25th Match - New Zealand v South Africa

[James]

New Zealand v South Africa
19th June
Edgbaston

 

[vcs]

Will be interesting to see if SA find their feet as the tournament progresses. NZ are not a bad match-up for SA (recent WC encounters notwithstanding) so they should have a reasonable chance in theory. Based on what we've seen so far though, NZ are a better and more settled ODI team and SA have a few too many holes, especially in the batting department.

 

[Tec15]

If South Africa doesn't win this then get ready for a couple of weeks of dead rubbers.

 

[vcs]

Yea SA really need to win this for the greater good of the tournament.

Pakistan are pretty much ****ed you'd think, given their NRR, leaving WI as the only outsider with a remote possibility of making it to the last 4.

 

[StephenZA]

We shall do our best..... (or so I hope!)

 

[Stefan9]

Let's hope faf's prediction of some special markram innings come to fruition this game.

 

[Bahnz]

****ing rain is forecast again.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcqdt4b2x#?date=2019-06-19

Fortunately it's meant to clear up by midday, but we could have a shortened game.

Big game. A win here for NZ and they're a lock for the semi's. I think they'll do it, but I also think SA are better than they've shown so far. NZ to win by 20ish.

If South Africa do win, I think they'll be almost favourites to make the semis. They'll beat Sri Lanka and should be heavy favourites against Pakistan (though that's obviously hard to predict). Then their last game (and the last game of the round robin) will be against Australia. If - as is most likely - Australia have already locked up a spot in either 2nd or 3rd place, then they'll have a strong incentive to rest Starc (and maybe Cummins as well) for that game. South Africa would be a very strong chance in that scenario. Of course they'll need to get lucky with the weather, and hope that Boult doesn't have a blinder against Aus/Eng but I think people ruling SA out are getting way ahead of themselves.

 

[Flem274*]

given we haven't had a game in a while and this is our first big game (and against a good attack) i am concerned.

 

[straw man]

NZ team/fans emerging from hibernation.

Oh what this world cup is still on?

 

[ankitj]

Super important game this. If SA win it the tournament can open up with possibilities. I'm not yet writing off any team except Afg and SL for semi spot.

 

[Athlai]

****ing rain is forecast again.

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcqdt4b2x#?date=2019-06-19

Fortunately it's meant to clear up by midday, but we could have a shortened game.

Big game. A win here for NZ and they're a lock for the semi's. I think they'll do it, but I also think SA are better than they've shown so far. NZ to win by 20ish.

If South Africa do win, I think they'll be almost favourites to make the semis. They'll beat Sri Lanka and should be heavy favourites against Pakistan (though that's obviously hard to predict). Then their last game (and the last game of the round robin) will be against Australia. If - as is most likely - Australia have already locked up a spot in either 2nd or 3rd place, then they'll have a strong incentive to rest Starc (and maybe Cummins as well) for that game. South Africa would be a very strong chance in that scenario. Of course they'll need to get lucky with the weather, and hope that Boult doesn't have a blinder against Aus/Eng but I think people ruling SA out are getting way ahead of themselves.

Are you basically counting NZ out against Aus/Eng?

Both those matches are extremely winnable.

 

[Prince EWS]

Are you basically counting NZ out against Aus/Eng?

Both those matches are extremely winnable.

Yeah they're underdogs in those games but there's no-one NZ flat out can't beat. Australia aren't much if at all better than them and England definitely have a random collapse going too hard setting a target in them.

 

[Athlai]

Yeah this is a very wide open World Cup IMO. Maybe it wouldn't be if it was played in the subcontinent, but at the moment no one is supremely dominant and a team as good as NZ right now is seriously in contention for every game.

 

[Bahnz]

Are you basically counting NZ out against Aus/Eng?

Both those matches are extremely winnable.

No, but I don't think a win against England is likely at all, unless Boult and Henry cripple their batting inside the first 10 overs. The game against Australia I agree is very winnable. But equally, WI could roll-over us like they did in the warm-ups and who knows which Pakistan will turn up when they play us. So, I think 2 wins out of our last 4 games is pretty likely.

 

[Athlai]

Why should Boult and Henry have to do anything? Cricket is a weird game where totally undeserved wickets happen all the time, and England give them out as readily as anyone. We're certainly more likely to beat England than West Indies is to beat us.

 

[Bahnz]

Why should Boult and Henry have to do anything? Cricket is a weird game where totally undeserved wickets happen all the time, and England give them out as readily as anyone. We're certainly more likely to beat England than West Indies is to beat us.

England's batting is just so op, especially if Roy is fit for when we play them. It's just not really a contest between their batting and ours, and I think that unless we do real damage with the new nut, they'll just put on way too many runs for our anaemic middle-order to contend with.

Don't agree re the Windies. Yeah, they have played crap in their last couple games, and I kinda expect them to play crap for the rest of the tournament. But it was only a couple of weeks that they were curb-stomping Pakistan, hammering us and giving Australia a real fright. I reckon an upset in either direction is about equally likely.

 

[Athlai]

England's batting this world cup has looked a lot more frail than it has in recent JAMODIs IMO. It's still very good and better than ours, but the gulf isn't as vast. Their bowling also looks kind of poor right now too. West Indies are broken now IMO. They won't play good cricket again this world cup.

 

[Bahnz]

England's batting this world cup has looked a lot more frail than it has in recent JAMODIs IMO. It's still very good and better than ours, but the gulf isn't as vast. Their bowling also looks kind of poor right now too. West Indies are broken now IMO. They won't play good cricket again this world cup.

They put on 380 v the Bangers, passed 300 against SA, and breezed through to 210 against WI in about 30 overs. Even against Pakistan, scoring 335 chasing in the pressure of a World Cup game is impressive. For me they've completely lived up to their billing as the best ODI batting lineup in the world. Agreed their bowling is their weaker suit, and that on balance we have the better bowling lineup.

 

[cnerd123]

England's batting lineup this WC so far has been heavily reliant on Roy, Root and Butler. They lost a game despite two of those tonning up. They have yet to show the ability to score freely when under pressure. They have also yet to face the three best bowling attacks in this tournament - Aus, Eng and NZ.

If NZ bat first, they're in with a good chance for victory.

 

[Prince EWS]

England's batting lineup this WC so far has been heavily reliant on Roy, Root and Butler. They lost a game despite two of those tonning up. They have yet to show the ability to score freely when under pressure. They have also yet to face the three best bowling attacks in this tournament - Aus, Eng and NZ.

If NZ bat first, they're in with a good chance for victory.

I think too many teams have won the toss and bowled this tournament but I still think it's a good strategy against England, because they sometimes look like they might bite off more than they can chew trying to set 360 when they bat first. If England know they only have to score 310 they'll do it in a canter most times but if you dangle 360 it could be 260ao slightly more often.