The wicket of Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen at the death overs cost at least 30 runs. Kudos to Cummins-Hazlewood duo for picking these 2, they were about to change gears and things could have been ugly for the Aussies.
Not sure if 310-320 is defendable unless Keshav and Shamsi click with the ball for Protea. 2 tons for De Kock in 2 matches, bummer he's taking retirement from ODI after this WC.
I am not sure whether a total of 320 can be defended by South Africa. Remember that they conceded 326 against Sri Lanka. Against an Australian lineup that includes quality players such as David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, this is clearly not going to be enough. And also, Jansen and Rabada were very expensive during the last match, and this time also I am not expecting much from them. When Aiden Markram got out, they were 263/4 after 43 overs. They should have made somewhere around 340. |
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Isn't it quite interesting to see the odds of the Spain - Scotland game like this:
- Spain : 1.27
- Draw : 5.80
- Scotland : 12.00
The difference of odds between Spain and Scotland to win is just huge. I mean Scotland are the leading team in their group right now. In addition they beat Spain before also. Of course Spain are a more qualified team on paper and they are playing home here. But I find their odds not worth betting on. It isn't worth taking that risk honestly.
I would rather take a risk by betting on Spain Handicap 0:1 which has 1.83 odds.
I don't agree with these odds. They are laughable. Do you really believe that Spain's odds are 10x higher than that of Scotland? Even after Scotland defeated Spain in the first encounter between these two teams (28th March). Back then Scott McTominay of Manchester United scored two goals to sink Spain by a margin of 2-0. Scotland do have some great players like McTominay, McGregor and McGinn. It is not going to be easy for Spain to defeat them, when these two teams meet again today. The timing is a bit inconvenient for me. The match will take place at 12:15am Indian time. |
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Bavuma got out after collecting 35 runs off 55 balls. Honestly I didn't expect a better performance from Bavuma. But de Kock is playing brilliantly. Africa collected 127 runs in 23 overs. de Kock scored 81 runs off 76 balls.
Well.. Bavuma is dragging down the entire team. In a tournament where totals of 350 plus are being easily chased down, having a strike rare of 63 is not acceptable. Either he needs to sit out and provide opportunity to more deserving people, or at least he can bat down the order so that either Rassie van der Dussen or Heinrich Klaasen can open the batting along with Quinton de Kock. South Africa are at 210/3 after 37.3 overs at this point. Without Bavuma, they would have easily crossed 250-260, and ended up with a total of at least 350. |
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Good News for India
Shubman Gill has been discharged after being in the hospital at Chennai's Kaveri Hospital. He got hospitalized due to a drop in platelet count as he was suffering from dengue. Due to his sickness, he missed the first two matches of the World Cup against Australia and Afghanistan. As per the news, he is all set to join the team and play against Pakistan on Saturday.
Australia struggling against South Africa's good batting, de Knock has taken the responsibility of scoring runs. He has already scored 81 runs in just 76 balls, the way he is going he would easily get another 100. Rassie van der Dussen is rotating the strike which is a good thing to do and hitting the odd boundaries. These two have the ability to up the South African run rate in no time.
Still not very hopeful about Shubman Gill. In case he just got discharged from the hospital, I am not expecting him to play actively for the next 1-2 weeks. Hopefully he will be ready for the last 3-4 group matches, and also for the knockout phase (in case India manages to qualify for the semi-finals). At this point, Indians won't be much bothered. Rohit and Ishan did a great job during the last match and the middle order is also looking quite good. I am more concerned about who will be dropped, once Shubman is back to the squad. |
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I now think South Africa will win. Because Ekana cricket ground is not batting friendly. Still the South African players are batting very well. The highest score of this pitch is 255 runs. And the first innings average score is 188. And the way South Africa are batting now, they will easily score 300+ runs today. Both openers have already scored 100 runs. South Africa scored 100 runs in 18 overs without losing a single wicket. de Kock scored an unbeaten 61 off 57 balls. And Bavuma's collection is now 33 off 51 balls. Bavuma is batting a bit slow. He is not in good form. Slow batting is good for South Africa if they can play big innings. But I think that the striker rate should be kept at 85+.
I would say that it is too early to predict anything. Ekana ground is just like any other Indian cricket ground. It is quite flat and offers not much support for the seamers. And also, let's not forget the fact that the South African batsmen are in top form. Quinton de Kock is handling the Australian bowlers with relative ease at this point. None of the Australian frontline seamers (Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins) have been successful in taking a wicket. Glenn Maxwell took the only South African wicket to fall till now. |
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Yes of course Australia will try their best to win this match. But wait South Africa is also good because if you take a look on the previous match of South Africa with Sri Lanka. South Africa made 428 runs. Means they also have the ability to win this match. So I hope South Africa will win this match according to their last match performance. By the way both teams are good so at this time we can't predict. So let's watch.  You are focusing only on one side. It is true that South Africa made a massive total (428/5). Three of their batsmen (Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram) made centuries. But you are forgetting the fact that in return the South African bowlers also leaked runs, and allowed Sri Lanka to get to 326 from 44.5 overs. Marco Jansen went for 92 in his 10 overs (despite his IPL experience). Kagiso Rabada and Gerald Coetzee were only slightly more economical. And Keshav Maharaj failed to pick wickets when it mattered. |
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2.5 hours to go for the high-voltage clash between Australia and South Africa. I am hopeful that Australia maybe able to win the match today and stay in the race. David Warner, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne got good starts against India, but none of them could convert their knocks to a half-century. Their bowling looked OK though. Josh Hazlewood rattled the Indian top order, while Mitchell Starc also bowled decently. Spin department is a concern though, as Adam Zampa was unable to find good line and length during the last match.
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KL Rahul is not consistent in the middle order, in which world? His 2023 numbers in the ODI: 39, 64*, 7, 75*, 9, 32, 111*, 39, 19, DNB, 58*, 52, 26, 97* DNB.
This season he's averaging above 75 in the middle order. He was shit in the T-20 and Test but in the ODI format when he bats in the middle order, his numbers are solid and incredible asset for the Indian team. I am not talking about his last 10-15 matches. I was talking about his performance during the last 2-3 years. Good for India that he has come back to form, along with some of the other senior players who had form-related issues. Anyway, this is a golden opportunity for India to win a ICC trophy after a gap of more than a decade. The last time they won, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the captain. Obiously guys like Virat, Rohit and Hardick doesn't want to be remembered as the ones who couldn't win a single ICC trophy. |
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Australia vs South Africa
Today is the 10th match of the World Cup South Africa vs Australia. Both these teams have played 1 match each. South Africa batted brilliantly in the first match, setting the record for the highest score. On the other hand, Australia had a poor performance against India in their first match. Australia will try to do better today. Both teams are strong, it is difficult to accurately predict which team will win. ODI Ranking South Africa is at number 4 and Australia at number 3. If South Africa wins today, it will rise to number 1 in the points table, if Australia wins, it may rise to number 5 in the points table. Today we will see a competitive match.
As long as the South African bowlers are in poor form, their chances of winning against strong teams will remain minimal. They have some great batsmen and all of them are in great form. But if their bowlers leaks runs all over the ground, there is a limit up to which their batsmen can try to win the matches. Australia went down in the opening match, but that was against one of the strongest teams in this tournament. On the other hand, South Africa had a big win. But that came against one of the weakest teams in this world cup. |
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Because anyway, it seems not will be easy for Ronaldo plays in the World Cup, because Ronaldo is no longer used to the tough competition like what happens in the big leagues in Europe.
LOL.. for me, the quality of Saudi Professional League as of now is much better than many of the European leagues. You may not be able to compare with leagues such as the English Premier League, but SPL is definitely at the level (or even better than) of Bundesliga or Eredivisie. So there is no valid argument in claiming that Ronaldo is not participating in tough competitions. But I can agree with you on one point. Only the four teams sponsored by Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) has star players with them. Remaining 14 teams are mostly made of local players, with the exception of a few such as Al-Ettifaq and Al-Taawoun. |
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I am a bit disturbed by the fact that almost all the matches so far in this tournament have been one-sided. Even the matches between pig-4 teams are getting lop-sided. Examples are the opening match between England and New Zealand, as well as the match between Australia and India. The ODI format is already on backfoot due to competition from T20. If the matches become one-sided, then in the long term fan interest will be lost. I am not sure about the future of the ODI format, and the future of the ODI World Cup. Perhaps 2027 will be the final edition of the ODI World Cup, if the current trends continue.
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Who is gonna put MEssi in doubt for the next world cup? Man he is gonna play no matter what, the only thing that can stop him for playing is a serious injury because he is no longer young anymore, he now is old.
Yesterday i saw the news about Cristiano, tlling he is gonna play also this next world cup, i think he can but lets see.
I am not that sure whether he will be interested in playing. Just a few months ago, he rejected a billion plus USD offer from Saudi Arabia and chose to move to the United States instead. His wife wanted to settle down in the US, and that was one of the reasons why he made that decision. Given all this, I don't think that he will continue to play for another 3 years. My guess is that he wants another year or so with the Major League Soccer (MLS), and after that he is going to retire from professional football. |
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No, I didn’t forget (how can i forget if the standings are in front of my face hehe). I gave my reasoning that both teams will overtake Scotland. This is unrealistic. Purely mathematically this is possible, but for this it is necessary for Scotland to score 0 points in the remaining 3 games, Norway to win all 3 games (including the game with Spain) and Spain to win the 3 remaining games. Any deviation from this plan automatically qualifies Scotland. I think if you bet ten bucks on such a general outcome, you can get an odds close to 1000  Oh.. my bad. I didn't read your post carefully. In this case I can agree. Scotland has a guaranteed spot to the main tournament as of now. They have 3 matches remaining, and these matches are against - Cyprus, Spain and Scotland. Winning all three matches will be quite difficult (but not impossible as long as they have Erling Håland in their squad). For Scotland, their remaining matches are against Spain and Norway, but they have one match against weak Georgia. At this point, I agree with you that the odds of Norway qualifying is more like 1/100. |
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You can probably look at Kim Jong Un's crossing of the South Korea border during Trump's admin
You have that back-to-front It was Trump who crossed the border, not Kim. As far as I remember, Kim Jong Un briefly stepped in to South Korea, after the RoK president urged him to do so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IyLMz4buesThis one happened back in 2018, when Kim Jong Un of DPRK and Moon-Jae-in of Republic of Korea met each other in Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). But things went bad after that and the relations between these two countries are now at a new low. Moon-Jae-in himself benefited greatly from improved relations back in 2018, and his party managed to win the parliamentary elections in 2020. |
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South Africa vs Australia is going to be interesting. I would have rated Australia as one of the favorites to win the world cup this time, but in the first match they just meekly surrendered to India. On the other hand, South Africa just smothered Sri Lanka in their opening match, by compiling a gigantic total of 428/5. Their batsmen are in superb form, especially Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram. However the poor form of their bowlers (both spinners, as well as pacers) should be a concern for them.
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Any comments about the Asian Games cricket competition? This time India won both the gold medals - for men, as well as for women. During the previous editions (2010 and 2014), they had refused to send the teams. This time, a total of 14 teams took part in the men's competition, while 8 teams took part in the women's competition. Originally 18 teams were scheduled to take part in the men's event, but some of them (such as Bahrain) withdrew. Now there are rumors that cricket will be included for the 2028 Olympic Games, which will be held at Los Angeles. More details here: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/confirmed-cricket-to-return-in-la-olympics-in-2028-1402174 |
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Among the weaker teams, I believe that Afghanistan has performed the worst so far in the world cup (in the first match, they were bowled out for 156 runs by the Bangladeshis). Others like Netherlands and Bangladesh have so far performed much better than them. But there is enough time for them to bounce back, as each team will be playing 9 matches each in the group phase. For Afghanistan, the next match is going to be against England, where we have once again the possibility of a lop-sided contest.
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I think he's a better negotiator than Biden so he may be right about no wars right now if he was still the POTUS. You can probably look at Kim Jong Un's crossing of the South Korea border during Trump's admin and normalization of relations in the middle east as an example. He may still continue the US influence or presence in other countries but I doubt he would escalate things. He understands that it would cost more for the American people if wars actually broke out.
Trump, by no means is a pacifist. But being a businessman, he understands the costs being involved in waging a war and his argument is that the amount should be better spent at home helping the needy families. That is diametrically opposite to the policies from Biden, who has restarted the American military interventions in third world countries ever since he took over the presidency. Till now, the United States have provided $44 billion worth of financial and military aid to Ukraine (ever since the war began). Now compare that to the $82 billion military budget of Russia. |
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Yes, it could very well happen when we see his name on the coaching staff list for his country. Age does not lie, even though he is still able to play, his contrbution to the game will not be the same as when he was younger and that cannot be denied. And even at his age, it's amazing that he can still contribute to the club he's playing for.
The next World Cup is the stage for the young players of today, and I'm sure there will be many new players who will get a lot of attention and then become a target for the big clubs.
The fact that he has moved out of European league tells that the retirement is very near. Usually star players devote the last 2-3 years of their career to get a good deal from some of the American or Asian clubs, so they can retire with enough savings. The same has happened with Lionel Messi, who has moved to Inter-Miami in Major League Soccer (MLS). The level of competition in MLS will obviously much lower than that in different European leagues. And this will be taken into account, when Argentina announces their squad for 2026 World Cup. |
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If I understand correctly, taking into account the fact that Spain and Norway will have a head-to-head meeting in the penultimate round, there is simply no chance that both Spain and Norway will overtake Scotland. Impressive result from Scotland, but it's a shame that Norway (it's unlikely that Spain will fall that low) will go to play in the tournament for the losers, I don't think it will be easy there, so we may see the Euros without Haaland.
You are forgetting the fact that Spain has 4 matches remaining. If they win all these 4 matches, then they will end up with 21 points. On the other hand, Scotland has 3 matches remaining and they are currently at 15 points. So I would say that there is a good chance that Spain will be able to overtake Scotland. That said, I don't have much hope for Norway. They are at 7 points after 5 matches. Even if they win all the remaining matches, they may not be able to qualify for the main tournament. Hard luck for quality players such as Erling Håland and Martin Ødegaard. |
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