2019 Cricket World Cup

The situation has been changed miraculously last night when SA beat Australia by 10 runs that made it easy for India. Now India will take on NZ in first Semifinal and Australia will face England in the other. I think India should not take NZ lightly and should go all out to make it to the final. 

Yes though New Zealand might be an easy team compared to England and Australia,  India should not take them lightly.  Each team will give their best to reach the finals of World Cup.  And going lightly might take their chance away from being in final.  It's a knockout match. 

England is back to its form after few bad games. 

India is a strong team with good batting and bowling line and they are fit on field. Good that KL Rahul is back to his form in the last match against Sri Lanka.  Such boost was needed before the crucial match.  He seemed to be struggling as an opener and Dhawan was missed. 

suni51 wrote:

The situation has been changed miraculously last night when SA beat Australia by 10 runs that made it easy for India. Now India will take on NZ in first Semifinal and Australia will face England in the other. I think India should not take NZ lightly and should go all out to make it to the final. 

Yes absolutely. Didn't expect south Africa will beat Australia. Going by the form of the Proteas, Australia were the clear favorites. However, it's been proved yet again that something brings out the best from the South Africans when they face Australia. In the past it has happened on innumerable occasions. Yesterday right from the beginning SA showed positive intent. Their captain lead from the front with a sparkling century. The bowlers bowled well within themselves and the fielding was exceptional at times. Especially the catch by Morris to get rid off the dangerous Warner was so well timed and it eventually proved to be the turning point of the match.

The bond between the two nations is a solid one and also pretty old from Mahatma Gandhi to Nelson Mandela. On a lighter note, South Africa displayed that friendship yet again and this time in the field of cricket !!!  

@ SB-  Very apt comment, I admire your knowledge of cricket and hope you will post your suggestion and the players that will shine in the match between India and NZ.

suni51 wrote:

@ SB-  Very apt comment, I admire your knowledge of cricket and hope you will post your suggestion and the players that will shine in the match between India and NZ.

Thank you so much for your encouragement ! It's been an absolute pleasure exchanging ideas / opinions here at Boddunan with everyone.

Talking about cricket, I just hope Rohit Sharma continues his good form in the big match. I have a feeling / intuition that Virat Kohli, if he gets the opportunity to play decent amount of overs, will go on to score a big one today. He is a big match player and is expected to rise to the occasion.

New Zealand can be a dangerous side on their day. Williamson is in excellent form. Jimmy Neesham too has a very good temperament when it comes to big matches and pressure situations. And India will have to bat a little carefully initially as the threat of Trent Boult will always be there.

New Zealand have won the toss and chose to bat first. Hopefully India can restrict them well. India has gone with a batting heavy line up with jadeja, bhuvi in the playing XI which is very good I think.

But no extra bowler for cushion, that's the flipside.

Indeed, Sourav has a deep understanding of the game and players and the matches between teams. Love to read his insightful comments.

Very unfortunate as India lose their review first ball, they do not have any reviews left.

Seeing the amount of swing, it is good that India is bowling first. With Boult in their attack, we would have been in a terrifying situation. New Zealand lost their first wicket at 3.3 overs. 1/1 Score.

New Zealand showed lack of positive intent and India also bowled well in these 46.1 overs played so far.

It's really becoming very frustrating to come across a rain delay yet again in this tournament. However, there's a reserve day for the semis.

Rain has been a game spoiler.  India showed terrific bowling and Kiwis scored as low as 27 in first ten overs.  Even the league match between the two countries could not happen due to rain.  But semis has a reserved day.  If the game doesn't happen at all then India should comfortably go to finals looking at their good run rate. 

It will be a tough time for Kohli's men to bat in the challenging conditions and that too with the DLS score on mind, lest rain play spoilsport just after 20 overs. Hence till 20 overs they might bat aggressively and thereon will be calculative to be in a safe position, but if India play only 20 overs it will be a very tough one for India.

Arunima Singh wrote:

Rain has been a game spoiler.  India showed terrific bowling and Kiwis scored as low as 27 in first ten overs.  Even the league match between the two countries could not happen due to rain.  But semis has a reserved day.  If the game doesn't happen at all then India should comfortably go to finals looking at their good run rate. 

Yes there's prediction of rain today as well. But if the match does not take place at all, then India will still reach the finals on the basis of finishing first on the points table during the league phase (3 places higher than New Zealand) and not because of a superior run rate. If the points of the two teams were same, then the net run rate would have come into the equation.

At the time of writing this comment 2 PM the weather is perfect but given the English weather conditions a shortened match will be a challenge on such an unpredictable pitch and the bowling that New Zealand has. However, I am hopeful that India will make it to the finals. 

There is a likelyhood of rain in the afternoon, but by then India's 20 overs will be done. The rain is expected after 1Pm.

Jadeja makes a stunning direct hit from deep mid wicket with 1 stump to aim at, thereafter he clings onto a stunner at the boundary rope. Wow!

Dhoni should come at No.4 in this match.

Bumrah is bowling full tosses, the pitch looks good except for it's slowness. The conditions are bright and that should be good for Indian batsman.

It is not overcast like yesterday and that means swing should be less on offer, though conditions might change.

Now last over of the match is in progress. Today New Zealand lost three wicket in three overs.Chance of winning of India is good one and we will see India in final.

240 runs in 300 balls.

The skies look blue with white clouds partially covered, it's really good out there!

India will be looking at the DLS though with the forecast for rain from afternoon.

There is only a 10 minute break in between innings and Indian batting has now started.

Doesn't look ideal at the moment as first wicket falls, Rohit departs. Hope Kohli can build a partnership. Kohli almost nicked one as well.

Rohit, Kohli and Rahul fall, India 5/3, India in disarray.

Poor batting by Indians. Rahul was the only one with technique, he is also gone. Now it's upto rain or nothing.

If India win this, it will be a good show of resilience under challenging conditions, which would augur well to boost their confidence.