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So the world t20 tournament is under a month away now, and England have just announced their squad.

E Morgan, M Ali, S Billings, J Buttler, L Dawson, S Finn, A Hales, C Jordan, A Rashid, J Root, J Roy, B Stokes, R Topley, J Vince, D Willey


A young squad, with no Chris Woakes in it being the only surprise really.

New England attitude, attack at all costs. Some great results recently, and generally entertaining games.

What do you think England's chances are?

good

India obvious favourites

we are a fast developing side though, lots of batting firepower up top, will bat most of the way down too

possibly lack a gun bowler, though rashid in the bbl, second highest wicket taker, pointed to potential in sub-continent conditions

many of the other sides have problems, aus can't play spin, south africa have no depth, pakistan might not turn up, west indies are a rabble and might not care, NZL probably under-rated but not really their conditions, sri lanka probably a threat

i haven't looked at the prices but i would have england top 3-4 in the market behind india 

http://www.oddschecker.com/cricket/t20-world-cup (http://www.oddschecker.com/cricket/t20-world-cup)

India 11/4
Australia 6/1
England 7/1
South Africa 7/1

I think India are right to be favourites in their own conditions, they are very hard to beat in the sub-continent, but then they did get skittled for 100 against Sri Lanka yesterday!

Batsman-wise I like Kohli for top scorer. He has jsut come on in leaps and bounds in the last year, brilliant to watch and rarely lets them down. If they have a good tournament, either Kohli or Sharma will have gone well.

Anyone think there may be some value in Buttler being top scorer? Paddy Power have him at 50/1. Is this because he wont be facing the necessary amount of balls to get the runs needed? If his one day form is an indicator, he could cause mayhem.

would need to be batting top 4

roy
hales
root

and then who? it was Morgan, might not be now

if you think its buttler at 4 fine. in odis they have pushed him higher up, perhaps the same applies in the T20 given you have stokes and willey to be  finishers lower down

will get a clue next week in the South Africa T20 matches at the end of this tour

I think Vince slotted in at 3 in the UAE when he, Hales and Roy all played. So could look something like this from the squad given

Hales
Roy
Vince
Root
Buttler
Morgan
Stokes
Moeen
Rashid
Willey
Finn

could be. might be a bowler short in what will be tough bowling conditions, might be batting stokes too low

looks a good squad though, plenty of options

Not sure about the exact playing conditions, but some venues could have teams playing 3 spinners. If England rock up on one of these tracks, we could be in trouble.

This England side play spin fine now

Topley for Vince I think is how they'll go. Vince played in UAE due to injury to stokes? Or root being rested? Can't remember. That still gives us Rashid and willey at 8/9, below that you don't need batting in t20.

I think we'll go well but lack of experience in these conditions will be our undoing. Sides like India, Australia, south Africa and Windies (if they pick their good players) have imbraced ipl so their players have built up that experience over there. We just have Morgan.

On a positive note We're a hell of a lot closer to winning than 12 months ago, and have the easier group imo

Should have picked Luke Wright. Top 10 T20 batsman in the world imo.

and looking at KP in the BBL, he'd be in my top 4 too

all other baggage aside, which isn't realistic, but still a world class T20 bat.

Agreed. In superb form in this format, unfortunately Strauss is supreme leader now, and even though he has done a lot of good, this is a glaring mistake on his part.

Bangladesh are a very lively outsider. In familiar conditions and they've had some v good results in the last 12 months. Well balanced team and a few genuine worldies. Granted they've got to get through the qualifiers, I don't see them really fearing anyone. At 40/1 happy to take a punt.

If West Indies sort their politics out and the first team turns up I fancy them to go deep again.

England deffo have a chance, Ali and Rashid will be huge for them.

I really fancy England for this and the next ODI world cup.

It is a breath of fresh air watching them play and the have the real joker in the pack in Buttler.

I'd like to see Root at 3 and Buttler at 4 throughout. Give him chance to play the big, match winning innings every game.

Like us at the quoted price and will also have a dabble on Buttler top run scorer.

England are 5/2 to top their group with betv. Considering we have the easier of the 2 groups (Saffers, Windies and Sri Lanka in our group, instead of India, Australia, NZ, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the other  :P ) that looks a fair price. Only a couple of firms have priced it up so far.

Could be worth taking if people fancy us to continue our strong white-ball form in the remaining ODI's and T20I series v Saffers, or if the Windies players are serious about striking over shite pay.


www.oddschecker.com/cricket/t20-world-cup/twenty20-world-cup/group-b-winner

New Zealand are 10/1? Given the clean hitting, decent bowling and world class fielding they possess i'm very surprised at that. They'll be full of confidence at the moment too. Granted they may have a poor subcontinent record but this is the strongest team player for player they've able to field for years. 

Tougher group, B Mc retired and weakish spin options. Would say main reason for them being behind Eng, SA and Windies in the outright betting is that 2 put of 3 of them will likely make the semi's, while NZ will have to beat India or Australia (the 2 favourites) to get to the knock-out's. Still have match-winners and will be competitive but got rough end of the stick with their group.

How the World T20 is careering towards disaster,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/twenty20/12150356/How-the-World-T20-is-careering-towards-disaster.html

Ahh i see. Wow, it's been a while since i can last remember the group stages of a cricket WC actually having some meaning other than ensuring the top teams get ferried to the next stage. More of this please...the last few WC's have been horrendous.

liked this pic

Sam Billings practicing for friday's T20 in cape town today

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbVWfASUMAAKFc0.jpg)

Billings been working on his keeping with Brad Haddin in the Pakistan Super League. A good example of how these young lads playing franchise cricket will be of benefit to their game not just their bank balance, as the cynics have always stated.

Enjoying the cricket today! Very fun and creative innings from Shahzad for Afghanistan.

Have to say I think this format is great, with the smaller team getting a mini competition first and the top teams going through the main competition. Will for sure mean less washouts in the competition and with two teams going through the groups it should make for more exciting matches with any loss a big blow (compared to main World Cup where 4 go through)

I thought it made perfect sense, which is strange for the ICC haha. Small nations still get their chance to shine, so it's not a closed shop for the associates. Then in the super ten every game matters with only top 2 going through so the level should be cranked up early doors. Hopefully plays out that way, and they replicate it for the 50-over version also.

+1. The last few world cups have been beyond rubbish. Personally I still remember the 1999 and 2003 world cups with fondness. I quite liked the super 6 format, certainly better than what we've had to put with for the last decade anyway.

Enjoyed Shehzad's innings too, i've seen him pull off similar feats before. Incredible hand eye co-ordination and strength in his arms. Will get found out versus the more experienced bowling sides though i imagine.

Agree.  Excellent entertainment today on both games.

I'm glued to the screen watching Ireland vs Oman. T20 is simply excellent.

Shocker for Ireland and Sorensen: defending 14 going into last over against number 9 and 10 batsman, he bowls two no-balls and concedes two boundaries and 4 byes, Oman beat Ireland

ball was like a bar of soap, but still.

ouch

Most of these associate nations are more than competent now,Especially in the shortest format. They've had some pretty good results recently.

I think the era of smaller associates getting smashed are gone. Imo they should have 4 groups of 4, with top 2 going through to quarters. I can see Afghanistan causing quiet a few problems for the big boys if they beat Zimbabwe to top spot.

The first 4 games have been fantastic. Is it true that all the associated have been booted out of the next 50 over World Cup?  Are cricket authorities stupid?

To be fair watching Oman in a 50 over contest would be like watching paint dry, and they'd have absolutely no chance against the bigger teams unlike the higher variance format of T20.

from recall, the top nations basically trying to operate a kabal for all the tv money. Though that may be getting changed in the near future

Ireland have beaten bigger teams in 50 overs matches and they are being tinned as well!  We can have 16 team football world cups and 8 team rugby world cups using that argument.

Idk about rugby but lower level football is still quite entertaining and people will go to games, but 50 over games involving weaker sides in ODI's doesn't attract an interested audience. Ireland are an exception to this though for sure and it's a shame they miss out, but generally associate cricket in the longer format will be as dull as dishwater and spring few surprises because the gap is far too big.

Imo we should play the 20 over format every 2 years and probably extend more associates into it as clearly they can compete and play entertaining cricket in the slogfest format, thereby promoting cricket in these countries and giving them a chance to eventually compete on a more even keel in the longer formats.

Curses, I watched the first three games but went out today and missed the best one!

Looking forward to tomorrow already though.

I put a small bet on Joe Root as top runscorer ew paying 5 places at B0yles at 28-1. What do you guys think?

http://www.oddschecker.com/cricket/t20-world-cup/twenty20-world-cup/top-tournament-batsman

Mohammad Shahzad didn't fancy hanging around, 40 off 23! I like the way the Afghan's play, plenty of aggressive intent. Hamilton Masakadza could be crucial in the chase, if he doesn't run himself out again ...

Is the England game on TV? Can't find it anywhere....

Today's game is only a warm up so not on tv as far as I know

Afghans did well there to dig themselves out of a hole midway through and post a big score.  Surely it will be too much for Zim with the Afghan spin options on that pitch.  I think they might get skittled here for 80 if they go too fast too early.

I have Masakadza top bat but for them to get close he'll have to go for it early on, so not ideal. Afghan's should have 30 too many there. Quick start while the pace is still on the ball is Zim's only hope before the 3 spinners come on

England got the 170 with 4 balls to spare v NZ  :)

India getting spun out, fun

Isn't it nice when you don't play on roads

Great shout from Williamson to drop Boult and southeee for spinners

Mental game really.  Kiwis looked to have set a poor total but it looked massive after the Indian powerplay.

England have showed in a few overs why they wont win this. Bowlers just not good enough.

Hales and Roy lost that for England.  Using 33 percent of the overs with strike rate of 100 and having the power play is completely unacceptable.

Im personally willing to blame Topley for everything. Utter garbage.

No idea why Morgan gives Rashid only 2 overs.  He's the wicket taker.  He's always expensive.

I'd prefer us to chase whenever possible. Inexperience is a downside with our side, and batting first we don't seem to know what a winnable score is, and then how to defend whatever we get.  We aim for 200 when sometimes 170 would be enough etc. Given our current attacking ethos with the bat, I'd like to see us try and restrict teams and then commit to chasing whatever we need in the aggressive manner we've gone with since the WC debacle last year.

We're learning on the job so to speak, only 1 player with IPL experience, it's going to be tough. Obvs bowling Rashid for 2 overs makes it tougher, should have been bowling all 4 and exclusively googlies to Gayle. Uphill struggle from here

No apparent game management from the bowlers at all. Far too many bad balls bowled including a ridic amount of wides.

For those that can, West Indies to win t20 @ 11/1, 1/2 ew is a fantastic bet with 364

it looks like an oddschecker error or it went quickly.  6/1 now

edit, sure it is oddschecker, all the other prices look dated

Pakistan were wrong on oddschecker aswell, seems just an oddschecker error or quickly snapped up on 365. Thanks for the spot though!

Must have been changed fairly sharpish, I got a bit on.

So if England lose tomorrow we're all but out of the comp. Thoughts on the format? Seems a bit silly that this can happen. Why don't we just put all 10 teams in 1 group and everyone plays everyone instead

Format is fine. Lose two games in a rugby or football World Cup and you're out too.

playing 9 games in group format against everyone would lead to dead rubbers and a boat load of corruption like ... for once I think the format is pretty good

one of Australia & India pretty much guaranteed to be out now.

India - Pakistan just got a touch more spice

I don't understand why McCullum retired before this event? NZ looking awesome in his absence still. Santner seems like a future star

England bowling been wretched.  No dew to use as excuse this time.  Will be chasing over 200!

making it look easy...

remarkable game

I have to say, that innings by Joe Root is one of the best I have seen in any form of the game. The maturity and confidence he showed in the pacing of his innings against a strong, world class attack was incredible.

Very happy with my ticket on England at 8/1 to win this world cup.

not a hope unless the bowling turns up

cannot win the world cup with willey (who i like a lot), topley, jordan, stokes (who i like a lot) and two spinners (both of whom i like a lot)

just too hittable.

he had to bowl topley and jordan towards the end today and his (morgan's) face was a picture

only plunkett in reserve


the batting line up is great to watch though

by chasing this total down though hopefully anyone now setting a total will go off to quickly and therefore leave themselves open to losing to many early wickets.

Amazing game.  The remarkable thing about Root's innings is he doesn't even look like he is in overdrive.  Roy did brilliantly, but he looks like he is slogging and right on the edge.  Root just looks so smooth yet scores like a rocket.

Someone mentioned it the other day, but England should look to chase every game I think so they don't have to worry about setting targets.

Jordan has got to be dropped I am amazed he still gets a gig. Plunkett would be the first seamer on the teamsheet for me. Spinners were v good tonight I thought.

I'd like Dawson to play too on a turning track.

New Zealand have got it right so far not afraid to drop the big guns to benefit the team.

Would be lovely to be on Santner top wicket taker! (I'm not)

Today was one of the days where I wished I still played poker for a living and not had a job. Got home to watch the last 4 overs though #everycloud

Not too fussed if they keep playing Jordan, but Topley needs dropping, he will never make an international cricketer as long as he has a hole in his bum.

mind you, any team defending anything at kolkota and mumbai under lights is going to struggle.

like fielding on Leicester viccy park rec in november its that wet

huge toss bias in these games

need to bat first up north where its dry and dusy and bowl first in the big cities

Or maybe we could have two slightly bigger groups, and let some associates play? Just a thought  ;whistle;

Yeah i agree, the shorter the format the more associates should play.

Awesome batting performance from England,but they cannot bail out the bowlers every game. England wont get he chance to bat 2nd every game either and they cannot defend a total at all.

Topley bowling was a fking joke. Parks cricketer coudn't do any worse.

Neither Jordan or Stokes bowling is good enough for T20, both just get hit too easily.

I think Jordan has played way too much international cricket for England over the last couple of years. He doesn't contribute enough with ball or bat and being an exceptional fielder seems to be blind some of his inadequacies.

Finn's a big miss imo, cut above the current line up.
I don't know what's happened in the past but Morgan deffo not having Anderson or Broad anywhere near the team.

England seemed to want to bat all the way down,so pick bowlers who can both. Of course in T20 in shouldn't be necessary to bat that deep, top 3 tend to win you games. If you are relying on 8-11 to get you runs, then you got bigger problems imo.

Anyone watching kolkota? Either a fantastic or terrible pitch. Turning square and bouncing loads .Impossible to score on

Don't get Pakistan picking Shami, surely you go with the extra spinner (wasim)

I actually think 120 will be a good score on here

Pakistan are playing 4 quicks! 18 overs of spin would make 100 a tough chase

They've got malik and afridi, hafeez is banned. Do not get the thinking at all, shamis last game v Bangladesh in Asia cup he bowled absolute tosh in what was effectively a knock out.

Horrible wicket for a world cup game this

I've seen fifth day test match wickets on the sub continent with less turn than this

Crazy to think this pitch is a slow turner. It's not like KKR have a team full of spinners (Mishra, Hogg, Shakib etc.) and never go for more than 150.

Mohammed Amir absolutely different gravy

Kohli's a bit special, played on a different deck to everyone else

This ^^^

Hahahaha, talk about perfect timing.

Watching AUS vs BAN and the commentator, Ian Bishop I think, is going on about Steve Smith and his strike rate in comparison to the rest of the Australia batting line up, and says something along the lines of "Australia have these players who have strike rates of 140+ in World T20. Steve Smith is not one of them."

As he says the words "One of them", Smith walks down the track and hits a 90 metre six off the left arm offie.

I can see why he's saying it though, how is the No. 1 ranked player in T20 (Aaron Finch) carrying the drinks? MBN to be Australia if they can casually leave him out.

you have 5 batsmen to fit into the top 4

khawaja has been in great form for 6 months and can only open

watson is a valuable bowler on slow surfaces, can't leave him out. bowled at the start and the death today,

smith is the captain

warner is one of the first names on the sheet

finch is no 1 ranked

one has to miss out. if he wasn't captain it would be smith (in this format) at the moment

i think next game we might see warner 3 and smith 4

for now finch can't get back in, which i think is understandable

Surely you open with Finch and Khawaja, Warner 3, Watson 4, Maxwell and Smith 5 and 6. No need to play Mitchell Marsh - there's enough bowling in there already. Faulkner, Hastings, Coulter-Nile, Watson, Zampa, Maxwell and IIRC Finch/Warner can also bowl an over or two if needed.

think they are reluctant to rely on watson/maxwell for the 5th bowler overs. all about options and the all-rounder balances the team more than a sixth batsman. this is because (until today possibly) they weren't able to trust zampa and/or agar to bowl, say 4-0-30-x. agar and zampa were odd picks, it has to be said 

Would people consider a few changes to the England team v Afghanistan?

I think dropping Topley (from a great height preferably) for plunkett is a must, and I would probably look at bringing in Dawson for Jordan if the wicket is agreeable and looking at Vince or Billings and resting Morgan.

Although saying all that, Afghanistan aren't a push over, so maybe it's not the game to?

Hales
Roy
Vince
Root
Buttler
Stokes
Ali
Willey
Rashid
Plunkett
Dawson

plunkett i agree with, for topley

wicket dependent dawson for jordan

think they will leave top six as is. morgans captain, he plays

root won't be moving from number 3 until he doesn't play t20s for england, imo. world class batsman in any format, first name on the team sheet batting 3.

He batted 4 v South Africa :p

Get your point though, just think it would be nice to get some of the squad a game in.

I don't think we should take Afghanistan lightly.  I'd be more worried on a different pitch, but I think they look a decent unit.

Can anybody halt the New Zealand train? They're starting to look pretty unstoppable!  

Topleys still a potentially world class bowler. Think most people would mentally lose it a bit after that shocker with the run out. Chris Jordan will never even be a good one

I'm just off to the Feroz Shah Kotla to watch the England game. Come on boys!

Oh dear, here we go....

We're still 15-20 short of a par score. Powerplay will be key. Rashid and Ali will be tough to play on this, so they'll look to go after us when there is pace on the ball early. Shahzad will be the big wicket, 6 overs of him would put them well ahead of the game. Bet we wish we had Dawson playing now! Would like to see Willey/Stokes bowling cutters.

They did OK considering how bad it was looking, I thought we were going to struggle to get 3 figures at one point!

Warney on Sky Sports says Afghans have no chance getting these runs ... I'm not so sure mind

How can Rashid take 2-18 off 3 and not bowl out?

Ludicrous not bowling Rashid out and serving up this Stokes tosh instead.

I remain unconvinced about Stokes in this format of the game.

Was thinking the same about Rashid, I can't have stokes as a death bowler and I am a big fan of his.

its all ifs and buts

if ali and willey dont fire late or if shahzad comes off then the narrative is completely different

but when you look at eoin mrgan's captaincy against say kane williamson, who is brave and clever, its chalk and cheese

amazed rashid didn't bowl 4, would have been punished for going back to stokes against a top 8 side

England could beat Sri Lanka and go out if SA beat West Indies and SL.

Haven't done enough with NRR here. SA beat Afg by 37 we beat them by 15, could be crucial if we end on the same points

a win is a win though.

we play sri lanka at delhi too.

Yep - England desperate for Windies to beat SAF.  Then it's just a case of beat SL and you're there (I think).

SA 8/11 WI 13/10 at Nagpur, interesting. would have it closer myself.

Tremendous bowling from Ashwin today, really enjoyed his overs.

good grief, bangladesh mugged themselves off there.

2 needed off 3

caught in the deep, caught in the deep, miss/run out by keeper

lose by a run

jeez.

Yeah, was rooting for them too, they will be gutted. Exciting last few overs though.

I was expecting a mankad from the last ball!

a complete meltdown, all bangla need to do is touch it and run three balls in a row!

instead try to hit it out the park, twice!

sport is great.

brilliant entertainment...

amazing
 
....and non striker, knowing he has to run, shouldn't be out run by a keeper standing 15 yds back !

Bangladeshi batsmen thick as cheap mince.  Great game though.

If it's a similar pitch to the India v New Zealand game then I'd definitely have it closer. South Africa struggle against spin, Badree will be tough to get away and Benn is steady enough. Duminy is an injury doubt so that would lessen Saffers spin options and they can only pick 1 frontline spinner as Phangiso got done for chucking.

What a cracking, if somewhat bizarre day of cricket.

England got out jail today. Batting again a shambles. Plunkett showed to be worth a place in the team. Would personally drop Stokes, batting is hit and miss but bowling is too erratic for T20. Keep him fit for tests/50 over stuff.

Ali, once again,shows just how important he is batting down the order.

Bangladesh - wow just wtf? game in the bag and completely lost it.

ICC need to look at run out laws. Pretty ridic that someone gets in the crease by 2ft and is still given run out.

Missed the 2ft thing, u talking about th pulling the stump out of the ground thing?

No the Afghan batsmen slid in, most of bat was in the crease but it bounced up so given out, Pictures on tv replay were not even clear imo.
The stumping in Bangladesh innings strange too. Batsmen in the crease but stepped from one foot to other. Dhoni broke stumps just as he went from one foot to the other, so no foot actually touching ground.

Guess it was the bounce bat?  Also think the Bangladesh stumping was stupid.  Guy never leaves his crease but Dhoni gets the stumps off on the  nanosecond the guy has his foot off the ground.  Stupid rule imo.

Ok missed those...

Problem is the umps go to 3rd umpire all the time and technical microinfringements dismissals come up.

For anyone who wants to be West Indies they are best priced 6/4 now on PP and you get a free bet up to £25 if WI make 175 and still lose.

Both got decent anthems

Phew......tight finish, exciting game  ;danafish;

Surely Buttler has to bat at 4 permanently now, right?

We've got a shot but I expect will be outsiders of the four teams left?

Enjoyed the match again a lot today. Some great games so far.

I would think it goes India, NZ, west Indies England is the way the betting should go.

Great match today though.

Steve Smith really is a scumbag, isn't he. Walking off shaking his head and moaning after being given out.

Just accept it and get off

How is it that in the ICC's major tournaments, the DRS isnt in use because of one country? Fuck that shit. Majority vote, get it in. Seen so many more bad decisions without it.

What a shot that is by Maxwell!

Kohli an absolute God when chasing a target, different class

Unbeleivable, that was a tough pitch and he gets 13 an over off the last six. don't think many others in any team win that game in the spot

Kohli just on a different level to everyone else, including Gayle.

Thought Yuvraj sacrificed himself as he clearly couldn't run anywhere

really looking forward to the semi finals been a great event so far.

Yeah was worthy of its own post!

I think India have the edge overall on the teams remaining. The pressure is going to test the NZ boys while Windies and England just aren't anywhere near as good on paper.

What a fantastic event this has been, some great cricket and close finishes. You might think I'm mad, but I genuinely think England can win this although I agree that India are favourites on paper.

With England's batting, we can beat any team on any day. Let's hope Jos has another innings or two in him because if he scores big, England will have a massive chance.

Quite happy with my 8/1 betting slip on England still.

Really looking forward to the match today, although I dont hold out much hope of us winning it. NZ spinners will probably stifle us too much, and they have a very good batting lineup.

Why would anyone think you are mad?

In a 50/50 semifinal no reason can't win from here

NZ 153/8 off their 20 overs, only hit 20 runs off the last 4 overs. Superb bowling effort there, VERY gettable total. Come on boys!

Turns out we are quite good at this game.

Who knew

Superb stuff this

Great to watch innit :-)

Not often you ser England openers all but see a game off. Great stuff

we've always known the batting is big hitting and deep

what we din't know was that jordan, stokes, plunkett etc could come off at the back end of an innings with the ball. proper old school death over yorkers today..and NZ didn't have many strategies to get them away.

A serious team if the bowling delivers, as we can chase a lot of totals bigger than this down...

New Zealand choke in a semi, whats new?

How do 365 judge top team bowler? I'm assuming it's more than just economy?

wickets taken

Well this over has definitely helped with that then... Morgan fails again.

Can we just go on and win the match now please guys

Rooooooot

If we play that well again we will smash India too, fingers crossed.....

England peaking at the right time it seems. Stokes and Jordan were superb at the death and with Roy and Hales performing again the result was never in doubt.

Bring on the final!

Fantastic all round performance today. I can't believe we've gone so well in Indian conditions despite not utilising our 2 spinners very well. Bayliss has coached KKR so will know conditions at the venue for the final well.

We are going to win the World Cup, maybe!

Winning the toss and chasing again in the final would be nice. I feel England's power hitters are far better at chasing a score than setting one. The way Roy in particular got us ahead of the rate today made the chase routine. I heard it described as 'brutally effective' - think that sums up his innings today rather well.

Crazy game just gone finished to get the Windies through to the final. Not sure who I'd of preferred. Probably them over India.

Simmons has been out three times. 2 no balls and just got a 6 as he was caught with a foot on the boundary! Would of thought it was over once Gayle was out with arguably ball of the tournament early on.

Strange giving Kohli the last over. Guess he thought give it to the man on form. Screw the proper bowlers! Oh dear India

Would have preferred to play India, beat the home team in their own backyard and all that but hey ho......atmosphere won't be that good at the final with the home team out.

England for me should be clear favs at eden gardens

However happy to watch and cheer the boys on

Been a successful tournament regardless

why?

eden gardens suits the wi attack more. slower and lower. england have only played at mumbai and delhi, neither of which have spun. bravo and co have played at nagpur twice, much more like kolkota than mumbai is.

three out of four games at kolkota have been slow, low turners, one was almost unplayable

we might assume they'll put on a good cricket wicket for the final but its not going to be the corker mumbai and the recent delhi pitches have been

50-50 game for me, matchwinners on both sides with the bat.

I think England have grown as the tournament progressed and are a better team than the Windies beat game 1. Personally I fancy England but I think its going to be a cracking game.

What a knock under pressure from Russell there!

Very hard to play across the line at Eden Gardens and the windies all love that shot.

gayle, simmons and russell are classical hitters. straight bat through the arc. long on and long off can't be deep enough. i accept the odd slog is that far away, but then its not for jason roy or alex hales either.

measuring russell's big one today at 99m was hilarious. went 160 up and about 120 deep!

would be a good game for Rashid to come to the tournament though. should finally get a surface that gives him a shot.

I am amazed they have this as a flip, I have West Indies as firm favourites.

Eng 5/6, WI evens i saw

i was surprised, but horsey/hutch are making me think

It's always a flip you either win or lose!  The old ones are the best.  This is a totally flip match surely.  Of all the sports to smash into a short one I think 20/20 cricket must be the most insane form of sport to do so.

First time I have ever watched a 20/20 game from start to finish ever, are they all that good or was that a one off today?

this was one of the better ones

190 plays 190 will always be good. skills in the short format have really improved. power hitting especially

120 plays 120 will be really tense too!

Hard to pick a favourite for the final, it totally depends on which West Indies team shows up. Most unpredictable side in world cricket today for sure. They could just as easily blow England away or capitulate meekly. Personally i think you'd be mad to bet on it.

Matt Prior - don't like the cut of his jib - wp Windies, gwan England

Been a fair few games that have been really good/close in this comp.

For me whoever bats 2nd is the likely winner in the final imo

Yep, think this is the best WC so far for the quality of the games, not least because the batsman have just become so good/innovative etc

Yup, will be backing whichever side wins the toss and chases

Whilst watching Russell launch the ball into the top tier of the Wankhede stadium, my friends and I were discussing what innovations were going to be next in T20.

One of them suggested that 6 is no longer enough reward for some of the hits the batsman are now producing.

Do you think we'll ever see an 8 or a 10?

How about a batting powerplay where you get double runs?

Surely as they become more commonplace it'd make it less points? Maybe award 6 for over 100m instead of just clearing the boundary or similar

I think the product is excellent at the moment so wouldn't change it too much.  One thing I noticed though there are some games where the chasers have wickets in hand but the run rate gets too high and they are stuffed.  How about making power play the 1st 4 overs and the last 2 overs just to make absurd run rates chaseable at the death?

there is a huge toss bias in t20 cricket, especially in sub-continent conditions where pitches are such a big factor

in this tournament 17 of 22 games since the supertens started have been won by the side winning the toss

on slow low ones, win the toss and bat and then let your spinners defend a total as the pitch dies (nagpur, dharamsala etc)

on good pitches, especially with dew a factor, ti can be impossible to defend a total. win toss and bowl (mumbai)

new zealand won four tosses on the spin, batted first each time on slow ones and then sodhi/santner won them games, then lost as soon as they found themseleves put in on a decent pitch where it was tough to defend (delhi)

west indies have won five tosses in a row, and have chased down everything apart from the afghanistan blip

i might consider awarding the side that loses the toss 10 runs at the start of their innings whether batting first or second and try and even up the toss bias

They have left some grass on the pitch.reckon this is great news for England.50-50 shot in a run fest and less than that if the pitch was a Turner, which it won't be now. There is a short boundary too as the chosen pitch is fresh/unused to the sodeq

Match sixes a bet? 12.5 the line.

I think the side who chases has a decent advantage, given the nature of the 2 sides. Anywhere you can do that bet, or just wait till the toss?

I have backed sixes.72 combined so far this tournament
Power hitters through both sides and side chasing to be favourites given toss bias over there

Ok Corral 21/20 for over 12.5, as you say both sides have six-hitters all the way down the order, stats back it up so looks a fair bet. Others have gone 13.5 so getting odds against on 12.5 looks a good bet

Looks a great bet to sweat whilst watching the game. Can't remember looking forward to a game of cricket as much as I am this one!

Good luck lads.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YKO-u6Kpks

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfB3K-mUkAACk5H.jpg)

England doing their best to ruin the final already.  Wretched innings from Morgan in the powerplay.

Bang in it now though!

oooh this is a good finish

Why the hell don't England hve a man straight on the deep, Samuels out shot right there

ffs Stokes, served it up on a platter

Just great Stokes.

Superb effort and some superb hitting last over by Braithwaite

A great tournament a brilliant final and this England group of players has a massive future

4 sixes in a row!  Amazing

Hard to begrudge the WI that win..great game

Great game but jeez.  Wonder what odds Windies were before last over requiring 17?

Think they were around 13/2 on the BF market. Over 39 million traded on the game on BF alone.  :o

West Indies started the match evens .Went 1/5 then 8/1 in running then won it. Great sporting event that

Fully agree, and I'm sure I'll appreciate it even more tomorrow when I've come to terms with England losing.

All in all, it has been a fantastic tournament and great entertainment.

Great final even though it was a disappointing end to it. What Bayliss and Farbrace have done to thsi team in a short amount of time is very impressive. Anyone know where the idea for the Root over came from?

How much of that last over was:
Bad Bowling
Amazing technique from the batsman
Luck?

First ball was very bad, second ball was bad and I was in too much pain to watch the rest. Would have thought bowling outside off yorkers would be better than a middle to leg line with the way he was setting himself up.

Yeah this, Braithwaite well known to ove the on side, shoulda been wide on the off, tactic that was used well in previous games.
Reckon that Root over had a lot to do with whatever got said on the field after he was out when batting. Certainly looked pissed off at WI when walking off

great picture

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CfImFSuWQAAqj0i.jpg)

meanwhile...

Combined-format stats Joe Root's over past year worth noting: 2855 runs @ 55.98

I think we should have gone wide yorkers, especially to Samuels are he backs away. Braithwaite showed he can hit inside-out so it would have been a risk but it's still far more difficult to hit sixes over cover than long on.

Credit to braithwaite, his scoop shot changed the dynamic of the game and we got a bit muddled up with our thinking. Mid-off up to Samuels a particularly strange choice.

One thing I was saying to my mates after the New Zealand game was that I didn't think we didn't bowl that well at the death. Those last 4 overs went for 20 and took wickets, everyone's saying it was amazing but it was very results-orientated. Ronchi's hit a full toss down long-off's throat. Anderson's hit a half volley down long-off's throat. If they both go for 6 no-one says they bowled great.

Yesterday in the last 10 balls they hit their mark once (Jordan's last ball to Samuels was perfect). rest of Jordan's over was hittablle, first one went for 4 to vacant long-off region, the rest were mis-hit for ones but I keep thinking we'd got away with them. Stokes then missed his length and also his line, the 1st one is a free hit basically and the others are still too straight. Still no idea how the 3rd six has gone 20 rows back, nowhere near the middle of the bat!

It's obviously super-tough bowling at the death in these pressure situations, and they'll learn from this. Be nice to see them work on some variations, like a slower ball. Would be a lot more difficult to set yourself as a batsman if you knew it would be either a yorker or a slowie, like when Bravo bowls at the back end. Both Jordan and Stokes seem to want to bowl at the death and enjoy the challenge (Stokes maybe not so much now!) so with a bit more practice they'll get better.

All in all England definitely exceeded my expectations. Going to India with only 1 player with IPL experience (Morgan) and he only contributes 66 runs all tournament. Main spinners only bowl 33 overs all tournament for 10 wickets and go at 8.82 an over. To still make the final and be in with a great shout of winning it took some doing and they'll be together as a group for a good few years, so promising signs for sure.

ICC's team of the WT20: Roy, de Kock, Kohli (capt), Root, Buttler (wk), Watson, Russell, Santner, Willey, Badree, Nehra (12th: Mustafizur)

poor old Ish Sodhi cant get in!

Anyone got a list of top wicket takers in the tourney without the prelims. The two NZ spinners tied for the most? Did Badree make top 4?

Sant 10
Sodhi 10
Willey 10

Mustifizur 9
Badree 9
Bravo 9
Russell 9

Thanks.

Really enjoyed the tournament a hell of a lot. A million times more than recent 50 over world cups which seemed to me to be interminable and incredibly boring.

Yep. Don't think it would be a bad thing to scrap international 50 over cricket. Probably the only reason it survives is because it's the mainstay of club cricket

Big 3 make a boat load a cash from the pointless 5-7 match ODI series, they'll never bin them. As with everything it'll all about the money

Speaking of which I just came across this wonderful quote from Dave Richardson -

"Again, the reason to go to a 10-team [2019 World Cup] tournament was done for a number of reasons some time back. Number one probably it was a format that would generate more competitive cricket and secondly more value. If we're honest with ourselves, a tournament which involves a guaranteed nine Indian matches is worth substantially more than a tournament with less Indian matches. And of course the money that's generated from that event is for the benefit of all members including the Associate members."

Maybe one day cricket will be played purely for the sake of it rather than to fill the coffers of executives.

Haha, aye Dave, I'm sure loads of that money will get ploughed into developing cricket in Afghanistan, Ireland and Holland ...

How exactly do they expect associate members to get better without playing the top nations. Bangladesh and Afghanistan looked well worth their place imo. Them being competitive made  it a much better tournament

The final along with the whole tournament showed again that 20/20 is great entertainment, I had friends who think/thought cricket is the most boring sport going who loved yesterday's final.

For me as a huge cricket fan nothing beats the first morning of a test match, but I do love the excitement and innovation of 20/20.

Also how good is Joe Root? Does it in all 3 formats of the game, think he has every chance of going on to be England's most complete batsmen ever if he isn't already very close to that already.  I am a Yorkshireman so my view on Joe might be slightly biased.

I think the Afghan's are great value, always enjoy watching them. Shahzad with the bat alone is worth tuning in for,  but also in the field, quickies charging in and plenty of intensity, 17 (!) year old leggie and a bit of niggle from them all. Whether they could keep up the intensity and compete over 50 overs is debatable, but the more exposure they have the more likely they are to succeed.

Sussex have signed Rahman for T20 and look forward to watching him play

Yep, was naïve to overlook the money angle. I guess the day out factor continues to make ODIs sell out even though the game is often dull.

Think he's probably the best British sportsmen right now, just insanely good at batting and fielding. I really hope he doesn't become captain and is allowed to instead, inevitably become England's highest run scorer.
Agree, can't remember but wasn't mid off back then rashid went back and mid off came up and then they just stayed like that when the strike switched. This is normally the fielders fault not the captains and I have to say Rashid is definitely from the Monty Panesar fielding academy, they hide him at fine leg and yet he still manages to do at least one cock up a game. And yeah a few wickets off full tosses and now they are great death bowlers, not sure it works like that. I'm sure once stokes is done with the locker, the wall, the door he will be back better for it though.