by Akseli Pitkänen In this episode, Part Two, we look back at three teams (Australia, New Zealand, India) being above others. Two teams (Afghanistan and South Africa) take stick being eliminated in this contest while WI seems to be at wit's end. All the other remaining four (England, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan) battling for the last place greedily. At this stage there's a lot to play for despite a clear tone of qualifier's voice. In case you missed Part One please check it out right over here! Australia vs Pakistan: The Wanton Warner After the narrow defeat against WI and loss against India, the Australian openers really started to find their groove. This was the 1st truly big win for the Aussies and it set the tone for Australia later in this episode. Skipper Aaron Finch and David Warner posted 100 on the board in no time, in the 17th over. Finch took the attack especially on Mohammad Hafeez with three sixes and two back-to-back ones but it didn't take long before he miscued. Warner kept the momentum going with his blistering, stunning ton. However, he didn't push much further and that kicked off the wickets parade, as Pakistan went on to bowl out Australia for 307 all out from 223-2. Dreadful batting, but definitely quite a bit of cunning bowling too. We've seen that scores at the 300 mark or above in these conditions are not bad and it was the case here too. Australia kept taking regular wickets and a Wahab Riaz cameo of 45 from 39 down the order gave hopes for the men in green. Unfortunately, a few balls later Pakistan were all out for 266. Australia acheived a comfortable 41-run victory mainly due to Warner's heroics. 18th match: India vs New Zealand Thankfully, this was only washout in this episode, but the fourth altogether. One more game called off without a ball bowled. This resulted in a point each for both sides. England vs West Indies: The Versatile Root Easy - The Commodores Not sure if Joe listens to it or not. Surely he should. Just change a couple words, from Sunday morning to Friday cricket - just for that special day if not as a norm. Caught and bowled times two and a century opening the innings. It's not easy. It's pleasant to the eye though. The only bad stuff from England was Jason Roy's injury and Rashid's bowling. Otherwise, English had their day. England found a combo of top class fast bowling, Archer and Wood. With them many batsmen are panicking. Top speed of mid-90s. There's not much time left when you're facing such speed. WI legendary quicks know this. Pooran got a good innings of 63 and Gayle, Hetmyer hit little cameos. 212 not good enough as Archer and Wood took 3 wickets apeiece. Root opened, Woakes bat at 3. Bit of an experiment which worked. Root pulled, drove through cover and cut as did Woakes. Root brought up another dazzling unbeaten century. All about technique and confidence. Just what we like about batsmen. So easy like Joe's Friday. Australia vs Sri Lanka: The Finest Finch Finch was explosive this day. I'll name a few shots from his sensational 153 off 132 (15×4, 5×6). Classic cover drive, cut to 3rd man, pull to square leg, slog over deep midwicket, shot straight down the ground. In other words, Finch hit all over the place. Australia posted a decisive 334/7. Udana, the pick of the bowlers and fielders with 2 wickets, 1 catch and causing 2 run outs. Smith with 73 and Maxwell with 46*. If it wasn't for skipper Karunaratne and his guiding opener Kusal Perera, SL would've been bowled out rather cheaply. They had some vivid fun of their own. Both got to 50s. After their innings Australian seamers took advantage and SL fell short by a distance. Hence the 87 run loss Afghanistan vs South Africa: SA takes 1st scalp There were three starts from Afghanistan which got them past 120, but otherwise, it was a downfall. It looked like the openers had something going but nah, nothing in the end. What became a good start to the match ended in cold feelings. Rain doesn't help either. Zazai and Zadran hit 22 and 32, Rashid got himself to 35. But those were the only double figures. On the other hand, SA got their campaign up and running, finally. Morris and Tahir the bowling stars with 3-13 and 4-29 respectively. SA chased down the 127 target with ease. Amla 41* and Quinton 68 as the lone wicket gone. The chase ended in fitting fashion, when Andile Phehlukwayo clouted a straight six off Mohammad Nabi. India vs Pakistan: The Ever Lively Sharma We've learned to see this from Rohit now, haven't we? In the always massive rivalry, Pakistan vs India, we see the two fight hard. However, we also see some lovely cricket in the process. India batted 1st. We saw some cracking shots all around. Rahul pulled, Rohit did too. We saw a near run out gone begging. Slog sweeps gone for six. Rahul 50 and his undoing. A couple of Rohit inside edges. Cut for 100. Cover drives. Kohli 50. Rohit 140 off 113. You get the picture. India hit all over the park. India ended on 336-5. Amir with 3 wickets in the midst of carnage. Shankar took an early wicket. Zaman and Azam went berserk. They hit the ball hard. At 117-1 the partnership was building into a threatening one. Then Kuldeep bowled an absolute ripper. Spinning miles and hitting middle and off stump. He took both settled batsmen and from there India had a big advantage they were never going to spoil. Hardik took a couple. The rain came after 35 overs forcing the game to be ended in 5 more overs. India win by 89 runs via D/L. West Indies vs Bangladesh: Shakib, the Magician Shakib was magnificent with both bat and ball. He won the game almost singlehandedly. Especially his efforts with the bat, truly amazing. Chris Gayle gone with a 13-ball duck. Then Lewis and Hope rebuilded fast. It didn't take long before Shakib got in the action. He took Lewis' wicket, gone for 70. Shakib took another one. However, Hope hit a great singles dominated 96, only 5 boundaries. Hetmyer hit 50 off 26 as WI got to 321/8. You'd say half the job done for WI but... Well, yes, indeed. BD hit comfortably and WI bowled very much out of their comfort zone. The fast lads ended on 0-65, 0-62 and 0-78. That's how good BD batsmen were. They hit, hit, and hit. WI restricted BD to 133-3 courtesy of a Cottrell special run out and Rahim's tickle down the leg side. But from there, Shakib and Das were rather on top. They gave away no chances. Shakib hit his 100 with a cover drive. Just indicates how the two were hitting lovely strokes. Liton got 94* and his highlighted moment was when he hit 3 sixes in a row in the 38th over. Shakib dealt with fours only, 16 in total. 124* off 99 was just impeccable. Bangladesh won by 7 wickets with a RR near 8. 322/3 beats 321/8 England vs Afghanistan: The Mordant Morgan We were so, so close of getting a total of 400 in England. All this due to one player, Eoin Morgan. England had a dream innings. The foundation was there right through. Bairstow hit 90 and Root 88 but that did not stole the show. It was Morgan and his breathless sixes that took an average score to an explosive one. 17 maximums, an all-time world record. Brutish hitting no doubt about it. But there was one more tale. Actually an unfortunate one. Namely Rashid Khan, the T20 star, was hit for 0-110 off 9, almost a world record as well. Economy over 12 and hit for 11 out of the park. Morgan hit 148 off 71 (4×4, 17×6) as England were one boundary away from 400 in the last ball of the innings which Moeen hit for a single. Anyways a staggering 397-6 and job done. Afghanistan got 247/8 in 50 overs. Archer took 3-52 and Shahidi got 76 runs. England win by 150 runs South Africa vs New Zealand: Williamson, Proper #3, Exceptional Captain SA batted 1st. The top order batsmen were all bowled out by 3 different bowlers. The top 4 never got going. All ended with a SR of 60-70. Amla being the best with 55. Van der Dussen took SA to a mediocre total with 67*. The plan wasn't there to bash out the bowlers. Quick Ferguson chipped in a couple more as SA ended on 241/6. NZ had a fair start. Munro was caught and bowled by Rabada in the 3rd over. However, Guptill and Williamson brought business before Martin was hit wicket in his odd pull shot. One wicket brought two quick ones. Morris, de Kock had something to cheer about as a bowler, catcher combination. Then KW steadied the ship like a sailor. He hit cover drives, cuts to 3rd man. In the meantime he saw another wicket at the non-striker's end. This time Morris' 3rd and Neesham gone. Colin de Grandhomme wasn't there for nothing. He left everything on the field. KW was caught but not reviewed, nearly ran out but he kept his cool like a labrador retriever. Need no fury at this stage but SA definitely was disappointed in this 'must win' game. Kane gets to 3 figures with a six and it's all over at 245/6. NZ win by 4 wickets Australia vs Bangladesh: Warner Wizardry Guides Aus to 313-1 Caption tells a lot. Warner and Finch hit to 121-0 and Warner, Khawaja continue BD's struggles. 53 for Finch and 89 for Khawaja. Warner's 166 off 147 (14×4, 5×6) though was in many ways the innings of the tournament so far. Warner's shots include pull over square leg, slog sweep to same direction, cut to 3rd man, straight down the ground for a biggie, and many more. Australia ended on 381-5, surprisingly part-timer Sarkar took 3 top order wickets. Bangladesh had a crack at it. Tamim and Mahmudullah had some shots for 50s. But it was Rahim who took himself as far as an unbeaten century. 333-8, the BD score in the end. Australia won by 48 runs Sri Lanka vs England: Malinga takes 4 If the match above was a batsman's paradise, then surely this one was a bowler's paradise. Archer and Woakes got early breakthroughs. Fernando and Mendis got themselves in a good position but after Mendis' wicket the English bowlers got on too again. The ever experience Mathews hit a crucial 85* off 115 (5×4, 1×6) to get SL to 232/9. The total didn't seem challenging before midway in the innings but as Malinga got 2 early breakthroughs it put England on the backfoot. Still at 127-3 with Root on 57* and Stokes hitting nicely not many could have predicted a collapse. It was on its way though. Malinga bowled Root and Buttler out for a 4-fer. Then spinner de Silva picked 3 and Stokes was left with no partners on 82. 212 all out and SL win by 20 India vs Afghanistan: The Shami hat-trick The low-scoring trend continues. After the England loss Afghanistan fights back. Afghanistan bowlers were on target. Mujeeb took an early wicket. Rahul got out on 30. Kohli showed his class for a while but was out for 67 off 63. There were many starts and outs. Shankar 29 and Dhoni 28. Jadhav got 52 but India ended on 224/8, a score which gave Afghanistan hopes. As did Indians, Afghans also had starts but one by one they got themselves out one way or the other. 10, 27, 36, 21, 8, 52, 21, 14 are not exactly what you expect as a batting coach. However, you'd expect that from an Indian point of view. Indians were top class in bowling. 16 off the last over with 3 wickets in hand was the result with Nabi on 48*. Nabi hit 1st ball for a boundary but Shami bowled him out with a yorker. An end to Afghan glory and the start of deadly yorkers. Shami hit the woodwork twice and took a WC hat-trick to his name bowling the Afghans out for 213. India won by 11. Afghanistan were the first team eliminated as a result of this match. New Zealand vs West Indies: Williamson and Boult hold on Cottrell struck right in the beginning twice. Guptill & Munro both out for golden ducks. Taylor and KW did it again. They stood up and built a solid foundation, in fact a 160 run partnership. You couldn't keep Cottrell out of the game but for the most part KW digged in, eventually the bowler had his say. Not after KW's 148 off 154 (14×4, 1×6) though. KW hit lovely cover drives, cuts through point, tickle to fine leg to raise 100, slog sweep for the lone six. Cottrell ended on 10-1-56-4 with also two catches off Carlos Brathwaite and causing a run out. NZ ended on 291/8, Williamson scoring over half of the runs. Trent Boult stroke a bit like Cottrell, early in the innings. Hope dragged on and Latham caught Pooran. Gayle hit firmly in his 87 with 6 maximums and Hetmyer reached 50. But at 164/7 after a couple more wickets by Boult, the chase seemed to be shortening. But then Carlos 'Remember the name' Brathwaite started hitting big ones. Still at 245/9, WI required a further 47. Thomas, the tailender hit no runs but Brathwaite hit for the two men combined. Straight down the ground for six, swivel cut for six. Took himself to 100 but the job wasn't done just yet. With 6 needed off 7 he went for the glory shot only to be caught excellently on the boundary line by Boult. Shame ending for the West Indies. 286 ao and lost by 5 runs. Pakistan vs South Africa: Big Cricketing Nation Eliminated Early Pakistan didn't do things too well. They dropped catches but SA didn't take advantage of it. Mentally beaten teams just don't rise it seems. Paki batsmen got starts: 44, 44, 69, 20. Tahir is a superb bowler and caused two of them. Markram, a part-timer, took Hafeez who seems to give away wickets to part-timers like Finch and Markram. Sohail hit 89 off 59 in the depth which seemed to be very crucial. 308-7 Amir took Amla but SA seemed to find rhythm. De Kock and du Plessis hit 47 and 63. Then things fell apart. Shadab took 3 and Wahab's challenging pace spell produced three wickets. SA fell well short and lost by 49. South Africa were eliminated as a result of this match. Bangladesh vs Afghanistan; Shakib is brilliant with the ball Mujeeb Ur Rahman takes Liton in the 5th over. Iqbal and Shakib keep building runs. However, Nabi bowls out Iqbal and Shakib gets trapped by Mujeeb. Mujeeb strikes once more. This time Sarkar gets trapped right in front. Rahim hit 83 off 87 with 5 boundaries. He concentrated a lot on rotating the strike and did that very well. He's a very quick runner, mind you. Innings ended on 262/7 Afghanistan got a good start but Shakib pulled them back big time. It was special bowling. A masterclass effort from the left arm spinner. He attacked the stumps, got them to drift and turn. Caught at mid on, short cover. The unique one was bowled through the gate, through the defences of Nabi, a straight one. Shakib had figures of 4.3 overs, 3 bowling wickets and 4 runs conceded at that stage. In his 7th over he got his 4th, 4-8. A bit of a long hop swipe from Asghar to be caught in front of square leg. Shakib claimed his deserving 5 wicket haul when Zadran got stumped. Shakib Al Hasan ended on 10-1-29-5. Mustafizur took a couple too and Afghanistan were bowled out for exactly 200. BD won by 62 runs. Australia vs England; The Beyond Beautiful Behrendorff Finch and Warner keep cruising. Pull, up and over, punch down the ground, ideal cover drive, sweep, slog to cow corner, you name it. There ain't nothing they can't do... until Moeen Ali eventually broke the century stand but Finch went big and bigger. He raced to a brilliant 100 off 116, studded with 11 fours and 2 maximums. England always kept the run rate in check, so no worries just yet. Australia, 285/7. Then came the big lad as a replacement for this big match. Australia wanted opening pace and you bet, they got it. This 193 centimeter fellow was in business. 2nd ball gone, Vince out for a silver duck. Starc got Root plumb lbw and Morgan caught at fine leg with a silly top edged pull shot. Behrendorff bowled a short one and a mistimed pull from Bairstow ended in the throat of Cummins. Stokes found resistance with his 89 from 115 but England was always falling short. He was bowled by a stunning yorker by Starc. When Moeen was caught by the wicket keeper, bowled Behrendorff on 189-7, the end was nigh. Behrendorff and Starc shared the wickets together. Big lad Jason ended on 5-44 and pace unit Mitchell on 4-43. England 221 ao. Australia win by 64 runs. Australia qualified for the semi-finals as a result of this rivalry match.
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