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Loading ...Apart from the fact that I would love to see you eat your hat (are you going to post a picture if..?) I reckon this game could be decisive for the rest of the World Cup.
I am not talking about crowd attendance and all the other stuff but about the quality of the game. If where are in for a close encounter this could improve the whole tournament a lot. Then we have a few good games ahead of us. Not that I would have minded some really enjoyable matches up until now but admittingly the majority of games where crap.
But as I opened up cricinfo and saw Vaughan’s pre-game comments it probably will be about bashing the poms again.
Live: England v Sri Lanka, Super Eights
By Will last year, at the start of April Leave a comment on this post
I will hunt down my nearest hat shop and munch my way through it if England beat Sri Lanka today. Call me a cynic, but let’s be brutally honest: they are underprepared, they don’t know their best side and they’re facing a revitalised Sri Lanka playing with the same unbridled aggression and joy which earned them the Cup a decade ago.
Regardless of who wins, let’s hope it is at least a contest and that there will be some good individual performances from both sides.
Here’s the scorecard. Leave your erudite observations and rants in the comments.
Tags: 2007-world-cup, england, hats, live-coverage, sri-lanka |
36 Responses to “Live: England v Sri Lanka, Super Eights”
April 4th, 2007 at 2.23 pm
April 4th, 2007 at 2.53 pm
Does this match really matter? England will never be able to beat the likes of SA and Aussie. It would be a blessing in disguise for them not to suffer the humiliation of a semi-final.
Perhaps it matters for Sri Lanka. Lest we forget, despite the Malinga wickets, SA beat them.
April 4th, 2007 at 4.41 pm
Favourite bit so far - Nixon telling Monty that he would “kick his ar$e” if he kept moving out of position. Priceless…
April 4th, 2007 at 5.19 pm
It’s nice to see the English celebrating a wicket like they mean it. Dickhead KP’s response to catching Tharanga was actually alright. And what a ball to remove Jayasuriya ay?
April 4th, 2007 at 5.40 pm
I have a horrible feeling that the fielding wont be backed up by the batting, but England have played this pretty well to date (presently 43rd over). But a girl can live in hope. Beautiful run out by Bell (if the Bear does say so herself). May that be a sign of good things to come!
April 4th, 2007 at 7.15 pm
14 for 2. I might yet be saved from eating all those hats after all!
April 4th, 2007 at 7.21 pm
Oi, Emma, what’s happened to your writing hmm?
April 4th, 2007 at 7.21 pm
Drop Vaughan and Joyce! Especially Vaughan - useless batsman. I don’t care how good he is at leading the team, because his batting failures undo the good he does. Bring back Strauss and Dalrymple. I’m fed up with Vaughan’s pathetic batting form.
April 4th, 2007 at 7.46 pm
I have a feeling KP will do something stupid to undo the work he has already done.
April 4th, 2007 at 8.04 pm
Will, how about
Siggi Hats
48, Fulham High St (SW6)
Or
Bridget Armstrong Hats
83b Hartfield Crescent (SW19)
There are a remarkable number of milliners in southwest london!
I live in hope!
April 4th, 2007 at 8.25 pm
If England go on to beat Sri Lanka, I’ll add them as one of the top 5 in the top 4. It will make the next week or so far more interesting as well!
April 4th, 2007 at 8.28 pm
Ian Bell, you’re an idiot.
April 4th, 2007 at 8.50 pm
KP is going to prove me wrong. That bastard 
Good for England. Bad that KP gets to be a match winner again.
April 4th, 2007 at 8.52 pm
Shit - is that all I had to do to get KP to screw up? Praise him? Noted.
April 4th, 2007 at 10.01 pm
We have a potential thriller on our hands because of sensible batting between Bopara and Nixon…
Can England pull this out? Will Sri Lanka cling on to a tight finish this time ’round? A great finish and possibly a great game where a sub-250 score is posted? Say it isn’t so…
April 4th, 2007 at 10.08 pm
Tom Moody sending in messages. 200 is passed. Those fans of England and Sri Lanka who happen to be watching must have that little knot in their stomachs right now.
Nixon is breathing heavily, exhaling and sweating. This is great stuff. Both these countries are desperately trying to win here. This is cricket.
Those who disagree shut the hell up.
April 4th, 2007 at 10.12 pm
Reverse sweep for six!! Holy shit!
April 4th, 2007 at 10.27 pm
Oh My God - three from the last ball needed. What is going to happen?!
April 4th, 2007 at 10.28 pm
Fernando should be no-balled for that bullshit!!
April 4th, 2007 at 10.30 pm
Balls
I was hoping for flickr pictures of Will’s hat-eating
April 4th, 2007 at 10.38 pm
Gutting. Absolutely gutting - Will I was almost going to buy one special. Re: writing, I’ll be back post skiing and essays. I’m being illicit at the moment.
Tell me, if we’d had a tie, would you have had half a hat? Or maybe a headscarf?
April 4th, 2007 at 11.49 pm
Man that was close. Was gutted, I thought we were going to do it, all those balls falling saved and mucked up run-out chances. Basically when it comes down to it Mahmood’s 5 extras in the last over cost us dear - and not for the first time!
April 4th, 2007 at 11.54 pm
Without wanting to gloat, it seems like my analysis that Ravi Bopara was being misused as a bits and pieces all-rounder turned out to be correct.
That was an outstanding Paul Collingwood impersonation and the decision to send Flintoff in before him with 15 overs still left seems bizarre.
Apart from that, I thought that Owais Shah would have been a better pick for the CB series and World Cup than Ed Joyce, but now that he’s here I wouldn’t drop him for strauss. Maybe Strauss for Bell, Pietersen at 3, Joyce 4, Collingwood 5 and Bopara 6.
Brings me on to my next point. Ian Bell actually looked half decent for a while today. However he ruined a lot of that good will by managing to play out a maiden over against Dilshan. Very unlucky to be run out, but Jayawardena should really have run him out earlier on.
Finally, leave Pietersen alone. He’s a class act and again showed his matchwinning ability. There’s no shame in being undone by Murali.
April 5th, 2007 at 1.18 am
Shariq - you might be spot on with Bopara. The way a youngster handled this kind of pressure was an immense effort. Pity he didn’t quite make it, I felt he really deserved it. And so did Nixon.
As for Pietersen:
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
Again showed his match winning ability? Who won the match? Who got out at a crucial time? Where is this massive hitter who would tear it up on the smaller Caribbean grounds?
The closest to Match Winning was Nixon and Bopara. It somewhat reminded me of Brown’s and Bradshaw’s effort in the Champions Trophy 2004.
No, I don’t think I’ll be leaving KP alone.
April 5th, 2007 at 4.10 am
Hat’s all over the world can sleep easy tonight!
April 5th, 2007 at 4.44 am
At least this game was competitive…two teams scored over 200 which in itself was a thing to behold. KP again asked to shoulder the load…that’s a tough loss for England
April 5th, 2007 at 5.07 am
Despite the heart-breaking finish, I thought England were a lot better today, particularly the bowling and fielding. They looked like they were alive and awake and raring to get at it. Still weaknesses in the batting though, clearly.
And I wonder what the hell they’re going to do with Nixon at the end of the World Cup.
Also, I loved this quote from the Sri Lankan captain, who said that the tight finishes were very hard on him: “I don’t want to play this kind of cricket,” a relieved Jayawardene told AFP. “There was no strategy, I can’t even remember what I was thinking. The guys have a lot of character in the team and they showed it today again. I’m very happy with the two points.”
It just goes to show that for all the talk about sticking to game plans and thoughtful innings and all that sort of stuff, half the time cricket, even really successful cricket, is a combination of luck and flying by the seat of your pants.
And yes, Will, your beret lives to fight another day. Unfortunately.
April 5th, 2007 at 9.43 am
Indeed a good game of cricket
However, I couldn’t see England winning at any point before Bopara and Nixon came in. We all knew KP was going to have a bit of a flourish and get out stupidly.
I personally don’t think England have many match winners, the only ones I could think of in the current side are Pietersen, Bopara, Flintoff (on his day) and possibly Collingwood. These players can literay turn the game by themselves.
When you look at Sri Lanka, you’ve got so many, Jayasuriya, Jayawardena, Malinga, Murali, Dilshan, Fernando, Sangakkara, Vaas, Arnold (has been a matchwiner in the past, has only just come back into the side though).
I think this is the problem with England, they should take more of a gamble in one day cricket and stop going for the safe option, its almost like a test team.
I also overheard Ian Botham on commentar saying that Mal Loye should have been added to the squad instead of a Bell or a Joyce to add something diferent to the top of the order.
April 5th, 2007 at 11.20 am
Great game - when England clawed it back to 4 off the last 2 I really thought the gods were smiling on them.
One positive outcome is that England’s net rate run rate remains better than SA’s. Wins over WI and SA should still see us through.
However real problems at the top of the order - how we miss Trescothick. Poor Bell is under pressure every time he bats with the openers gone for nowt and a lengthy tail which any reasonable judge must say includes Flintoff. Bopara must now bat ahead of Freddy.
Despite his 4 wickets I dont think Mahmood is a better option than Plunkett. Mahmood’s lack of control makes him meat and drink to top batsmen. At least Plunkett offers some devilment with his late swing.
April 5th, 2007 at 11.56 am
Get rid of Vaughan….Make Nixon Captain{For his experience and his unashamed ability to make himself heard when he thinks someone is doing something wrong!}
For this kind of slog it and run cricket he is ideal.
But what a game ,we need more like it and with a couple of reliable openers we could win one?
April 5th, 2007 at 12.32 pm
Vaughan really is a weak link at the top of the order, his career stats are miserable, he barely averages 20 against non-minnow sides, never hit a hundred.
How long can he be kept?
April 5th, 2007 at 7.33 pm
Oh man, I really missed you guys & gals last night and thought of you as the wickets fell and the run chase was on. Have just got back from the UK where I was at last able to watch some Sky coverage of the WC (what an apt title for this series). I too was gutted at the end, but considering that some in England’s top order seem to be a waste of space, it was a pretty good game going down to the last ball. At the end of the day, what more can you really ask for?
April 6th, 2007 at 12.27 am
just want to say here .. for those who said nixon cant play , thats the second time in this series hes been out there fighting for runs and putting the top order to shame!
as wicket keepers go hes way better than read and jones for pure tenacity and self belief.
nixon appreciation over 
April 6th, 2007 at 4.49 am
Rolling Stone Keith Richards snorts his dad’s ashes? Crikey! For goodness sake, don’t let him go anywhere near Lords cricket ground!
April 6th, 2007 at 10.21 am
I was one who derided Nixon’s selection and he has made me eat a few large portions of humble pie lately (Im pleased to say).
April 9th, 2007 at 10.24 pm
Hah. And there’s an article posted in Fox Sports Australia about that last ball. I’m not pleased with the tactic. At the time I was furious, even suggesting he should have been no-balled.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,21531230-23212,00.html
Now I think Fernando needs to have disciplinary action brought against him. Fucking cheat.
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