Page 28 of 28

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 6:01 pm
by alfie
Bloody rain !

It's three am here - albeit a weekend. I think I'll assume this is done and dusted and grab some shut eye .

Goodnight rich and I hope Scotland give England a proper game in a couple of hours :)

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 6:04 pm
by rich1uk
looking a bit ominous atm

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 6:40 pm
by rich1uk
game over

England win and Australia go home

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 10:51 pm
by bigfluffylemon
Well well well. Not sure who will be more annoyed at that, GJ for the Aussies going home, or sussex for the fact that Ben sent them there.

England living up to the hype as favourites, for once. Always afraid I'll jinx it, but they really should be pretty confident of making the final from here :hide

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sat Jun 10, 2017 11:17 pm
by bigfluffylemon
Bizarre selection by Australia to have Henriques at 4. That's at least 3 places too high. Australia seem to be short a batsman to me.

Ebony Rainford-Brent called it on the post match commentary after Australia Bangladesh: Australia hadn't had a completed batting innings in 4 games in England, so looked rather undercooked. I'd have to agree.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:46 am
by Arthur Crabtree
Watching the highlights. Very good from Wood bowling at around 90mph throughout. And Rashid too, and good captaincy from Morgan to keep him bowling when the English way is to bowl pace in the last ten.

Not great from the Aussie bats, but the competition never really got started for them.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:50 am
by Arthur Crabtree
Not a good day for Stokes with the ball (maybe he bowled too much). Perhaps he'll get some with the bat.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 12:54 am
by Arthur Crabtree
Dodgy review from Jason. Reckon they'll drop him for the semis, even given Morgan's assurances. The leeway for the batters is based on them having the license to attack and fail, but that's not how Roy is getting out. I intuit... now is the time to act.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 1:18 am
by Arthur Crabtree
Superb knock by Morgan, in the absolute peak of form and credit for getting back there after previous slumps. Buttler looks good again and I still think (as England's best ever ODI bat) he shouldn't be down at six. Stokes was a bit streaky at times, but also played some hard hitting and classy shots too.

Maybe Morgs or Wood for POTM based on the highlights.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 1:25 am
by Arthur Crabtree
Durhamfootman wrote:I know that AC has been quite scathing about the media attention given to Woody, despite Plunkett taking all the wickets (which I agree with, btw), but in fairness to Woody, he does seem to take the really big wickets. Warner and Smith in this match, Williamson in the last. These are guys who can virtually win matches on their own if they are given enough time in the middle


Just make clear I wasn't critical of Wood's contribution. Just that most people have spoken about what he might bring to the team on his return, having shown tempting promise. But so far he hasn't really filled in that sketchy preliminary outline. Maybe the press have been justifying their speculative articles a bit. Did very well today. Destined to fluctuate between being the new Simon Jones and the new Ajmal Shahzad.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:49 am
by Making_Splinters
Really good result yesterday, just goes to show how deep our batting is that we can recover from 3 quick wickets so well. Fantastic innings from Stokes and Morgan.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 12:37 am
by bigfluffylemon
So with the group stage over, I've been perusing team of the tournament so far. There aren't a huge number of standouts, TBH.

Openers: Been a poor tournament for them, really. Dharwan and Iqbal are the only two to have really got anywhere, although Hales has been ok. Usually great performers like Warner, de Kock, Guptill have underperformed. Amla's numbers look ok, but they're boosted by a fairly facile victory against Sri Lanka - he wasn't really there when needed.

Batsmen: A few contenders here. Root has been dependable as ever. He never looks flashy, but seems to get the job done. Morgan's run of good form continues. Kohli is looking in ominous nick. Williamson did well but one felt that he needed to go on from his starts - collapses started happening when he got out when set. Mahmadullah also needs a mention - Ok, it's only been one substantial innings, but my what an innings!

Allrounders: Not been a superb tournament for them so far. Ben Stokes has to be up there, as the only allrounder to have contributed substantially with both bat and ball. Bowling hasn't been great, but he continues his knack of taking key wickets. Only real other contender for me is Shakib, but his bowling hasn't been good at all.

Keeper: No real standouts here. Jos Buttler, Safraz Ahmed and Dickwella have all contributed runs when needed and been ok behind the stumps.

Quicks: Lots of possibles in this category, it's hard to narrow down! Hazlewood is the tournament's leading wicket taker, despite Australia's overall poor performance. Mark Wood and Liam Plunkett have both done very well. Morne Morkel can hold his head high as SA go home early - he certainly did everything he could. Hasan Ali has played a key role in both Pakistan's victories. Junaid Khan and B Kumar have also both been reliable, with good economy and taking important wickets.

Spinners: Adil Rashid showed just how wrong England were to leave him out for the first game with two cracking performances so far in a tournament that hasn't done much for spinners. His only real competition has been the ever-reliable Imran Tahir.

Re: Champions Trophy, Group 'A', June 1-10

PostPosted: Tue Jun 13, 2017 1:05 am
by Arthur Crabtree
Shakib al-Hasan's hundred was a stand out for me. Some of Stokes' hitting was colossal, if chancy. England's attack had been talked down before the competition so well done to them for some potent displays. Shikhar has been a major player, Kohli looks ready to play a big knock. Williamson was classy though let down by his colleagues.