T20 World Cup

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,182]

Pakistan are through to the final after a poor start 

South Africa have choked 

I think we have been here before 😀

England v India in tomorrow's semi, Leicester police will be praying for an England victory 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Malan being injured is a setback but not irreplaceable. Wood is a top bowler at this level and will be sorely missed. Mills is quick but hasn't played yet.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,182]

I've got a sodding meeting at 10.00 am tomorrow that I can't get out of 

Might see if I can listen to guerrilla cricket through headphones on my phone 😀

[king canary 7,580]

Having to travel to Newcastle for work this morning so timing is fantastic for me- sat on a train watching it.

Our death bowling was poor (although some fantastic batting by Pandya) but the opening batting from Hales and Buttler has been incredible. 

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,182]

I'm watching bbc live text

It sounds absolutely brutal 

19 to win off 6 overs, with 10 wickets in hand😍

[king canary 7,580]

That was incredible. A masterclass in how the psychology of this game works. India an about par score on the board but you could see from the first couple of overs it wasn't going to be enough as Hales and Buttler were effortlessly running at 10 an over. Suddenly India have to change strategy and go after wickets but their panicky because they don't have enough runs to allow a couple of poor overs. 

Nothing sums up quite how the batsmen destroyed India mentally than that drop of Buttler. I don't think anyone really believed that they were catching that even with the ball in the air for so long.

[king canary 7,580]

Also we're set up for a fascinating final- one of the best bowling teams in Pakistan, who have got this far by throttling opposition batters, vs England who have some of the most aggressive batsmen in the game. Should be fantastic.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Just hope we are peaking at the right time. Pakistan have a real knack of getting better through tournaments but it looks like we are as well. I hope Wood is fit as I think his pace could upset their openers.

But nonetheless, an incredible watch.

[Van wink 2,994]

19 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Just hope we are peaking at the right time. Pakistan have a real knack of getting better through tournaments but it looks like we are as well. I hope Wood is fit as I think his pace could upset their openers.

But nonetheless, an incredible watch.

Fantastic batting performance yesterday, was getting a bit twitchy when India put on such a strong finish but the England tactic of going for it from the start of the innings delivers these big wins, but also of course potentially spectacular failure.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

3 hours ago, Van wink said:

Fantastic batting performance yesterday, was getting a bit twitchy when India put on such a strong finish but the England tactic of going for it from the start of the innings delivers these big wins, but also of course potentially spectacular failure.

I think the toss is important as well. England used to like batting first and putting scoreboard pressure on the first six overs when bowling. But batting second against a score that would win many a match with the freedom to not worry about getting out was a great success as well.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,182]

Rain forecast for this weekend and the rules have been changed

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 hour ago, How I Wrote Elastic Man said:

Rain forecast for this weekend and the rules have been changed

Yes. The rule change seems fair.

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,182]

2 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Yes. The rule change seems fair.

I'm not a huge fan of changing the rules during a tournament, but it doesn't matter a great deal in this case 

Hopefully we get a 3.5 hour window where a full game can be played 

[Midlands Yellow 3,946]

England well on top and restricting Pakistan to a modest total. 

[FenwayFrank 2,457]

15 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

England well on top and restricting Pakistan to a modest total. 

Oops 

[Midlands Yellow 3,946]

Free to view too on everyone’s favourite match day football site. 

[king canary 7,580]

Incredibly tense final. Pakistan bowling so well as they have all tournament. 

[Midlands Yellow 3,946]

16 off 3 balls, all over. 

[Mr Angry 1,547]

Exciting match but it has reinforced my view that in T20 the number of awful batting strokes outweigh the number of decent ones. It’s just a slog fest 😳

Edited November 13, 2022 by Mr Angry

[Midlands Yellow 3,946]

8 minutes ago, Mr Angry said:

Exciting match but it has reinforced my view that in T20 the number of awful batting strokes outweigh the number of decent ones. It’s just a slog fest 😳

Brings the money in though, without it my local team Leicestershire wouldn’t survive. 2 matches in the group stage of the Blast gets more bums on seats than the entire County Championship season. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Midlands Yellow

[Pockthorpe 529]

Ben Stokes hitting the winning run - of course he did . Well done England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Bloody enjoyed that. I actually like the unorthodox nature of T20. Thought that was a superbly entertaining and nervy final. Credit to Pakistan 🇵🇰 too. 

[Mr Angry 1,547]

6 minutes ago, Pockthorpe said:

Ben Stokes hitting the winning run - of course he did . Well done England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

Bloody enjoyed that. I actually like the unorthodox nature of T20. Thought that was a superbly entertaining and nervy final. Credit to Pakistan 🇵🇰 too. 

Yes, it would have been much closer if Afridi hadn't been injured, those 5 balls from Iftikhar gave England the momentum back.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

I admit I was wavering with about 8 overs to go but trusted Stokes because of the way he handles 2019. We certainly have a gifted team with our Irish inspired Kiwis, South Africans And West Indians.