Friday, November 22

Tag: 2023/24

Match Preview – England vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 44th Match
10Nov By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – England vs Pakistan, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 44th Match

Big picture: Pakistan chasing the almost impossibleSo here we are: one last time in the group stages at Eden Gardens, and for both of these sides - almost certainly - one last time at this World Cup. As title defences go, it was an all-timer of a disaster for England, comparable not just with other cricketing fizzle-fests, but perhaps all sport: think France at the FIFA World Cup in 2002, or Lleyton Hewitt's first-round exit at Wimbledon the year later. England went nearly a month between their only two World Cup wins, with six defeats - many of them pastings - littering their campaign, one so poor it could yet knock them out of the 2025 Champions Trophy.England's brand of cricket has been high-risk-high-reward for about eight years now, and having enjoyed so much white-ball success with ...
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Match Preview – Australia vs Bangladesh, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 43rd Match
10Nov By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Australia vs Bangladesh, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 43rd Match

Big picture: Australia look to fine-tune against Bangladesh ahead of semi-finalBefore Glenn Maxwell unleashed the most surreal batting imaginable, Australia appeared headed for a hefty defeat against Afghanistan and almost getting into must-win territory against Bangladesh. That nervy scenario was alleviated by Maxwell, who powered Australia into a semi-final against South Africa. But Australia won't be treating this as a dead rubber and will field their strongest available line-up for the clash in Pune.Even though Australia have won six consecutive matches, after such a rocky start, their form has been patchy at times. They've been relying on individual brilliance - none more so than Maxwell's tour de force - rather than a collective.Australia still face selection issues in a bid to find...
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Match Preview – England vs Netherlands, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 40th Match
7Nov By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – England vs Netherlands, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 40th Match

Big picture - Total Cricket meets Total Wipeout"Champions of Europe… you'll never sing that!"That's right, here's one in the eye for all those glory-seekers in the upper echelons of the World Cup table, queuing up for their invite to the big dance in Ahmedabad in two weeks' time. There's a punier title up for grabs in Pune on Wednesday - so puny, in fact, that it's not even an official title, unlike the one that an England amateur team claimed at European Cricket Championships in Malaga last month. And look who they beat by eight wickets in the final… none other than the defending champions, Netherlands! Call off this farce! Cricket's come home already!In all seriousness, England would be all too happy to walk away from this miserable campaign right now. Saturday's 33-run loss to Australi...
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Match Preview – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 38th Match
5Nov By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 38th Match

Big Picture: Problems to address for both teamsWell, this might not be quite the must-win scenario either of these sides would have been envisioned being involved in towards the tail-end of this tournament, but the ICC's confirmation that the top seven finishers (and hosts Pakistan) will gain qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy has given what would have been a largely inconsequential dead rubber some much needed purpose.Both sides' troubles are well documented. Since their opening game win against Afghanistan, Bangladesh have lost six on the trot. Only England have a worse record, and Bangladesh have lost to them too. For a side that had won 24 of 39 ODIs since the start of 2021 - a 61% win record - this has been the most underwhelming of tournaments, especially in conditions that...
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Match Preview – India vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 33rd Match
2Nov By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – India vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 33rd Match

Big picture: Two teams with contrasting fortunesIndia. Sri Lanka. The Wankhede. The last time these two teams played an ODI at this venue, the occasion was the 2011 World Cup final. Twelve years later, though, things are a little different.India have lived up to the billing of being the pre-tournament favourites. They have won all of their six matches so far despite missing Shubman Gill for their first two and Hardik Pandya for the last two. If they beat Sri Lanka on Thursday, they will become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals.Sri Lanka, who made it to this World Cup via the Qualifier route, are struggling to stay alive. They have just four points from six games and are coming off the back of a loss to Afghanistan. Another defeat will push them to the brink of elimination.Sri ...
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Match Preview – England vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 25th Match
25Oct By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – England vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 25th Match

Big picture: Stragglers in desperate search for pointsSo, how's that whole "attacking champions" thing working out? Jos Buttler may always regret saying England wouldn't be "trying to defend anything" out in India - a statement that appears to be coming true uncomfortably quickly - but they are not quite at the point of no return, despite only being kept off the bottom of the table by Bangladesh's thumping defeat to South Africa on Tuesday. Cornered lions, anyone?Peeling off five wins in a row in order to reach 12 points - which would include beating the behemoth that is India on their own patch - looks a tall order, even before you account for the trough into which England's ODI form has fallen. But if the miracle resurrection is going to start somewhere then it will have to be in Bengal...
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Match Preview – Australia vs Netherlands, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 24th Match
24Oct By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Australia vs Netherlands, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 24th Match

Big picture: The shared history of Australia and NetherlandsThere has long been a connection between Netherlands and Australian cricket. It is perhaps not quite as strong as South Africa's connection to the current Dutch team. But their captain Scott Edwards is an Australian citizen, having grown up in Melbourne and played second XI cricket for Victoria. He has introduced a Netherlands team song that is a shameless rebrand of the song of his favourite Australian Football League club Richmond. From Edwards to former Dutch coach Ryan Campbell, to Tom Cooper, Timm van der Gugten, Michael Swart and Dirk Nannes, among others, plenty of Australian domestic players have had an impact on Netherlands cricket.But there will be no love lost in Delhi on Wednesday. Netherlands are gunning for another ...
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Match Preview – Bangladesh vs South Africa, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 23rd Match
23Oct By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Bangladesh vs South Africa, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 23rd Match

Big picture: Crucial game for Bangladesh Who wants to face the team that smashed 399 in their previous game? And at the venue they did it too. Bangladesh have that privilege, as they take on a South African unit fresh - or are they, given the searing Mumbai heat? - from their dismantling of defending champions England on Saturday.With three wins in four games, South Africa are comfortably placed at No. 3 in the points table. And their thumping margins of victories - 102 runs against Sri Lanka, 134 against Australia, and 229 against England - have earned them the best net run rate in the tournament.South Africa have scored 300-plus every time they have batted first in this World Cup - with their top order laying a strong platform for a powerful finish, of which Heinrich Klaasen and Marco J...
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Match Preview – India vs New Zealand, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 21st Match
21Oct By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – India vs New Zealand, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 21st Match

Big picture: Here comes India's bogey team Ask any ardent Indian fan which is their second-favourite cricket team, and New Zealand will remain a common answer. Ask the same set of fans which team spooks them the most when it comes to ICC events: New Zealand will once again be the unanimous reply. Why you ask.It's probably the memories of the last one here that has most Indian fans flinch. And as much as India would like to deny it, New Zealand have been their bogey team over the years. There are numbers to back this up. In all ICC events since 1992 (considering only the final from the WTC 2019-21 and 2021-23 cycles), India have beaten New Zealand just once in nine attempts.Which is why when these two teams meet in Dharamsala on Sunday, it won't be just another group stage game: there will...
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Match Preview – Netherlands vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 19th Match
21Oct By adminNo Comments
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Match Preview – Netherlands vs Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023/24, 19th Match

Big picture: Netherlands are catching upWhen these two sides met a little over three months ago, the picture could not have been more dissimilar.Sri Lanka had just racked up a clean sweep of the World Cup Qualifier and dispatched the Dutch twice over the course of the tournament. While the first was an edgy affair, the second - a final, though with nothing really riding on it - was as one-sided as most Sri Lanka-Netherlands games have tended to be.In all, these sides have squared off five times in ODIs with Sri Lanka winning all those encounters, including one where the Lankans racked up the then-highest ever ODI total of 443. But despite this lopsided history, it's the Dutch that come into this game with all the momentum.After suffering fairly comprehensive defeats in their opening two m...
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