[Shreyans_Jain]

Australia is now looking like the team to beat in the tournament, right up there with South Africa. Both teams have tremendous batting firepower and have seen big contributions from a multitude of players. Their middle order has put up big runs time and again. Contrast this to India where we haven’t had to make a big score as yet, and bulk of the runs have come from the usual two players.

Great match between Australia and New Zealand. The return of Travis Head has just changed the complexion of the side. The World Cup has had two back to back close games. As we are nearing the business end of the tournament, the quality of cricket from the top teams is also right up there.

[rx100]

Originally Posted by sunilch

I believe England has already been the first casualty

It is unlikely that Eng shall win against both - Aus and India

You never know, they are still hanging there on a thin thread. It’s going to be a tall task, and tomorrow’s game against us will define their fate. If they win all remaining 4 matches(3 are against us, Aus and Pak) and Oz/Nz failed to win any further matches, Poms can qualify to semi. But it’s highly improbable.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Contrast this to India where we haven’t had to make a big score as yet, and bulk of the runs have come from the usual two players.

Its a repeat of the script from the 2019 WC! Hopefully result will be different in the knockout considering conditions will be familiar here. But the biggest issue which could derail India's campaign is Hardik Pandya's fitness! You can sense the desperation when the likes of Virat,Shubman & SKY are bowling more regularly in the nets now.

Australia is now looking like the team to beat in the tournament, right up there with South Africa.

Agreed. Never discount NZ as well.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by AtheK

What an amazing game, WC finally coming alive, NZ almost pulled it off. NZ is just amazing how quietly and confidently they chip on. Brilliant game.

There is a reason NZ is my favorite team after India even though we keep losing to them in knockouts. Brilliant chase.

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Watch out for Rachin Ravindran. Looks like another Kiwi great in the making! Best match of the WC so far. It is now getting interesting.

With Australia winning today, they have added pressure on NZ as they have SL and Pak games in pipeline. Are Poms officially out of the WC?

Rachin has been a revelation.
Not many people in India noticed him when he played tests here. But the avid fans knew he is something special. Bright future for him. Expect and IPL call up soon for him which will make him better in white ball.

[Emvi]

Although we have not witnessed many close encounters, except for the last two, this edition of the World Cup has been one of the most exciting IMO. We've had quite a few high-scoring games with team totals above 350 and even breaching 400. Teams have been bowled out within 200 as well. Batsmen have made merry, scoring close to 20 centuries in total when counting all teams together. Bowlers have also delivered impressive performances with multiple 4-wicket and 5-wicket hauls. Underdogs have made their presence felt by handing shock defeats to higher-ranked teams. As I write, the defending champs and the much fancied English team are lying at the bottom of the table with more than 50 percent of the league games already completed, and Team India is the only undefeated team. Who would have guessed this!

[NPV]

I hope India beat England today but won’t mind even if it’s a well contested close game that goes to the wire and maybe even England wins. We haven’t really been tested and a close game will help with that. In the larger scheme of things I just hope we don’t cruise through the league stage without a loss and then end up losing one crucial knockout game like the semifinal or final

[Shumi_21]

We are struggling at 35/2 in 10 overs. I am backing Gill, Iyer and Surya to do well today, we can't have Rohit, Kohli and KL doing the business everytime. Gill is already gone. Fingers crossed for Iyer and Surya.

Want to see a fightback from our batting unit.

Edit: Iyer has been bounced out yet again.

[deehunk]

Iyer is such a dumb player; there is nothing really special in him to give so much of opportunities from 5 years.

[AtheK]

need a replacement for Iyer, seems this might be it for him until he gets a couple of really big scores in next few matches. Number 4 seems to be shaky at this time, maybe an option to move Hardik to 4 and continue with Surya and Jadeja in lower order.

[VWAllstar]

Someone please remind me international matches where S Iyer has performed so well to be rated so highly. It is so well known that Iyer cannot play the short ball and probably will struggle in swing conditions too. I Kishan should be considered for number 5 with Hardik promoted to 4 and SKY to follow at 6. Also knowing Eng don't play spin well, Ashwin in place of Siraj could have been a good option.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Someone please remind me international matches where S Iyer has performed so well to be rated so highly. It is so well known that Iyer cannot play the short ball and probably will struggle in swing conditions too. I Kishan should be considered for number 5 with Hardik promoted to 4 and SKY to follow at 6. Also knowing Eng don't play spin well, Ashwin in place of Siraj could have been a good option.

Ya odd move not to play an extra spinner instead of Siraj, livingstone just bowled a maiden over. England is playing rashid, moeen and livingstone.

England playing a great game till now, hopefully we reach around 250 that should hopefully help us to compete.

Hopefully SKY repays the faith that team management has been putting on him.

[rx100]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Kishan should be considered for number 5 with Hardik promoted to 4 and SKY to follow at 6.

You mean promote KL to 4? Once Hardik is back, we cannot have both Ishan and Sky together.

Regarding this match, great fielding from England which put pressure on the batsmen. Really bad shot selection from both Virat and Shreyas. England’s weak link is their 5th bowler. Let’s see how much we can attack both Liam and Moeen.

Edit: Ah, KL too now perished on a bad shot. A great chance for SKY to showcase his abilities.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by rx100

You mean promote KL to 4? Once Hardik is back, we cannot have both Ishan and Sky together.

Regarding this match, great fielding from England which put pressure on the batsmen. Really bad shot selection from both Virat and Shreyas. England’s weak link is their 5th bowler. Let’s see how much we can attack both Liam and Moeen.

Edit: Ah, KL too now perished on a bad shot. A great chance for SKY to showcase his abilities.

No, I meant Hardik at 4. He plays for GT at that vs position and has been successful as well.

R Sharma
S Gill
V Kohli
H Pandya
KL Rahul (wk)
I Kishan
SKY
R Jadeja
K Yadav
M Shami
J Bhumrah

[vijaykr]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

No, I meant Hardik at 4. He plays for GT at that vs position and has been successful as well.

H Pandya
R Jadeja
K Yadav
M Shami
J Bhumrah

This will leave us with exactly 5 bowlers. If any one of them have a bad day, match will be done for. I think the current plan is to use Hardik as the 6th bowling option. Not sure if he's bowled the full quota is 10 overs lately. I also don't feel that both SKY and Ishan will be included together in the same match.

[Shumi_21]

Iyer is our best player of spin after Rohit. And it was doubly frustrating because of his pathetic shot selection and the fact that he could easily have had a 100 run partnership with Rohit in the middle overs when the English spinners were operating. And while we're at poor shot selection, I think Gill, Kohli, KL are also guilty.

Rohit played superbly on a tough pitch under even tough circumstances. So did Surya. KL did reasonably well.

We need to defend 230 now, let's pray there's no dew.