The UK Babe Channels Forum

A tail of throwing it all away again - from both Ireland and Afghanistan today! Having done the hard work in restricting New Zealand to a well below par total - despite dropped catches (becoming a real issue), Ireland were once again in the box seat until the wheels fell off to spin (again a continuing issue) At 70 for 1 there didn't seem to be any problem but then a blitz of 6/47 and that was that! Another tournament of opportunities wasted then!

Afghanistan will really be churning over the 'what ifs!! Superb with the ball, they did just about everything right in restricting Aus to a well below par target and, in the reply, appeared to be on course before losing momentum at the crucial time. Their back - end performance suggested that the middle overs are what cost them! Losing Nabi for 1, when he can be relied upon quite often, broke their back I think. I wonder if they need to look at their order, giving Rashid a pinch hitter role?? A risk - yes - as you expose that middle lower, but if he comes off, he can - in turn - break the back - of a chase - assuming Nabi comes good in the position he currently occupies!!?? Using him (rashid) in the same role when setting wouldn't be the worst option either in the right circumstances

Wow England made heavy work of that!! Sri Lanka did really well to take it so deep, but England will wonder how they didn't cruise home! Are we looking at the same scenario as the world cup itself?? Backs against the wall?? bang bang and winners and title holders?? Too soon obviously to make any shout on that, but somehow the similarities are there!

Not a T20 fan, but the format of this tournament (with the tie breakers - net run rate etc) is the perfect one as far as I am concerned, and should be the points/count back system for the World cup proper (as I see it) - aside from one change - 16 x 4 groups in the WC

Nice to see Ben Stokes steer them home with the bat.
The death bowling was excellent again too.

Match 40 Netherland v South Africa Group 2 - Adelaide (00.00 GMT)
South Africa elected to field
Netherlands 158-4 Ackermann 41 no Myburgh 37 Cooper 35 O'Dowd 29 Maharaj 2-27
SA 145-8 Rossouw 25 Klaasen 21 Bavuma 20 Glover 3-9 Klaasen 2-20 de Leede 2-25
Netherlands won by 13 runs

Match 41 Bangladesh v Pakistan Group 2 - Adelaide (04.00 GMT)
Bangladesh elected to bat
Bangladesh 127-8 Shanto 54 Afif 24 no Soumya 20 Shaheen 4-22 Shadab 2-30
Pakistan 128-5 (18.1 overs) Rizwan 32 Babar 25 Masoood 24 no
Pakistan won by 5 wickets

Match 42 India v Zimbabwe Group 2 Melbourne (08.00 GMT)
India elected to bat
India 186-5 (20 overs) Surayakumar 61 no Rahul 51 Kohli 26 Williams 2-9
Zimbabwe 115 (17.2 overs) Burl 35 Raza 34 Ashwin 3-22 Shami 2-14 Hardik 2-16
India won by 71 runs

Huge shock as Netherlands have beaten South Africa by 13 runs.
The defeat sends the Proteas out the tournament and means Pakistan go through to the semis after they beat Bangladesh in an effective quarter final.

Barring an unlikely India defeat to Zimbabwe a clash of the titans beckons in the semi final i.e India v England.
Brutal or what?

II don't think we've beaten India in semi final for a while. If we're going to beat India we have to be calm and not get too carried away and any score below 200 will help

My head says, an India v Pakistan final, my head says an England v New Zealand final. Either would be dream match-ups.

^ England are the best team. If they play to their potential (not like they did in the Ireland match)