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

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'd not looked at the mph, but he did seem to be getting the ball through the SAns in that close game. Not seen the highlights tonight yet.

[Durhamfootman]

Hmmmm

I'm assuming that Aus have to beat England to progress, with the kind of ba weather luck usually reserved for England.

It will bollox up a lot of FL teams if they can't do it

If the Eng/Aus game ends up being no result, does that mean that Aus will have no run rate to fall back on in a 3 point battle for second spot?

[The Professor]

Thought we'd miss Woakes but Ball has proved more than reliable as a replacement.

[GarlicJam]

Hmmmm

I'm assuming that Aus have to beat England to progress, with the kind of ba weather luck usually reserved for England.

It will bollox up a lot of FL teams if they can't do it

If the Eng/Aus game ends up being no result, does that mean that Aus will have no run rate to fall back on in a 3 point battle for second spot?

Yes, but if NZ and Bangas also get washed out - their RR is in the negative, isn't it - we might get through.

My fantasy team has a number of Aus bats, the type of players who have had the least play in this comp so far. I don't see a win coming up, avoiding last place will be a result.

[Durhamfootman]

My fantasy team has a number of Aus bats, the type of players who have had the least play in this comp so far. I don't see a win coming up, avoiding last place will be a result.

I'm with you there. I normally go with bowlers in FL's, but this time I went with what I thought would be the Aussie top 3 batsmen

disastrous decision up to now

[westoelad]

Hmmmm

I'm assuming that Aus have to beat England to progress, with the kind of ba weather luck usually reserved for England.

It will bollox up a lot of FL teams if they can't do it

If the Eng/Aus game ends up being no result, does that mean that Aus will have no run rate to fall back on in a 3 point battle for second spot?

Run rate probably wouldn't come into it if number of wins takes preference in a tie break as the winner of NZ v Bangladesh would qualify. If both remaining games end as NR then the qualifiers have been reduced to farce.

[Durhamfootman]

further into farce

[bigfluffylemon]

Good win yesterday. Not just for the fact that it's job done, but the way England went about it. In some tricky conditions, they set the innings up well, didn't try to be too aggressive as they were with SA last week, and trusted to the strength of their power hitters to deliver a competitive total at the end. I know that the old 'build a steady platform, keep wickets in hand then go for it in the last ten' is a bit out of favour these days, but the reason that England stuck with it for so long is that in English conditions, it's often still the best approach. 310 was always going to be a tough chase in the conditions, and the bowlers exploited it well. In the end, the lack of depth in NZ's batting compared to England's, and England bowlers' better use of the conditions made the difference.

England are guaranteed top spot in the group, even if they lose to Australia, as the first tiebreaker is number of wins. My hunch therefore is that Australia will take Saturday's game - England have nothing to play for, while Australia have their backs to the wall. Despite their protestations to the contrary, England never play well in dead rubbers when they've already won, while Australia tend to be at their best when they need to be.

Weather forecast is pretty awful for Cardiff on Friday, and not great for B'rum on Saturday, so tie/NR has to be considered for both games. And yes, that does make the group stage a farce . Here's the permutations as I see them:

England have won the group, regardless of Saturday's result. Moving on.

Australia will join them in the semis if they beat England on Saturday. Australia can still qualify in the event of a tie/NR if NZ/Bangla is also tie/NR, but if there is a result in NZ/Bangla, Australia must beat England to progress. Australia can also go through in the event of a loss to England if NZ/Bangla is washed out/NR - it will then come down to NRR between Australia and Bangla.

NZ and Bangla both need to win, and hope Australia don't beat England. Bangladesh can theoretically go through in the event of a tie/NR, if Australia lose to England by a bigger margin than Bangla did. This isn't an option for NZ, as their NRR is inferior to Bangla, and will remain so in the event of a tie/NR.

Did I miss anything?

[bigfluffylemon]

England v NZ is hard to predict. My hunch is going for England though.

Hunch stands at 5/5 (and was on the right side of the NZ rain off).

Next week's lottery numbers please, AC? You're on a roll

[bigfluffylemon]

Morgan was a bit more equivocal about Roy in the post match interview. Given there's nothing riding on the Australia result for England (other than the chance to send Aus home early - I know I'd prefer to avoid them in the final if possible), seems almost certain Roy will get the last group game to find some form, but if he still doesn't perform, surely they have to bring Bairstow in?

Even if he's not a natural one-day opener (and he has been opening for Yorks in the OD cup this season), he can't do worse than Roy has been.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Did I miss anything?

A valuable service!

[GarlicJam]

When is the Aus/Eng match? I am guessing Fri arvo/evening your time

[rich1uk]

When is the Aus/Eng match? I am guessing Fri arvo/evening your time

saturday morning UK time, 10.30am start here

[GarlicJam]

Huh, I thought it would be timed to suit your tellie audience, not ours (especially as it is only on rich people tv here).

That's nice for us - just so long as I can get the streaming working well.

Thanks.

[ianp1970]

Huh, I thought it would be timed to suit your tellie audience, not ours (especially as it is only on rich people tv here).

That's nice for us - just so long as I can get the streaming working well.

Thanks.

I don't think we have ever played a home D/N match at the weekend?