There is no doubt that this match will be very competitive. Because both teams are very strong. But I will consider this South Africa team as favourite. Because the batting order of the South African team is very strong in this World Cup. South African batsmen are batting very well in every match consistently. On the other hand, New Zealand have lost their last two matches against Australia and India. Although they played well, the New Zealand team could not win. If the South African batsmen can bat like they did in the previous matches, I think they will win. But the match is going to be very competitive.
I would also say that South Africa has better chances of winning. New Zealand have lost their last two matches, although they were playing against tough opponents (India and Australia). But the problem with South Africa is the lack of form with their opening batsmen Temba Bavuma. IMO, they should drop Bavuma and instead include Reeza Hendricks in the playing XI. I don't know how practical is this, given the strict quota target within the team and also due to the fact that Bavuma has been made the ODI captain. |
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Williamson can come back to the New Zealand camp in this match.
I'm reading he's been ruled out. He has been ruled out of the match against South Africa. And looking at the nature of his injury, I don't expect him to be match ready anytime soon. Today's match is quite crucial, as it is between two of the top-4 sides. A defeat to either of the two sides would mean that there is a small risk of not qualifying for the semi-finals. And it is more of an issue with New Zealand, since they have only 8 points with them (and they are in poor momentum, having lot two consecutive matches against India and Australia). |
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I seriously can't understand how come Bongs are banking on Tanzid Hasan, who has less than 15 average and is also inexperienced in the ODI format.
Are people sitting at the top of management that incompetent or does this guy have some sort of hidden talent or something? or maybe there is a thing between Shakib or Tamim in the play?
LOL.. He scored 51 against India (in a match where he and Litton Das put up an opening partnership of 93 runs). But apart from that, his form has been horrible so far. Litton Das on the other hand has performed somewhat consistently and seems to be their best batsman. Even today he made 45 and rescued Bangladesh from complete annihilation. BTW, you are right about the animosity between the two senior players (Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal). When Tamim was dropped from the world cup squad, Shakib claimed that it was because he refused to bat at no.3 and this triggered a war of words between the two. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/world-cup-2023-what-is-the-feud-between-shakib-al-hasan-and-tamim-iqbal-8961154/ |
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Bangladesh 3 wickets down in just 23 runs and pressure on Mahmudllah and Liton Das. Both players played really well and make a good partnership of more 45 runs for 56 balls. shaheen shah afridi becomes the fastest pacer in the history of odi cricket to 100 wickets in just 51 matches. After being hit for 3 fours in the first over, Haris Rauf takes the big wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim. At present the score of Bangladesh is 68/3 in 16th Overs. Bangladesh are 3 down quickly but Mahmudullah and Das try to recover. Pakistan have chance to restrict them under 200 runs.
Mahmudllah Riyad and Liton Das have been two of the most consistent Bangladeshi batsmen for quite some time now (especially with Shakib al Hasan out of form with the bat). These two took Bangladesh from 23/3 (this was when Mushfiqur Rahim got out), to 102/4. Now Mahmudllah should try to build a few quick partnerships with lower order batsmen such as Towhid Hridoy and Mehidy Hasan Miraz if he wants to take Bangaldesh to somewhere around 250-260. But even that total is not going to be good enough at the Eden Gardens. |
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Nepal is inching towards a victory in the match against Malaysia. They need another 20 runs in 27 balls, with 7 wickets to spare. With this win, they are likely to top the group and a spot in the semi-finals is guaranteed. But then, in order to qualify for the world cup they need to win the semi-final and enter the final. And it will be interesting to know who will be their opponents in semi-finals from Group B. United Arab Emirates is likely to top Group B, while either Bahrain or Hong Kong are likely to finish at the 2nd place.
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The second round group phase matches will take place today for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier. So far Oman is leading Group A with 2 wins from 2 matches (Nepal has an opportunity to overtake them, if they win today's match against Malaysia). In Group B, if United Arab Emirates is able to win their match against Kuwait, then they will top the points table. In order to qualify for the T20 World Cup, teams need to enter the final and finish within top-2. Out of the 8 participating teams, only two have native players (Nepal and Malaysia) and I would like to see these two teams in the world cup.
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Also there is no team from Balochistan region in 2023 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The decline of test and ODI cricket in Pakistan is because not much preference is given to red ball in domestic setup. Sarfraz Ahmed along with Saim Ayub have performed well in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Players that are consistent in domestic cricket must be given preference rather then selecting team from PSL.
Cricket is already confined to few cities like Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar only. We rarely see player from rural areas in Pakistan team.
I don't agree with this setup. City-based structure will work for T20 leagues. But for 4-day domestic competition, you need teams representing different regions. Actually the city-based structure is what killed cricket in countries such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. On the other hand, you will notice the strongest first-class competitions in countries such as Australia and England (and to some extent in New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and India), where they have first-class teams representing different provinces. |
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Anyone want to discuss about the tragic death of Adam Johnson? He was representing Nottingham Panthers in Elite Ice Hockey League (the first tier hockey league in United Kingdom). On 28th October, during a match against Sheffield Steelers, he suffered a freak accident in which he suffered a slash to his neck by skate. Matt Petgrave of Sheffield Steelers was responsible for the accident and from the video, it looks like Petgrave deliberately kicked Johnson's neck with the blade of his skate. Johnson was just 29 years old. Neck guard has been made mandatory in all EIHL matches after this incident. Video: https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1718859769962693064/video/1 |
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2023 World Cup If they can continue playing the way Afghanistan are playing, maybe they can keep their semi-final dreams alive. If Afghanistan can win their next matches, they will play in the semi-finals. Afghanistan's batting and bowling are both very strong and look like they can win against a strong side anytime. Afghanistan team will go far in future.
Afghanistan has only a remote chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. But if they do, one of the much fancied teams will be left out (one among South Africa, Australia and New Zealand). But the chances are too low. Their next match is going to be somewhat easy (vs Netherlands), but they have two matches against tough opposition - Australia and South Africa. So I don't see them getting to 12 points, which would guarantee them of a spot in the semi-finals. Australia on the other hand just need to win 2 out of the 3 matches. |
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The point table looks way different than I had imagined before the World Cup kicked in.
I was hoping Poms would easily rush into semis and Pakistan to be in some sort of competition but here they are. One is topping the table from the bottom and in survival mode because of the Champions Trophy qualification. Another outfit is not doing good as well and seems to be interested only in drama due to an internal rifts and controversy. Why the Poms do so poorly in India, while the Australians and to some extent the Kiwis don't face such issues? There can be an argument that some of the players are injured (such as Archer) and a few others are out of form (Stokes, Root.etc). But then they are always known as a well balanced side. What if Archer is not there, they have Wood and Woakes? And Willey is picking up wickets. But seriously I don't know what is going on with their batsmen. The same batsmen who scored tons of runs a few months back during the IPL are performing in a pathetic manner now. |
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Prefer waiting for teams result after FIFA World Cup qualifier for predicting which one national teams favorite for winning World Cup 2026, I don't think Argentina is most favorite teams because never have any national teams in FIFA World Cup edition success defend their trophy. Started in 2002 era when Brazil success become the winner but they can't defend on next edition when 2006 Italy success become the champion.
In World Cup 2026, Argentina squad will change drastically and I doubt Lionel Messi keep on the top level perform, he played with underrate league and will bring impact with their level performance when playing with national team.
I don't agree with this argument. Argentina is the no.1 ranked team at this moment, according to FIFA. I don't really care about past history and all. They look like the most balanced side and they have a lot of promising youngsters who are coming up through the ranks. On the other hand, teams like Brazil seems to be on the decline. With Neymar being injured again, they looks to be in very poor shape. The only team that can offer meaningful challenge to Argentina at the moment is France. But they are also being faced with the issue of injury to their key players. |
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Afghanistan is far ahead of England, Bangladesh and Pakistan in World Cup 2023 seats. Because Afghanistan has already won against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England and is at the fifth position in the points table which is the most incredible success in this World Cup. Best wishes and best wishes to the Afghanistan National Cricket Team and wish the future growth and success of Afghanistan cricket. Well.. the fact that this edition of the world cup is being hosted by India has helped them quite a bit. Afghan spinners have performed well, and this has enabled them to rise to no.5 in the points table. But I would be rather cautious when I talk about the long-term perspective. They need to win more consistently in SENA nations, to be counted as one of the top full members. And now the issue is that they don't get opportunities to play in SENA nations often. Afghanistan is a tier-2 test nation, so the other teams are not required to setup bilaterals against them. |
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Here is an article on Olympic inclusion of cricket from an associate viewpoint: https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/10/23/india-cricket-la-2028-olympics-inclusion-minnows-game-changerThe ICC wants to restrict Olympic cricket tournament to be a 6-team affair, that would leave out the weaker test nations and all of the associate nations. But IOC hasn't yet agreed to their proposals. BTW Daily Telegraph has reported that the IOC can earn as much as $250 million in revenues from selling media rights for the cricket tournament in 2028 Olympics. |
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Still there is no confirmation which teams will qualify for the semifinals except India. Because India is on top and remain on top and will definitely qualify for the semifinal. From now all teams have 3 3 matches left. So there is a big (?) That who will qualify for the semifinal. If SA will win from NZ so SA will also remain in semifinals teams list. By the way no one can say anything at this time.
IMO, it is 99% confirmed that India, South Africa and New Zealand will qualify for the semi-finals. In case of Australia, I'm around 90% sure. But at least theoretically, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan also can qualify for the semi-finals if all the remaining matches go in their favor. 6 rounds of group phase games are done and we are left with just 3 rounds now. I hope that we will have more clarity once the 7th round is complete. If Australia wins against England, then they are almost assured of a spot in the semi-finals. |
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Cricket Australia recently increased the salary pool for women's cricketers from $80 million for 5-year period, to $133 million for 5 years. The WBBL contract salaries have also seen a massive uptick, with players featuring in both WBBL and WNCL expected to earn close to $150,000 per year. The BBL salaries have also increased, with top players expected to be paid $420,000 per season. But in percentage terms, the increase with WBBL has been more. This may make WBBL the richest women's league after the WPL.
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Yeah, because everyone will either buy used fossil fuel cars or buy new electric cars that are refueled with electricity that was produced by burning fossil fuels. Unless we discover a different way to generate electricity, we will come to the conclusion that our energy demands outstrip our energy production. The discovery would have to be something amazing though, like cold fusion.
I mean you can try slapping a solar panel on your Tesla but it won't generate enough electricity in a day to move a car.
2035 seems optimistic. Especially with with all the undiscovered oil reserves. Who needs a life-nurturing environment when you can save money? The current EV technology causes more damage to the environment when compared to the gasoline vehicles. Mining Lithium, Cobalt and Nickel has devastated ecologically sensitive areas of the world. If you have a doubt regarding this, then please visit Norilsk or the Democratic Republic of Congo. And it is not just the batteries. Most of the electricity that is used to run these EVs come from burning fossil fuels - natural gas, or even more polluting fuels such as coal, lignite or naphtha. EVs seems to be more polluting than gasoline vehicles at this point. |
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Italy definitely has a chance but again the condition is that they will have to win all the matches that are left. They cannot make any mistake. The margin for error is non-existent for Italy right now. I will say that Italy has done decent enough so far. But I cannot already say that they deserve to qualify. They only deserve to qualify if they can qualify. And it is certainly not going to be easy for them. But even if they do qualify, I do not have much hope for the Italy team to be honest. It will actually be a good performance from them if they just manage to qualify.
When you say Italy need to win all of their remaining matches, we need to remember that only two matches remain for them. And the last match is a knockout match versus Ukraine. The winner of that match will qualify for the main tournament. They have played decently so far, but all of that will be undone if they lose against Ukraine. And let's not forget the fact that they failed to qualify for Qatar 2022. If they also fail to secure a spot for Euro 2024, then without any doubt, it will be a devastating blow for them. |
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Yes you are right that Messi is not the only reason for their success in the last World Cup, because there is teamwork there and Messi is one of the players who work together.
Argentina we know has many star players not just Messi, even in it is dominated by star-labeled names, especially on their front lines. Their problem is that their defense still has problems and somehow their defense is not so solid.
In the next World Cup, the situation will be much different and I can't say now because there must be a big change from each country, including Argentina.
Around 2.5 years to go for the next world cup. So it is too early to make these sort of predictions. One thing that you have posted is correct. Argentina is not a one-man army (unlike the case with Portugal or Norway) and they can win matches without Messi. But the big question is whether they can perform at the same level or not. Back in 2022 World Cup, Messi was one of the reasons why they were able to lift the trophy. But then again, Lionel Messi in 2026 may not be the same Lionel Messi that we saw during Qatar 2022. |
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I think that Kennedy Jr. is simply a puppet by the Democratic party. He's views are pretty similar to the views of Donald Trump and he will run as an independent candidate in order to steal votes from Trump. This will benefit Biden and the Democrats, but it won't be enough for them to win. My prediction is that Trump will become president, but they will put him in prison, so the USA will become the first country, which has an elected president, who runs the administration from prison. The Democrats made a big mistake by turning Donald Trump into a martyr.  Too early to make assumptions. If Kennedy runs as an independent, he is more likely to get votes from people who would otherwise refrain from voting. From the recent opinion polls, I could see that he is hurting Trump more than Biden, but the margin is not as big as we would have imagined. It is more lke 30% Trump votes, 20% Biden votes and 50% neutral votes. But as the race tightens, third party candidates will get more and more unpopular. And the 2024 POTUS elections are likely to become very polarized due to the prevailing political atmosphere within the United States. |
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First of all, Bangladesh left the World Cup. Three more matches have to be played just for formalities. Bangladesh got 1 win after playing six consecutive matches. Bangladesh could not cope with Netherlands, the weakest team in the tournament. Bangladesh has met Pakistan twice on the World Cup stage. One win for Bangladesh and the other for Pakistan. This time, Bangladesh will enter the field against them with the aim of surviving in the Champions Trophy. Bangladesh wants to leave the field with a victory against Pakistan. Can show great bowling and great batting performance then hopefully Bangladesh can win today! In all probability, Bangladesh will finish behind teams like Afghanistan and Netherlands. Advantage for them is that Pakistan is not in good momentum. After winning their first two matches (against Sri Lanka and Netherlands), Pakistan went on to lose 4 consecutive matches. But then Bangladesh is having 5 consecutive losses to their name. They seem to be in a race with England to see who will finish at the rock-bottom. Apart from the match against Pakistan today, they have two more matches remaining - against Sri Lanka and Australia. |
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