Today is the third match of the Nepal Tri-Nation tournament. Today is the match of two small teams which are Hong Kong and Nepal. The most of the people are Muslims from the team of Hong Kong and maybe the Muslim players are from Pakistan or Indonesia because many Pakistani and Indonesian people live in Hong Kong.
Anyway, let’s start to talk about the captains of both teams. Nizakat Khan is the captain of Hong Kong, and Rohit Paudel is the captain of Nepal. If we check which captain is the best so both are good because Nizakat Khan has more experience than Rohit Paudel because Rohit Paudel's age is 21 and he plays almost well and Nizakat Khan age is 31 and they are just ok.
Most of Hong Kong players are not the citizens of Hong Kong. The vast majority are Pakistani citizens and a few are from India. As far as I know, none of the Hong Kong players have citizenship of that country. On the other hand, Nepal is entirely made of citizens. There is not a single foreigner in their squad. But despite all this, they have performed well recently. At this point, I am watching the Nepal vs Hong Kong T20 match in Fancode. They have made 200/5 after 19 overs, with Kushal Malla out there with 81 from 37 balls. Nepal has scored a massive 95 runs from the last 5 overs. |
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^^^ Is it even allowed to take a political stance in the ICC tournaments? And what has the war between Israel and Palestine has to do with cricket? If Pakistan is supporting Hamas, then there may be other countries who support Israel. For example, England is one of the participating nations and they have sent military aid to Israel. What if they conduct a prayer meet at the ground and then tweet in support of Israel? My advice is that let's keep politics away from cricket. If different teams and players start fighting over politics, then in the end sports is going to suffer.
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OK... you mentioned Netherlands in your post. That's why I got confused. But Nepal's performance was quite disappointing. I can agree with that. I expected them to qualify for the Super-6 at least, but that didn't happened and their sole win came against the United States. Anyway, after this tournament, they put up a good performance against India in Asia Cup (although it was after suffering heavy defeat against Pakistan). Anyway, I have high hopes for this team. They are a very young squad and they will improve from here.
By the way tomorrow again Nepal and Hong Kong will play the third match of Nepal Tri-Nation T20I Series. And again I'm sure that Nepal will win. But these are small teams as you mentioned in the previous reply. Nepal deserves to play with top teams. Than they will be able to get experience and play much better. Nepal hasn't received much support from the ICC over the years. Now they are able to compete against the top teams, because in recent years some of the local businessmen have offered financial help towards them. Even then, until a few years ago they used to struggle against teams such as United Arab Emirates and Oman, which used to be comprised of first-class players from different test nations. Nowadays they are having an upper hand though. And this is very much evident in the ongoing tri-series. |
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Once again Pakistan batters failed to show aggression. Both Imam and Abdullah gave a good start but they both scored with run a ball. Imam ul Haq was opener yet he failed to produce any 6 in his whole innings. It seems that players like Imam, Rizwan and Babar are playing to improve there stats and they don't have any interest in team victory. Pakistan with this defeat now slipped to number 5th spot while Aussies are now at 4th spot.
I don't understand why everyone is blaming the batsmen, when Pakistan lost the match as a result of poor bowling. Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq did well IMO. They scored at a run-a-ball, and added 134 runs for the first wicket partnership. It was the middle order that couldn't keep the momentum going. Babar Azam failed yet again, while Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel couldn't convert their good starts to 50s. In the end, Pakistan had plenty of overs remaining, but ran out of batsmen. They were bowled out with 4.3 overs remaining in the innings. |
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368 is defiantly not an easy target to chase and that too against Aussies bowling lineup. The dilemma with Pakistan batting is that most of top order players are playing with too much defense. They are not scoring runs with requirement of the game. Only Abdullah Shafique was able to hit two 6 among top 4 batsmen. Imam and Rizwan as usual scored runs with run a ball and that is not helping Pakistan.
Well.. let's not blame the Pakistani batsmen. A target of 368 would have been quite formidable even against weak teams such as Sri Lanka. And here we have Australia, who has world class bowlers. It was a near-impossible task to start with. But then credit goes to the Pakistani batsmen for giving a tough fight. They kept the losing margin to two digits. And this is going to matter, when the semi-final slots will be decided on the basis of net run rate. And as of now, both Australia and Pakistan are having equal points. |
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Australia at 360/7. At one point it looked as if they will make somewhere around 400. But now it will be surprising even if they can get to 370. Australian wickets fell like a pack of cards, with Haris Rauf making a strong comeback. His initial spell was 4-0-69-0. And his second spell went for 4-0-14-3 (and that too while bowling at depth overs). This is perhaps the most extreme comeback from a bowler that I have witnessed in world cup matches. Australia has reasons to be disappointed, but they need to win this match and get a good NRR boost out of it.
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But I think Pakistan have the ability to bat against big targets and win.
Maybe.. but against weak teams like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Do you really believe that they are capable of chasing down a near-400 total against quality bowlers such as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood? And now Adam Zampa is also in great form. BTW, the absence of a quality spinner has really hurt Pakistan in this match. Usama Mir's figures read 9-0-82-1, while Mohammad Nawaz returned 7-0-43-0. The most expensive bowler is Haris Rauf BTW. His numbers are 6-0-72-2. But then he picked up two important wickets (that of David Warner and Josh Inglis). |
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Superb comeback of Australia team in today match. Both batters David Warner and Mitchell Marsh are playing very admirable performance and both makes a tremendous dual batting partnership against Pakistan. Both batters of Australia David Warner and Mitchell Marsh achieve their brilliant century. At this time, Australia make 237 scores by playing 32 overs without lost any wicket at this moment. Now Pakistan is in bad situation not single bowler could take their wicket today. Pakistan chance in this match for winning has been reduced. Let's see how many scores target Australian team will give to Pakistan team at the end of their batting inning. I had posted this multiple times. Australia always perform well during ICC tournaments. If they can get a big win today, then it will really boost their NRR. And trust me, the last 1-2 slots for semi-finals this time are going to get decided solely on the basis of run-rate. The next match should be relatively easy for Australia, as they are scheduled to play against Netherlands. But after that they need to win against New Zealand, as the latter is in exceptional form. BTW, Australia has lost their 5th wicket now. 400 may not be possible. |
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Australia are 4-down now. David Warner finally got out, to the bowling of Haris Rauf. He made a super-human 163 from 124 balls, that included 9 sixes. Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis at the crease now, and they are known for power-hitting. Australia at 330/4 after 43 overs. 10 runs per over should get them past 400. Even this total would not be the highest in the tournament so far. South Africa made 428 against Sri Lanka a few days back. But it should be more than enough to get 2 points and a good NRR boost from this match.
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I would not be worried about Neymar and him missing games at the World Cup 2026. First of all it is three years from now and I am not sure whether by then he is anyway sitting in a wheelchair due to his glass bones and also, in three years from now Neymar who is so susceptible to injuries will be 34 years old and his importance for the Brazilian squad has been declining for a while now. I doubt that Ancelotti now thinks it would be a nightmare if Neymar can't play at the tournament. In Qatar he played 3 games and only 1 of those games he stayed on the pitch full-time. He missed some games with an injury and in other games he was substituted. Not sure whether I can agree with your statement. Neymar got injured during the 2022 FIFA World Cup as well. And that was one of the reasons why their campaign ended at quarter-finals stage. Neymar took part in that match against Croatia, but he was not 100% fit. Ancelotti may think that Neymar is not an integral part of the Brazilian squad. But IMO, Brazil struggles against quality sides when he is not present. This is not the Brazil team that we all know from the 1990s or 2000s. Apart from Neymar, other players doesn't have the capability to win matches on their own. |
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I was talking about ODI cricket World Cup Qualifier matches(because we are talking overall performance). There were 10 teams but I didn't see the good performance of Nepal. I was looking at the table of Qualify matches again. OK... you mentioned Netherlands in your post. That's why I got confused. But Nepal's performance was quite disappointing. I can agree with that. I expected them to qualify for the Super-6 at least, but that didn't happened and their sole win came against the United States. Anyway, after this tournament, they put up a good performance against India in Asia Cup (although it was after suffering heavy defeat against Pakistan). Anyway, I have high hopes for this team. They are a very young squad and they will improve from here. |
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LOL.. there is a good chance that Haris Rauf will set up some sort of record today. At this point, his bowling figures read 4-0-59-0. BTW, Pakistani fielding has been very ordinary. Warner has been dropped just now, off the bowling of Usama Mir. It was a regulation chance for Abdullah Shafique, but he dropped it and allowed the ball to touch the boundary rope. Both David Warner and Mitchell Marsh are batting at 109. If these two can stay till the 40th over, then even a total of 400 can't be ruled out for Australia. Insane comeback by the Oz, I need to say.
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400 is defiantly what Aussies will be looking at the moment. Pakistan bowling fully exposed in this ICC tournament, bowlers were brutally punished in last 3 games. Haris Rauf was the most expensive bowler so far today with bowling figures 3-0-47-0. After 20 overs Aussies are 149/0 and with 10 wickets in hands they can give a huge target. Babar Azam must try to attack them as much to get some wickets.
In order to reach 400, Australia need to score at 10 runs per over now. Will be very difficult. I guess they will end up at somewhere around 360. But it can go higher because they have 10 wickets remaining. Warner and Marsh have both hit centuries and now they will release themselves and destroy the Pakistani bowlers. And they have a number of power-hitters to come, including Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis. And it will be interesting to see whether Haris Rauf will bowl again. As of now, he has figures of 3-0-47-0. |
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Maybe it's related to time? T-20 does take 4-5 hours sometimes so it does affect the budget then there are stuff like DRS etc. Tbh, I find all arguments odd.
It clearly feels like there are a lot of compromises already, which is very uncharacteristic of the IOC. They are literally agreeing to everything ICC's demands
When cricket was first introduced to Commonwealth Games (in 1998), it was a 16-team competition. And this year we had the Asian Games Cricket Competition, which had 14 participants (and it got over in 10 days). A 6-team competition would make sense if a proper qualifying system is in place. But directly selecting 6 participants and dividing three medals among them is not something I can agree with. Football is more popular than cricket and FIFA is much more powerful than the ICC. If FIFA agrees to an Olympic qualifier and 16-team tournament, then what is the issue with ICC? |
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If the Pakistan team can play with Australia with the same consistency as they batted against Sri Lanka and they got a great win then it will not be impossible to win the match with Australia. But Pakistan team sometimes play very bad due to which they have to lose like against India they did not play very well India won very strongly. In today's match, Australia will want to beat Pakistan to add their points, undoubtedly Australia is a good team, but the cricket players of Australia are not able to present themselves in this way in this World Cup.
Australia needs to boost their run rate during today's match. They are in a weak position, having lost 2 out of the 3 matches played so far. In order to qualify, in all probability they need to win at least 4-5 of the remaining 6 matches. If they lose against Pakistan today, then the world cup is almost over for them. With New Zealand and India at the top, having won all 4 of the matches being played so far the fight for qualifying for semi-finals is now limited to the last two slots. And at this point, it looks as if South Africa and Pakistan have the advantage. |
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Agreed. We can see Netherlands performance in the ICC World cup. How decently Netherlands beat the South Africa team. In ICC World Cup Qualify matches they didn't played well. They only win one match out of four matches. But if they will get more chances to play with top teams so they will get more experience of playing and they have more chances to come up.
Not accurate. Netherlands played a total of 3 matches. They lost 2 matches (still performed decently against both Pakistan and New Zealand) and then went on winning the match against South Africa. Their next match is against a relatively weak Sri Lanka. And also, I don't understand how you can claim that they didn't played well during the world cup qualifiers. They managed to defeat three test nations (West Indies, Zimbabwe and Ireland), and finished at the second place among the 10 participating teams. Only Sri Lanka was ahead of them. |
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Lukaku has been unstoppable so far. He has 10 goals in 7 matches in the qualifiers. I mean he has a direct contribution to most of their goals. This performance is one of the main factors behind Belgium's having a really successful group stage. De Bruyne has been injured and he will be out for a long time as well.
I thought this would create some problems for Belgium when it comes to creativity and productivity. But Lukaku has made up for his absence really great so far. Do you think Belgium can be successful in Euro 2024 as well?
Well... it is true that Romelu Lukaku has been in terrific form so far in this tournament (as he is always while playing against weaker teams). Apart from Belgium, other teams are not world class contenders in Group F. Austria and Sweden are there, then they have Azerbaijan and Estonia to make up the numbers. What worries me is the fact that Belgium managed to score a total of 17 goals till now, and Lukaku scored 10 of them. Other team members are having very little contribution in their wins. Dodi Lukebakio is at the second place with 2 goals. |
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But it doesn't have any consequences as the CONMEBOL area has either 6 or 7 starters for the World Cup 2026 out of 10 qualification participants. It may have consequences of course when the groups are drawn for the final round, but I guess Brazil doesn't care too much whether they finish the qualification phase as second or third. They will be a favorite at any World Cup they participate in and if they have to beat strong teams during the group stage in the final round at the World Cup, they know that they would have to beat strong teams at some point in time anyway, so the potential harm is probably not that big. Qualification should not be a worry for Brazil, given there are 6.5 slots (out of 10 participants) from 2026 FIFA World Cup onwards. But the fact that Argentina has overtaken them should be a concern. Especially with Neymar injured yet again, the Brazilian squad is considerably weakened. And at this point they are very dependent on Neymar and doesn't have anyone who could replace him. Sad to say this, but the truth is that I don't foresee Brazil reclaiming the no.1 spot in FIFA rankings anytime soon. Not even in the distant future. |
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Despite South Africa being in great form, they lost against the Netherlands. I think they considered the Netherlands team very weak, neglected. They do their homework properly about the Netherlands players. South Africa were overconfident. This is why they lost. Still, I'd say they'll be back in the truck next game. South Africa will win against a mighty team like England. If they can beat England, I'd say they'll qualify for the semi-finals.
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South Africa had Netherlands down to 140/7 (when Logan van Beek got out). At this point they became careless and allowed Scott Edwards and Roelof van der Merwe to build a 8th wicket partnership of 64 runs. Even after Roelof got out, Aryan Dutt came to the crease and lit up some fireworks. The 9th wicket partnership added 41 runs from just 3 overs, with most of the runs being sored by Dutt. The South African captain made a few blunders as well. He allowed the wayward Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi to complete 9 overs, but the best bowler (Marco Jansen) got just 8 overs. |
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How do you assume Australia as a tough opponent when they started the world cup with two losses, once against India and one against South Africa, not even the die hard fans of Australia are not giving them any chance to reach the semi finals.
India and New Zealand are the favorites coming into this world cup and they are proving their worth and the next match between these two teams will be the interesting match up everyone is waiting to see.
I would be cautious before writing off Australia. Remember that they always perform well in ICC tournaments. Today's match is going to be important. Remember that Australia managed to win their last match. A win against Pakistan today will give them good momentum. And after this they have the relatively easy match against the Netherlands. There is still a good chance that Australia can qualify for the semi-finals, but then there is no room for complacency. They need to boost their net run rate as well, as it is a bit low (-0.734). |
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