GROUP B - Australia, England, Zimbabwe

[wpdavid]

If the cricinfo emailer is right, Aus will knock England out of they win in less than 9.55 overs.

EDIT to Stumpski

Yup, looks like it.

 

[Goughy]

That was pretty embarrassing.

 

[Nate]

Left-arm central. First stop - Shaggggyyyyyy.

Top bowling and fielding effort by Australia, pretty poor batting by England. Jonners the pick, Bracken getting Pietersen was vital. Lee's 20/20 average is yuck. Sarfraz alright, better changes of pace.

Do not expect this chase to be easy. Good match on IMO.

 

[Laurrz]

i am a happy man

england looked shellshocked and overwhelmed by the occasion

but still have to get the runs ... bouncy pitch Freddy will be dangerous

if we wanted we could knock england out
small ground

 

[wpdavid]

TBF, Wright wouldnt be close to my England XI either

Our top 3 was always going to be poor, given Tresco's absence. Admittedly Strauss is looking better in these games with every match that he misses, but who else is there?

If we do get through, there is indeed a very good case for promoting KP to number 3 and relegating Wright to 7. tbf Maddy Prior wasn't a complete disaster today.

 

[James]

Commentary team were saying if Australia win inside 12 overs, England are gone.

 

[Dubilog]

Blimey, some of you get excited! Maybe, just maybe Australia played really well!!!

And this is a new concept for many of these players, learning new techniques about building an innings. Who knows how the ozzies will play? Maybe Broad will take a few quick wickets and bowl them out for under a hundred? Or something...

The thing is, wickets and run rates really add up in 20 20. Loose a quick wicket and the chase falters. Falters too much and then the pressure mounts, loose more wickets and then it starts to crumble! So many matches die out at the end, because they just don't have the wickets to build up to a crescendo at the end.

Sri Lanka was able to go to the end today, cos they had wickets at the end. And they never just slogged. The best 20 20 players in the English domestic league don't try to slog all the time. I remember an innings from Mark Ramprakash, he actually played himself in sensibly and still managed to finish with a fantastic strike rate! That's what the Sri Lankans did.

But a couple of early wickets and the pressure is on any opposition. But give the opposition a little credit......

 

[wpdavid]

cricinfo reckon it's 9.3 overs too, if Aus are going to knock England out. That'll take some doing, especially as they can't afford to lose lots of early wickets, lose the game, and go out themselves.

 

[Chubb]

Is anyone else just sick of the sound of Agnew's voice at the moment? He's so depressive, it is really annoying me. I reckon he is getting jaded and burnt out.

 

[Nate]

Love Slats btw.

 

[James]

cricinfo reckon it's 9.3 overs too, if Aus are going to knock England out. That'll take some doing, especially as they can't afford to lose lots of early wickets, lose the game, and go out themselves.

Hussain just said inside 12 overs again on the telly. Who's right?

 

[James]

Just confirmed, 9.3 overs.

 

[wpdavid]

Just confirmed, 9.3 overs.

CW > Sky

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Not entirely true that it's 9.3 overs, btw. Australia can score more than 136 runs.

Final score - Overs
136 or 137     9.3
138            9.4
139            9.5
141            10

 

[GIMH]

Oh dear

 

[Nate]

Screw eliminating England. Can we please just win?

 

[Son Of Coco]

Isn't opening the bowling with a 12 year old somewhat illegal?

 

[wpdavid]

Not entirely true that it's 9.3 overs, btw. Australia can score more than 136 runs.

Do runs over the winning score has been passed count, even if it's done with a boundry?

 

[wpdavid]

You have to fear for Kirtley against these guys.

EDIT
OK, hold that thought until he actually get a bowl.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Do runs over the winning score has been passed count, even if it's done with a boundry?

Yeah, as long as the umpire signals it.