suni51 wrote:

Australia won and now few of the lower standing teams are back in contention. I  think English were over confident.

I don't think England were in a state of over confidence especially after their defeat against Sri Lanka. I feel it's just that the pressure of a big stage like the world cup is getting into them. Yes England's failures are now giving hope to teams such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

I think England are kind of feeling the big stage pressure and remembering their past World Cups record.

The reason to support is that in the chasing in the matches before World cup out of the 20 matches played in chasing, they won 17, tied 1 and NR 2..

However in the world cup in chasing out of 4 matches, they lost 3 and won 1. So they certainly are feeling the heat.

Still England is a very dangerous side and the probability of making semis are also good, so if they make it to semis they will not repeat the mistake and thrash the oppositions is what i feel.

However they have to keep their nerve in chases.

Saurav Banerjee wrote:

suni51 wrote:

Australia won and now few of the lower standing teams are back in contention. I  think English were over confident.

I don't think England were in a state of over confidence especially after their defeat against Sri Lanka. I feel it's just that the pressure of a big stage like the world cup is getting into them. Yes England's failures are now giving hope to teams such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

England would have played better if they gone for batting. Their batting always fail them under slightest of pressure. They have lost the touch since their regular opener is out of the team due to hamstring problem.

I think India have got better bench players than England in that case. England have got a tough road ahead with India and New Zealand to be faced.

Do England need to win 2 games to qualify for semi finals I suppose as the points table present Srilanka also have a chance at 12 points in the table. However I doubt Srilanka getting to 12 points.

epraneeth77 wrote:

I think India have got better bench players than England in that case. England have got a tough road ahead with India and New Zealand to be faced.

Do England need to win 2 games to qualify for semi finals I suppose as the points table present Srilanka also have a chance at 12 points in the table. However I doubt Srilanka getting to 12 points.

Yes, and also the fact that England would be facing India at Edgbaston is definitely not a good thing for the hosts. This is because Edgbaston is known to favor the spinners. And India have two world class spinners in their ranks. Moreover, it's going to be more like a home fixture for Team India as there would be no shortage of noise and supporters for them at this ground.

Pakistan won against tough opponents New Zealand, they played with determination and grit grinding it out in the middle, especially Babar Azam.

They now have Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It will be interesting to see whether they go the distance by winning their next 2.

Afghanistan is relatively easier to beat, but it should not be taken lightly by them.

The thing is as the match ending got near, some people were already thinking of India-Pakistan final already!

New Zealand batting especially Taylor and Martin are out of form. They will have to come out of the shell otherwise Williamson can't  do it all on his own.

Australia looks to be the team to beat as of now. If we remove the blip against India they have looked rock solid. They are always great contenders for the World cup and that is not going to change this time around. I also feel that if India face Australia again, Australia will come victorious.

epraneeth77 wrote:

Australia looks to be the team to beat as of now. If we remove the blip against India they have looked rock solid. They are always great contenders for the World cup and that is not going to change this time around. I also feel that if India face Australia again, Australia will come victorious.

Absolutely. I completely agree with you. A team like Australia always raise their bar when it comes to a big tournament such as the world cup. They are true champions. The presence of players like Warner and Smith, and the form of Finch and Starc are threatening the winning possibilities of all other teams. I am enjoying the way Starc is bowling his yorkers. Especially, the yorker with which he bowled Ben Stokes was absolutely unplayable. If Starc continues to bowl like this, then only God can save the batsmen !

Meanwhile India has opted to bat first with the same team. At the moment it is 77/1 after 17 overs. Rohit went cheaply once again to a controversial decision.

I think it was a very beneficial toss to win as the pitch is already a little slow and will slow down further which will aid both our fast and spin bowlers.