[heavymetaltroll]

India after a few early wobbles manage to beat Zimbabwe fairly comfortably. Well played by Zimbabwe with a magnificent final innings by Brendan Taylor, a shame they put down 2 catches, the game could of been a lot more interesting if they'd managed to take them.

West Indies looking fairly likely to crush UAE, come on Ireland in the last game of the pool stages tonight!

[D'iversify]

South Africa win a knockout game (and very convincingly)!

[Tsundoku]

D, on 18 March 2015 - 10:37 AM, said:

South Africa win a knockout game (and very convincingly)!

" ... and when the Lamb opened the Seventh Seal, silence covered the sky ..."



Looks like the SS Bangladesh has hit the India reef.

This post has been edited by Sombra: 19 March 2015 - 11:10 AM

[D'iversify]

Australia through to play India in the semis. Best thing about that from my perspective is that one of those sides has to lose before the final (will be supporting Saffers or NZ, assuming the latter beat the Windies [would support WI too but don't see them having a chance]).

[Tsundoku]

Nice professional job by Aust. I'm annoyed that I had to drive to the other side of the city and back, thus missing the game.

So us vs India next Thursday 1430 local time at the SCG.

EDIT: WTF Glenn Maxwell???

http://www.news.com....n-1227272326098

This post has been edited by Sombra: 21 March 2015 - 02:51 AM

[Tsundoku]

What I hope will happen:

Injuries to Australian bowling stocks force them to call me up at the last minute. In a match free from sledging, a brilliant 250 from 80 balls by me in Australia's monster total of 600 and 6/0 bowling 200 km/h thunderbolts annihilates India for 30 runs, a new ODI record. The entire population of India refuses to get out of bed for a week in grief. Virat Kohli retires after his upper arm is shattered by one of my bouncers. He renounces being a complete butthole and goes to work for the poor. The entire BCCI resigns and is replaced after a long process by a bunch of guys who aren't corrupt. 5 years later, a grassroots political movement led by Kohli sweeps to power and completely reforms Indian government for the better. Poverty erased.

NZ wins a close one over SA.

In the final, NZ cop a hammering as they realise they're not playing on a postage stamp. They go home with their tails between their legs and out of grief the whole country decides to stop bothering sheep and learns to speak English. One of my 25 sixes (2 others of which leave the MCG ground and are proven to have landed in different postcodes) in our total of 601 hits PM Abbot and puts him into a permanent coma. Government led by Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turner who lead a new reformist agenda which decides to make rich bastards actually pay tax. Australian economic problems solved. Christopher Pyne reveals he and Abbot were totally gay for each other before he resigns and joins an order of monks, taking a vow of silence along with those of charity and chastity. He spends the rest of his life helping the poor, the elderly and the sick - people he had previously been out to fuck over when he was a minister. I retire after those 2 matches to win the $100 million lottery. I turn that into $1 trillion (an English trillion - ie a billion billion, where a billion is a million million - not a wussy Yank trillion) and direct that into technological health, education and infratructure projects all over the world, bringing peace and prosperity. When I die at the grand old age of 1000 - in bed with 18 year old female Swedish triplets - I am chagrined to find out there is a God after all, but it decides to retire and pass the mantle on to me because I'm such a top bloke.

------------------------------------------------------------------

What I think will happen:

Australia over India in a close one. Some sort of controversy amid shitty sledging from both sides. Fines galore handed out.

NZ wins a close one over SA. AB de Villiers nearly wins all on his own but runs out of partners chasing NZ total.

In the final in front of the better part of 100,000 people on a proper-sized field, NZ can't handle the pressure and crumble, skying catches to the outfield as they desperately attempt to find the boundary. After a couple of hiccoughs, Australia wins inside 45 overs. Warner fined.

This post has been edited by Sombra: 21 March 2015 - 10:16 AM

[D'iversify]

So, I totally missed this, but Guptill's just smashed Gayle's World Cup innings record (and smashed the Windies). Two double hundreds in one World Cup?! The forces of willow look like they've routed the forces of leather. Is this just a change in how batsmen approach the game thanks to Twenty/Twenty? Or should the ICC seriously think about cutting the fielding restrictions in ODI to even up the game a little? Don't get me wrong, I love watching a good knock, but do sympathise with the bowler's plight these days and am interested in other people's thoughts on the issue.

[Tsundoku]

D, on 21 March 2015 - 09:34 AM, said:

So, I totally missed this, but Guptill's just smashed Gayle's World Cup innings record (and smashed the Windies). Two double hundreds in one World Cup?! The forces of willow look like they've routed the forces of leather. Is this just a change in how batsmen approach the game thanks to Twenty/Twenty? Or should the ICC seriously think about cutting the fielding restrictions in ODI to even up the game a little? Don't get me wrong, I love watching a good knock, but do sympathise with the bowler's plight these days and am interested in other people's thoughts on the issue.

Totally agreed, the rule changes in favour of the bat have been purely for the benefit of TV ratings because they figured out early that modern sheeple with the attention span of a goldfish want sixes and fours galore. Hence 20/20 etc. Money talks.

This post has been edited by Sombra: 21 March 2015 - 10:17 AM

[D'iversify]

Sombra, on 21 March 2015 - 10:14 AM, said:

Totally agreed, the rule changes in favour of the bat have been purely for the benefit of TV ratings because they figured out early that modern sheeple with the attention span of a goldfish want sixes and fours galore. Hence 20/20 etc. Money talks.

Yeah, I love Twenty/20 on the day, but with the way batsmen are playing these days they don't need the ODI rules weighted in their favour the way they are. Twenty/20 maybe is different given that batsmen feel scoreboard pressure much more and bowlers can prosper by playing awkward balls that ODI batsmen would just leave. Maybe they could change the rules on bouncers-per-over in ODI, but post-Phil Hughes that certainly wouldn't be popular with batsmen.

[D'iversify]

Anyway, thoughts on the semis? Who's going through to the final? Aus-NZ? Or will RSA go all the way now that they've broken the knockout curse? Will India rise to the challenge of defending their title?

[Andorion]

I really want NZ to win. They deserve it.

[D'iversify]

Andorion, on 22 March 2015 - 02:24 AM, said:

I really want NZ to win. They deserve it.

Yeah, I'm of Saffer descent but would certainly be happy with a NZ win if SA don't make the final. Always a plucky team that over-achieve, and probably their best chance yet to win. Plus my wife's half-Kiwi.

[Tsundoku]

Saffers choke again. They truly are their own worst enemies.

[Andorion]

Sombra, on 24 March 2015 - 11:55 AM, said:

Saffers choke again. They truly are their own worst enemies.

Duckworth-Lewis again. This has to be some kind of record. Frankly SA played well against a formidable bowling attack. Their problem was their inability to exploit Mccullum's dismissal

[heavymetaltroll]

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn what a game! Easily the best game of the tournament so far, came right down to the wire. My heart was in my throat at the end there but the boys came through. Whew.

[D'iversify]

India looking dead and buried right now. Looks like the pundits were right about the Aus-NZ group game being a possible pre-run of the final.

[Tsundoku]

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssssss! Dhoni's gone!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT:
... aaaaand that's it. Australia win by 95 runs.

This post has been edited by Sombra: 26 March 2015 - 11:20 AM

[Andorion]

So, the Aussie pace attack prevails. The final is going to be awesome. Go Black Caps!

[heavymetaltroll]

Roll on Sunday! Clash of the Co-Hosts, hopefully going to be the best game of the tournament!

[Tsundoku]

Interesting start, NZ 3-39 after 12 overs. No more McCullum, Guptill or Williamson. Let's see what Elliot and Taylor can do.

EDIT:
They did pretty well actually, 111 run partnership. The rest of the team didn't - all out for 183 after 45 overs. Let's see how the Aussies chase that. Small targets can actually be damn tricky at times. Fingers crossed.

This post has been edited by Sombra: 29 March 2015 - 07:00 AM