World T20 Super 10 Group 1, SL, SA, WI, Eng, Afghan

[mikesiva]

Wed, 16 Mar – West Indies v England (M) (PM), Mumbai

Thu, 17 Mar – Sri Lanka v Q1B (M) (Eve.), Kolkata

Fri, 18 Mar – South Africa v England (M) (Eve.), Mumbai

Sun, 20 Mar – South Africa v Q1B (M) (PM), Mumbai; Sri Lanka v West Indies (M) (Eve.), Bengaluru

Wed, 23 Mar – England v Q1B (M) (PM), New Delhi

Fri, 25 Mar – South Africa v West Indies (M), (Eve.), Nagpur

Sat, 26 Mar – England v Sri Lanka (M) (Eve.), New Delhi

Sun, 27 Mar – Q1B v West Indies (M) (PM), Nagpur

Mon, 28 Mar – South Africa v Sri Lanka (M) (Eve.), New Delhi

[sussexpob]

Bit eager on this one, Mike

[mikesiva]

Bit eager on this one, Mike

Can you blame me? It's the only thing the West Indies have a chance of winning these days!

[dan08]

Probably say this is the weaker of the two groups.

I reckon England have a great chance of making the semi's.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Probably say this is the weaker of the two groups.

I reckon England have a great chance of making the semi's.

Yes, having been kept apart from BD and Ireland.

[Red Devil]

Probably say this is the weaker of the two groups.

I reckon England have a great chance of making the semi's.

definitely the weaker group, by quite a long way imo

Eng must be delighted by the draw, actually they are all probably much happier to be in this group

[mikesiva]

Really? With current defending champs Sri Lanka and number one West Indies?

I would think those two teams are favourites to reach the semis.

But the beauty of T20 cricket is that their are more surprises than in the 50-overs World Cup, so you never know....

[ianp1970]

I would expect the winner to come from Group A. India and Australia look to be the stand out teams, and I would also give Pakistan and New Zealand a fighting chance. All 4 would have expected to qualify if drawn in thus group.

[Dr Cricket]

plus they have either Ireland or Ban in their group won't be easy.

[shankycricket]

Really? With current defending champs Sri Lanka and number one West Indies?

I would think those two teams are favourites to reach the semis.

But the beauty of T20 cricket is that their are more surprises than in the 50-overs World Cup, so you never know....

On what basis? What has the past results got anything to do with where the teams stand currently? England are on a 6 match winning streak in T20Is (3 in Asia). South Africa have just won T20I series in Bangladesh and India. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, lost to Pak at home and got absolutely mauled in New Zealand. WI have obvious political issues and their best team hasn't really assembled together for ages. Are you suddenly expecting them to work magic after not having playing alongside each other for so long and the external factors at play? Don't get me wrong, they have enough firepower in their ranks to upset an applecart but I really don't think they have the consistency to string together a good tournament, unlike in 2012 when you could sense it was their time.

England and South Africa are easily the two standout teams in this group.

[mikesiva]

Uummm...on the basis that the West Indies are ranked number one in the rankings. The number one seed usually deserves consideration in most sporting competitions. This T20 side is very different from the Test side. The conflicts between the WICB and demoralised players is a Test-ODI phenomenon. Of the T20 side picked for the World Champs, only Lil Bravo, Samuels, Ramdin, Holder and Taylor played in the last Test match. The other 10 were not in the Test squad.

The main problem though, is the WICB's failure to schedule any T20 series between the tour of Sri Lanka in the autumn and when the World Champs start. At least the guys have been keeping in practice by either playing the Big Bash or the Super50 this month in Trinidad and St Kitts. Not ideal, but better than nothing....

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Ga ... quad_49934

West Indies — Darren Sammy (captain), Lendl Simmons, Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Keiron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Sunil Narine, Andre Fletcher, Jason Holder, Jerome Taylor, Andre Russell.

I'm not so sure about Lil Bravo getting in ahead of Dwayne Smith, and I'm not convinced about Taylor as a T20 bowler. I would've picked Sheldon Cottrell instead of Taylor. Pollard will have to prove his fitness, and Narine will have to pass tests on his bowling, or they could be replaced....

[Dr Cricket]

You do realise the T20 rankings is a joke.
Take the india vs Australia current series where both teams could end up number 1 or number 7 after the series.

T20 rankings mean zilch since none of the team hardly ever play the format so the points and ranking can change by a huge margin after every game.

In terms of WI progress they are a dangerous team but bowling attack looks weak in the conditions.
This is T20 anyway any team can really win the competition or go far.
But SA and England are the favorites to go through from this group.

[Dr Cricket]

By the way here are the odds for the group.

South Africa 3.10, England 3.60, west indies 3.60 sri lanka 4.50

india 2.40, Australia 2.87 new zealand 7.00 pakistan 7.00 bangladesh 21.00

Those are the odd to finish top of the group.

[shankycricket]

Australia that low?

[Dr Cricket]

Australia that low?

Yeah crazy odds.