Afghanistan v New Zealand (IT's GONNA BE A CRACKER OF A MATCH) at Abu Dhabi-- 11/7 Sunday (D), Match #40, Group 2

[smash84]

Now that NZ are through, one must regurgitate that famous cliche about them, "They always punching above their weight"

 

[loterry1994]

New Zealand have to win a t20 or odi World Cup in the next few years I reckon. They’ve had a good team to make it deep into icc tournaments for a while now. They remind me of Sri Lanka around 2007-2014.

 

[Flem274*]

Our t20 side is a bit naff tbh.

some of that perception is my intuitive assessments of player quality ignoring the reality of the format (random leg break spray guns are good in t20), but most of it is we have half a team, less with ferguson injured.

guptill, williamson, conway, phillips, santner, boult - yes

the rest - i do not trust them, no matter how many wickets bad leg spin gets in the inferior format. i've only watched one innings of this entire tournament and we batted yet thinking about relying on long hops to troll wickets in clutch situations makes me inherently skeptical, even as ish sodhi, adil rashid and adam zampa dominate while the perfect tim southee corridor of uncertainty gets smoked for maximums.

 

[honestbharani]

yeah, the NZ test side is pretty class at least outside of SC conditions but somehow I do not get the same impression about their ODI and especially, their T20I sides. Of course, in KO games it is just a question of having a better night than the opponents and the toss will once again be super crucial and semi decisive. So no reason they cant win this thing, but I still think they are more of a flawed T20 side esp. in these conditions compared to Pak and England and maybe even Aus and SA.

 

[Flem274*]

yeah, the NZ test side is pretty class at least outside of SC conditions but somehow I do not get the same impression about their ODI and especially, their T20I sides. Of course, in KO games it is just a question of having a better night than the opponents and the toss will once again be super crucial and semi decisive. So no reason they cant win this thing, but I still think they are more of a flawed T20 side esp. in these conditions compared to Pak and England and maybe even Aus and SA.

nz have the best odi team in the world, at worst joint first with india. england make it a three way if the pitch is a joke and jofra feels like bowling heat.

our t20 side has been hiding behind guptill, williamson, ferguson, boult, santner and more recently conway for years.

 

[honestbharani]

nz have the best odi team in the world, at worst joint first with india. england make it a three way if the pitch is a joke and jofra feels like bowling heat.

Even you should be able to realize cricket, especially LO cricket, is extremely conditions reliant and driven at this point. There are no honest certainties IMO. And shorter the tournament, the more unpredictable it can be. Two good days or two bad days can make or break sides here. I wont be surprised if Aus went on to win this one, for example, but it wont make them the best T20I side in the world across conditions or anything. In a way, its very good that it is such an unpredictable era between the top 3-6 sides.

 

[Flem274*]

Even you should be able to realize cricket, especially LO cricket, is extremely conditions reliant and driven at this point. There are no honest certainties IMO. And shorter the tournament, the more unpredictable it can be. Two good days or two bad days can make or break sides here. I wont be surprised if Aus went on to win this one, for example, but it wont make them the best T20I side in the world across conditions or anything. In a way, its very good that it is such an unpredictable era between the top 3-6 sides.

you're arguing with me over something i never posted

 

[Kirkut]

Order of favourites:

1. England
2. Pakistan
3. Australia
4. NZ

Pak vs Aus will be an interesting game, will they avenge what Hussey did to them 11 years ago? We'll see!

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Did Gambhir try his hands at Gambhiring?


"New Zealand will win against Afganisthan." - Gautham Gambhir

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Well done NZ. Bye bye India.

 

[SteveNZ]

Just don't feel like we have the extra gear to beat England.

A lot of guys striking at just over 100, or just not in that great nick. The bowling unit is red hot, but we really need to keep England to <140 to feel like we're a good chance.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Just don't feel like we have the extra gear to beat England.

A lot of guys striking at just over 100, or just not in that great nick. The bowling unit is red hot, but we really need to keep England to <140 to feel like we're a good chance.

Really? Personally don't think England are all that - they rely so much on Buttler. Also can never remember England playing Sodhi/Santner very well and they're not great against spin collectively imo. A very good one-dimensional side, but one-dimensional they are.

NZ can definitely take this

 

[honestbharani]

If Australia wins their tosses, watch out. That test match seam attack is gonna rip through a side or two, I feel, especially at Dubai with the illogical 6 PM start.

 

[SteveNZ]

Really? Personally don't think England are all that - they rely so much on Buttler. Also can never remember England playing Sodhi/Santner very well and they're not great against spin collectively imo. A very good one-dimensional side, but one-dimensional they are.

NZ can definitely take this

Just feel like they have more guys who can go at 150SR, and with a bit of quality about them. You're 100% right - they are a one-dimensional side and they rely heavily on Buttler, and lesser extent Malan. We're relying on Guptill, which hasn't always been the greatest omen when we're not playing at Eden Park. Their back-up list (Roy, Livingstone, Moeen, Morgan, Bairstow) is better than ours, too.

Obviously we've proven ourselves to be great when it counts, but there's just not a lot of T20 specialist quality in our batting side.

 

[SteveNZ]

But yeah, of course we can win. Our bowling unit has been outstanding, and we've proven enough that we have the bottle when it counts.

Would love to see Southee bowl out early in the semi. Again, his 4th over was costly (14) when his first 3 overs were very tight - the exact same pattern for every pool game. Let him bowl 4 when he's best at doing so, and Milne/Boult/Neesham can handle the death.

 

[Moss]

Making the semi is a pretty creditable result considering the absence of Ferguson and a safety-first selection policy, as well as being in the same group as India and Pakistan.

Would’ve been interesting to see where NZ ended up if they were in the other group, but you can only play what’s in front of you (and in the last edition in 2016, NZ did sweep a group which had India, Pakistan, Australia and Bangladesh).

Tend to agree that England just seem to have too much of a T20 x-factor about them and haven’t been a very favourable match-up for NZ in limited overs of late - need the bowling to keep up standards as it’s hard to see NZ batting England out of the game.

 

[Bahnz]

Pleased to see NZ got the job done. Very solid performance to make the semi’s.

 

[Bahnz]

As great an effort as that not-catch was by Mitchell, it's worth noting that if he'd been standing where he should've been that would've been a straightforward chance.

 

[Prince EWS]

That last over looked weird AF. Not saying Rashid did that on purpose, but it looked very odd in the replays. Rashid was having a brain-freeze or something I guess.

Hmmm.

Very interesting.

? ?

 

[Prince EWS]

Rashid Khan is 23 in the same way I am celebrating my 30th this week

Happy 30th Burgey!