Cricket - FOREVER

Match of the tourney, Windies could have gotten similar result if their quickies hadn't pussied out. 
I wouldn't call that a choke, not many teams would have come anywhere close to the target with Pak quickies in beast mode. If anything I put this down to Abdv's clueless captaincy/not respecting the opposition by ovebowling himself. Given Pak usually blow hot/cold,  wouldn't surprise me if they go on to lose against Ire. 

Given Dhoni's muchhams in multi tourneys Bang boys will put it past English and play the quarters against India.

England

Drunkenmunk wrote:England

long it may continue,just to hear Bob Willis play 'Judge, jury and executioner' @ 'The Verdict' :priceless:





Machakaran got his way, easy-peasy draw with Bangbros in quarters, Sydney might be the only place OZ can be challenged and Ind gets to play
the semis there, Kiwis/Proteas wouldn't challenge in finals, path to yet another worldcup glory looks crystal

Prediction time

Q1- SA to choke
Q2- Ind to minnow bash
Q3- Oz to have a stinker of game
Q4- Kiwis to choke

Q1 and Q2 agree. Aus stinker unlikely against Pak without Mohd. Irfan (Riaz, Rahat notwithstanding), NZ choke set for Semis vs Lanka, following the script from 2007 and 2011.

Also, @ SL ku reaction correct'aa irukku, only, this is the RoW at them: https://scontent-sin.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11048632_10204710530616879_4392367075819178711_n.jpg?oh=d3202306a617ed825ee5dd600ce97017&oe=558481D1

Dhoni skeptic for life. But this tournament so far the 7 games. Minor blips aside, easily the best of the 14 teams on view. Would obviously like us to win purely because we've been SO good. But indha MSD fans'a nenachaa dhaan gaaNdaa irukku. Already some of my friends have started that he's the greatest captain ever in Cricket's history

Well, India haven't yet faced a team that bats deep AND doesn't choke.  Like, basically, Aus and NZ.  Aus will be the litmus test for India.  They did beat Aus last time round in the QF too and barring 2003, India haven't been bullied silly by Aus in World Cup matches for a long time.  But the difference between this Aus team and the other opponents India have played is they keep their cool and execute whatever they need to win.  They didn't panic when early wickets tumbled against Pak.  Sure Pak spilled chances but that's typical Pak anyway.  In 2003 too, India won all their World Cup matches except the bookending ones against Aus.  If they do find a way to beat Aus, it will give them a huge boost to take on whoever prevails in NZ v/s SA.  My bets are on NZ.  NZ are the only team thus far to have beaten Aus for a good reason.  They have gone all out on the attack and used firepower rather than tactical intrigue to beat Aus.  India's bowling has been thoughtful and astute but does it really have Boult/Starc like penetration?  I am not yet convinced.  In the same breath, I also think McCullum needs to be flexible with his aggressive tactics.  I don't think taking on Aus with bull headed aggression is a good idea.  They will weather the storm and wait for Corey and Vettori.  NZ scraped past Aus narrowly in the league match and they should avoid some of their mistakes from that encounter.  Also, having played all tournament in NZ, having to face either of Aus or India in MCG of all Aus grounds won't help NZ's cause.  

Oh, and I would also roundly discount Nohit's Bang-a-ton.  I knew even before the match that Nohit was waiting for this golden opportunity to cash in and seal his spot.  As luck would have it, some of his peers failed and he ended up looking an even bigger hero. Expect to see him get flustered as usual under the Aussie frying pan of pressure and commit one of his elegant brainfades.

Win or lose. With Kiwi's. 

McCullum is the sort of aggressive captain who needs to win the GOLD. 

NZ 

India relying on bowling strengths to win the WC could end up as a disaster from now. That is what backfired in the 2003 WC Final. Relying on batting is what will help them sail through. And for teams to beat India going aggressive on their batsmen will help them reap rewards. 

For the first time in the WC, Indian batsmen will face the best bowlers in Boult and Starc(i.e if they manage to go to finals, top 2 wkt takers they are). Indian batting and bowling is all about rhythm and until now the rhythm wasn't unsettled(zim came close to doing it but they fumbled it about). NZ and Aus bat deep enough and these are the two teams that can bully our bowling. Both teams have enough accelerators/accumulators and power hitters to bull doze any bowling line up. Relying on Spin here can save India but it can also backfire.

This WC simbly waste, what a kappi'est WC with absolutely no upsets/ties and team chasing
under lights severely disadvantaged 

Q1- Languns outsmarted themselves with so many changes, Nanga deserved a better sendoff.
Q2- Bangla should have won it, blame BCCI umpires 
Q3- OZ almost bottled it, Wahabi bowling/Twatto shitting bricks were a sight to behold. with Misbah gone, PAk will reach minnow status.
Q4- Windies just gave up very early with their bowling, should have ran kiwis pretty close on that puny ground.

now on to sides which made it to semis.

SA- WC for the taking, easier of the semis, bat first and score 400 on that puny ground, game/set and match.
NZ- massively overrated given their semis jinx/chasing frailties, Taylor to do a Nanga and choke on the batting shootout.
Ind- ditto as Kiwis, batting is just about scrapping through, though BCCI seems to have wood over Oz in recent ICC events.Oz are weakest @ Sydney, if they are reusing test match pitch then advantage BCCI.
Oz- too many T20 junkies, this is George Kutty's side, egomaniac Pup to screw it for Ozzies.

Wizzy wrote:This WC simbly waste, what a kappi'est WC with absolutely no upsets/ties and team chasing
under lights severely disadvantaged 

Q2- Bangla should have won it, blame BCCI umpires 

First part, aye. Worst WC. Can't imagine the articles on poor pitches in the subcontinent from English and Aussie journos if this was to happen in India/SL/Ban.

Second part, I guess you're kidding?  by the time Nohit was caught, India were running away. Plus, Imrul Keyes nicked and didn't walk (Toni thalayan didn't appeal also ). And by the time Mahmudullah was caught, match was over.

3 things he was absolutely spot on about are:

1) The 4 teams.(Betting on SA is a huge deal, given their reputation and a presence of a knockout Q/Fs)

2) Impact of spinners.

3) England not being competitive in the WC.

Dheivam 

http://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket/video-when-sachin-tendulkar-got-his-world-cup-semi-finalists-prediction-right

During a promotional event for his autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’ last year in England, Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar was asked to predict the probable World Cup 2015 winner. Tendulkar, in reply, said it wouldn’t be possible for him to single out a team, but he did give away four teams that he thought would make it to the semi-finals. (watch the video below)
While the rest of the world waited for 46 matches (42 group stage matches + 4 quarter-finals) to find out who will make it to the last 4, Tendulkar, it seems, was always sure of the outcome. The last of the 4 quarter-finals ended today with New Zealand easing past West Indies in Wellington to book a semi-final clash against South Africa. 
Interestingly, during the event, he had also ruled out any chances of England qualifying for the semi-finals. As it turned out, England had one of their worst World Cup campaigns of all-time and were eliminated in the group stages after an embarrassing defeat to Bangladesh in their last match. 

(Toni thalayan didn't appeal also ).

Tony has been a dabbayi for a long time, usually happens in tests post lunch/tea. 
You should visit banglacricket.com, so much fun reading the conspiracies 

AF, England not being competitive prediction takes the cake    
though has to be said  I have amazed by his pick of Dhawan being the top scorer in the headlines today WC special when Dhawan was coming off a horrendous patch

Saffers and rain    , looks like Baz got sucked into this own hype of attacking kaptaani, overbowled Boult/Southee and quickly ran of quality
against ABDV and Vettori who turns masakai against Saffers doesn't help either. 

Rjinx master has spoken  http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/853903.html

Well, in the event, McCullum brutally exposed how overrated the SA bowling was.  ABD compounded matters by not playing Abbott.  SA also took too long to accelerate during their own innings. Having said that, 298 ought to have been defended and NZ underlined why they are so dangerous by chasing down such a large total in a tournament that has favoured sides batting first.  At office in lunchtime, somebody said chasing is easier because you know the target.  Ha, the lengths people go to make apologies for SA.  There's no need.  They were not the most talented and most equipped side in this event (and haven't been in any Cup after 1999).  They did not deserve to win the Cup and have rightfully been sent home by the Kiwis.  And for those who believe NZ will collapse in the large outfields of Melbourne, consider Boult's economy rate and consider the size of the NZ grounds.  How much harder is it going to be to play the NZ bowling in Aus conditions if they are so tight even in small grounds.  That's the flipside of the argument that NZ's hitters will get shown up at MCG.  It would be a positive on two counts if NZ win the tournament:  (a) they played positive cricket to win and (b) they are not from the terrible Big Three enclave.

Semis 1 was such a chokethon, Kiwis nervy drops and Saffers repaying it with more drops/runnot botch-ups.
 Kiwis must thank their lucky stars for the rain interruption, ABDV faced about 5 balls after the interruption,
with Baz using up all his main bowlers it would have carnage and they would have reached a score which would
been choke-proof 

Saffers ground fielding was top-notch, their catching and wkt keeper caved in to the pressure, puny sized grounds
will be a major putoff for best of the bowling sides who still have to get used to dimensions and the lengths usually goes for a toss and 
Kiwis are ruthlessly taking advantage of visiting team'ss handicap wrt dimensions/early swing.

Saffers leaving out their best bowler in Abbott was
nothing but fear of chasing in a knock-out and wanting some batting assurance with Philander in 11.
If anything given Steyn's ordinary WC, should have dropped him and played Abott in his place.

though had to be said if Saffers were chasing, match would have ended soon with Kiwis winning by 150+ runs so
better side did win.

consider Boult's economy rate and consider the size of the NZ grounds.

it comes with early nip in the wicket, how many overs in batting PP/death overs? Abd/Faf were getting on top only 
for rain to play spoilsport. I wonder with a reserve day in knockouts why can't ICC just let the teams play 50 overs
each even over 2 days.

Kiwis in this worldcup are so much like Lanka of 2011 WC who played all their league/knock-outs on slow wickets only to be shown up in a batting
beauty @ Wankhede, similarly Ind/OZ will completely demolish Kiwis @ MCG given their acquaintance.

On Semi 2, don't think it will go down the wire, will be mostly one-sided with India coming up triumphs 

Well, that is also the beauty of McCullum's captaincy.  He has attacked all out (which Sanga never did by the way in 2011, didn't even bring the fielders in for Murali when Dhoni came to the crease) and been prepared to bowl out 7 or 8 overs of Boult in return for wickets (though I maintain he simply shouldn't bowl out Boult against Aus if they happen to play them in the final).  Even if there are bowlers who can bat a bit in the lower order of a team, the run rate still suffers with wickets.  And he has fantastic back up bowlers like Corey Anderson.  What did SA have other than Duminy and ABD?  I think this is a question Brian McMillan himself asked before the Cup, where are those all rounders SA used to have.  

Besides, what did Steyn and Philander do other than get hammered in the first 5?  So it's not simply about conditions favouring Boult because then they would have to magically transform to disadvantage opposition bowlers.  Boult has been outstanding, has sent down many deliveries that deserved wickets apart from the wicket taking ones so he didn't get lucky.  Nobody gets lucky for 8 matches on the trot.  And Southee has been doing that too (bowling beauties, that is) and even Henry stepping in for Milne did so.  What you are doing here is reacting to the raving about NZ by commentators and fans and trying to somehow rationalise as to why they must be dead wrong.  Well, maybe there is a bit of hype (though hardly much at all compared to the enormous hype over SA) but they can't all possibly be dead wrong.  NZ's results speak for themselves.  Even with rain playing spoilsport, SA really should have defended 298.  But for Morkel, NZ would have done it much more comfortably, that's what's scary.

2003 redux.  Result was practically a foregone conclusion once Aus won the toss and chose to bat first.  India did well to pull them back just a notch from a situation where 350 looked very much attainable.  But that was one of the few, if not only, silver linings for India.  Big hitting Finch ground out an 80, Smith delivered the goods again.  Watto got into the act a bit today.  And Mitch with both bat and ball.  Aus hunted like a pack of wolves while India disintegrated like a herd of panic-stricken antelopes, player after player forgetting what his role was and what the situation required of him.

Wizz, You've been pretty much wrong about every cricket prediction in WC here. Comparing Kiwis to Lankans of 2011, don't know where to start with how wrong you are. 

How many batsmen would have the balls to play like what Mccullum did?. ZERO. He Smashed steyn all over and made him lose his confidence completely. Talk about setting the tone of a chase. Full marks right there. I would just hand him the cup just for that. Elliott held his nerves and batted beautifully. 

AB de knew the risks he was taking. It was mentioned that there was a good chance of showers in the day. He knew what he was getting into when he won the toss and elected to bat. 

Crimson, good point on Boult's r/r and the size of NZ grounds.

India demolishing NZ will happen only in dreams. Last year INDIA got steam rolled 0-4 in the ODI series.

finally Ind's luck ran out with the toss and the result showed, firmly believe
if Ind chased against Pak/SA under we would have gotten similar results.

Dhawan literally carried the batting in this WC and for Dhoni to publicly admonish him in the presser was
low blow, thot the bowlers did a fair job except may be the batting pp/last 2 overs.
Jaddu @ 7 is waste of time/energy, he adds nothing to the side other than fielding.
Ash keeps his beast mode in ICC events, he is my pick for Indian bowler of the series closely followed by Shami.
Nohit lived up to his billing and bullied Bang boys and went AWOL against good attacks.
Ajinx is being wasted in the middle, either he should open or be left out of the side.
didn't expect much from Rainman/Dhoni given the conditions.
would have been quite sight with Aaron in the mix with Mohit replacing Kaddu in 11.

Kohls needs to rein his ego and play the percentages,
for a guy who is tipped to be future ATG to fail twice over a 2 card trick will severely hurt that reputation.
blaming his new anchor role for ordinary WC is as bad as blaming his gf for his downturn. His glaring weakness is
as bad as Rainman's short ball issue, reflects poorly on current lot of international bowlers who took this long to figure it out.

How many batsmen would have the balls to play like what Mccullum did?. ZERO. He Smashed steyn all over and made him lose his confidence completely. Talk about setting the tone of a chase. Full marks right there. I would just hand him the cup just for that. Elliott held his nerves and batted beautifully.

many given the size of the ground/wet ball/greasy outfield. for instance the shot Dhawan played could have easily
cleared any boundary in Kiwiland. would you bet on Baz on repeating the same doze on bigger grounds against the same attack?
Steyn's stock is pitching it up and moving it away, with ~40m boundaries, bowlers mindset completely changes and wet seam
negated any seam. also, more than Elliot holding his nerves it mostly down to Saffers losing theirs, they couldn't catch him or even run him out. 

India demolishing NZ will happen only in dreams. Last year INDIA got steam rolled 0-4 in the ODI series.

Kiwis achilles is spin, check out how they struggled even to beat Bang boys in this WC
if you are talking about past odi series check out their recent head-head against Bang boys.
given Ind spin options/Ash's form, Ind could have easily beaten them.

Wizz, You've been pretty much wrong about every cricket prediction in WC here

 adhu oru raaja ragasiyam  my next prediction is Ozzies obliterating Kiwis @ MCG :Mrithyun jay ho om, mrithyun jay ho: in the background

Sorry wizz, have to disagree wrt bazz. Nobody would do it. Nobody has done it. The closest in terms of that attacking strokeplay in a WC semi is De-silva in 1996 but it gets slightly lower credit from me because it came against our bowling. Stop pulling the smaller ground card for every argument. 

Kiwis achilles heel is spin but who bowls proper spin these days in LOI??. Even the chucking ones are not there in this tournament 

Ashwin IMO, is not a spinner. Even yesterday he got the lonely wkt of maxwell as maxie is prone to hit out or get out. Maxie had its intended effect. Hit 23 off 14 and left. I had definite hopes that our bowling (especially spin) would not even make a dent and I was correct to see that happen. I would have been even more happy if sadeja had been belted for a few more 4' or 6's. 

If you are doing some sort of strategy wrt predictions, aalai vudunga 

Heart says NZ, mind says Aus.  Home advantage, a full house at MCG will be pretty daunting odds.  And Aus, as usual, are peaking at just the right time.  Still would like to see NZ win for their exciting brand of cricket.  

Meantime, my article on the Ind-Aus semi:

http://www.criclife.com/features/opinions/2015-world-cup-semis-india-do-a-eugenie-bouchard-at-the-scg-25039

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/prank-callers-pak-bangladesh-call-bcci-sing-mauka-mauka-india-loss-2177851.html?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

It is a world cup for the aussies to lose.
They hold it right in their hands. Kiwis have some 
huge adjustments to make. Their batsmen have to learn to graft for 
runs in the start unlike their lala land where they were swinging at everything.
Ross Taylor better show up. HE cannot hope to struggle at the cost of run rate pressure on elite or corey anderson.
Boult would love to bowl here, but what about southee? There is not going to be any life threatening swing.
As for spin, Kiwis only have vettori - he can heave a sigh of relief at the long boundaries in MCG.
Having said all that, Kiwis have some things in their favor,
1. They have never been in the finals - this could very well be the drop of blood that the sharks have sensed. Could make them more focused.
2. No pressure on the captain - Clarke on the other hand has to win this match to sign off gracefully. McC can be his usual belligerent self.
3. They have a better fielding unit. Have dropped less catches and can hope to continue their show.

Aussies - u better start catching well. Kiwis are not going to be like rohit sharma and shikar dhawan . they will make you pay the price of missed catches.
U still have a 4th and fifth bowler problem. u haven't sorted it out. But I feel smith and maxwell will save the day for you in batting if you win the toss.