What? No ODI World Cup Thread?

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It is that time again, the ODI World Cup, which is opening up as we speak with England facing New Zealand. This is a rematch of the cracker final between the two in 2019, which was just beyond awesome... a great way to get into the game. Confused by cricket? You don't need to be, it is like baseball... but better. Just think of it as each team plays all of their at bats in a row, one team, then the other. Only two "bases". A batter keeps getting to bat until they are out (wickets or ball caught). Two people are at bat at all times, alternating based on where they are as the score (or don't score) runs. ODI is limited to 50 overs (innings), or 10 wickets (outs). Boundaries (homeruns) are worth 4 for reaching the rope, and 6 for going over it. It is an all day affair, hence One Day International. The tournament runs past the first week of November. ODI is a much more pure version of the game than T20, which is more popular for organizations trying to make money as those games can be completed in 3 hours, instead of 8+ hours.

England were doing well into the 40th over this morning, then the brakes were hit. But the final pairing, got them another past 275, which is a decent score that can easily be chased or not chased. The Kiwis (or Black Caps) are batting now. So pop open the ESPN+ or Sling app, and start streaming some ODI cricket.

 

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New Zealand plastered England, won by 9 wickets and 82 balls remaining, ie, they really only need 2/3's of their overs to win, while England managed to only get one wicket (out). Young went out for a 1 ball duck (scoreless, and duck as in duck egg... like a bagel), and the other two Kiwis just hammered England's bowlers, both getting centuries with strike rates (runs as a percentage of balls faced) well over 100%. New Zealand were expected to be a force, but England wasn't expected to be blown away like they were. Of course, England like to do things the hard way.

 

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Sri Lanka has three batters hit for centuries and score 344. Pakistan are 1/3 through their innings and oddly enough, on an exact pace to draw even.

 

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Pakistan catches Sri Lanka and wins, 2 centuries among them as well. Interesting outcome.

 

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South Africa are hot at the moment, getting 300+ up first. And Australia has one last hope in a massive number from Labuschagne, as he is the last remaining batter of skill. Aussies need about 180 with only 4 wickets remaining. Looks like South Africa will take this one.

 

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New Zealand taking their sweet ole time in their chase against Bangladesh. This is one of the weaknesses of T50 cricket. Yes, it is longer than the quicker T20, but if a team bowls well, they have a tendency to play cautiously and take way too long to manage the chase. It gets a bit boring.

New Zealand, India, South Africa, Pakistan stand as the only undefeated teams at 2-0. New Zealand should be 3-0 in a couple of hours. The shocker right now is Australia who are 0-2. England like to do things the hard way, but are 1-1, so not that in the ole yet.

Top 4 move to the playoff. We are 11 games into the 45 for the round robin.

 

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Pakistan cleared easily by India.

Huge defeat to England as they are bowled out well short of Afghanistans decent 280+ run total.

Not enough hours in the day: life, the 10 hr IMSA final race at Road Atlanta, Rugby and ODI world cup.

 

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Afghanistan over England was an upset, but today had an incredible outcome. Netherlands were down 82/5, 112/6, and 140/7. IE, they only had three wickets remaining and a paltry total. However, thanks to a 78 not out from Scott Edwards, they managed to finish with a decent 245/8 in a shortened 43 over innings. That total, low, but incredible recovery.

A relatively early dismissal for de Kock wasn't too bad, but Innings 9 to 11 saw South Africa drop their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th wickets! 44/4 not too great. They managed to get to 89 before their fifth wicket, and things could go their way still... or not. Netherlands kept on them, and bowled out South Africa in the second to last ball. 207 all out for South Africa.

Think of it like Kent State defeating Alabama in college football.

 

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So I turn on the England v Sri Lanka match, and see weird things. Sri Lanka is a little relaxed, it looks like the game hasn't started. Rain? It doesn't look like it rained. Delay? Nope, bowler goes to start the innings... England was already out for 156, which would be a low T20 total. Sri Lanka easily chased that and England's chances of repeating are effectively dead. They recently won the T20 World Cup and with Stokes at the helm, their Test match form shot back through the stratosphere. But they have nothing against this ODI World Cup lineup. So maybe Afghanistan's victory over England wasn't much. But Afghanistan also recently defeated Pakistan, which was a huge victory for them.

The Dutch got splattered the other day by the Aussies, who more than 4x'd them, which Australia needed to help with the net run rate for tiebreaker purposes. India are the only undefeated team left. South Africa and New Zealand stand at one loss each.

 

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A riveting final. South Africa controlling a lot of the game. An early red card offense put the All Black's down a man for well more than one half of the game.

The All Black's wouldn't fall down, scoring a try to get within one before the two pt attempt but a knock on called it back. They eventually get their try, but it was a sharp angle for the two pt kick. Which they missed. They'd miss a penalty try from a good distance and very late in the game, they were driving in great position but South Africa stripped it away and forced a scrum which ended the game. A great finish to a pretty good final.

 

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Hmm, looks like posted this in the wrong World Cup thread. Doh!

 

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Nearing the end of the group stage. India smacked South Africa in the arse! South Africa didn't even break 90. Quinten De Kock, who was having a remarkable tournament was out early for less than 20, and that was about the highlight there. India appear to be on a mission to win the World Cup on their home soil.

Afghanistan started slow, but are warming up. They are 4-3 and batted a 291 this morning (afternoon). Aussies are chasing, but are down 4 wickets in the 8th over with only 49 runs. A win for Afghanistan would put them atop the Black Caps (New Zealand) for fourth. Afghanistan would need to beat South Africa in their final fixture however, so it'd be one heck of an achievement if they made it.

India and South Africa are in the knockout. Australia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and New Zealand fight for the final two, with Australia and New Zealand in better shape. England still sit on just one win.

 

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If you wanted a great ODI match, Afghanistan and Australia provided it. Afghanistan were the underdogs. But thanks to a century by their leader scorer, they put up a 290+ and then proceeded to bowl the Australia side to heck. Australia were down to 60 or so with 6 wickets lost. And then Maxwell said "hold my beer." And he proceeded to perform at a level that would have Ben Stokes blush. After getting to a century, he hurt himself and could barely run... which was bad because they need to huff every run they could. Otherwise, he'd need to sock out boundaries like nothing. And that is what he proceeded to do. Using almost only his upper body strength, he battered the Afghan bowlers who had not too long ago appeared to have this in the bag. Maxwell felt otherwise about that and on the game's final ball, he slugged out a 6 for a whomping total of 201 (think of it like a basketball player scoring around 70 to 80 points). The loss for Afghanistan ends their run, and there will be nightmares as early in Maxwell's epic performance they had one not so easy drop and one should have been easy drop. They would have easily closed it out from there.

The drama was quite awesome

 

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New Zealand cruise over Sri Lanka. Afghanistan drops to South Africa. I think Pakistan need to beat England by 300 runs in order to advance over New Zealand to knockout round. So if they bat first, I'd expect them to be swinging like it was T10 (a lot and hard!).

FYI, I looked it up and my math was good. Pakistan need England to collapse for less than 100 runs and they still need about 400. That isn't very likely.

These 3 AM starts are awful, because they are between innings while having breakfast before work. *sigh*

 

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Strong outings by Roots and Stokes keep Pakistan from a miracle outcome as England defeat Pakistan to soften the blow of a very weak ODI World Cup outing.

Midweek (Weds/Thurs) are the semifinals. India takes on the Kiwis, then Australia battles South Africa. India, as previously noted, are on a mission and it will take some very special bowling to defeat them. We'll see if Boult and the Kiwis can make something happen. Aussies and South Africa were both 7-2. Should be a great set of semis, with the final on Sunday.

 

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India smack 397-4 creating a chase to 398 for the Kiwis to win. Tall order! That is a run rate of effectively 8 an over, which is a lot.

 

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Put up a valiant fight, but the chase was simply too much. India in the final.

 

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David Miller Lmost single handedly drags a poor batting performance for South Africa to 212. The South Africans have been bowling very very well, so they can defend, but that is what it'll take to stymie the Aussies in the chase.

 

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India bowl 240 in the early hours. Aussies explode out of the gate for about 45 in the first three overs, but Indian bowlers Shami and Bumrah calm things down with a pair of wickets. They get Smith out with a weak unchallenged wicket, but Head and Lambuschagne have created a solid partnership. needing less than 5 an over, Australia can bat with a slow methodical pace. The crowd of highly partisan Indian fans are clearly anxious.

The spinners have little for the Austin's.

 

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Patches of orange appearing in the crowd, as people are leaving from the final in Ahmedbad. Some questionable bowling choices, a completely silent crowd have helped contribute to a ridiculously successful partnership.

Aussies are almost assured the win at this point.