite a bit of fun at stadium yesterday, It was pretty well organised. The stadium got fill eventually and gave us a chance to get some really good seats. We saw the match from square and it was one of the best views.

Food and Beverage was available at very reasonable price, cold drinks at stall were 40 rupees, though if you did not have change and they were so overwhelmed you had to give off 50 rupees, If you had change they were happy to give at 40 rupees. Food was very reasonably priced and water was made available for free. The hawkers selling food inside (Carried from outside stalls) were just charging a premium of 10 rupees which is pretty justified.

Crowd was supportive and ended up supporting both teams. Crowd bursting of RCB chant when Maxwell walked in and when Hazlewood got the ball were just funny and entertaining at same time. Marsh was standing right in front of us while fielding and crowd burst off singing Happy birthday to you randomly and he also acknowledged it sending the crowd in jiffy. Below is the last 8 seconds of video, though it went on for 20-25 seconds. Just Bangalore crowd things.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=tM2EmjD0...ArJEJ7Q5Mlhe5f

Ifthikar and Babar got the largest cheers from Pakistani team, and for some reason Ifthikar kept being called chacha not sure why, but he did put some life in the crowd with those couple of sixes. Shaheen was well appluaded too for his bowling effort.

It is still fun to watch match in stadium but I think this might be my last 50 over match in a stadium, this format is just too long.

[searacer932]

SA vs England at the Wankhede (21/10/2023)

That was some extra-ordinary and exhilarating batting by Klaasen and by the SA batting line up. If England cannot chase this score then I don't think any other batting line up can do as well.

I must say that some strange toss decision has been taken by some teams in this WC. Knowing SA's weakness in chasing I was a bit surprised as to why Butler went ahead asking them to bat first!

[vijaykr]

England's chase seems to be unraveling with 3 wickets gone in 5.1 overs , but wouldn't write them off just yet. Tailor made situation for Stokes to come to the party today and take them over the line He has done this for England before, but coming off an injury break, let's see how he does.

Personally I'm rooting for SA to win today. Their loss to Netherlands the other day was heartbreaking

[Emvi]

South Africa maul England at the Wankhade! What an exhibition from the Proteas!

Buttler's XI is now languishing in 9th place on the points table. Now, Butler has one more reason to dislike the 'Defending Champions' tag!

Originally Posted by saisree

What a play by Proteas. England was no match to the play exhibited. Butler is unhappy on the heat in the afternoon. Says, heat was one of the factors for their loss.

English players are definitely feeling the heat. It will only get hotter as the tournament progresses.

[saisree]

What a play by Proteas. England was no match to the play exhibited. Butler is unhappy on the heat in the afternoon. Says, heat was one of the factors for their loss.