Afghanistan have got a good and steady start to their innings. They are 47/0 after 7.4 overs. The pitch looks great for batting again.
Dharmashala pitch is generally good for batting. Fast bowlers do not get much from the pitch, spinners can use it to their benefit. That is what is happening now, Afghanistan were playing well earlier now after spinners have bowling they are struggling. The have lost 2 wickets and have only added 88 runs after 18 overs. How long Bangladesh can maintain this momentum would be interesting to see. They have been able to stop the scoring rate and have created a pressure on Afghanistan batters. Actually, traditionally Dharamshala is a very balanced pitch and offers assistance to everything. The pacer enjoys bowling here due to the weather, it offers a fair amount of spin as well and batters get complete value for their shots because of a decent outfield. It applies to every format so Afghans definitely batted irresponsibly. |
|
|
|
|
Indians are dominating Afghan bros in the Gold medal final.
4 overs in the game and they are 13/3 already. Bad running and 1 dodgy decision from the umpire didn't help their cause. I like Mohammad Shahzad, he's an interesting character in a good way so I feel bad for him.
-----------
Edit
Decent recovery for the Afghans, now they need a couple of cameos in the last 36 balls.
|
|
|
|
~snip~
I don't understand the scheduling. First of all, I would have expected the hosts (India) to play against the defending champions (England) in the opening match. And secondly, the opening match should ideally be scheduled on weekend. None of this was followed and in the end we got such a sparse crowd. I have posted this a few times. I think that the BCCI is not that serious about hosting the world cup. Even the schedule was released a few days before the opening match and some of the teams are not happy with the fact that they need to move from one end of the country to the other every week. Scheduling created this whole mess. I guess broadcasters made the Indian team schedule and all Indian important matches against SENA +PAK) are fixed for Weekends. There might be some truth to it because of IPL but hosting an ICC event is also a lucrative business so I am not completely sure. Having said that if I look at the big picture then I believe the Big guys (Broadcasters) are not into ODI as a format anymore, there are already enough murmurs about broadcasters pulling out the plug from this. Let's see what happens in the next media rights cycle. India is a very big country and I've said this a couple of times, we have "no fixed venue systems" for matches due to State boards. BCCI opted for 10 states and UT for this edition and Punjab Cricket Association along with others already made some accusations because they were left out so it's not straightforward (lots of state politics because every political party in India directly or indirectly is in charge of State Board Cricket) and BCCI has to cover all of India, no matter what. This map and data should give some idea.   |
|
|
|
ICC released numbers are 47-50k attendance for today's match. In 95% of cricket stadiums it's considered a packed house and successful marketing but in this case, it isn't because of the sheer size of the stadium, here ICC and BCCI deserve the blame. They should have organized this fixture on smaller ground. I also don't understand why they didn't opt for India vs X team for an opening game.
Hyderabad ground capacity is not much so even a 20k crowd will look alright for non India match.
If the attendance was actually 47k (out of that at least 2/3rd would be from complementary passes), then BCCI should be happy about it. And why should the match be played at a smaller stadium? This match was allotted to the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) and it was their decision to host the match in this stadium. I am not sure whether they have any other international stadiums within their borders. Meanwhile GCA claims that yesterday's match was the best attended opening match for any world cup (I am not sure though). Looks ridiculously shameful! Having said that spectators did turn up in the second inning tho and it was alright looking crowd. Non-Indian match, Too much heat, a working day and last but not least fine example of epic mismanagement from the BCCI. Only these bunch of nutjobs were serious from the start and had some sort of planning. Lol GCA must be trolling or smoking some high quality stuff. In short, they made a big mistake by awarding GCA opening match but that's how BCCI works in general. You can't expect 140K people to turn up when the home team is not playing. |
|
|
|
The pitch is looking tricky or maybe Bongs are playing badly, whatever the reason, the Indians are bossing the game atm. I'll still hold my judgment over the result tho but yeah this 2nd string team is strong, especially the batting lineup. The bowling lineup is a bit weak but they can still compete against top teams.
True and I've said that their batting is improving drastically. In the Asia Cup too, they batted well against India so it can't be a fluke.
Bangladesh is inching towards the 100-mark, and they are at 81/8 after 17 overs. Shahbaz Ahmed conceded 10 runs in the 17th over, but in the last ball he picked up the wicket of Rakibul Hasan. Anyway, it doesn't matter whether Bongs are able to make 100 or not. India will have an easy win, as they have quality batsmen such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma. BTW, I am surprised by the large number of Chinese people who have come to watch the match. Crowd reaction indicates that they have hardly any idea about what is going on.  Guess there is only one stand and the capacity hardly looks more than 300 but still, it's good. Tilak and Gaikward made it look way too easy here, the pitch was looking spicy for Bangladesh. Anyway Silver medal is loading up, hope we get the gold. 100 medal mark needs to be breached. |
|
|
|
So far so good for the Indians in the Semis. Bowlers are keeping things tight and the spin duo trying to spin a web around the Bongs, some balls of Washington Sunder are turning Square.
I wonder what would happen in the second inning? If Pitch keeps behaving like that and manages to deteriorate more then things could become spicy but first Bongs needs to put some runs on the board. Both India and Bangladesh have sent second string squads. But the difference is that a second-string Indian squad is still capable of defeating the top teams in the world, while that from Bangladesh can't even compete against associate nations (we saw that during the quarter-final between Malaysia and Bongs). Right now, Bangladesh is struggling at 36/4 after 8 overs. And I will be really surprised if they make a three-digit total. BTW, massive respect for the Nepal team, for posting a total of 179 against India (during the quarter-finals). The pitch is looking tricky or maybe Bongs are playing badly, whatever the reason, the Indians are bossing the game atm. I'll still hold my judgment over the result tho but yeah this 2nd string team is strong, especially the batting lineup. The bowling lineup is a bit weak but they can still compete against top teams. True and I've said that their batting is improving drastically. In the Asia Cup too, they batted well against India so it can't be a fluke. |
|
|
|
|
So far so good for the Indians in the Semis. Bowlers are keeping things tight and the spin duo trying to spin a web around the Bongs, some balls of Washington Sunder are turning Square.
I wonder what would happen in the second inning? If Pitch keeps behaving like that and manages to deteriorate more then things could become spicy but first Bongs needs to put some runs on the board.
|
|
|
|
~snip~
This was one of the worst start of this world cup because I have feeling mostly understand there is no India involved in this match so having this here is no good deal because even we have 30K fans but still this was looking empty which create big negative impact on this mega event around the globe. BCCI and ICC needs to understand ground realities and having a match like this in a small ground could also work for them, and surely we have good atmosphere, but they have done poor things which are surely going to have negative impact. Now tomorrow we are going to have same situation again while Pakistan will play against the Netherlands which is going to be another dull encounter between these two sides even now I have feeling mostly matches without India surely going to have same problem. ICC released numbers are 47-50k attendance for today's match. In 95% of cricket stadiums it's considered a packed house and successful marketing but in this case, it isn't because of the sheer size of the stadium, here ICC and BCCI deserve the blame. They should have organized this fixture on smaller ground. I also don't understand why they didn't opt for India vs X team for an opening game. Hyderabad ground capacity is not much so even a 20k crowd will look alright for non India match. |
|
|
|
|
^^ Kiwis were fooling around for a whole year and then the World Cup came and in an opening match they are back to their usual business by beating heavyweight comprehensively.
Deven Conway and Rachin Ravindra did their job clinically but I think the bowlers did a fair amount of heavy lifting today. Restricting English batters with an under par score is no joke IMO.
From England's POV, maybe dew came into the picture in the second inning. If this trend sets in then teams batting second might get an advantage but it's a first match so we have to wait and watch.
|
|
|
|
Around 30k spectators in the stadium but the stands are still looking empty for obvious reasons. It doesn't look like an opening match of the ODI WC, having said that 30k audience for non-indian match in India is not bad, in most stadiums it's a full house. Still, ICC should've opted for a different stadium.
Coming to the match, I didn't feel the urge to watch the match but it seems spin played a big role in the first inning. Poms do look short here and Kiwis are marching nicely but in the middle overs Moeen-Rashid duo can slow the game, hope it goes to the wire.
The seating arrangement is more than 130k which is why the stadium seems empty. I am watching the match on Hotstar and I can see 44L showing up now. People are crazy about T20 cricket only a few like you and I are the ones who watch ODI. Watching the way England spinners are getting whacked for 4 and 6, I do not agree with your analysis. It is all about captaincy and discipline when it comes to bowling. Might as well say, what a fantastic debut by Ravindra. Yeah, that's why i said "Obvious reasons". Also, i heard that for this particular opening match. BCCI gave 20k free tickets to women and kids and still, it's not even half full. Tells you a lot about the current situation of cricket. It's an ICC tournament so every board has the responsibility to create hype in their respective countries so that fans can travel and support their teams. We can obviously make a list of why the opening match looking dull. True, it does look like it. Surely smooth sailing for Kiwis against English spinners. |
|
|
|
|
Around 30k spectators in the stadium but the stands are still looking empty for obvious reasons. It doesn't look like an opening match of the ODI WC, having said that 30k audience for non-indian match in India is not bad, in most stadiums it's a full house. Still, ICC should've opted for a different stadium.
Coming to the match, I didn't feel the urge to watch the match but it seems spin played a big role in the first inning. Poms do look short here and Kiwis are marching nicely but in the middle overs Moeen-Rashid duo can slow the game, hope it goes to the wire.
|
|
|
|
Retired willingly as it was a practice match and wasn't a List A match, which means stats in such matches never add up to your tally. Yeah, it was a belter and Babar had to come because top order didn't use this opportunity well.
In general, these kinds of matches are useless, it's just an upgraded version of the net session because teams are allowed to have 15 men playing squad for every match. There are no caps on bowlers or batters, teams can even field 8-9 pure batters or bowl as much as bowlers, that's why Australians used 8 bowlers and 3 of them were Warner-Smith-Marnus.
Okay, thanks for letting me know. Pakistan already missing Nasim Shah, adding Babar Azam to the injury list will be their big bad luck! That's why I wanted to confirm. About the warm-up matches, I didn't know that fifteen players can be in the playing squad and the team can use any bowler or batter when needed. I noticed this only this week! LOL, I am wondering how bad a cricket fan I am. Watching cricket since my childhood yet I don't understand many things. Not only me, but I guess many of us don't know many cricket rules. Well, in limited overs cricket, there are hardly any warm up matches, except when there is some ICC tournament and the ICC are not big on giving tag of List A status as it directly affects the funding because of the DRS etc, that's why DRS was not available for the warm up matches. Although, in Test warm up matches, boards can decide whatever (In this case First Class status) even if there is no DRS. Babar is fit, he voluntarily retired so that other batters could get a chance to bat. |
|
|
|
It should have been an easy win for Malaysia. They needed just 5 runs from the last over and in form batsmen Virandeep Singh was in strike. He had scored 52 runs from 35 balls till then. But the first three balls went for dots, and Virandeep got out in the 4th ball. Syazrul Idrus and Anwar Rahman only managed 2 runs from the next 2 balls. This is what I don't like about the associate sides. They crack under pressure and they threw away easy opportunities to win matches against full member nations. A win today would have been earth-shattering for Malaysia.
Normally you would expect a set batter to score runs against a part time bowler but Afif Hossain has more than enough exposure in international cricket and knows how to handle the pressure, maybe that's why he did well with the ball despite being a batting all rounder. Guess that's where some sort of international experience counts. |
|
|
|
~snip~
Who will win tomorrow? Any guess?
If it's a flat deck then Poms are clearly the favorite unit because of their destructive batting lineup, they also bat very deep and the team has a nice combination of spin-fast bowling all rounders and raw pace. Ben Stroke is struggling with niggle tho. If it's a competitive track then the contest should be a cracker and Kiwis might have a slight opening because of Boult. |
|
|
|
The fact that the two warm-up matches were abandoned did not matter to India as all the players in the Indian XI had enough experience of playing in every stadium in India, so the two warm-up matches were not very important for them in the run-up to the ODI World Cup.
India has more than 50 international stadiums and India has no concept of fixed grounds for any bilateral series. The rest of the cricketing world has a fixed venue policy. Because of this, hosting rights are based on a rotation basis so that every State board could get a chance to host bilateral matches. If we leave major stadiums then a majority of stadiums hardly gets more than 1 match per year or on some occasion it takes years (unless we count IPL season), so having "enough experience of playing in every stadium in India" argument doesn't apply here. |
|
|
|
Edit
Finally, he's retired.
I did not watch the match but I watched the scoreboard only. It says Babar Azam retd out. Did he retire willingly or did he get some injury and then we see the retired hurt? It seems the pitches have nothing for the bowlers! Pakistani tail-enders did some good batting practice while their top order could have played a little better because they knew there was nothing to lose in this match. Anyway, one more day to go for the biggest tournament of this year. While every country's supporter expecting for the trophy, we Bangladeshis expect Bangladesh to win at least four matches. Retired willingly as it was a practice match and wasn't a List A match, which means stats in such matches never add up to your tally. Yeah, it was a belter and Babar had to come because top order didn't use this opportunity well. In general, these kinds of matches are useless, it's just an upgraded version of the net session because teams are allowed to have 15 men playing squad for every match. There are no caps on bowlers or batters, teams can even field 8-9 pure batters or bowl as much as bowlers, that's why Australians used 8 bowlers and 3 of them were Warner-Smith-Marnus. |
|
|
|
|
I don't think Pakistan is taking this as a practice match, they are batting seriously. Not sure why Babar is still batting, his form is not bad and already had enough game time today.
Ideally, he should retire and test other batters so that they can have some batting practice in pressure situations, that's what warm up matches are for. He won't achieve anything by scoring when Warner, Smith and Marnus are bowling.
--------
Edit
Finally, he's retired.
|
|
|
|
There is some purchase for the bowlers if they focus on their line and length.
Apart from Jaiswal, literally, everyone struggled to time the ball. Tilak and Dubey are big hitters but Tilak got undone by a slow pitch and the latter is scoring but not according to his reputation. At least Rinku clicked today, his cameo coming at the right time. Nepal's fielding looks meh in this game with lots of misfields.
Yeah.. agreed on Nepal fielding. They were pathetic and conceded at least 15-20 extra runs. With such a huge target, Nepal has virtually zero chances of winning the match and qualifying for the semis. They are at 73/2 after 10 overs and need 13 runs per over from now. Kushal Malla is at the crease with 28 from 19 balls so far. He is the one who scored the lighting-fast century against Mongolia. At this point, both the batsmen are struggling against Indian spinners (Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar). Minus the fielding, their batting is undoubtedly improving. I did see some familiar faces so I guess they went with almost the same team as the Asia Cup. Also, the pitch was okay-ish but the grounds are not good for international matches. At times boundaries felt way too small especially the square boundaries were like women's cricket level. They should have pushed the boundaries a bit, they had a fair amount of space so it wasn't the issue here. |
|
|
|
3 quick wickets and the run rate is now below 10. No more 250, i guess. Well... run-rate has now dipped below 10 runs per over. But then, Yashasvi Jaiswal is now batting on 93, and we can expect even more fireworks from him once he complete his century. 5 overs are remaining. If India can score at 15 runs per over, then they will end up at 220-225. But the Nepali spinners are doing a decent job at this point. Not just Sandeep Lamichhane, but also the part-timers such as Rohit Paudel and Dipendra Singh Airee. That said, India has a lot of depth down the order, with Rinku Singh and Sai Kishore yet to bat. There is some purchase for the bowlers if they focus on their line and length. Apart from Jaiswal, literally, everyone struggled to time the ball. Tilak and Dubey are big hitters but Tilak got undone by a slow pitch and the latter is scoring but not according to his reputation. At least Rinku clicked today, his cameo coming at the right time. Nepal's fielding looks meh in this game with lots of misfields. |
|
|
|
Quite one-sided match between India and Nepal so far at the Asian Games Men's Cricket Competition. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal have added 54/0 for India after 4 overs, with the Nepal bowlers (Sompal Kami and Dipendra Singh Airee getting the stick). And this is going to be a difficult ground for the spinners to bowl, because of the smaller boundaries. India would be targeting somewhere around 250. This is the first quarter-final in the tournament. Other matches are: Pakistan vs Hong Kong, Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan and Bangladesh vs Malaysia.
Hehe, not loving it?  Nepali batters were doing the exact same thing to the opposition in group matches, please ask poor Mongolia and Maldives. Jaiswal is going berserk but Ruturaj Gaikwad looking a bit rusty and uncomfortable. The scorecard would've been very different if he was also timing from the other end. -------------- Edit 3 quick wickets and the run rate is now below 10. No more 250, i guess. |
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
