Tag: England

Cricket: Sri Lanka withstand Ali and Bopara

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Reviewing existing International Cricket seems a bit meaningless in light of the tragic death of gifted Australian Phillip Hughes.   However, it is in their performances that the international cricket community can continue to show their respects, and in several performances in the first one day international between Sri Lanka and England, shades of Hughes’ quality strokeplay were evident.

Most notably, was Moeen Ali’s effort (we predicted his heroics earlier in the week). His 87-ball 119 was littered with boundaries, class and confidence. His innings further outlined his importance to England’s Cricket World Cup campaign, especially as Alastair Cook and Ian Bell continue to struggle to improve strike rates.

Ravi Bopara aptly assisted the England cause with a rapid 65 late in the piece. He was last out miscuing a leg side whack, giving Sri Lanka a 25 run win. Bopara has often been left carrying the baby of late, and is vastly improving as a finisher. Part of his development has been the ability to clear the rope rather than simply placing balls and hitting gaps. His power will be crucial on the grounds of New Zealand and Australia at the Cricket World Cup.

Sri Lanka’s first up effort setting a target was built around a balanced team effort. Three players (Dilshan, Jayawardene, and Kusal Perera) scored half centuries, while others (Matthews, Jeevan Mendis, and Thirimanne) made handy contributions at better than a run a ball. The 302 total was imposing; no team had chased more than 285 to win at Premadasa Stadium.

Making matters even tougher for the geezers was a quality spin attack that stifled the likes of Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and James Tredwell as they sought quick runs at the end. Stokes in particular laboured to 16 off 27 before being stumped looking to find some much needed momentum. Woakes followed in the same suit leaving England’s cricket coaches needing to quickly find a plan to mask the middle order’s limitations against spin.

The win, Sri Lanka’s first since leaving for India to replace the West Indies in a one day international series, will provide them with a welcome boost, while England still search for a World Cup hero that single handedly win games on the big stage (notwithstanding Ali’s fantastic contribution in this game).

One rather interesting cricket anomaly occurred in the first over of England’s run chase. Captain Cook was adjudged LBW twice before successfully reviewing both decisions (both going over the top). Unfortunately for Cook, DRS form is not a selection team consideration.

Cricket: England’s path to World Cup begins in Colombo

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England’s cricket stars are in desperate need of some game time. For one, they could use a tune up before next year’s World Cup, and secondly, they need the opportunity to prove they’re a strong collective unit and Kevin Pieterson’s nonsense was exactly that.

KP has dominated cricket discussion since the end of England’s summer of cricket, so the opportunity to showcase skills on the pitch will be welcomed with open arms by their World Cup hopefuls.

They head to Sri Lanka, in the middle of rain season, to compete in seven relatively meaningless ODI’s. The series, which is designed presumably to test combinations, comes just at the right time for both teams.

Sri Lanka need confidence after taking a hammering in India, while England just need more experience for the likes of Ali, Gurney, Jordan and Stokes.

The Last Time These Two Met

The teams actually met relatively recently. In May and June of this year Sri Lanka won a five match series 3-2, playing some quality cricket along the way. The series feature four completed innings scores under 150 and only one of over 300. Alastair Cook was under intense pressure after losing the previous series; it will be interesting if he is if they suffer a first up loss here.

The Teams

Sri Lanka (likely): 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Dhammika Prasad, 10 Rangana Herath, 11 Shaminda Eranga

England (likely): 1 Moeen Ali, 2 Alastair Cook (capt), 3 Ian Bell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Jos Buttler (wkt), 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 James Tredwell, 11 Harry Gurney

The Key Players

Moeen Ali – Originally entered International cricket as a batsman who could bowl a bit. Now he rightfully commands respect as a front line spinner. Not only will he be a handful on the skidding pitches of Sri Lanka, but also expect him to score big runs. Comfortably one of the better players of spin in the English set-up.

Angelo Matthews – What a year Matthews has had. In both Test cricket and ODI cricket, the Sri Lankan captain has been epic. Often digging his side out of a whole, or if not, accelerating near the end of the innings, his contributions have been stunning to watch. Fresh off a 139 against India he should do well again.

The Odds*

Sri Lanka – $1.55

England – $2.45

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Unibet.

The Prediction

It’s always difficult to predict the winners when Duckworth-Lewis gets involved, and he definitely will at some stage in this series. England look appetizing at that price, so I’m picking them to sneak an early win while Sri Lanka’s Indian hangover continues.

All Blacks Issue World Cup Warning

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The 2015 World Cup final will be held at Twickenham on the 31st of October in front of close to 90,000 people.  If the weekend’s matchup was a test run, the All Blacks passed with distinction; the English faltered.

Despite a fast start, a one man advantage mid way through the second half, and the benefit of a dubious penalty try, the English were clearly second best.  They have done little to suggest they have improved since their mid year trip to New Zealand;  the gap between the sides remains, and in actual fact is larger than the three point winning margin suggests.

England’s unsettled midfield combination and their inability to find points in the second half was a telling difference between the two sides in the difficult Autumn rain.  Ultimately the side with 400 more test caps than the other utilised their superior skills to take the spoils.

The All Blacks who had woes of their own, namely their goal-kicking, once again showed just how difficult they are to beat.  Led by the heroic Richie McCaw the All Blacks have an uncanny knack of staying calm even under the most intense pressure, and still escaping with victories.  Knowing how to win, is jut as important at not knowing how to lose; the All Blacks are quite simply better than any other International rugby team (probably in history) at it.

The win did not always appear to be on course.  Johnny May streaked past Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg in rather embarrassing (for the All Blacks pair anyway) fashion to give England the perfect start.  With Owen Farrell also contributing points with the boot, the English took a surprising lead to the break and the Twickenham vocal chords were in full, hopeful voice.

The second half was a different story.  The All Blacks gave England next to no ball and ran in tries to captain McAwesome and Charlie Famine.  At 24-14 there was only ever going to be one winner.  England late penalty try was merely consolation.

McCaw was New Zealand’s best player, followed by Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino, Sam Whitlock and Aaron Smith.  While, Cruden’s and Barrett’s kicking yips should see Daniel Carter start next week against Scotland, along with a number of other rotation policy changes.

England’s coach Stuart Lancaster remained optimistic about his side’s World Cup chances.  He can rightly take heart in the work of his teams line-out and scrum.

The 2015 World Cup form guide will again be getting a workout with Internationals that pit England against South Africa, and New Zealand against Scotland.  Time is running out for teams to build confidence, and send warning shots, especially to the All Blacks.

Four Nations Finalists Found After More Drama

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Drama and Destruction were the themes in two contrasting Four Nations matches this weekend.  New Zealand and Australia’s dominance of the Four Nations continued with both sealing finals births.

New Zealand v England (16-14)

The Kiwis scraped into the Four Nations final with a narrow victory over a gallant English side in the penultimate round of the Four Nations.

The Kiwis only needed to avoid a heavy defeat to sew up a Four Nations final birth, but instead chose the more dignified route, winning by two points in front a raucous Dunedin crowd.

The game was close for the duration with only a conversion separating the sides after Gareth Widdop cruelly hit the upright with this first two attempts.  Despite being close, this one always had the feel of a New Zealand victory, thanks in part to their fleet footed forward pack that ate up metres in the middle of the park.

A frenetic start saw four tries in the first 30 minutes, all to wingers, a theme that continued for the rest of the game.  Jason Nightingale’s early opener was cancelled out by a Ryan Hall effort before Josh Charnley briefly gave England their only lead of the night.  The wingers then continued to dominate the key plays.  Nightingale scored a try – Vatuvei bombed a try – Hall bombed a try – Hall scored a try.

Thomas Leuluai made a massive impact for the Kiwi’s both defensively and in the attacking end, compounding Isaac Luke to a fair few minutes on the bench.  Simon Mannering was epic in defence too and worthy of a mention.  England again showed they can match it with the top two of International league, and in James Graham, Geaorge Burgess and Daryl Clark have three forwards to build their future plans around.  That’s provided George Burgess doesn’t follow his brother to Rugby Union.

The finish lacked points but in keeping with the tournament trend, was full of tension.

The Kiwi’s can celebrate by turning their attention to the Four Nations final in Wellington on Saturday night.  The English, well they celebrated with a visit to a famous Dunedin student flat and smashed the front door down.

 

Australia v Samoa (44-18)

Joining New Zealand in the Final are the Kangaroos as they easily saw off the surprise package Samoans in Wollongong by 44-18.

After shaky performances in the first two weeks of the Four Nations the Australians finally played to their potential, relying on superstars Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk and Daly Cherry-Evans.

Cherry-Evans’ 30 minute breakaway try effectively sealed as much and ended Samoa’s bold Four Nations campaign.  Ill-discipline was the killer for the Samoans, Joey Leilua who was so dynamic against the Kiwi’s last week only bothered chalking up penalties this week rather than the more sought after Rugby League stats such as metres, line breaks and tries.  Josh McGuire who many believe should’ve have been playing for Australia, and not Samoa, was their most effective forward, while surprise package David Klemmer saw his stocks rise with an exceptional display.

The result delivers the expected Four Nations final and a repeat of last years Old Trafford showpiece.

Four Nations Week 3 Preview

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Will week three of the Four Nations finally see the favourites dominant their opponents?  Can Samoa scare a third straight team?  Will England’s point deferential struggle let their game?

Those will be the key questions being answered in week three of the Four Nations.  Let’s look at the two games.

New Zealand v England

The Kiwi’s shift venues form the beautiful afternoon sun in Whangarei to the closed roofed Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin to take on the desperate English in the week’s first game.  The game features and interesting test for mathematicians as they calculate the scenarios that will decide the Four Nations finalists.  At this stage, if New Zealand win or draw they are through to the final;  if they lose heavily then they need Samoa to get close to, or beat, Australia

Both teams met lady luck last week.  The Kiwi’s escaped a stern Samoan test and were fortunate to cross for a late four pointer to win the duel for the fictional blonde in the green dress.  England on the other hand got stood up; they narrowly lost to Australia thanks to a controversial final minute TMO decision.

Both sides have played some decent football in the Four Nations thus far.  New Zealand’s best was missing last week, but they have added experience to that side by reinstating Thomas Leuluai and Greg Eastwood to the interchange bench.  Isaac Luke will be better for last week’s hit out and he should be able to ignite the Kiwi’s play utilising the offloads of Bromwich and Blair and the rest of the hard running forward pack.  However, their susceptible backbone has errors in them and will need to be at top form to control the exciting English equivalents.

The geezers have shown that they have improved since last years World Cup.  In last year’s semi-final they suffered a last minute loss to the Kiwi’s and despite some reservations about their ability to close out games, I’m backing them to be right up for this challenge.

Key contributors James Graham and Gareth Widdop will look to exploit a soft New Zealand middle and error prone back three.  In Ryan Hall and Josh Charnley they have two World class wingers who could benefit from the pressure instilled on the nervy Kiwis.

I’m picking an upset here.  England by 6.

Odds

New Zealand $1.45

England $2.80

Four Nations odds courtesy of Sportingbet.

Teams

New Zealand: 1. Peta Hiku, 2. Jason Nightingale, 3. Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 4. Dean Whare, 5. Manu Vatuvei, 6. Kieran Foran, 7. Shaun Johnson, 8. Jesse Bromwich, 9. Issac Luke, 10. Adam Blair, 11. Simon Mannering (c), 12. Kevin Proctor, 13. Jason Taumalolo. Interchange: 14. Thomas Leuluai, 15. Greg Eastwood, 16. Martin Taupau, 17. Tohu Harris, 18. Lewis Brown (one to be omitted).

England: 1. Sam Tomkins, 2. Josh Charnley, 3. Kallum Watkins, 4. Dan Sarginson, 5. Ryan Hall, 6. Gareth Widdop, 7. Matty Smith, 8. George Burgess, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. James Graham, 11. Liam Farrell, 12. Joel Tomkins, 13. Sean O’Loughlin (c). Interchange:
14. Daryl Clark, 15. Brett Ferres, 16. Tom Burgess, 17. Chris Hill.

 

Australia v Samoa

Samoa have been a revelation in the Four Nations thus far but I fear their energy may have already been consumed in their sterling efforts in weeks one and two.  They should be no match for the World Champion Australian outfit, but they could still influence the finalists based on the points differential calculations.

Australia have been forced to reshuffle their back;  Beau Scott forced out with injury and replaced by Josh Papalii in the run on side.    While Samoa have opted for a tactical change and bring in nightclub troublemaker Reni Maitua.  Expect the Aussies to be far too strong in this matchup.  The structured play and kicking game of Cooper Cronk should force Samoa into mistakes.  Of particular interest to a lot of pundits is the centre battle;  Jennings and Walker v Lafai and Leila will be brilliant to watch.

Odds

Australia $1.09

Samoa $7.75

Teams

Australia: 1. Greg Inglis, 2. Josh Mansour, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Dylan Walker, 5. Sione Mata’utia, 6. Daly Cherry-Evans, 7. Cooper Cronk, 8. Aaron Woods, 9. Cameron Smith (c), 10. Josh Papalii, 11. Sam Thaiday, 12. Greg Bird, 13. Corey Parker. Interchange: 14. Boyd Cordner, 15. Robbie Farah, 16. Aidan Guerra, 17. Ryan Hoffman, 18. Ben Hunt, 19. David Klemmer, 20. Matt Moylan (three to be omitted).

Samoa: 1 Tim Simona, 2 Antonio Winterstein, 3 Tim Lafai, 4 Joseph Leilua, 5 Daniel Vidot, 6 Ben Roberts, 7 Kyle Stanley, 8 Isaac Liu, 9 Pita Godinet, 10 David Fa’alogo (c), 11 Frank Pritchard, 12 Leeson Ah Mau, 13 Josh McGuire. Interchange: 14 Dunamis Lui, 15 Reni Maitua, 16 Sauaso Sue, 17 Mose Masoe, 18 Jesse Sene-Lefao, 19 Tautau Moga (two to be omitted).

Four Nations odds courtesy of Luxbet.

Luckless Samoa Denied At The Death (Four Nations)

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England and Samoa were the unlucky teams in a pair of nail-biting finishes rarely seen in International Rugby League.

Both sides outplayed their highly fancied opponents and deserved upset wins only to be cruelly denied in the last moments.

New Zealand v Samoa

Shaun Kenny-Dowall’s late try was enough to sink a passionate Samoan effort in the Whangarei sun on Saturday afternoon.  In a game often lacking in quality, but featuring plenty of aggression, the complacent Kiwis were rocked by a powerful Samoan forward pack and riot running / fearsome haircut centre Joey Leilua.

Samoa were the better starters and took a surprise but deserved lead from a Tautau Moga breakaway try.  Moga had been suspended from the first week of games because of a nightclub incident, and his touchline dash may have mimicked his actions avoiding police of the fateful night in question.

The Samoans, who were paying $3 just to lead at any stage, played huge Bronco’s forward Josh McGuire at hooker for the opening stanza, and controlled played nicely through the usually erratic Ben Roberts.  New Zealand on the other hand showed none of their week one Four Nations form; they were untidy, and lacked imagination and spark in the attacking third.

The win for the Kiwi’s was less about their escape, but more about what Samoa achieved.  There is much to admire about the side that in one game have done plenty for the global game.  They have easily made the biggest impact of any of the fourth teams to play in the Four Nations.

New Zealand have not played well in either game so consider England a chance next week.

England v Australia

A finger nail was all that separated the sides on Sunday night in Melbourne.  A fiercely debated TMO decision that went against the English has made their qualifying path to the final much tougher.  The try / no try call came in the dying stages and saw winger Ryan Hall half force the ball and half smack it over the dead ball line while chasing a Liam Farrell grubber.  It probably wasn’t a try in my view, but it was a fortuitous Four Nations escape for the mediocre Aussies.

England dominated the first half; playing with width and enterprise they tired the Australian team who went into the break behind and risking a place in the Four Nations final.  Daryl Clark again ignited the English attack, leading to tries for Kallum Watkins and Ryan Hall.  Unfortunately for the sunburn susceptible English they went into their shell in the second stanza and were left exposed to a quicker ruck initiated by debutant Ben Hunt.

Discipline also let England down as referee Cameron Smith Gerard Sutton penalised heavily as the game’s momentum shifted.  In other highlights: Cameron Smith was man of the match, Ben Hunt was terrific and must play against Samoa, Greg Inglis scores tries for fun, and Sam Tomkins has a questionable new thigh tattoo.

Expect Aussie to put 40 on Samoa next week when the Four Nations picks its finalists.