Pakistan vs Sri Lanka | 11th Match, World Cup | Bristol | June 7, 2019 | Pre-match Discussion Thread

[Sirris]

Come on rain stay away.

 

[MRSN]

How so?

BBC weather shows showers with sun coming out for few hours during game. But there is a chance of a heavy rains which can spoil things. If heavy rains stays away we might get a game. Much better than no sun coming out and rain all day report yesterday.

 

[adil79]

Will it be broken tomorrow?

The answer lies with our streak against india. Will it be broken? After a certain wins, it becomes more of a psychological than a physical one. Loser has more chance to choke, in simple words

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Has the potential to be Match of the tournament.

Both underperforming teams clash and it is inevitable that one has to come out victorious.

Can't wait for this match to start.

Rain is going to affect this match. And batting will become difficult so it is better to bat second (unless the Sun is shining then bat first). Otherwise Lankan pacers can reek havoc just like the Windies did to Pakistan. Also the toss is very important.

Duckworth lewis system will favor team batting second in low scoring contest. But if Rain comes in Second session only than huge advantage to who batted first. Tomorrow is a 3 way contest Pak VS Sri Lanka vs Rain

 

[devilz_tongue]

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/met-office-weather-forecast-bristol-2948009

I highly doubt there will be a game tomorrow. Read the link above

 

[imranyounus]

the worst thing will be to lose this match. I will happily take one point instead of losing a rain affected match.
We have managed to win against england. but it will go wasted if we lose 2 matches to SL BD SA NZ or Afghanistan

 

[MRSN]

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/met-office-weather-forecast-bristol-2948009

I highly doubt there will be a game tomorrow. Read the link above

They predicted rain for whole week yet it has been sun shine all day. Who knows they might be wrong again?

 

[Snatch]

Unlucky for SL if it's a washout as that will pretty much mean they're out of the WC.

 

[MRSN]

the worst thing will be to lose this match. I will happily take one point instead of losing a rain affected match.
We have managed to win against england. but it will go wasted if we lose 2 matches to SL BD SA NZ or Afghanistan

1 point won't help pak though. After poor NRR they have to win most games and they will probably lose against Aus and India.

 

[Chokli]

1 point won't help pak though. After poor NRR they have to win most games and they will probably lose against Aus and India.

Instead of just giving wickets away someone should have gone into a shell in that match.

Needed to take a page out of Misbah's book

 

[zulfiqar]

For now the XI that played against England is the best XI, however, I'd like to see a pacer rotated for the Sri Lankan game. Bring in either the speedster or Shaheen for either Wahab or Amir. We have to keep everyone match fit and this is a game where we can afford to do this! Also, ideally, we would want Imad Wasim to play against Australia - so he should be practicing hard in the nets to put pressure on Shoaib Malik to perform. Unless Malik performs against SL, I'd go back to Imad for Aus. We can bring Malik back in the following game for India. I think subtle changes like this are completely fine and players should be given confidence that the changes do not reflect their performances, but rather the team's needs and to keep the players fresh!

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Instead of just giving wickets away someone should have gone into a shell in that match.

Needed to take a page out of Misbah's book

We could have had a chance if someone tuk tuk'd their way to 215 all out. Plus better NRR. Don't get why we didn't follow this simple logic.

 

[zulfiqar]

Also, eyes will be on Asif Ali! He needs to have a good game against SL, or else Imad Wasim is knocking on that door as well as Malik's for the Aus game!

 

[Markhor]

I'd probably make alternative arrangements for your Friday.

 

[Saj]

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne admits it’s time for his batsmen to put their hands up and be counted when they take to the crease against Pakistan at the Bristol County Ground.

Karunaratne’s men suffered a second successive batting collapse in this year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup during their thrilling low-scoring victory against Afghanistan in Cardiff.

They appeared to be coasting at 144/1 before crumbling to 201 all out, but the bowlers came to the rescue as Afghanistan fell 34 runs short of their rain-revised target of 187 from 41 overs.

And having also slipped to 136 all out in their ten-wicket defeat to New Zealand in their tournament opener, Karunaratne has called on his batsmen to take more responsibility.

“I think Pakistan did really well against England,” he said. “They put score on the board, a big score, and after that they kept taking wickets, so those are the key areas.

“I think if you are playing any big team, you have to do the same thing, you have to put some runs on the board and give yourself a chance for the bowlers to take wickets.

“If you are not doing that, you can't do that, then you’re not going to win. I think Pakistan, or whatever the team, you have to do the basic things if you want to win it.

“We did really well if you take the Afghanistan game, we defended 180. We were good and I saw a good team spirit there and the fielding unit and the bowling unit did a good job.

“Now the batting line-up have to put their hands up and do the job, because if we can put a good total on this wicket, this is a good flat wicket, then I am confident we can win.

“If you take the past matches in Bristol, everyone's scoring more than 300 runs. If we can score 300-plus, our bowlers can defend it, I'm pretty sure of that.”

Sri Lanka have never beaten Pakistan at the World Cup in seven attempts and will face a side full of confidence after they defeated tournament hosts England by 14 runs at Trent Bridge.

But Karunaratne hopes Sri Lanka’s morale-boosting victory against Afghanistan - only their second ODI win this year - will ensure his side are in the best frame of mind for the challenge ahead.

“Pakistan are an unpredictable team, but we have a bit of confidence so we will be trying to give our best shot,” he said. “We are not over-confident as well, we are trying to do our best.

“We just needed a win. It always give us the confidence if you get a win, any team, that is what we want and finally, we got that. We did really good things in the match against Afghanistan.

“But I think we have some parts to learn more, many to do with the batting. We just need to focus on those things and try to make sure those things are not happening in the Pakistan match.

“I think it's a pretty good wicket at Bristol even if you take a bit of grass. I think it's a fact that we got that rather than the Cardiff wicket, so we are trying to go with the same team.

“We will be trying to play the same batting line-up. I know Kusal Perera and what he can do because I played a lot with him, so that is why I want to give him a chance to go for it.

“I want to give him licence with the free hands and then if someone gets out, Lahiru Thirimanne can go there and play some anchor role, so those are the plans.

“I think this is our best batting line-up we can produce. Everybody has a job they have to do. If you are a batsman, you have to score. If you are a bowler, you have to take wickets.”

 

[Mueez]

Pakistan should bowl first if they win the toss.

My lineup:

Fakhar Zaman
Imam ul Haq
Babar Azam
Haris Sohail
Sarfraz Ahmad
M Hafeez
Asif Ali
Shadab Khan/Wahab Riaz/M Hasnain
Hasan Ali
M Amir
Shaheen Shah Afridi

If the pitch is green we should go for an all pace attack and not play Shadab as he would be harmless.

I’m dropping Malik for Haris because Haris is a much reliable batsman in tricky conditions.

Ideally we bowl first and bowl out Sri Lanka for a cheap total and chase it down before the storm comes...

 

[Faisalabadimunda]

Forecast just turned worser. With Heavy rain now forecast to continue till 1pm rather than 12pm before

 

[nam]

Rain is killing Pakistan Team's momentum here..

 

[Sirris]

the worst thing will be to lose this match. I will happily take one point instead of losing a rain affected match.
We have managed to win against england. but it will go wasted if we lose 2 matches to SL BD SA NZ or Afghanistan

Dude what's your confidence level if you aren't sure in the team's ability to defeat SL. Especially after the great win over England. How can we even dream of lifting the cup if we are scared of SL?

 

[Arsalan Pro]

I hope we get a game of any amount of overs possible for a decisive result.

Should stick with the same XI for now with last chances for following players, dropping them for the Australia game if they fail yet again.

Shoaib Malik
Asif Ali
Hasan Ali

 

[Faisalabadimunda]

Dude what's your confidence level if you aren't sure in the team's ability to defeat SL. Especially after the great win over England. How can we even dream of lifting the cup if we are scared of SL?

Agree. Sumtimes dont understand fans mentality. Dnt have the confidence in pak beating sl. Simple dont watch the match then.

 

[Mp812]

Rain is killing Pakistan Team's momentum here..

Look at brighter side. More rest for players. More time to make plan A, B , C , D etc...and get a free bonus point along the way

 

[Rifaqat]

I hope we get a game of any amount of overs possible for a decisive result.

Should stick with the same XI for now with last chances for following players, dropping them for the Australia game if they fail yet again.

Shoaib Malik
Asif Ali
Hasan Ali

Nhi yaar

 

[cric_man]

Look at brighter side. More rest for players. More time to make plan A, B , C , D etc...and get a free bonus point along the way

If the washout was against Australia or India, I would have happily taken 1 pt and moved on. But against SRL, Pakistan would have fancied their chances of 2 pts and will it make tough to qualify for semis.
Matches against AUs/India/SA/NZL become must win games.

 

[Arsalan Pro]

Nhi yaar

I know Shoaib Malik is one of your favourite players and there is no need drop him if he performs as per team's need, but if not then we can't carry non performing players against one of the best teams of the tournament that is Australia, be it any player.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Game is not happening. I feel it will be a wash out

 

[Hasan123]

We need the 2 points here. Don't understand the minnow mentality of being happy with 1 point. We have Australia and India after this , NZ have Afghanistan next. Bangladesh will play Sri Lanka before we play next. We could fall a little behind.

Hopefully we get enough overs for a game.

 

[90MPH]

Game is not happening. I feel it will be a wash out

I have seen the BBC weather radar as I live in the South of England.

I have bad news, the game looks almost certain to be completely washed out. Once the first band of rain hits the ground that will saturate it there will be a line of heavy showers making it improbable to start the game.

 

[Majestic_Inzi]

yellow warning, alot of rain tomorrow, why or why.

First washout of the tournament...

 

[adarsh_bang]

So very realistically looking like a washout ?
Bad for both teams, bad for the World Cup in general.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Pretty sure it's a washout

Now we need to beat SA, NZ, Afg, BD and one of Australia and India. Looks very tight and tough to do.

 

[IAJ]

There will be a game in sha Allah, let’s pray for that.

 

[Abdullah]

Need to get SL in and get them out. Amir and Shaheen swinging through them in 20 overs. Chase it down in 9 overs.
That's the only way

 

[gazza619]

So, we're going to lose a point for the easiest of our matches?

You never know.

Pak seems to always do poor in the easiest of matches.

#blessingindisguise

 

[Rifaqat]

If both sides agree then can they have a T20 or T10 game?

 

[GLORY OF '92]

If both sides agree then can they have a T20 or T10 game?

No 20 overs minimum per side needed.

 

[Barragan]

Heavy rain and with some localised flooding, so a complete washout on the cards and not even a 20 over game is possible.

What a shame, it had to be against SL and not a more tougher opponent.

 

[Rifaqat]

SL fans are saying that Pakistan will be lucky to get a point tomorrow due to the washout

 

[PakLFC]

Folks weather men can be wrong. How many overs are needed for it to be a game?

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Heavy rain and with some localised flooding, so a complete washout on the cards and not even a 20 over game is possible.

What a shame, it had to be against SL and not a more tougher opponent.

Sometimes destiny works against you...

 

[hitthestump]

Assuming it rains tomorrow, remember we've been in England a while and played a lot of cricket in a short space of time. Beating SL was no sure thing and it may be better for the long term outlook that the players got a rest. 7 winnable games still to play.

 

[Faisalabadimunda]

Unfortunately wednesdays match vs Australia looks like a wash out aswell

 

[Chokli]

Unfortunately wednesdays match vs Australia looks like a wash out aswell

Yup looks like after 4 matches we'll have 4 points

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Rain saved us for far too long and the mother nature is tired of saving this team time and time again.

 

[Chokli]

Rain saved us for far too long and the mother nature is tired of saving this team time and time again.

Lol it's been screwing us the past few times.

3rd ODI vs New Zealand

One ODI vs South Africa where we scored 317

 

[Chokli]

SL fans are saying that Pakistan will be lucky to get a point tomorrow due to the washout

Lol Sri Lankan fans are something else, they should be ashamed.

 

[Zeshan547]

has the dreaded rain already started?

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

Lol it's been screwing us the past few times.

3rd ODI vs New Zealand

One ODI vs South Africa where we scored 317

Mother nature does not appreciate ungrateful children.

 

[slice]

And how many people were saying that we were gonna win before the England ODI? I sure was.

That Afghanistan match will taint our history for a while.And reading those comments before the match was cringe worthy to say the least .

 

[Faisalabadimunda]

has the dreaded rain already started?

Not yet, Forecast is showing light rain to start at 5am and then get heavy frm around 9am till 12pm. Before it starts clearing after 12pm. After 12pm it should be all cleared. But problem is that this rain is not normal. It is coming via a storm and will be very heavy for 3 hours so even if it totally stops at mid day it might still abandon full match as drainage system not good at bristol and also it will dump a huge amount of rain

 

[Usman Chadda]

It'a going to be a washout guys. A flood warning has been issued. Not sure how much more proof of a washout everyone needs here.

I'm hoping we get a shortened game because Sri Lanka gives us a good chance of two points. But it looks next to impossible looking at both BBC or MetOffice so far.

 

[Usman]

The latest radar maps show very heavy rain at the 10.30am scheduled start but things could clear up early afternoon.

 

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

Weather start clearing around 1pm we might get short game. Lets see

 

[CadPakFan]

We could have had a chance if someone tuk tuk'd their way to 215 all out. Plus better NRR. Don't get why we didn't follow this simple logic.

Babar could have done it but got worried about the strike rate brigade and played a poor shot to get out.

 

[Chokli]

That Afghanistan match will taint our history for a while.And reading those comments before the match was cringe worthy to say the least .

No it won't, it doesn't even count

 

[Sycamore]

Babar could have done it but got worried about the strike rate brigade and played a poor shot to get out.

This ! Babar looked comfortable against the short ball. But all the pressure from coach, commentators, fans and even reporters making him play some rash shots. I would 85 SR with 55 AVG over 95 SR, 45 AVG.

 

[Titan24]

That Afghanistan match will taint our history for a while.And reading those comments before the match was cringe worthy to say the least .

If losing in a warm up match taints history, what about India drawing an international match with Afghanistan?

 

[hafeezrocks]

No match is happening. Don't get your hopes high.

 

[zn426]

No chance they can't move the match out of Bristol? I mean if you know rain is coming, Cardiff, Taunton, London, and Southampton are all available. Or if everything rain-wise gets wrapped up by noon then perhaps you just have a delayed start around 3 PM. If you know the storm is coming, surely there are better solutions than canceling the match.

 

[Titan24]

No chance they can't move the match out of Bristol? I mean if you know rain is coming, Cardiff, Taunton, London, and Southampton are all available. Or if everything rain-wise gets wrapped up by noon then perhaps you just have a delayed start around 3 PM. If you know the storm is coming, surely there are better solutions than canceling the match.

Converting match into a day/light one is definitely a feasible option if weather looks better for afternoon and evening and can be easily executed.

However, for that ICC would have to define rules as at the moment I dont think there is any rule like that.

 

[QalandarFan]

Doesn't look like we'll get a match from the weather I've seen. Really hope we get some sort of match in!

 

[Stewie]

Doesn’t look likely the game will happen..

 

[kingusama92]

When they start writing articles on heavy rain and flooding, you know it's going to be a washout.

 

[Syed1]

We have been hearing about this rain storm for a week, why can't ICC be a little flexible and adjust match timings based on the weather.



Quite pathetic that we are going to drop a point against perhaps the weakest side in the tourney. We need all the points we can get since we aren't going to qualify if it comes down to NRR.

 

[Ertugrul_Bey]

It will be raining all weekend and even next week in Bristol. England is the best place to watch cricket but at the same time the worst due to its weather.

 

[ekpakistani]

Despite all technological advancements rain can still play spoil sport. ICC must really think and do something about this.

No expert here but wonder why they cant have an artificial roof or something. Can't be that complicated...

 

[PakLFC]

One reason that Cricket struggles to grow is it's to dependent on the weather. In today's day and age this is totally unacceptable. The ICC had enough notice to relocate the match had they an ounce of commonsense.

 

[Oneking]

Rain could play big factor, with overcast conditions swing will come to play i really hope Sarfaraz wins the toss

 

[Mian]

Looks like the match against Australia is also not happening heavy showers for a whole week in Taunton.

 

[Pete Rose]

I don’t see this game happening

 

[Adijazz1706]

A 20-over game is enough, hopefully we get that much. An SL win would really shake things up for Pakistan

 

[MRSN]

I don't think Pakistani batsmen will enjoy batting on pitch which assists seem movement and there are clouds. It will be better for Pakistan that this game is called off.

 

[asifp]

So it was supposed to rain for 3 days Thursday to Sunday. Got here last night and apparently it did not rain one bit on Thursday.

Just got up and saw outside the hotel room and the roads are wet with some light shower but not as bad as I through. Am quietly optimistic we will get a game in.

 

[asifp]

I wish ICC shows some common sense and realize if it clears up the light is good till 8pm so don’t abandon the game.

 

[pratiktc]

People are worrying too much.
There will be a shortened game and Pak will win easily. But have to swap out Imad for Malik and stick with Asif for this match

 

[CricFan2012]

Looks like the match against Australia is also not happening heavy showers for a whole week in Taunton.

Bro, if that match is also washed out, then our World Cup is pretty much over.

Perhaps this is karma for the 1992 rain that saved us.

 

[mon858]

Bro, if that match is also washed out, then our World Cup is pretty much over.

Perhaps this is karma for the 1992 rain that saved us.

I dont think. In fact I think a washout against Australia or India is better as those are the two likely losses among remaining games. So I would take 1 pt against aus. Then even if we lose to India, we would need to beat New Zealand, southAfrica, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. We would end up with 5 wins and 2 tied and 2 losses. That's like 6 wins, meaning you would be ranked higher than 6 teams so you should be in top 4.

 

[mon858]

Not sure if there are lights at theground, can captains and icc agree to continue as long as needed for 20 over game?

Also I would consider sending asif ali to open for this game and replace imam with Shaheen.

 

[light]

If Pak doesn't win tomorrow, I will be extremly surprised. This is a poor form SL squad. AFG batsmen's lack of experience made the win look more legit. PAK bowlers/Batsmen > AFG bowlers/Batsmen.

 

[Kianig89]

Hopefully the wicket will be subcontinent like not what we got for Pak v WI