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Australia [334/7] beat Sri Lanka [247] by 87 runs in 20th match of 2019 World Cup

Told you guys. I am going to quote Azhar mahmood lol We just need just 10 deliveries to take 10 wickets. They need 50 overs hehe.
 
Aussies have corrected their last mistake- against PAK, they had one loose over to be bowled, today they have got rid of those 10 quickly.

I think, Aussies have done enough for a comfortable win here - 8 overs of Strac-Cummins left and SRL’s asking has crossed 8.
 
It's Australia, they did one better and picked up a wicket.

Yes i know. You can have a crazy start. Australia will always find a way to pull things back. That is applicable for England as well. IN a crunch match they can choke even England.
 
This is why i always have high respect for Aussies. They never give up. First Coulternile played out of his skin. GOt to a decent toal. They stayed in the game. Won. Against India carey didn't give up right till the end. Same way against Pakistan they stayed in the game pulled things back. They never gave up.
 
This is why i always have high respect for Aussies. They never give up. First Coulternile played out of his skin. GOt to a decent toal. They stayed in the game. Won. Against India carey didn't give up right till the end. Same way against Pakistan they stayed in the game pulled things back. They never gave up.

That is why they have won 5 WC , they are mentally very strong .
 
Aussies have corrected their last mistake- against PAK, they had one loose over to be bowled, today they have got rid of those 10 quickly.

I think, Aussies have done enough for a comfortable win here - 8 overs of Strac-Cummins left and SRL’s asking has crossed 8.

They will win but can they compete against India or England batting with this attack unless their batsman have a horrible day?
 
Thats why shud always plays positive cricket. The sl openers played positive although it was risky. But after that the rest played negative cricket and got out.
 
Whose victory is better for our chances?

Does anyone know?
 
They will win but can they compete against India or England batting with this attack unless their batsman have a horrible day?

They’ll - Aussies are different beast in KOs. This is a disintegrated Australia team. Players are coming back, new captain, new coach .... 9 games will make them tougher, stronger. They might not win the cup (they have won it 5 times, 1 less than other 9 here), but never underestimate Aussies in cricket.
 
Last hope gone easy win now bad news for Pakistan aswell have to win every match now.
 
They’ll - Aussies are different beast in KOs. This is a disintegrated Australia team. Players are coming back, new captain, new coach .... 9 games will make them tougher, stronger. They might not win the cup (they have won it 5 times, 1 less than other 9 here), but never underestimate Aussies in cricket.

Not underestimating them at all. Just that they aren't a great team this time around

And I would be very surprised to see them take the Cup unless they do something about their bowling. Maybe add Lyon
 
Not underestimating them at all. Just that they aren't a great team this time around

And I would be very surprised to see them take the Cup unless they do something about their bowling. Maybe add Lyon

They can easily kick out Khawaja or Marsh and include him. But that will happen as Mitch Marsh will replace Kane Ricahrdson the pie chucker. Cu
 
You can say what you want. Starc is still a wicket taker. Will be a handful against lower order batsmen.
 
They can easily kick out Khawaja or Marsh and include him. But that will happen as Mitch Marsh will replace Kane Ricahrdson the pie chucker. Cu

Mitch MArsh is there?

He should come in along with Lyon

I dont rate Zampa that much
 
thrown it away just like Pakistan

Most of us predicted it even when they were 100 for no wicket. Both teams lack professional discipline, Aus basically just have to keep bowling relatively tight and these sides collapse under pressure.
 
Most of the runs are going to third man. Why can't Finch have a fly slip. One of them would have been out by now

They were trying to manipulate the field. You take a fielder out, you create a gap elsewhere and Sri lankans were the masters of manipulating the field. Especially Sangakkara, Mahela and Ranatunga.
 
We'll find out when they play sides who aren't overwhelmed by the prospect of beating Australia. England, India and NZ will be better tests.

The reason i back them is because when it comes to clinching crunch moments they are second to none. You give them a sniff. The will grab it. You have to be on top of your game the entire 100 overs to beat them. Not just first 10 overs, 20 overs. They know very well they can come back any time. So they will stay in the game as long as they can. NZ has a mental block against them. England has this "keep going " approach which will provide opportunities for Australia. England struggled to chase against Australia in the warm up.
 
Im convinced this Sri Lankan team has no hope. Two of your batsmen give you 150 for 20 overs and then you all come down and play like this ? Dilshan, Sanga and Mahela retired last world cup and this team still can't play like a Test nation. This is just stupid cricket. Why drop someone like Dickwella, Tharanga and Chandimal who had been playing all this long and suddenly bring someone like Sriwardana and Jeevan Mendis ? lol I just don't understand. If it wasn't for the rain pretty sure Bangladesh would have beaten this team.
 
Quite flat end by SRL. They have the ingredients, particularly with next WC in IND, but Hathura needs time & autonomy for that. Just today, SRL A has beaten IND A, to end the Series 2-2, in IND, which is quite creditable. This indicates, there is enough resources, but SRL needs to order the house first, and do it quickly.

8 points for Aussies - now need to win 2 more out of last 4.
 
Quite flat end by SRL. They have the ingredients, particularly with next WC in IND, but Hathura needs time & autonomy for that. Just today, SRL A has beaten IND A, to end the Series 2-2, in IND, which is quite creditable. This indicates, there is enough resources, but SRL needs to order the house first, and do it quickly.

8 points for Aussies - now need to win 2 more out of last 4.

If we beat WI on Monday, and get a washout against Aus we will be back in the hut for that dreaded 4th spot. Or at this point, we just wanna finish top 6?
 
If we beat WI on Monday, and get a washout against Aus we will be back in the hut for that dreaded 4th spot. Or at this point, we just wanna finish top 6?

We should take one game at a time - try to win against WIN first, then move on to next game. Don't think too much calculation helps the minnows, expectation gets better of them. Just relax and try to beat mighty AFGs after WIN, along with the SAF fluke, already they have passed the threshold of winning one game - that too was 50/50.
 
Star man Starc won’t rest in Australia’s title defence

Australia’s key pace weapon Mitchell Starc roared to the top of the wicket-taking charts at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup - and then made it clear he has no intention of resting on his laurels.

With the champions now in pole position at the top of the table to reach the semi-finals, there will surely be a temptation to give their potent left-armer a break this week after a hectic period.

Yet after breaking Sri Lanka’s resistance with his 4/55 haul off 10 fine overs that set up his side’s 87-run victory, Starc explained how he certainly would not be volunteering to put his feet up now that he leads the tournament with 13 wickets to his name.

“If I’m fit I’d like to play all the games. It’s not up to me but it’s the World Cup. I definitely won’t be putting my hand up to rest,” said Starc, after moving up to joint number two on the all-time list of Australian World Cup wicket takers alongside Brett Lee. Their 35-wicket hauls have only been bettered by Glenn McGrath’s staggering 71.

Starc reckoned he had not had time to think about having gone past luminaries like Brad Hogg and Shaun Tait with his haul against Sri. Lanka, insisting only that “I’m just glad we won.”

Asked about how he has managed to rise to the occasion throughout the tournament with similar breakthrough spells against West Indies and Pakistan, and now Sri Lanka, Starc said: “I do enjoy the challenge.

“It’s the challenge at the death, that challenge of trying to win a game for your team or trying to defend a title, I really enjoy that. It’s something I work really hard at and it’s been a role I’ve done for a long time.

“My economy rate might be higher than others, but I’m there to make breakthroughs for the team.

“Test cricket is still the pinnacle for me but the fact I’ve kept it pretty simple in terms of my gameplay for white ball cricket has held me in good stead through World Cups.”

Starc is proving a fine example for Australia’s other left-arm paceman Jason Behrendorff, who could not help but smile when asked what he learned from watching him.

“I have noticed how important it is to bowl 145, 150kph an hour!” he laughed. “It is something he does really well, he has got great intent and hits the stumps a lot .

“Two of his wickets were clean bowled, so credit to him, he has done it for a long time and is very good at what he does.”

Australia, though, also needed an important holding job from their fifth bowler, batsman Glenn Maxwell, whose 0/46 stint helped restrict Pakistan when they were threatening Australia’s total of 334/7.

“It’s not the first time he’s played as the fifth bowler,” said Starc. “He played a massive part in the last World Cup too; he keeps improving his bowling and did a fantastic job for us of reigning things in when they started so hard. It’s great for us, for him and for the balance of the team.”

That balance had been affected by the recent loss of Marcus Stoinis to injury, but Starc revealed that the all-rounder was remaining cheerful even though his World Cup participation still might be in jeopardy ahead of Australia’s next match against Bangladesh on Thursday.

“Stoin’s in great spirits, he’s always got a smile on his face, I think that’s why Justin Langer calls him the spirit of the team. He’s a great team man who just wants to do well for his mates and be around so he’s doing all he can,” he added.

ICC media release
 
Australia victories are more important than personal milestones for captain Finch

Personal milestones matter little to Aaron Finch, but even the Australian skipper couldn’t hide the fact that Saturday’s win over Sri Lanka was extra special.

The captain bludgeoned 153 from only 132 balls at the Oval as Australia secured an 87-run win over Sri Lanka that puts them top of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup standings five games into the defence of their title.

And at a ground like the Oval, which he has called home for the last three T20 campaigns with Surrey, Finch was delighted to continue his impressive recent run of form.

“It’s always nice to get a hundred and contribute to a win. But it doesn’t really bother me if I get 99 or 100 it doesn’t make a huge difference to me personally.

“Winning the game is far more important than a personal milestone but it was nice to go a bit deeper to get 150, Hundreds help get the team in a good position. But it allows you to go a bit harder.”
He is now the top run scorer at this year’s World Cup, has equalled Jason Roy for the highest individual score of the tournament so far and also overtaken Ricky Ponting for highest individual score by an Australian captain at a World Cup.

All of that comes after a miserable summer back in Australia that saw him dropped from the Test side and fear for his ODI captaincy. But a change in mindset has yielded rewards when it counts most.

“My technique has tightened up slightly, there are a few technical things I have worked one," he added.

"Sometimes you change some things but you don’t get rewarded straight away for the work you put in behind the scenes. So it’s nice to get that reward.

“I changed my mindset a bit more than anything. I stated to doubt my game in the Australian summer, there were a lot of times when I was questioning every decision I was making, technical, physical, mental, looking for an answer and you don’t know what the answer is. It was a really great learning for me.

“It would have been nice to have that at 22 not 32, but what I learned is you can strip it back as much as you want but it doesn’t change the basics of the game. Defend the good ball and then score runs.”

Australia have won four and lost only once so far – that defeat came last weekend against India.

But after five games in just over two weeks to kick off the tournament, Finch is delighted that their remaining fixtures are a bit more staggered and they still have plenty of room for improvement.

“It is still a busy period but not as hectic as it has been,” he added.

“When you are playing really good cricket it is nice to be playing all the time, you get on a roll, into paying mode, but I think the boys do need that extra day.

"It will do the world of good to mentally refresh as much anything after a lot of time on a bus and in changing rooms.

“We would have taken (this start). You want to win every game but we would have taken it, It’s unrealistic to think you’re going to win every game.

“But we definitely will take time to sit back and assess where we can improve, and what we can do to give ourselves, the best chance to be on the Lords’ balcony on July 14.”

One of the key areas of improvement will be the first powerplay with ball in hand, as Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc struggled early on as Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera cut loose to threaten an historic chase.

But the twin destroyers Starc and Cummins returned to finish things off in their later spells and keep Australia purring.

“You have to be really adaptable quicker,” added Finch.

“We went in with a plan, we felt a good Test match line and length would be enough there, we got hit off that length and went shorter rather than fuller which was a defence mechanism.”

ICC media release
 
Australia came back well after a fabulous start by Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka keeping on collapsing after excellent starts. They need to do something about that to have any chance in this tournament.

Australia 5th bowler is the main issue. I think they should bite the bullet and select Mitch Marsh instead of Stonis. Marsh gives a genuine 5th bowling options, plus he is a very good LO natter . He can bat anywhere from 4-7 in the order. Not selecting Hazelwood is looking like an awful decision. Coulter Nile was dropped and he has not been that great. Richardson is not good enough. Even if Hazelwood isn't picking up wickets he can keep things tight. He has a good ODI record too. Heard rumours that he wasnt happy with his non selection as he thinks he was fit enough.
 
Admiring a cricketer or a sportsperson in general is like falling in love. It doesn´t need a reason. Sometimes all it takes is just one good shot, a delivery, a goal, a move or whatever. However, I for once know why I like Kusal Perera, and that is because on his day he reminds me of Sanath Jayasuriya. If he gets going, I feel as if I´m seeing Sanath bat. A brave batsman, the only one from the current set of Sri Lankan batsmen who looks into the eyes of the opposition and creates a some sort of fear. Once he gets out, this Sri Lankan team straight away begins to behave like a minnow - as sad as it is for the general health of the game, and also competition.

Lastly, just how delightful and pleasing to the eye are Finch´s sixes. From long-off to mid-wicket, they sail as if they´ve been launched in a rocket launcher. He maintains such a good balance as he strikes them, and the head position requires a special mention. A wonderful hitter of the ball. Has really grown as a batsman in the last few months. I hope he continues to be a force.
 
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