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It's time for the England to book their tickets and starts to make the necessary actions to their team and its really pathetic situation for the defending champions.
Even before today's match, it was pretty sure that the side that lose will be out of contention for the semi-final stage. And now it is clear that England is going to lose and they don't have any chance of qualifying for the SF stage. Bangladesh and Netherlands are already out of the semi-final stage and England becomes the third team to achieve that honor. Sri Lanka will get a huge boost to the run rate, in case they can win with 25-30 overs to spare. But that won't be enough for them, to overtake Australia in the points table. |
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LOL.. It could have been much worse for England, but Ben Stokes managed to overturn a decision from the umpire to give him out LBW. Still plenty of overs remaining for England. They are at 94/5 after 21 overs. If the two batsmen (Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali) who are currently at the crease can dig in and build a partnership, then it maybe possible for England to reach to a total of around 250. But even that is not going to be enough at Chinnaswamy. Let's also not forget the fact that Lankan batsmen are in top form right now.
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First of all, why you talk about next 30 years, when in topic name it is mentioned 2035. It is just 10 years, which is very short period for history of engines, and there suppose to be no petrol/diesel cars, and all the fuel stations gonna be rebuilt to EV chargers. Also consider that petrol/diesel engine engineers dont just sit and wait until their engines becomes useless. Wont it be easier to create more ecology friendly engine, than convert all fuel stations to electric charging stations? Honestly I don't think that we will reach this target by 2035. Even in the United States, less than 10% of all the vehicles are EV. And in third world nations (except China), this proportion is much lower. Current EV manufacturing capabilities are not sufficient to increase the number of EVs by 30x to 40x by 2035. Setting up the factories is one thing, but ramping up the mining of essential metals such as Lithium, Nickel and Cobalt is another. Honestly I don't think that the Cobalt production can be ramped up by a lot, since a limited amount of this metal exists on earth's crust. |
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England won the toss and chose to bat first on a batting paradise in Bengaluru; finally, they chose to bat first  . Three changes for the England side. England's batting lineup looked solid and threatening with the arrival of Livingstone and Moeen, and they will try to attack Sri Lankan bowlers from bowl one. If Sri Lanka bowls in the right areas, they might get early wickets. Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Kumara are back in the Sri Lankan team. Angelo will give them a big boost in the match because of his experience. It is important to note that whoever loses the match today will be out of this competition. Moeen has been out of form for some time, so I am not sure whether his addition will give any boost for England. At this point, England is really struggling, with a score of 85/5 on board. Ben Stokes is still there, and he is like the last hope for England at this point. The pitch at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru doesn't seems to be very supportive of bowlers. A total of more than 300 will be enough, but at this point it looks as if England would really struggle to reach even a total of around 200. |
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The match is turning out to be very competitive, unlike the odds that were provided by various sportsbooks. And that is going to be bad news for England, who desperately need a win today to keep their semi-final chances alive. If either England or Sri Lanka lose the match today, then they can't qualify for the semi-finals even if they win all of their remaining matches. And at this point, Sri Lanka is on top as they have England at 68/3. England has lost half of their top-order, including Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and Joe Root.
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In the 2nd T20 match of Namibia vs Zimbabwe team, Namibia came out to bat first and set a target of 198 runs in 20 overs. Namibia team came out to bat first and performed well. Looks like Namibia team can perform well in the bowling line now. Zimbabwe team came out to bat now. Zimbabwe team may not win this match if they perform badly in batting. Namibia team batsman Michael van Lingen scored 67 runs off 37 balls.
Zimbabwe beat Namibia by 5 wickets to level their T20 series at 1-1. Namibia have set Zimbabwe a target of 199 to win in 20 overs, M van Lingen 67 and N Davin 60 runs batting excellent Gerhard Erasmus 38, Ryan Burl 1/30, Tendai Chatara 1/31. Zimbabwe: 200/5 Raza Scored 82 from 35 ball smashed 9 Sixes, Sikandar Raza (82*) with the winning runs as Zimbabwe chase down the target of 199 series is level at 1-1. One of the greatest victories in the history of T20 internationals. Zimbabwe defeated Namibia by scoring 140 runs from last 10 overs. Sikandar Raza’s brilliant batting performance earned him the Player of the Match award One thing that I don't like about these associate nations is that they frequently lose matches which they could have won other wise. When van Lingen got out, Namibia was 108/1 after 9.3 overs. I expected them to reach 220-240, but Namibia could only manage 198 towards the end. JJ Smit managed to hit quite a few 6s and 4s towards the end, but Nikolaas Davin and Gerhard Erasmus were in no hurry to score runs. And then they had Zimbabwe at 112/4 after 13.4 overs. This was when Sikandar Raza stepped in and smashed the Namibian bowlers all around the park. |
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Australia played brilliantly in the match against the Netherlands and recorded their biggest win margin in terms of runs in their 48-year World Cup history. They took the Netherlands bowling attack to the cleaners. De Leede recorded the most expensive spell by a bowler in ODI cricket history, giving away 115 runs in his 10-over spell. David Warner looked in good touch as well. Australia has skyrocketed their net run rate, and the only chance for England and Pakistan to catch up with Aus is to win all their matches, and Australia loses a couple of their matches, which seems impossible. So, I think we have our semi-finalists finalized halfway in the tournament.
Dutch bowling completely broke down during the last few overs. De Leede was bowling full-tosses again and again, and some of them were called as no-balls. The other bowlers were not that better either. Van Beek and Van Meekeren both conceded too many runs towards the end. I have a feeling that they should have rather used the spinners (van der Merwe or Aryan Dutt). And then while batting they couldn't even make a three digit total. It was quite embarrassing to watch the performance from Netherlands, and that too in a major tournament such as the ICC World Cup. |
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England must win today's match. They have no choice. The team has scored only 2 points in 4 matches. The England team is 4 points behind the fourth placed Australia in the table. So, if England does not win today's match, they will not be able to qualify for the semi-final. However, the way England have played in the last few matches, I don't think they will do very well in today's match. I have no confidence in the performance of England's batsmen. Sri Lankan batsmen are now in better rhythm than England batsmen. So I think if the Sri Lankan bowlers are able to bowl a bit better then Sri Lanka has a chance to win.
I would not say that Sri Lankan batsmen are in better form. If that was the case, then they would have been in a much better position in the points table. Even against the Netherlands, the Sri Lankan batsmen struggled to get to a relatively modest total. But I agree that for them, the bowling is a major concern, when compared to batting. Hasaranga's absence has impacted them negatively. And then Pathirana and Theekshana are out of form. Pathirana has been leaking too many runs ever since the tournament got going. The management should consider dropping him. |
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✂✂✂✂ Let me put the naira into perspective, in 1985 the rate was 0.89, and now it's 1:1000, losing 1000 the purchasing power against the usd! Anyhow the government seems to be on the right path to de-dollarization, in 2-3 years nobody in that country would be able to afford even one 1$!  I was looking at the official exchange rates. The decline is somewhat modest during the last 20 years. Two decades back, the exchange rate was 1 USD = 138 Naira, and now it is 1 USD = 818 Naira. Many of the global fiat currencies have gone down even more. One example is that of Turkish Lira. It has gone from 1 USD = 1.48 TRL to 1 USD = 28.15 TRL. Even here in India, the INR has devalued from 1 USD = 31.42 INR to 1 USD = 83.23 INR. The USD is simply too strong for the other fiat currencies. BTW, the black market rates are not that different from the official rates (1100 vs 818). |
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England takes on Sri Lanka today, an important game for both teams to improve their ranking. Currently, Srilanka is ranked 7th in the point table followed by the English side as they have a better net run rate than England. This is the first time the best white ball cricket team (England) has struggled in the World Cup. I think England has a better chance to win today than the Srilankan team. If they win today by a good margin then they might be able to dethrone Afghanistan on the point table on the basis of net run rate.
LOL.. I seriously wish that England lose today, so that they can pack their bags and book their fight tickets back to London. This is what they get for stealing the world cup in 2019. 4 years have passed since that fateful day, but Kane Williamson's facial expression when he talked during the award ceremony is still fresh in my mind. And the guy who played the most crucial part (Ben Stokes) has played just one match so far in this world cup (he recently turned down the ECB offer for a 3-year contract and settled for a 1-year deal). |
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Women's big bash league
Hobart Hurricanes Women vs Perth Scorchers Women
Yesterday match, HS-W first won toss and then get on the field for batting and gave chance to PS-Women for bowling. Stalenberg played very well for team because she complete her half century and she scored 54 runs from 29 balls and hitted seven 4s and two 6s in the pitch and then C.Anisworth dismissed her from batting side. HS-Women gave 158 runs target after batting all 20 overs and also lost all wickets. PS-Women chase down this good target of HS-Women in 18.3 overs and 10 balls behind for play as well as 7 wickets.
Perth Scorchers are now 3rd in points table after their win against Hobart Hurricanes Women yesterday. All of their top order batters clicked, with Beth Mooney scoring 52 and Maddy Darke making 45. Shabnim Ismail (who recently retired from international cricket, and holds the record for fastest ball in women's cricket) was quite expensive, although she picked up one wicket. Anyway, it is nice to see WBBL holding on its own, despite the ongoing ODI World Cup. Back in 2021, it was reported that WBBL is the fourth most watched league in Australia. |
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That is not a bad odd, 80% is definitely something that is realistic. I still wonder what Ronaldo situation will be like, he is 38 right now at 2023, that means 39 at 24, and 40 at 25 so that means he will be 41 years old when the next world cup happens. Do we really think that a 41 year old Cristiano Ronaldo could play at the world cup level?
I mean Portugal is not a terrible team, if we were talking about some terrible team then they would not have any other player, but can't Portugal find a single player to play at striker position better than a 41 year old Ronaldo? I do not think that he could be playing, Messi won't be that old, he would be like 36 or 37 I think, that's still fine, understandable levels, but 41 seems way too old.
If Ronaldo wants to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, then he will take part. It is mainly up to him. Because even now, he is performing exceptionally and Portugal is dependent on him to a great degree. And also, he just asked Al Nassr to extend his contract till 2027. If he was planning to retire earlier than this date, then he could have never asked them to do it. The message I am getting is that Ronaldo is still interested to represent Portugal in 2026 World Cup and he is preparing really hard by taking part in the qualifier matches. |
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I don't see Kennedy going out the race by his own, to be honest. Solely the act of continuing within the race as an independent talks about how stubborn he can be. If he goes out the race, then it would be likely because he was offered some economical benefits by either some politicians with the Republican party who are favorable towards Trump, or even by Trump himself.
On the disarray of the Republican party, it was to be expected if not all the party is unified within the leadership of Trump or against him, there is already much friction going on the election of the next speaker of the House of Representatives, something which should be basic governing cannot be approached without Republicans getting together.
Trump doesn't have a lot of support among the GOP members of the House or the Senate. It was quite evident during the speaker elections (after Kevin McCarthy got kicked out). Trump's nominee far less votes compared to the candidate from the other camp. When the voting is not open, a lot of the legislators just refuse to support Trump. But many of them lack the balls to take an open stance against him in the public, because then Trump fanboys will destroy them in the primaries. It is quite possible that a lot of these disgruntled Republicans will end up supporting Kennedy in 2026. |
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Yes, of course I hope Italy doesn't lose against Macedonia later, this match will remind us all of yesterday's Qatar World Cup Playoff qualifiers, how the Italian team had a good composition of players in various lines and ultimately lost 0-1 which was won by Macedonia at the stadium. Palermo March 25 2022 ago. Will this happen again in the next match, will Macedonia prevent Italy from appearing in Germany, if yes, Italy will be a nightmare for their country. Group C is perhaps the toughest of all the groups in Euro qualifiers. Some people argue that Group A (Spain/Scotland/Norway) should be given that label, but I humbly disagree. In Group C we have England and Ukraine at the top, followed by Italy at the 3rd position (although they have played one match less when compared to Ukraine). And then in 4th position we have North Macedonia who are well known for upset wins against top nations. The only weak team in this group is Malta. Macedonia has a history of shocking big teams. But back then they had Goran Pandeev in their squad. He was a legendary player, who unfortunately never got a chance to play in the FIFA World Cup. |
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Australia is winning by a huge margin of 309 runs against the Netherlands. After losing the first two matches of the 2023 World Cup, the Australian team has returned to a great rhythm. Back-to-back World Cup 2023 records No team has won a World Cup by a margin of 309 runs, a record previously held by Australia in the 2015 World Cup against Afghanistan by 265 runs. Australia won by 265 runs against Afghanistan, a record that no other team could break in the World Cup. 2023 World Cup they set a new record again. Glenn Maxwell scored a century in just 40 balls and he looked like Glenn Maxwell was playing a T20 game.
This has been one of the peculiarities of the Australian team for a while. Usually they get a poor start to major championships, but then get better as the tournament progresses. This time also the same happened. They lost to both India and South Africa at the start, but now they have three consecutive wins (against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Netherlands). But the big challenge is coming next, as they will face their arch-rivals New Zealand. Australia has limited space for maneuverability. They need to win at least 3 out of the remaining 4 matches in order to qualify for the semi finals. |
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Namibia just threw away a win yesterday. They had a golden opportunity to get another win against a full member nation (they had won the first T20I match in the series), but ended up losing by a whisker. Batting first, they failed to get the psychologically important barrier of 200, and fell short at 198/3. Nikolaas Davin and Gerhard Erasmus failed to completely capitalize on the good start given by Michael van Lingen. And while bowling, for some unknown reason the Namibian captain refused to give JJ Smit (2-0-16-1) the full quota of 4 overs and instead used the expensive Tangeni Lungameni (4-0-45-0).
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Today's match is do or die match for England. They must win today's match. Even if England manage to win the next 5 matches, they have a slim chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. So England team will try hard today to win. In the last match, England lost by a huge margin of 229 runs against South Africa. We have seen very bad batting from England's batsmen. Although South Africa set a huge target of 429 runs against Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan team managed to collect 326 runs. Since the pitches are batting friendly, England's batsmen have no chance of winning if they don't perform well. If England want to win, the batsmen will definitely need to do better, especially the top order players will have to bat more responsibly. If not, the England team will accept the fourth defeat today.
It is not realistic to expect England to win all of their remaining matches (which include matches against India and Australia). But today they do have a very good chance of winning, as Sri Lanka has been one of the weakest teams in the tournament so far. BTW, if Australia wins all of their remaining matches, then they will have 14 points. England will only have 12 points, even if they win all of their remaining matches. Also, after the match against Sri Lanka today, the next match for Poms is against India, which will take place at the Ekana stadium in Lucknow. |
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in Netherland vs Australia match, Netherlands' chances of winning this match are very low as Netherlands lost 5 wickets in just 15 overs, And managed to score only 70 runs in 15 overs. On one hand they have to survive, on the other hand they have to score a lot of runs. Because Australia has given them a big target of 400 runs. As the run target is high, the pressure is on Netherlands as they have already lost 5 wickets. Australia will win this match. Because Australia is performing very well in bowling. The Netherlands did not perform well from the start. Australia will definitely win this match.
The Dutch went on self-destruction mode. By the end of 45th over, Australia was at 312/6, with Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins at crease. I was expecting Australia to get to around 340-350 at the most. But then some wayward bowling from van Beek, van Meekeran and de Leede saw Australians scoring 87 runs from the next 30 balls, with Maxwell scoring 72 runs out of 24 balls. The Dutch bowlers should have kept Maxwell out of strike. But that never happened and he batted out 80% of the available balls between 46th and 50th overs. |
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Really pathetic performance from the Netherlands. When they managed to defeat South Africa, a lot of people were praising them and were asking the ICC to provide more opportunities for the associate nations. But today's defeat was so embarrassing that this is not just a setback for the Dutch but also for the associate nations as a whole. The ICC on the other hand has got the perfect example to exclude associates from future events. There is no justification for their poor performance today. It was just plain horrible.
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I don't have a crystal ball and can't tell whether Messi and Ronaldo will play at the World Cup 2026 or not, but if it was only about the money and nothing else for both of them, wouldn't they have retired from their national teams by now? Did you notice that both Ronaldo and Messi scored very important goals for their respective national teams in the last qualifier games? If these signs could be interpreted somehow in this moment, I think they speak rather in favor of their participation at the World Cup 2026 than against it, but this is only a snapshot. Things can change or escalate quickly when one of them stops scoring and teams, coach and the fans become more critical of them.
Well... if it wasn't about the money, then they would have stayed in European leagues rather than moving to Al Nasser and Inter Miami. I appreciate the fact that they are skipping some of the club matches to represent their own countries during the world cup qualifiers. But then, this is something everyone would do, provided they want to play in the next world cup. These two players are trying to balance the monetary aspect of their career with the national duty and for now, I have to say that it is working pretty well for them as well as for the national team. |
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