Cricket World Cup!

Post by **Kizyr** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:39 am

Ok I'm getting lukewarm responses about this at the Shrine to Ghaleon boards.

But, the Cricket World Cup is in its second day! The first day was just West Indies vs Pakistan, and the host (West Indies) surprised everyone by beating Pakistan by 54 runs (getting all out with still 3 overs left to go).

Today was Australia vs Scotland, and Kenya vs Canada. No surprises there. Australia completely trounced Scotland, winning by 200+ runs (only the third time in World Cup history that someone won by more than 200); Kenya bat last in their game but pretty easily caught up to Canada and won with 7 wickets left to go.

I had to go back and re-read all the rules of cricket to brush up on my lingo... 'cause last week none of that would've made sense. I'm still having a hard time with some of the more 'specific' lingo, you know... like a recap of the Kenya-Canada game mentioned:
"Ouma skied a catch off the bowling off left-arm spinner Dhaniram shortly after reaching his second one-day international fifty, but Tikolo never gave a sniff of a chance."

Yeah... I know it's English, but... I can't understand any of it.

Anywho, since West Indies are hosting it this year, the matches are at a more amenable time so that I can follow the updates while at work. Still haven't found any place that gives live feeds of the matches yet... KF

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 4:43 am

They do some recaps and highlights on Sky Sports News and a few other news programs on Fox Soccer Channel. Not really a cricket fan, but I'm always intrigued by some of the sports that don't get much recognition in the US.

Jenner · Post by **Jenner** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:26 pm

Goooo Kenya!!

<a href="http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/kenya/"><img src="http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/6807/kenyaoz9.jpg" border="0" alt="Kenya FTW!" /></a>

Post by **Kizyr** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 1:08 am

Ok the matches today were really something...

First, Sri Lanka vs Bermuda. Now, Sri Lanka is one of the strongest teams worldwide, so it was pretty much a given that they'd win. But... they won by 234 runs. That's the second-largest margin in World Cup history (and Australia won yesterday by 203 runs).

Second, Zimbabwe vs Ireland. Zimbabwe I think was the favorite (and I thought they'd be the victors)--it looked like they would win easily by the time the 44th over, with 4 wickets left and only 15 more runs they needed to make. But, Ireland stuck to it, knocked out four runners, and left the game tied at 221 runs.

I'm hoping to catch the highlights of the last few overs for the Zim-Ire match tomorrow morning...

But... Sri Lanka's performance has me worried. Bangladesh is in the same bracket as Sri Lanka and India, so... yeah. All we can hope for is a miracle performance against India at this rate. But I'm still holding onto that hope. KF

Jenner · Post by **Jenner** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 2:56 pm

Kenya's gonna win it!
Kenya can pee on Norway!
It has lions and tigers.

Kenya ftw!

Post by **Kizyr** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:32 pm

Jenner wrote:Kenya's gonna win it!
Kenya can pee on Norway!
It has lions and tigers.

Kenya ftw!

.........Norway's not even in the World Cup.... KF

Werefrog · Post by **Werefrog** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 4:36 pm

Kizyr wrote: .........Norway's not even in the World Cup.... KF

You can't have a World Cup without Norway. Jeez... what is this some phony "world" event like the "World" Series?

Post by **Kizyr** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 6:49 pm

Werefrog wrote:
Kizyr wrote: .........Norway's not even in the World Cup.... KF
You can't have a World Cup without Norway. Jeez... what is this some phony "world" event like the "World" Series?

Countries participating in the World Cup: Canada, Bermuda, West Indies (collectively), England, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, and New Zealand

Countries participating in the World Series: United States, sometimes Canada?

Nah, I'd say that the World Cup is considerably more "world" than the World Series. KF

Werefrog · Post by **Werefrog** » Fri Mar 16, 2007 8:49 pm

I guess. We can agree though that they're both better than Miss Universe. You would think that they could at least get a contestant from Mars.

Post by **Kizyr** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:48 am

India vs Bangladesh is tomorrow!

Go Tigers! KF

Post by **Kizyr** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:22 pm

BANGLADESH ONLY NEEDS 31 MORE RUNS WITH 18 OVERS AND 7 WICKETS LEFT! In other news, if you're an Irish fan, they got Pakistan all-out with only 132 runs. They're now 55-2 after 19 overs (meaning they still have 21 overs to make 78 runs--so they might actually win against Pakistan!). This World Cup might actually be a great one for the 'underdog' teams. KF

UPDATE:
BANGLADESH BEAT INDIA BY FIVE WICKETS!!!

We have a chance of advancing out of the group into the Super 8 stage! Ohh man, I'm so excited now. This is only the second time that we've ever won against India!

And, the Ireland vs Pakistan match looks like it's in Ireland's favor, too. I'm going for the Irish here; a second major surprise in this World Cup would be amazing.

But yeah... Bangladesh won! KF

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:29 pm

Let's go Ireland! Don't know much about cricket, but gotta support my ancestors and all. We Irish don't give up without a fight, and we stick together. Plus, you know, it is St. Patties Day and all.

Post by **Kizyr** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 11:08 pm

The Irish won!

They hit the target of 128 (Pakistan made 132 runs, but the game had to end early on account of a rain-delay and sunset, so the target was 128 for Ireland to win).

Anyway, that makes for two major upsets. Pakistan now lost their second match and will end up not even advancing out of this group! So from their group, the West Indies will probably advance, and then it's between Zimbabwe and Ireland--my money's on Zimbabwe personally, but it really is a toss-up at this point. KF

Post by **Kizyr** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:04 am

Ok... tomorrow is going to be a tough match. Bangladesh will be up against Sri Lanka. Now, the Sri Lankan team is really good--but, I think we're up to the task now, so long as Bangladesh keeps up with the excellent bowling they had in the match against India.

Anyway, the way the brackets work out, Bangladesh isn't a sure-shot for the Super Eight stage yet. Assuming Bangladesh wins against Bermuda, that leaves them with 2 wins at least--if they lose to Sri Lanka, and then Sri Lanka loses to India, then they might not advance (since India also will have a 2-1 record). If they lose to Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka beats India, then they will advance.

But, if they win against Sri Lanka, then they'll definitely advance. So, while it's a long shot, I'm hoping the Tigers can pull it off again and beat the team ranked third in the world.

By the way, Pakistan vs Zimbabwe is also on, even though Pakistan is already eliminated due to two losses. But, the unfortunate thing is, the Pakistan coach, Bob Woolmer, died last Saturday/Sunday, and the captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, is retiring from one-day cricket after this last match. KF

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 4:40 am

Yeah, they've been talking about Woolmer's death on Sky Sports News and the other programs on Fox Soccer Channel a lot. (being that most of the commentators are British).

They've also made a big deal about one of the senior English players (the captain was it?) being punished for drinking. Seems to be a big divide between those that think it was harmless, and those that think it was extremely stupid to do. I vote the latter. You're in the biggest tournament that your profession provides you and you're out partying a night or two before a World Cup match. In football (and I mean the more popular variety) you'd be in a world of serious trouble for drinking within 48 hours of a match up. For a footballer to drink it up during the World Cup would be insane. Many of the commentators were saying if it's that way for football, why can't it be that way for cricket? I think they're dead on.

Post by **Kizyr** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:11 am

GhaleonOne wrote:They've also made a big deal about one of the senior English players (the captain was it?) being punished for drinking. Seems to be a big divide between those that think it was harmless, and those that think it was extremely stupid to do. I vote the latter. You're in the biggest tournament that your profession provides you and you're out partying a night or two before a World Cup match. In football (and I mean the more popular variety) you'd be in a world of serious trouble for drinking within 48 hours of a match up. For a footballer to drink it up during the World Cup would be insane. Many of the commentators were saying if it's that way for football, why can't it be that way for cricket? I think they're dead on.

Yeah, it was a number of players on the English team, but the main one drawing fire is Flintoff (former vice-captain):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket ... 469569.stm

And yes, some were out 'til 3AM.
With their next match at 9:30AM.

They weren't just drinking the night before a match. They were drinking six bloody hours before the next match! Flintoff was banned from the match, in fact (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/6462369.stm). You're right, it's insane, and Flintoff got what he well deserved. I'm wondering if they'll even be able to beat Kenya (their next match) at this rate. KF

Post by **GhaleonOne** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:36 pm

That's plain insane, and extremely disrespectful to your teammates, coaches, staff and the entire country. Not just out drinking, but at 3AM with a World Cup game in 6 hours? You should be in bed asleep giving your body the rest it needs.

I mean, if the Irish can keep from drinking during the tournament, the English bloody well should be able to as well.

Post by **Kizyr** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:22 pm

*(@#%)!(@

The Sri Lankans are starting with their two best batsmen (Tharanga & Jarasuriya). If we don't knock them out soon then we're gonna be left with a 300-run target to hit in our innings. Mortaza (in my opinion, the best bowler for Bangladesh) is one of the two bowlers right now, so hopefully he can pull off some good spins and take two wickets.

Come on Tigers! KF

EDIT: Bangladesh's innings are coming up next. We have a high target of 319 runs to hit if we're going to win... This will be very tough.

Honestly, Bangladesh wasn't fielding very well, and had a lot of missed chances to run out the Sri Lankan batsmen. Let's hope we can make up this with a miracle at bat... KF

Post by **Kizyr** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:10 pm

Ok well, it's pretty much over for Bangladesh, although I really hate to say it... We need another 247 runs within only 22 overs, which is pretty much unheard of--we also already lost 6 wickets.

Bangladesh wasn't fielding nor bowling very well in the first innings against Sri Lanka... I really hope this was just an off-day, or it was the humidity, or something. They missed many chances to catch, stump, or run out the first 2 batsmen.

As for Sri Lanka (G1, you might appreciate this), watching SL play cricket is a lot like watching Brazil play football. They're really in control and play a great game, and two of their star bowlers--Malinga and Muralithuram--are really quite something to watch.

This can be interpreted as a good thing: if Sri Lanka beats India on Friday, then that means Bangladesh is sure to advance into the Super Eight stage (India will be 1-2, Bermuda will be 0-3, while Bangladesh will be 2-1, and Sri Lanka will be 3-0). KF

Jenner · Post by **Jenner** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:46 pm

Go Kenya!

Lunar Threads

Cricket World Cup!

Cricket World Cup!

Who is online