What, no ICC T20 World Cup thread? :D

[Yespage]

Yup, World Cup is on going in Australia. India and Pakistan had a doozy in what appeared to be a sold out crowd. Crowds at this World Cup so far have been between meager to boisterous. Pakistan struggled to get the bats going initially, but finally managed a brief partnership. That broke down, but Afridi got in and batted 16 runs in late and Pakistan finished with 159. Overall, a lowish score, but higher than it looked like it'd be.

The India's bats were no where to be seen. Only three batters had more than 4 runs! That's bad! But Virat pretty much made a miracle happened, helped force a couple bowling mistakes which reduced the pressure a lot, a no ball, and then India squeaked by to win with 160.

That game showed everything that is great and awful with T20 cricket.

 

[Jimbo]

ICC T20 World Cup ....

No Thread ????

Had you not mentioned Cricket in the post, I STILL wouldn't know what it was ...
Might that be why ?

 

[Derwin0]

 

[Yespage]

You can even put text emoji in the OP title and people still can't see the sarcasm.

Regardless, rain the last couple of days has caused troubles, leading to a draw between South Africa and Zimbabwe, even after de Kock tried to pull a rabbit out of his hat. The game was delayed, went to 20 overs to 9 overs. Zimbabwe finished up salvaging 89 runs after a dreadful start on a slow pitch. de Kock goes to bat and smacks 23 runs in the first over! Then the rain comes down. They come back, now it is reduced to 7 Overs and South Africa need 64 to win.

de Kock's bat is on fire, but it starts raining again, which is making the bowling hard, and slowing the pitch to a crawl. Game is called after 3 overs, and South Africa has 51 runs... they would have easily won otherwise.

Ireland was able to take advantage of the rain and defeated England who's innings were cut short and lost via DLS. Afghanistan and New Zealand were rained out.

Bangladesh looked as to have the Netherlands number, going down two wickets on the first two balls! And if that weren't enough were down 4-15 before then end of the fourth over, but the Netherlands straggled something together to only lose by a modest sum.

 

[Radioguy41]

I once heard Cricket described as the one sport where even the players don't know/understand the rules.

 

[SamCdbs]

Cricket and baseball clearly have a common ancestor. If you like baseball, you could get into cricket.

The issue with it on TV in North America is the same as in other “foreign” sports. The quick and cheap things to do is what ESPN+, and others that have had rights in the past, do, which is just toss up the coverage from the inner Anglosphere, which presumes the viewer knows what is going on. The other way to do it is to “dumb down” the coverage with a special for the USA/Canada feed that makes a lot of analogies to baseball and which explains things that the seasoned viewer already knows.

The former is cheaper and pleases the mostly immigrant cricket community, but isn’t going to cause the sport to get new followers. The latter is more expensive and turns off the core community, but has the potential of growing the game. ESPN tried that approach with Australian football back in the 80s and it still has a bit of a niche follwing.

 

[Yespage]

Cricket and baseball clearly have a common ancestor. If you like baseball, you could get into cricket.

The issue with it on TV in North America is the same as in other “foreign” sports. The quick and cheap things to do is what ESPN+, and others that have had rights in the past, do, which is just toss up the coverage from the inner Anglosphere, which presumes the viewer knows what is going on. ...
The former is cheaper and pleases the mostly immigrant cricket community, but isn’t going to cause the sport to get new followers.

It worked for me. This thing called the Internet helps with questions. Willow TV could easily produce a "Cricket for Dummies" 15 minute presentation, as there is room in their schedules. ESPN likewise. Expect something like that as the ICC World Cup is coming to the US in 2024.

I caught onto cricket during the ICC ODI World Cup. It was rather dramatic and the final between New Zealand and England was epic, as the home team England had Ben Stokes keeping the team in it with almost nothing to give. I had just started watching it and was enthralled in the drama.

The game is simple to understand. The fielding, if someone likes baseball, they'll adapt quickly to it. How a pitch works varies and needs some experience watching because cricket in different countries results in different ground surfaces. Even different stadiums in an area can have a different field... in that the games shares similarities with curling.

Ultimately, the problem cricket has in the US is it is very very foreign. Heck, these people couldn't handle Jeff Gordon in NASCAR! They hate soccer because... no potty breaks?

 

[Yespage]

I once heard Cricket described as the one sport where even the players don't know/understand the rules.

That makes no sense at all.

 

[Yespage]

What a cracker of a match between Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Pakistan seemed to have held Zimbabwe to a modest and achievable chase total, and then stumbled with quick dismissals of Babar er al. But then they were on pace to easily meet it. But then the Zimbabwe bowlers just opened up a can of whip... ummm... donkey, got a pair of wickets and completely changed the course of the game. High and bouncy with the bowling, restricting Pakistan to singles. The Pakistanis had a chance still, needing an achievable sum in the final over. They managed a boundary and what seemed to be the death blow, but Zimbabwe’s bowlers held Pakistan and won by 2 runs.

Everything possibly good about T20 exhibit here.

 

[Yespage]

Zimbabwe took down Pakistan, seemed to be the upset of the tournament, but the Netherlands managed to take out one of the top teams, South Africa... took them out of the tournament, providing a path for Bangladesh or Pakistan to make it to the finals. India lucked out against Bangladesh, IMO, with the rain delay that put Das's good showing and momentum on pause. So my money is on Bangladesh winning their match up against Pakistan. India, New Zealand, and England are in the Semi's.

 

[Yespage]

Controversy in the Pakistan/Bangladesh effective quarterfinal. Shakib knicked the ball which ran into him, which meant it wasn't an LBW. Yet, the video review of the play ended up going with LBW (when the body, usually the legs, stops the ball from hitting the wickets without the bat being involved). Shakib was the last big batter for the Bangladesh side and his dismissal for a single ball duck (no runs... 0 ... duck egg -> duck... we call it a bagel) seemed to doom any resurgence for the score of Bangladesh.

Cricket, like all other sports, has video review... and like all those sports, there are sometimes howlers of review calls. Usually... the umpire is more likely disagree with the ball tracking than the players. For the players, knicks on the bat (or no knicks), and the ball tracking are sufficient to make the right call. On occasions, the umpire disagrees with how the computer thinks the ball will track after the bounce. But in this case, the evidence was quite clear as shown in the link. Bat is off the ground, and there is an spike on the ultra-edge. A dreadfully poor call, and a terrible way to have a loss influenced by the review. You can't blame an umpire for the call in real time, but the review... nobody could make sense of the result. Unlike other sports, the review is shown and spoken of at the stadium, so the crowd sees and hears what the video judge is doing.

Pakistan might have still won. Their bowling held Bangladesh back for most of the game. But still, very bitter way to be dismissed so quickly in the most important game for Bangladesh in this World Cup.

Semis come up next, India, England, New Zealand, and Pakistan. I'd figure either the first three can win it all.

 

[Yespage]

And of course, Pakistan's bowling is through the roof, and they down New Zealand. Pakistan's opening partnership tore through the bowling and that was effectively that. Pakistan awaits the winner of India and England.

It is something, India and Pakistan seem to have the best turnout for fans. Even New Zealand didn't have many out there. Australia was patchy as well... and they are hosting it.

 

[navychop]

Can’t get into that, while Curling is going on.

Note to self: Invest in brooms.

 

[Yespage]

India v England. It had an ominous start with a very early wicket to India... and the highly partisan pro-India crowd really never recovered. India actually didn't bat terribly as a whole, but it was supported only by a few bats. The 168 isn't a bad total, it was in fact, much better than it seemed they deserved. They should have been able to defend it.

But then Hales and Buttler came up to bat... and never left the pitch until they blew past 168 with 4 full overs remaining. It was never close. England started at a high pace... and just kept it. India needed more spinners, as the pace bowlers just got hammered. And the India crowd were devastated.

England v Pakistan... a repeat of the '92 final... well before I started paying attention to cricket.