ODI cricket and general cricketing discussion [self - mod]

[Swordsoffreedom]

The batting lineup of both Sri Lanka and South Africa is weak. Weak because their batsmen are less experienced and there is no continuity of their performance. So the team that gets a chance to bat first will get some extra chances. Because, if the bowlers can bowl with some control, they will easily win. Yet the South African team seems to be stronger than my Sri Lanka. Because they have some good bowlers like Rabada.

South Africa has some of the best batsmen in top order (Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Heinrich Klaasen.etc). Their lower order is very weak though. In order to strengthen their middle order, they need to kick out useless guys such as Andile Phehlukwayo and promote Wiaan Mulder and George Linde higher up the order. The same can't be said about Sri Lanka. Apart from a few individual performances every now and then, the Lankan batsmen doesn't seems to be in good form.

I agree with you somewhat. South Africa's top order is a bit stronger. But since their lower order is very weak, the top order batsmen play very carefully, resulting in their strike rate being less than 100 most of the time. Which makes it very difficult to make a large collection. Overall, if we consider this, the batting lineup should be called weak. And it is not possible to predict which batsman in the Sri Lankan squad will become destructive.

[Vishnu.Reang]

I agree with you somewhat. South Africa's top order is a bit stronger. But since their lower order is very weak, the top order batsmen play very carefully, resulting in their strike rate being less than 100 most of the time. Which makes it very difficult to make a large collection. Overall, if we consider this, the batting lineup should be called weak. And it is not possible to predict which batsman in the Sri Lankan squad will become destructive.

Sri Lankan curators have prepared spin-friendly tracks to help the local spinners and I don't expect either of the teams to score in excess of 300. In both the matches, South Africa made 280 plus. They lost the first match and won the second one. For the Sri Lankans, this presets a dilemma. If they make the pitch too much spin-friendly, then Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj will destroy their batsmen. If they make them too flat, then Janneman Malan and Aiden Markram will destroy their spinners.

[dezoel]

It's such a hard time to watch these teams like Sri Lanka and South Africa suffocate for quality players when they had greats like Sanga, Mahela, Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka and Kallis, Pollock, Smith for Africa. This all happened to these countries because of the lack of a proper domestic structure to produce players.

Teams like Bangladesh are doing well recently because they have good leagues at the domestic level and similarly India, England and Australia they all have good leagues which keep producing quality players tested against word-class bowling.

[nhaila]

It's such a hard time to watch these teams like Sri Lanka and South Africa suffocate for quality players when they had greats like Sanga, Mahela, Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka and Kallis, Pollock, Smith for Africa. This all happened to these countries because of the lack of a proper domestic structure to produce players.

Teams like Bangladesh are doing well recently because they have good leagues at the domestic level and similarly India, England and Australia they all have good leagues which keep producing quality players tested against word-class bowling.

Bangladesh is definitely in a good position now as they have already beaten Australia and Zimbabwe. They are currently playing a five-match T20 series against New Zealand Advanced in numbers. However, Bangladesh should not be ignored in preparation for the T20 World Cup.

[ene1980]

It's such a hard time to watch these teams like Sri Lanka and South Africa suffocate for quality players when they had greats like Sanga, Mahela, Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka and Kallis, Pollock, Smith for Africa. This all happened to these countries because of the lack of a proper domestic structure to produce players.

Lack of domestic structure might be a reason but the big problem i see is grooming young players and that is a big drawback i see even for teams like Australia. The names you mentioned, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene retired from cricket back to back and that will create a big void and the selectors did not groom players to replace them and that is the case with South Africa.

Teams like Bangladesh are doing well recently because they have good leagues at the domestic level and similarly India, England and Australia they all have good leagues which keep producing quality players tested against word-class bowling.

India and England improved their game while West Indies is a shell of what they are capable of in the past and Australia is an average team at best when you compare how they dominated word cricket for decades. The quality of Pakistan fast bowlers went down drastically and New Zealand is maintaining their position as the dark horse and South Africa who had all rounders till the end is struggling to find genuine all rounders.

[Sithara007]

India and England improved their game while West Indies is a shell of what they are capable of in the past and Australia is an average team at best when you compare how they dominated word cricket for decades. The quality of Pakistan fast bowlers went down drastically and New Zealand is maintaining their position as the dark horse and South Africa who had all rounders till the end is struggling to find genuine all rounders.

Before the Pawar/Srinivasan era, the ICC funds were distributed equally among all the member nations. That changed when Srinivasan became the BCCI head. Pig 3 made sure that the majority of the funds goes to them and this in turn resulted in the death of cricket in other nations. The irony is that the Pig 3 are not that dependent on ICC funds. Most of their income comes from other sources, such as TV deals and sponsorship. But teams like Pakistan and West Indies, which were dependent on the ICC funds saw a decrease in their revenues. And this in turn affected their competitiveness as well.

[LittleBitFunny]

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. To me it seemed like the right decision. Their batting lineup is weak. Batsmen cannot be relied upon. So if they are able to collect more than 260 runs by batting first, then they have a chance to win the match. On the other hand, if they go to bat with a target, then there is a possibility of their quick batting disaster. Because batsmen are not able to maintain the continuity of performance.

[Swordsoffreedom]

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. To me it seemed like the right decision. Their batting lineup is weak. Batsmen cannot be relied upon. So if they are able to collect more than 260 runs by batting first, then they have a chance to win the match. On the other hand, if they go to bat with a target, then there is a possibility of their quick batting disaster. Because batsmen are not able to maintain the continuity of performance.

Sri Lanka scored 94 runs in 20 overs. They lost 4 wickets. Now Asalanka and Shanaka are batting. Asalanka has performed well in every match in this series. Shanaka also batted well in the previous match. If Sri Lanka loses these two wickets, they will not be able to collect even 200 runs.

[bryant.coleman]

Sri Lanka scored 94 runs in 20 overs. They lost 4 wickets. Now Asalanka and Shanaka are batting. Asalanka has performed well in every match in this series. Shanaka also batted well in the previous match. If Sri Lanka loses these two wickets, they will not be able to collect even 200 runs.

Sri Lanka in very poor shape right now. They are 131/6 after 31.3 overs, with Chamika Karunaratne and Charith Asalanka at the crease. They prepared a pitch that was very supportive for spin bowling, and in the end that backfired on them. So far all the wickets that have fallen were picked up by spin bowlers, with Keshav Maharaj picking up three. George Linde and the part-timer Aiden Markram picked up the rest of the wickets. I will be surprised if Sri Lanka is able to make a total above 200. And this is the 15h match for Sri Lanka in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League. So far they have just three wins.

[CryptoBuds]

Sri Lanka scored 94 runs in 20 overs. They lost 4 wickets. Now Asalanka and Shanaka are batting. Asalanka has performed well in every match in this series. Shanaka also batted well in the previous match. If Sri Lanka loses these two wickets, they will not be able to collect even 200 runs.

Sri Lanka in very poor shape right now. They are 131/6 after 31.3 overs, with Chamika Karunaratne and Charith Asalanka at the crease. They prepared a pitch that was very supportive for spin bowling, and in the end that backfired on them. So far all the wickets that have fallen were picked up by spin bowlers, with Keshav Maharaj picking up three. George Linde and the part-timer Aiden Markram picked up the rest of the wickets. I will be surprised if Sri Lanka is able to make a total above 200. And this is the 15h match for Sri Lanka in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League. So far they have just three wins.

Sri Lanka managed to score 154 runs. They lost 6 wickets but Charith Asalanka is still at the crease. He is in good form now. If he stays at the crease, Sri Lanka will be able to collect more than 220 runs. Sri Lanka's current run rate is 4.12. I don't think Sri Lanka will win if they score less than 250 runs. The pitch is batting-friendly. Yet both parties are now unstable. These cannot be predicted in advance.

[laurenB7742]

When two unstable teams play against each other, It's hard to predict the result. South Africa went down to bat with a target of only 204 runs. They lost 4 batsmen in just 9.1 overs. Their collection is only 45 runs. They need 159 more runs in 40.5 overs. Now match delayed by rain. It is good for South Africa if the match is abandoned. It is difficult for them to get back on track in this match.

[Mahdirakib]

Sri Lanka managed to score 154 runs. They lost 6 wickets but Charith Asalanka is still at the crease. He is in good form now. If he stays at the crease, Sri Lanka will be able to collect more than 220 runs. Sri Lanka's current run rate is 4.12. I don't think Sri Lanka will win if they score less than 250 runs. The pitch is batting-friendly. Yet both parties are now unstable. These cannot be predicted in advance.

Both teams found it hard to score in the match. Maybe it wasn't a batting friendly pitch. Sri Lankan team hasn't given a big target, but South Africa lost the match by 78 runs. They lost all of their wickets in 125 runs. Finally Sri Lanka won a ODI series after so long. It's really hard to make the prediction when both teams start the game with few many new players.

[bryant.coleman]

Both teams found it hard to score in the match. Maybe it wasn't a batting friendly pitch. Sri Lankan team hasn't given a big target, but South Africa lost the match by 78 runs. They lost all of their wickets in 125 runs. Finally Sri Lanka won a ODI series after so long. It's really hard to make the prediction when both teams start the game with few many new players.

This is just pathetic. Despite their bowlers performing so well, South Africa lost because their batsmen couldn't perform. And now suddenly the points table for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League looks very complicated, because Sri Lanka has made a strong comeback. They now have 5 wins from 15 matches (out of that two came from this series). And this sort of collapse was unexpected, because South Africa had made totals in excess of 280 in the first two matches. Don't know what actually happened this time.

[onecall123]

Sri Lanka managed to score 154 runs. They lost 6 wickets but Charith Asalanka is still at the crease. He is in good form now. If he stays at the crease, Sri Lanka will be able to collect more than 220 runs. Sri Lanka's current run rate is 4.12. I don't think Sri Lanka will win if they score less than 250 runs. The pitch is batting-friendly. Yet both parties are now unstable. These cannot be predicted in advance.

Both teams found it hard to score in the match. Maybe it wasn't a batting friendly pitch. Sri Lankan team hasn't given a big target, but South Africa lost the match by 78 runs. They lost all of their wickets in 125 runs. Finally Sri Lanka won a ODI series after so long. It's really hard to make the prediction when both teams start the game with few many new players.

The hosts displayed an incredible performance, particularly in the spin attack. After scoring 203, SL gave SA a tough time with their bowling. Credit goes to the mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, become the first Sri Lankan bowler to take five wickets in an ODI appearance. It is obvious that he is well-versed in bowling. Despite being young, Sri Lanka's squad is capable of competing against any team. Sri Lanka performed exceptionally well after a while.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

~
The hosts displayed an incredible performance, particularly in the spin attack. After scoring 203, SL gave SA a tough time with their bowling. Credit goes to the mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, become the first Sri Lankan bowler to take five wickets in an ODI appearance. It is obvious that he is well-versed in bowling. Despite being young, Sri Lanka's squad is capable of competing against any team. Sri Lanka performed exceptionally well after a while.

Sri Lanka had some of their terrible performance in recent series and South Africa is struggling against Sri Lanka which shows how weak South Africa has become. Earlier they are a tough team to beat in any conditions but the present team does not have the caliber of players that could carry the team and they needed only 204 runs to win the match and yet lost the match by a huge margin.

I understand the pitch was difficult to bat but still if they are able to rotate the strike and take the match closer but they failed miserably.

[pakhitheboss]

Sri Lanka managed to score 154 runs. They lost 6 wickets but Charith Asalanka is still at the crease. He is in good form now. If he stays at the crease, Sri Lanka will be able to collect more than 220 runs. Sri Lanka's current run rate is 4.12. I don't think Sri Lanka will win if they score less than 250 runs. The pitch is batting-friendly. Yet both parties are now unstable. These cannot be predicted in advance.

Both teams found it hard to score in the match. Maybe it wasn't a batting friendly pitch. Sri Lankan team hasn't given a big target, but South Africa lost the match by 78 runs. They lost all of their wickets in 125 runs. Finally Sri Lanka won a ODI series after so long. It's really hard to make the prediction when both teams start the game with few many new players.

The hosts displayed an incredible performance, particularly in the spin attack. After scoring 203, SL gave SA a tough time with their bowling. Credit goes to the mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, become the first Sri Lankan bowler to take five wickets in an ODI appearance. It is obvious that he is well-versed in bowling. Despite being young, Sri Lanka's squad is capable of competing against any team. Sri Lanka performed exceptionally well after a while.

As expected Sl won the series, they are a far better side than the SA. From the beginning, SA batsmen were struggling to play the ball. Good tight and precise balling by the SL bowlers, fielding was also very good. 203 was not a big target to defend but SA batsmen have had no clue what was happening in the field.

[Sithara007]

As expected Sl won the series, they are a far better side than the SA. From the beginning, SA batsmen were struggling to play the ball. Good tight and precise balling by the SL bowlers, fielding was also very good. 203 was not a big target to defend but SA batsmen have had no clue what was happening in the field.

I don't think that Sri Lanka is a better side when compared to South Africa. The first two matches were close, and SL won the third match only because the track provided too much support for the spinners. And I still regard Sri Lanka as the weakest side among the 9 test teams in the first division. They are in a never-ending decline. The national cricket board is not in talking terms with the players and the domestic structure is in shambles. A series win, just by preparing horrible surfaces doesn't matter much in the long run.

[LittleBitFunny]

As expected Sl won the series, they are a far better side than the SA. From the beginning, SA batsmen were struggling to play the ball. Good tight and precise balling by the SL bowlers, fielding was also very good. 203 was not a big target to defend but SA batsmen have had no clue what was happening in the field.

I don't think that Sri Lanka is a better side when compared to South Africa. The first two matches were close, and SL won the third match only because the track provided too much support for the spinners. And I still regard Sri Lanka as the weakest side among the 9 test teams in the first division. They are in a never-ending decline. The national cricket board is not in talking terms with the players and the domestic structure is in shambles. A series win, just by preparing horrible surfaces doesn't matter much in the long run.

I think so. But if we look at the two teams very closely, both teams are trying their best to get back on the truck. But they do not have enough talented players now. They have to create players or find talented players. With such an unstable team, they will not be able to perform well for very long. Their ability will be understood in the World Cup. But I think the South African team from Sri Lanka is strong because the South African bowling lineup is still strong enough. Sri Lankan pitch spin is helpful. So the South African bowlers did not perform well.

[bryant.coleman]

Anyone watching the first ODI between Zimbabwe and Ireland? Subcontinent fans won't be much interested, but these matches are part of the Cricket World Cup Super League and therefore very important for both these teams as far as qualification to the 2023 ODI World Cup is concerned. Zimbabwe has started strongly, with Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine smashing the Ireland pacers all around the park. This is a golden opportunity for Ireland to pick up some valuable points, but so far they are not performing up to the mark.

[Minor Miner]

The second ODI between Papua New Guinea and the United States of America will take place shortly thereafter. There is no cricket match to enjoy today so I will enjoy this match. Papua New Guinea will perform on the group stage of the upcoming T20 World Cup. So I'm interested in watching them play this match.