The 2023 Cricket World Cup

by Duty281 Mon 18 Sep 2023, 1:09 pm

First topic message reminder :

After the drama-free finish to the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the 2023 Cricket World Cup will finally get under way on the 5th October, having been initially delayed by Covid and then threatened by a Pakistani boycott.

England are the defending champions, and they're also the reigning T20 World Champions. Doubleplusgood, eh? They're looking to be the first nation to win consecutive ODI World Cups since the Aussie vintage of 1999-2007. Biggest adversaries to that are likely to be India, who haven't won a major global competition since the 2013 Champions Trophy, but will no doubt be heartened by the knowledge that the last three ODI World Cups have been won by a host nation.

Five-time winners Australia can never be ruled out, while Pakistan are fueled by a burning motivation to win the World Cup in the homeland of their greatest rivals. New Zealand have made the last two finals - losing the last on boundary count, would you believe? - and will hope to make the final step this year.

South Africa will presumably think they're due to win something, as they've not won a global competition since the 1998 Champions Trophy, while the Afghans will believe they can spin anyone into submission. Bangladesh will be hoping to make a sizable impact at the ODI World Cup for the first time.

Sri Lanka breezed through qualifying and will be encouraged by making the recent Asia Cup final, even if they did get hammered in said final. The Netherlands round off the ten teams after performing minor miracles in qualification, which of course means the West Indies, the winners of the first two ODI World Cups, will be missing out on this tournament for the very first time.

The ten-team format for the World Cup remains as simple as ever. Ten teams all play each other once, and the top four teams in the group at the end of it go through to the semi-finals, where it becomes a straight knockout. 48 matches total. There will be reserve days for the three knockout matches and, if necessary, Super Overs. But you can't win games on boundary count anymore...

Fixtures:

Tournament Odds:

Squad Lists (Teams have until the 28th September to finalise their squads):

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 10:27 am

That's a very tame exit for Bairstow. England not really going anywhere at present, though Root's scoop for six was magnificent.

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 10:36 am

Uncharacteristic dismissal from YJB.

Santner looking tougher to play is good news in a way for England though with Dilly, Mo, Livi and Root as potential spin options.

Whilst England aren't flying but I think it's certainly worth noting that after this Boult over they'll have used 14 out the 30 overs from by a distance their best bowling options. 20 overs to come between Neesham, Chapman, Rachin, Phillips and Mitchell.

5 RPO with wickets in hand gives plenty of scope to accelerate with the batting depth. The key now is wickets in hand though. If these two can delay Buttler's arrival to the second half of the innings then it could still be a reasonable base. If Jos is out there imminently then the plan has to change more drastically.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 05 Oct 2023, 10:44 am

79-2 off 16 overs at drinks - a pretty even start I'd say, NZ have chipped away nicely but similarly England haven't collapsed against half of their main bowling overs, and still have a lot of batting out there and in the hutch too.

Going to, as ever, need Root to bat a fair bit of time to be the glue of the innings you'd suspect though.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 10:47 am

Brook got a bit excited and gave it away after hammering Ravindra.

Just a bit brainless given England had seen off the main bowlers and set a good platform

by KP_fan Thu 05 Oct 2023, 10:50 am

300 should keep Eng ahead....the pitch is slow, holding up for spinners and not easy to slog them out
Brook gave it away though

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 10:50 am

I wouldn't say that's brainless, just dire execution. It's a half tracker from a part timer. Brook should be putting that in the stands. He's just mishit it.

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 10:52 am

Ravindra was bowling utter dross, so disappointed to see Brook get out to it.

Moeen in ahead of Jos. Need Root to bat through, really, and the rest can play around him.

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:01 am

NZ strike me as probably the best fielding side in the tournament. Even with Finn Allen not in the squad. Phillips, Santner and Boult are some of the best fielders around. Neesham, Conway, Mitchell and Young are all very strong also.

Santner takes the most pressured position in the ring to cut off singles. Boult takes the boundary rider position most likely to ground field, turn two into ones. Phillips fields wherever you need him as a freak athlete. Between those three you can cover the key positions with elite fielders. Then build out from there with the other very strong fielders like Neesham, Mitchell, etc. A bit like England could in 2019 with Bairstow on the fence, Morgan in the ring and Stokes wherever they needed him.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:04 am

king_carlos wrote:I wouldn't say that's brainless, just dire execution. It's a half tracker from a part timer. Brook should be putting that in the stands. He's just mishit it.

Yeah I agree - horrendous execution, especially considering he'd just whacked three of them in a row to the boundary! Picked out the one fielder on the boundary out there picard

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:14 am

Ugly from Mo. Through that so early and probably too full to be playing that shot.

It's looking a bit two paced and hard to score from the spinners. With a decent number of spin options in the XI I'd expect England to be able to utilise that as well.

It's much earlier than that 30ish over mark when England usually target Buttler coming in though. The plan is usually for him to attack those final 10 overs with 4 men on the boundary. Then try to clear the ropes at the death once the extra man goes out.

by KP_fan Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:15 am

I wicket too many down for Eng...they have depth....and while hitting spinners apart is not easy....losing wickets is alos not easy.....it's not dangerous spin.

Eng should still get to 300

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:18 am

Probably close to best case scenario for NZ with this bowling lineup, England having to protect some wickets for the end of the innings is giving some protection to the part timers.

Latham bringing back Santner to try and take a key wicket

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:30 am

I'm quite enjoying Sachin just being teed up to tell stories during the middle overs of an ODI instead of commentating. If this is a trend throughout the coverage then they may have peaked early with Sachin though. By the end of the group stages they'll have someone from the original Live Aid discussing how the concert came together.

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:38 am

Thank the lord for Joe Root (x1,000,000), as he gets to a vital fifty.

166/4 after 30. It's very well balanced. These two stick together for a little while yet and England should be getting 320+; but a couple of quick wickets and 260 becomes a tough reach.

NZ still need 9 overs from their weaker trio of bowlers.

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:38 am

Just three boundaries for Root but he's got 50* from 57 balls. Brook scored two more boundaries in his 25. Classic Root. It was odd seeing Root look genuinely out of nick in the warmups. It's so rare to see that. He has lower scoring periods but rarely looks like he's hitting them poorly.

It feels like NZ are rolling the dice by bowling more of Santner and Boult here. England basically playing Boult out for an over there. NZ still need to get 9 overs from the all-rounders. That gets harder the deeper in the innings things go.

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:38 am

Just three boundaries for Root but he's got 50* from 57 balls. Brook scored two more boundaries in his 25. Classic Root. It was odd seeing Root look genuinely out of nick in the warmups. It's so rare to see that. He has lower scoring periods but rarely looks like he's hitting them poorly.

It feels like NZ are rolling the dice by bowling more of Santner and Boult here. England basically playing Boult out for an over there. NZ still need to get 9 overs from the all-rounders. That gets harder the deeper in the innings things go.

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:38 am

Just three boundaries for Root but he's got 50* from 57 balls. Brook scored two more boundaries in his 25. Classic Root. It was odd seeing Root look genuinely out of nick in the warmups. It's so rare to see that. He has lower scoring periods but rarely looks like he's hitting them poorly.

It feels like NZ are rolling the dice by bowling more of Santner and Boult here. England basically playing Boult out for an over there. NZ still need to get 9 overs from the all-rounders. That gets harder the deeper in the innings things go.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:42 am

It is a dice roll but if they don't get a wicket in the next few overs it might not matter as much having their specialist bowlers at the end.

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:53 am

Gamble works. Henry gets one with a bit of wobble, too close to cut, and Buttler's out.

188/5. Root and Livingstone, with Woakes and Curran in reserve. Would take 300 from here.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:53 am

Dice roll works and Henry gets Jos. Root gonna have to bat through from here I think to get a score

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 11:59 am

Huge wicket for NZ. Definitely on top now. It shows how key Buttler is. His wicket changes the complexion of the match.

This is a high pressure knock for Livi. England's SR is decent but they're 5 down. It's the sort of situation that they have so often pushed onto big totals from with their batting depth. Livi's job would appear to be targeting the final 20 overs. He won't have long to settle but England can't afford more quick wickets either.

Matt Henry has been bowling superbly recently though, it must be said.

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:03 pm

9 overs left from the best three bowlers. 7 overs from Neesham, Ravindra and Phillips. The way modern batters usually look at that sort of situation is backing themselves to get at least 70 from the weaker bowlers which takes you to 260. Then targeting the later overs from Boult, Henry and Santner as the game situation allows.

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:03 pm

Ravindra has bowled dreadfully. Brook must be kicking himself at getting out to him and missing out on a chance to get real runs, especially if Stokes is available for the next game.

8 an over for the last 15 gets England past 320.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:13 pm

Henry's had an excellent day, especially with Ferguson missing and England managing to see off Boult so far

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:16 pm

Surprised they haven’t bowled Phillips that much - Ravindra has been pretty awful

Also interesting to watch the tactics these days in this overs 31-40 phase, end of powerplay two. I know England like to try and target taking advantage of the extra man in the circle, and NZ seem to be countering with a fair bit of Boult/Henry

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:18 pm

Boult built the pressure, Livingstone felt it a bit there. So many nearly innings for England today

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:18 pm

That was good from Boult. Built the pressure and got the wicket, just as Livingstone was starting to look set. Slower deliveries having quite a bit of success on this.

221/6.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:20 pm

Need to make sure we post at least 300 here

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:25 pm

Boult's so good with that knuckle ball but if I'm being critical that feels really poor from Livi. Even if England don't attack Boult, Santner and Henry from there they should be in a position to post a decent score. Surely at that stage the smart play is to sit on Boult's 8th over if necessary then attack Ravindra and Neesham. Both of them should be decent matchups for Livi. Ravindra isn't the best SLA and he smashes seam.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:28 pm

Well....****

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:28 pm

Uh-oh. Clever from Phillips, the end of Root, and New Zealand ahead now.

by **Good Golly I'm Olly** Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:29 pm

Gifting Glenn Phillips and Ravindra 3 wickets of our top 7...not good.

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:30 pm

Phillips 1.1-0-3-2

Ouch. NZ have been disciplined but England have given wickets away.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:43 pm

Rather sums up England's day that dismissal.

5 overs to go, 4 of them from Henry and Boult.

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:44 pm

This is ending with a whimper. I'd have promoted Mark Wood to 10, see if he can launch a few like he did in the Ashes.

by KP_fan Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:45 pm

Eng need to bat out next 4 overs for 30 runs with singles and slog the last over
they will still get to 290

take pace off and it's not easy to hit at all on this pitch

To eng's credit they have kept the RR same all thru the inning inspite of fall of wicket
To their discredit...not one of their batters could break thru and get after the bowling

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:47 pm

Looks like England are gonna fall short not just of 300 but also batting the overs here. At least there's plenty more chances for this lineup to fire

by KP_fan Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:48 pm

the commentators were patronizing, playing Tendulkar up like the next to God ....quite irritating

and the disturbing thing is that Tendulkar acted like one in response
my 21 bats, my light bouncy pads, my best inning, my world cup performance, my 100 vs Eng my shot from middle of the bat from my least favorit bat

Full of himsefl ...disconnected from reality

by compelling and rich Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:49 pm

Watching World Cup games in empty stadiums is awful

Nearly as bad as this batting display

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:52 pm

The dew will likely have an impact. Generally that makes bowling spin and slower balls less effective. Both captains were wanting to bowl first.

What's worked for NZ should suit England's bowlers. Henry has found a bit of nip which suits Woakes. The spinners have been difficult to hit which suits the XI selected. Slower balls have looked tough to hit which suits Surran.

They are well short of a good total though.

They will need PP wickets.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 12:54 pm

Maybe not the easiest pitch to score consistently quickly on. But NZ will be able to approach their innings without the weight of a big run chase might neutralise that a bit. Feels like we need to bowl them out now.

by compelling and rich Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:02 pm

Think NZ will walk this, no pressure on run rate. Don’t need to take any risks

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:04 pm

Believe that Rashid 6 marks the first time all batsmen have made double figures in an ODI? Maybe for England but heard the stat on TMS a while ago

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:06 pm

Big partnership at the death gets England to 282-9 from 252-9

Raises it to at least something to fight with if a bit short of what England could have done

by king_carlos Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:07 pm

Must say, I honestly though Dilly's eyes were painted on at this stage. Brilliant bowler still but the, "10 F-C centuries", schtick felt fairly dated as he's batted like someone who doesn't see them like he used to for a while. He walloped a couple there though.

283 to win then

Well short of where England should have been with the XI picked and NZ bat very deep too. They'll have to bowl extremely well.

by KP_fan Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:08 pm

The ptich is slow for slow bowlers.....ball stopping, not coming on to the bat and really hard to slog them out of the ground
I read ICC directed boundaries to be minimum 70m

NZ selected the team well with 3 slow bowlers and bowled well taking pace off
Eng realized late..that this is not a pitch to keep going ...you need to collect singles and 2s and wait for seamers to hit or use pace of spinners and paddle them behind

anyway good last over sees Eng with a healthy and defendable total....18 short of 300
will be a tight game, but Eng nose ahead
they need to use their 4 slow bowlers and use them cleverly

by **Pal Joey** Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:10 pm

Around 280 runs should still be competitive on this wicket. Doesn't look too easy for accelerating the scoring towards the end of the innings. The Kiwis have done pretty well and England have given away a few cheap wickets. All in all, there's a 1980s feel about this match.

So Boult goes for 12 in his first over and then reins it in averaging 4 for the next 9 overs.

Should be an interesting chase. As Carlos says, England have a good mix of slow bowlers who might also reap some reward. NZ will have to work hard to chase this total down.

by GSC Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:12 pm

133-6 off the 30 from Boult, Henry and Santner
149-3 off the 20 from Ravindra, Neesham and Phillips. Though some critical wickets in those 3.

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:12 pm

Quite a useful last over that, but I'd say 282 is below par.

It was a strange innings. I think literally every batsmen got a start, but only Root actually got past the 50 stage. There were some dismissals due to good bowling, especially from Henry who was the clear standout, however there were also some utterly garbage dismissals that various batsmen will be disappointed with.

New Zealand deserve huge credit with the players they're missing to be able to pull that performance out. Their fielding was strong and there were plenty of dots also. It was tough for England to run quickly because of the oppressive heat, we'll see if that remains a factor.

282 is defendable, but NZ are ahead at this stage. They're without Williamson, of course, but their batting line-up still has quality, boundaries aren't the biggest, there might be a dew factor, and the outfield is very quick. What might be in England's favour is the track slowing up, and we've seen the value of bowling slower balls into the pitch. Not sure England made the right call picking Moeen over Topley, but we'll see about that soon enough.

Going to need a big bowling performance to triumph here.

Odds currently: England 5/6; New Zealand 5/6, however.

by Duty281 Thu 05 Oct 2023, 1:43 pm

Woakes with a rotten first over, but Curran pops up with a first-ball dismissal of Young!

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