GROUP C - New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Kenya

[Athlai]

Originally Posted by Days of Grace

I can see them winning it too, but, like all the other teams, if they meet Australia in the final, they will no doubt choke. How many times have we seen it down the years?

NZ to beat Aus in the final. NZ to gloat about it forever. You heard it here first.

[Days of Grace]

NZ to chase down 330 again against Aussie in the final me thinks.

[Athlai]

Originally Posted by Days of Grace

NZ to chase down 330 again against Aussie in the final me thinks.

Vettori going for 2/30
Martin going for 0/100

I can see it now.

[The_Bunny]

Originally Posted by Days of Grace

I can see them winning it too, but, like all the other teams, if they meet Australia in the final, they will no doubt choke. How many times have we seen it down the years?

Aus are masters of choking teams in finals

[SJS]

Originally Posted by The_Bunny

Aus are masters of choking teams in finals

Yes teams choke when facing Australia in finals. But they do it on their own. Australia gets no credit for 'making' them do it

[Days of Grace]

Would Mark Richardson be suitable for a bit of t20?

[chipmonk]

Love how Sanath took charge


0.1 Bond to Tharanga, 1 run, off the mark with a slash over point, Bond slips that in just a little wide and the sweeper cuts it off
0.2 Bond to Jayasuriya, FOUR, full and wide, Jayasuriya gets a thick outside edge the ball goes flying to third man, one bounce over the ropes, despairign dive by the fielder
0.3 Bond to Jayasuriya, no run, better line, outside the off stump and left alone
0.4 Bond to Jayasuriya, FOUR, wide outside off, slashed over point and it's square, the fielder at the deep cant get to it
0.5 Bond to Jayasuriya, no run, good length outside off, Jayasuriya has a feel at it, lets it go through to the keeper
0.6 Bond to Jayasuriya, no run, full and on the legs, pushed to mid-on

2.1 Bond to Tharanga, 2 runs, fullish and on the off, Tharanga launches that over mid-on but has not hit the ball too well, a couple of runs as the fielder tidies up
2.2 Bond to Tharanga, FOUR, short of a good length and outside the off, Tharanga gives himself a bit more room and carves the ball through cover. Lovely shot for four
2.3 Bond to Tharanga, 1 run, pushed into the off side for a single
2.4 Bond to Jayasuriya, FOUR, full and outside the off, Jayasuriya gets his weight behind the ball and launches it over mid-off, that is a cracking hit
2.5 Bond to Jayasuriya, FOUR, overpitched and on the pads, the bowler over-compensating here, Jayasuriya goes right back and whips the ball over square-leg, another boundary
2.6 Bond to Jayasuriya, no run, short of a good length and outside the off, chopped down to short third-man

6.1 Gillespie to Tharanga, 3 runs, low full-toss on the pads, Tharanga swats that ball down the ground towards long-on
6.2 Gillespie to Jayasuriya, SIX, Bang! short one banged in, Jayasuriya picks up the line and length very very early. Short-arm pull hit so well it goes all the way for six
6.3 Gillespie to Jayasuriya, SIX, Repeat! Another short one and again Jayasuriya swivels and sends the ball flat and powerfully into the stands
6.4 Gillespie to Jayasuriya, 2 runs, fullish and on the off, Jayasuriya goes straight back over the bowler's head this time, he gets under the ball too much and it goes high up in the air, Bond runs, dives but can't quite get to it
6.5 Gillespie to Jayasuriya, no run, fullish and on the stumps once more, this time Jayasuriya just chips the ball to mid-on, Bonds has a chance to make amends. Simple chance. Bond gets under the ball and somehow manages to drop that sitter! A life for Jayasuriya who was cursing himself and beginning to walk away
6.6 Gillespie to Jayasuriya, 1 wide, full and down the leg side, flicked and missed, wide called
6.6 Gillespie to Jayasuriya, 2 runs, worked away through the leg side, more runs, this is looking very difficult for New Zealand

[andruid]

Bangladesh to beat Sri Lanka by 1 run in the final

[Flem274*]

That was painful.

As Athlai says, we can't copy other teams, we have to be smart about selections.

there were some strong points and severe weaknesses in the team that played today.

Vincent
McCullum
Fulton
Taylor
Styris
McMillan
Oram
Vettori
Bond
Gillespie
Martin

First things first, replace Martin and Gillespie with Patel and Scott. Patel is quality and it won't be hard for Scott to do better than Martin and Gillespie.

Vincent and McCullum is a highly unstable opening combination, and it proved so today. Replace with a certain Stephen Fleming methinks, but unless someone drops dead and Bracewell develops intelligence, that won't happen. We're just going to have to stick with it.

Another issue I have is why not select Chris Harris? He could have stopped Sri Lanka dead with his medium pacers.

The big issue is once again we have been shown that Bond can't perform every time, even the best have off days and when that happens the rest of the team have to step up. That didn't happen. We cannot rely on bond as our only effective seamer.

Good points are I like the order of Fulton, Taylor and Styris. Fulton is consistent and Taylor isn't exposed to the new ball as much. Styris makes a great workman at five. Oram comes in at seven which IMO is where he is most effective.

My wishful thinking team

Vincent
Fleming
Fulton
Taylor
Styris
Harris
McCullum
Vettori
Bond
Patel
Scott

My slighly realistic team

Vincent
McCullum
Fulton
Taylor
Styris
McMillan
Oram
Vettori
Bond
Patel
Scott

[Athlai]

Na, I wouldn't bring Scott in I think he'll get whacked even more than Gillespie and Martin, Franklin would be my first choice, but he's not been selected now has he?

Bring in McCullum.

Vincent
B McCullum
P Fulton
R Taylor
S Styris (bring in front of Taylor if we're 2 down in 2 overs)
C McMillan
J Oram (move up or down depending on match situation, if a teams on the back foot, slog away)
D Vettori
N McCullum
S Bond
J Patel


Looks like a fantastic option to me, Longest tail of any team (aside from perhaps the Aussies and also acknowledging what Broad does for the English side) good slow bowling with a lot of options.

Of course if the pitch has anything in it you would replace him with the likes of Gillespie but otherwise this could be a formidable line up, we also have some great part timers in the likes of Styris and McMillan, Oram can be a wicket taker when he's in the mood so we have no real lack of bowling options.

This is our strongest batting team, probably our strongest fielding team and gives us a strategy for bowling. I'd like to see it out there but its wishful thinking.

[Flem274*]

Nathan mcCullum off memory has a poor domestic record. Would still back him to do better than Martin however.

On anothe note, Gillespie created some chances today, a bit unlucky i feel.

[Athlai]

Let down by Bond's fielding, but when it rains it pours.

McCullum is a handy T20 bowler, looked hard to get away in last years tournament easily one of the best bowlers which is why I think he's in the squad, that and his ability to score quickly.

[Flem274*]

Originally Posted by Athlai

Let down by Bond's fielding, but when it rains it pours.

McCullum is a handy T20 bowler, looked hard to get away in last years tournament easily one of the best bowlers which is why I think he's in the squad, that and his ability to score quickly.

Fair enough then. Though I cynically doubt we'll see much of Patel and mcCullum because Patel especially is a major threat to the place of our new captain.

[Athlai]

Na I'm sure he's no threat to Vettori's spot.

[Flem274*]

Originally Posted by Athlai

Na I'm sure he's no threat to Vettori's spot.

I've had the suspicion for a while now that Patel is/ will turn out a better spinner than Vettori if given the chance.