44th Match - Sri Lanka v India

[harsh.ag]

It's the pain of losing something valuable. Imagine Australia losing Warner midway through the tournament and the Aussie posters not whining about it.

 

[vcs]

I used to love hitting that inside out six over the covers on EA Cricket.

 

[cnerd123]

The hitman is in ominous form

 

[vcs]

What a World Cup Rohit is having

 

[Daemon]

You're indulging in crazy hyperbole here. We are no better or worse than when this thing began. Dhawan, regardless of his exploits in ICC tournaments, was in suspect form coming into the WC. Bhuvneswar recovered reasonably well from his injury. Shami played two good hands before losing the plot but he isn't quite done yet, just needs his quota utilized before the 40th over. Pant if anything should have been played earlier; him being a keeper does not matter when he's going to make more impact than anyone else you care to name. Everyone was resigned to Dhoni and Rahul playing so nothing has changed on that front, and dare I say has even garnered a few positives. Rohit has performed superlatively to the extent we haven't needed Kohli to be the run machine he normally is.

We are in the semi finals with a side I didn't think would make it because our batting was so top heavy. Luckily it has stayed heavy and the bowling's done enough to haul us over. I see no reason for the handwringing.

I don’t mean relative to where we were coming into the WC, but rather relative to how we looked after beating Australia. It all seemed to click in that game especially. Even out finishing was really strong.

My increased expectations after that was probably just an overreaction to a one off though.

 

[trundler]

Beast mode Rohit.

 

[Malcolm]

What a World Cup Rohit is having

He might surpass Sachin's 673 in this match.

 

[Daemon]

Can these guys let the middle order have a workout plz

 

[Arjun]

This Indian squad is actually optimised for low-middle scoring games on pitches with a lot of help for the bowlers. On flat decks, where the bowlers will get smashed a lot and the batsmen, be unable to smash much, there is cause for concern. Wicket-taking bowlers are needed for flat deck matches so that at least the opposition is restricted to 260-280. Run-saving bowlers are often just partnership-fodder.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Super, Rohit. Take a bow.

 

[cnerd123]

It's poetic that Rohit breaks Sanga's record whilst playing against Sri Lanka.

 

[OverratedSanity]

He's been incredible. 5 in one wc jeez.

Two more would be nice.

 

[Arachnodouche]

It's poetic that Rohit breaks Sanga's record whilst playing against Sri Lanka.

...and while Sanga's on comm too.

 

[trundler]

Rohit > Kohli confirmed

 

[ankitj]

Can these guys let the middle order have a workout plz

Kohli doesn't ever demote himself even in dead rubbers

 

[srbhkshk]

Can these guys let the middle order have a workout plz

Will one match really help them in any way? I'd rather Kohli and Rohit continue in the form they are in.

 

[vcs]

Rohit's had some luck with the dropped catches, but he also got a bad decision against WI when he was looking good. Amazing batsman.

 

[Member Berry]

Kohli doesn't ever demote himself even in dead rubbers

dinesh karthik making 40 off 60 in a low stakes situation like this would've been pointless anyway.

rahul's the big win here, really. he's scored runs through the tournament but looked fairly pedestrian while doing so, hopefully this innings puts him in a good frame of mind to let loose a little earlier in his innings. these 30 off 50 balls starts probably won't be enough moving forward.

 

[trundler]

They will be against NZ if you bat first

 

[Isura]

Mendis is such a frustrating player. All the talent, none of the game intelligence. It's like he needs his back to the wall to the furthest degree in order to score runs.

Honestly this Sri Lanka top 5 feels like it could be so good, they just can't put it together at the same time.

We have a good top 3 that has potential to be a world class top 3 in 4 years. Middle order is huge weakness though, which needs to be sorted out. And it would be nice to have a decent spinner to replace Herath.