Tag: Afghanistan

Cricket World Cup: Weekend Recap

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

A bumper weekend of quality cricket has seen a number of teams rip up the form book and reemerge as genuine World Cup threats.  India and the West Indies both scored unexpected wins to again confuse punters as to who will make up the crucial semi-final spots of the lucrative tournament.

Although Cyclone Marcia prevented the favourites Australia from playing, New Zealand and Melbourne stayed dry to allow some cricket.  Check out the weekend results below:

Day 8 Results

1. West Indies v Pakistan

The enigma that is West Indies cricket got the better the woefulness that is Pakistan cricket in a one-sided encounter in Christchurch.  Fans wanting a more interesting World Cup will hope that the win will prompt a change in fortune for the men from the Caribbean, whereas fans supporting Pakistan will be drastically worried.  The West Indies posted 300 batting first for the second game in succession.  Handy contributions from most of their men precluded a dazzling Andre Russell finish who slammed 42 from just 13 balls.  Earlier, Dinesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons both scored fifties in a crucial middle over partnership that solidified a precious position of 152/3, which could have initiated a wobble.

A middle order wobble may not have mattered anyway as Pakistan crumbled to just 160 in reply.  Jerome Taylor’s fast start reduced Pakistan to a remarkable 1/4.  Just to be clear, that is, 4 wickets down for a solitary run.  There was no way back.  Pakistan did get to 160 – Umar Akmal scored an overdue half centre as did Maqsood, but there was never a contest.  Andre Russell also picked up three wickets to take man of the match honours.

The West Indies will be satisfied with their day’s work but await anxiously news on Darren Bravo’s injured hamstring.

West Indies 310 for 6 (Ramdin 51, Simmons 50, Russell 42) beat Pakistan 160 (Akmal 59, Maqsood 50, Taylor 3-15, Russell 3-33) by 150 runs

2. Australia v Bangladesh

Day 9 Results

1. Afghanistan v Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka overcame another minnow led scare in the Cricket World Cup on Sunday.  Not for the first time, an associate nation looked to be getting the better of test playing nation before class, luck and composure got the Sri Lankans (in this case) home.

Afghanistan were at one stage 128/2 and looking good for a handsome first innings total.  But before they could build any real momentum, Matthews, Malinga and Lakmal removed their key men before they could make the big scores that win games.  Mohammad Stanikzai was Afghanistan’s best with a well made 54, but his wicket was the catalyst of the slide.

Sri Lanka made very hard work of the gettable total.  At 18/3, with Dilshan, Thirimanne and Sangakkara all back in the pavilion, an upset looked possible.  It looked likely even when Karunaratne also fell, in a wicket that had the Afghan’s doing cartwheels (literally).  The fairytale wasn’t forthcoming mind you.  The guile of Mahlea Jayawardene and the power of Thisara Perera steering Sri Lanka home to win by 4 wickets.  Jayawardene scored an even hundred, while Perara made a brutal unbeaten 47 to wrap things up with 10 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka 236 for 6 (Jayawardene 100, Perera 47*, Hamid 3-45) beat Afghanistan 232 (Stanikzai 54) by four wickets

2. India v South Africa

Wow! We didn’t see this one coming.  India gave a huge MCG crowd every reason to cheer by knocking over a strong South Africa in emphatic fashion.  Cast aside at the start of the tournament after a disappointing tour down under, the Indians are now emerging as genuine title contenders after a pair of excellent wins.  Led by Shikhar Dhawan, who scored a well-paced 137, full of hooks and pulls, India cruised along to 307.  Virat Kohli contributed too, he scored 46, but Ajinkya Rahane’s 60 ball 79 was the real supporting act gem at the tail the innings.

South Africa struggled; they’ll be talk of the dreaded ‘choke’ term entering their minds / becoming a possibility.  The case never really got going, and surprisingly, none of their big game players Amla, du Plessis or de Villiers have managed to score the expected big runs.  Certainly not on the Dhawan scale.  The scale that put bowlers under pressures and becomes the difference between 200 scores and 300 scores.  Dhawan was the difference, and South Africa need confidence.  (They’ll also monitor an injury to Vernon Philander.)

South Africa have gone out to $5.00 to win the World Cup at Bet365.

India 307 for 7 (Dhawan 137, Rahane 79) beat South Africa 177 (Du Plessis 55, Ashwin 3-41) by 130 runs

Cricket World Cup: Day 5 Recap

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

We were way off the mark predicting a win for Bangladesh.  Sorry.  Afghanistan’s debut in the Cricket World Cup didn’t go to plan against a classy Bangladesh outfit in day five’s only game.

Day 5 Results

Afghanistan v Bangladesh

The two most important players to Bangladesh Cricket World Cup chances both delivered in their opening effort against Afghanistan.  Mushfiqur and Shakib both broke the mould of twenties to combine for a partnership of 114, and set their opponents a demanding total of 267.  The top-order’s earlier efforts lacked momentum as Afghanistan made a good fist of bowling first after Bangladesh opted to bat.  Those efforts were overturned, however, after the captain and former captain entered the fray.  Shakib in particular justified his ranking as the world’s top ranked ODI all-rounder with an entertaining 63.

Afghanistan can play, but when they lost wickets in each of the first three overs the writing was on the wall.  Mashrafe Mortaza did most of the damage.  He took 3-20, and Afghanistan mustered just 162; bundled out in the 43rd over.

Bangladesh deserved to be buoyed by their enterprising opening in a mac that could have been trickier than they made it.  They’ll back themselves to snap up a quarter-final spot now and plausibly push for an upset once there.  Afghanistan can look forward to games against Scotland and Australia (lol) as the games to target in order to achieve a first Cricket World Cup win.

Bangladesh 267 (Mushfiqur 71, Shakib 63, Shapoor 2-20) beat Afghanistan 162 (Nabi 44, Mashrafe 3-20) by 105 runs

Cricket World Cup: Day 5 Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The World Cup didn’t see an upset yesterday, but did see a much more fancied New Zealand team struggle against a lively Scotland line-up.  Today’s match see’s Bangladesh face off against Afghanistan.  We preview that match below and pose three interesting questions not he World Cup thus far.

The Three Big Questions

Will the World Cup see a close game?

Arguably the Ireland v West Indies game was close, but none of the other games have.  Even then the Irish looked odds on through much of their chase in another indication that bat is set to dominate ball in this World Cup instalment.  Ireland’s win aside, the smaller cricketing nations will always struggle in the early rounds, and one could expect that the round robin stage will be less competitive than the quarters and semis.  However, the tournament needs some competitive games and some close finishes to hold the attention of fans during the prolonged opening salvo, before everyone starts pencilling in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India for the top four positions.

Is New Zealand’s top order weaker than we think?

Yesterday got pretty scary for the Black Caps and their high riding fans.  5/117 and then 137/7 are results not indicative of the type of runs the top order has been accumulating recently.  A deeper look at some of those recent results though might point to some top order woes that could have them edgy and other teams excited.  To go with yesterday’s implosion, the Black Caps had the following scores in their ODI series against Sri Lanka: 149/6, 183/6, 63/3, 82/4 and 141/6.  While it’s possible to argue the final totals were impressive and they got the job done, it can also be shown there is some brittleness there and they could be due a permanent collapse.

Is 50-over cricket the new Twenty20?

The mammoth totals being posted by the teams in the opening stint of the World Cup certainly indicate the changing face of 50-over cricket.  Two balls, new fielding restrictions and power plays have led to teams chasing 350+ scores rather than the composed 280’s of the past.  New shots, big bats and small grounds have pushed the realms of possibility and it’s conceivable we’ll see a double hundred in this World Cup and a triple century in ODI cricket before long.  Teams are no longer threatened by losing early wickets – they know by having more time and less fielders in the deep in the final overs they can make up for slow starts or rebuilding phases and still post match winning totals.

Yes, the game has changed and big totals are the norm, but there’s still plenty of tactic for the purists to assess.  It’s just a shame that one-sided games are exaggerated at times in the second innings (see Pakistan and England chases).

Today’s Match

Afghanistan v Bangladesh, Manuka Oval (Canberra – partly cloudy, bit of win), 2:30pm local time

Afghanistan – $4.20

Bangladesh – $1.25

After a long wait (save some sympathy for the UAE who have to wait a little longer) Afghanistan and Bangladesh get to compete in their first games of the World Cup and in the process wrap up the first round of games in Pool A.  Most of the cricketing world eye’s will be on whether Afghanistan can live up to their significant promise.  After a number of international tournaments, and with a handful of genuinely useful international players, this could be their big breakout.

We’re going out on a whim here and saying they’ll win this one too.

Today’s Bet

Afghanistan (To Win)

Odds courtesy of TopBetta

The Three Big Questions

Will the World Cup see a close game?

Arguably the Ireland v West Indies game was close, but none of the other games have.  Even then the Irish looked odds on through much of their chase in another indication that bat is set to dominate ball in this World Cup instalment.  Ireland’s win aside, the smaller cricketing nations will always struggle in the early rounds, and one could expect that the round robin stage will be less competitive than the quarters and semis.  However, the tournament needs some competitive games and some close finishes to hold the attention of fans during the prolonged opening salvo, before everyone starts pencilling in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India for the top four positions.

Is New Zealand’s top order weaker than we think?

Yesterday got pretty scary for the Black Caps and their high riding fans.  5/117 and then 137/7 are results not indicative of the type of runs the top order has been accumulating recently.  A deeper look at some of those recent results though might point to some top order woes that could have them edgy and other teams excited.  To go with yesterday’s implosion, the Black Caps had the following scores in their ODI series against Sri Lanka: 149/6, 183/6, 63/3, 82/4 and 141/6.  While it’s possible to argue the final totals were impressive and they got the job done, it can also be shown there is some brittleness there and they could be due a permanent collapse.

Is 50-over cricket the new Twenty20?

The mammoth totals being posted by the teams in the opening stint of the World Cup certainly indicate the changing face of 50-over cricket.  Two balls, new fielding restrictions and power plays have led to teams chasing 350+ scores rather than the composed 280’s of the past.  New shots, big bats and small grounds have pushed the realms of possibility and it’s conceivable we’ll see a double hundred in this World Cup and a triple century in ODI cricket before long.  Teams are no longer threatened by losing early wickets – they know by having more time and less fielders in the deep in the final overs they can make up for slow starts or rebuilding phases and still post match winning totals.

Yes, the game has changed and big totals are the norm, but there’s still plenty of tactic for the purists to assess.  It’s just a shame that one-sided games are exaggerated at times in the second innings (see Pakistan and England chases).

Today’s Match

Afghanistan v Bangladesh, Manuka Oval (Canberra – partly cloudy, bit of win), 2:30pm local time

Afghanistan – $4.20

Bangladesh – $1.25

After a long wait (save some sympathy for the UAE who have to wait a little longer) Afghanistan and Bangladesh get to compete in their first games of the World Cup and in the process wrap up the first round of games in Pool A.  Most of the cricketing world eye’s will be on whether Afghanistan can live up to their significant promise.  After a number of international tournaments, and with a handful of genuinely useful international players, this could be their big breakout.

We’re going out on a whim here and saying they’ll win this one too.

Today’s Bet

Afghanistan (To Win)

Odds courtesy of TopBetta