Group E - England, India, South Africa, West Indies

[TT Boy]

Don’t understand the “we woz robbed” sentiments.

We batted poorly (how many boundaries in the last 10 overs) and had the Windies finished at 40 odd for 5 with two out-of-touch batsman at the crease. Yet, we still contrived to lose with balls to spare when the going rate was well above 10 with only 3 overs left.

Can’t blame D/L, 80 off 9 with only 3 overs of PowerPlay isn’t scandalous, it’s defendable.

The biggest scandal is why we can’t get a full game in when the weather is set fair. Rain only meant about an hour was lost; surely you can make that up and extend the game...

But fair play to the Windies. Now go and knock out Sri Lanka.

[TT Boy]

Looking forward to seeing how Morne Morkel gets on tonight. South Africa's only major concern is the 3rd seamer and if Morne shines, South Africa's top heavy batting line-up means they can afford to ditch a batsman.

Hopefully the wicket has got some pace and bounce.

[Adamc]

Thats a new definition of the word cheating for me. I would think firstly that you cant be cheated out by an inanimate object such as the weather, and I would also think that cheating involves some form of trickery. Both teams knew exactly what they were getting into before the game, DWL has been around for ages and eweve known for donkey's years that it favors the team batting 2nd in twenty20. England won the toss and chose to bat, which was their own fault, everybody including the neighbours dog knew that rain was predicted and they still chose to bat out of fear because they hadnt batted 2nd all tournament.

Did the better team today win? Maybe not, but the word 'cheat' is certainly not applicable in this context IMO because no one was deceived.

It's an example of personification - assigning the human quality of 'cheating' to the weather (or the D/L system). It's quite common in English. The 'cheating' in this instance is the perceived unfair outcome. Just because you disagree that it was unfair or are otherwise unfamiliar with the usage doesn't invalidate the use of the phrase in this context.

[tooextracool]

It's an example of personification - assigning the human quality of 'cheating' to the weather (or the D/L system). It's quite common in English. The 'cheating' in this instance is the perceived unfair outcome. Just because you disagree that it was unfair or are otherwise unfamiliar with the usage doesn't invalidate the use of the phrase in this context.

Not to be pedantic, but I have never ever heard anyone ever say anything along the lines of 'England have been cheated of a win by the weather'. Merriam Webster defines 'cheating' as 'to deprive of something valuable by the use of deceit or fraud'. I am sorry but I fail to see how England were deceived by the weather or how they were on the other side of any type of fraud. You could say that England were denied victory by the weather, but cheating implies something completely different and far more serious.

[Adamc]

If you've never heard the usage then so be it. The point I was making to Sanz originally is that whoever used the phrase 'England were cheated out of the game' or similar was almost certainly not acccusing the West Indies of cheating (as it would plainly be an idiotic suggestion) but rather making a point about the perceived unfairness of the D/L result.

[four_or_six]

Just on Napier, Ive only really seen him bat once and maybe I am missing something here, but his record is absolutely dismal. Maybe I am getting this wrong, but outside of his 150 odd has he ever done anything worth talking about in twenty20 with the bat?

I think innings like these are what England really needed this tournament:

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Besides, he's one of the most successful domestic T20 bowlers in the world, and he should probably have had a chance for that alone.

[tooextracool]

I think innings like these are what England really needed this tournament:

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Besides, he's one of the most successful domestic T20 bowlers in the world, and he should probably have had a chance for that alone.

Indeed, was just wondering why his batting is rated so highly. Seems more hit and miss like Afridi if anything. Would still do better than Masca

[Shri]

Hopefully the wicket has got some pace and bounce.

[Jono]

I really hope they sort the DL out in future though. The better team lost today.

Personally I'd say England were cheated out of a contest. West Indies were handed a massive advantage.

Weren't you the one criticising NZ fans for complaining about a shortened game earlier in the tournament?

Some of you Kiwis need to HTFU. Knew the rules for shortened games before you came to England. If you didn't like it you needn't have bothered.

Bit hypocritical, you could replace "Kiwis" with "Poms" and "shortened games" with "duckworth lewis system in T20s" and the situations would be identical.

Were England damn unlucky? Yes. But I doubt the same **** would be spouted by Scaly if the roles were reversed, no matter how much he claims he would have.

[Jono]

Hard luck to the English fans, and well done to the Windies, regardless of the match situation.

That said, I couldn't help but having a smile on my face after reading the bitter bile spouting forth from this poster's keyboard:

So true. It makes for entertaining reading.

[Jono]

Thats a new definition of the word cheating for me. I would think firstly that you cant be cheated out by an inanimate object such as the weather, and I would also think that cheating involves some form of trickery. Both teams knew exactly what they were getting into before the game, DWL has been around for ages and eweve known for donkey's years that it favors the team batting 2nd in twenty20. England won the toss and chose to bat, which was their own fault, everybody including the neighbours dog knew that rain was predicted and they still chose to bat out of fear because they hadnt batted 2nd all tournament.

Did the better team today win? Maybe not, but the word 'cheat' is certainly not applicable in this context IMO because no one was deceived.

It takes bloody 3.5 hours for a game. I cant believe that theres no way that these games can be moved around. If it rains today play it tomorrow, or if rain is forecasted play the game earlier. Theres absolutely no way anyone would want to see a game less than 20 overs long, its a joke and a half.

AWTA on both posts.

[shivfan]

England *were* cheated out of the game by D/L. I don't give a toss what people say, England outplayed West Indies yet they've lost the match. It's not West Indies' fault obviously and they may well have played better if they were chasing it off 20 overs, but they weren't and you can only go on what happened - England played better, they deserved to win, they didn't because of D/L - nothing else.

I fail to see where England outplayed the West Indies....

England put up a total of just 161 in 20 overs. In four previous games, the WI have passed 161 all but once, against bowling attacks that were arguably more potent than England's. Chances are, if a full 20 overs were played, the Windies would've been able to chase it down.

Unfortunately, we'll never know now....

[shivfan]

Didn't England win the toss and elect to bat? It is completely their fault, everyone knew the forecast.

Not Colly, apparently....

When Manish interviewed him for BBC's highlights programme, he asked Colly why he elected to bat first, since the weather forecast was so bad. Colly's reply was that he didn't know that, because the forecast he heard was for a good evening!

Apparently, he didn't follow BBC News 24, where every hour the weather forecast was saying that the cricket matches at the Oval would be disrupted by rain....

[0RI0N]

So glad England AND India were knocked out.
well done windies.
Lol did england supporters really think they were gonna win.
England doesn't win World Cups.

[four_or_six]

Backing up a day after a win has been a problem for us and WI in this tournament. It would be interesting to see the stats on that.