Reasons for Ireland and Afghanistan living to their potential in final group game against giants
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00:00Welcome to Straight Bad with Gulf News.
00:08Two crunch games at the World Cup today and the first match, New Zealand beat Ireland
00:15and in the second match, Australia barely scraped past Afghanistan.
00:20And actually, these two matches are crucial in deciding the semifinal slots.
00:25But to discuss that, let's head over to our Gulf News Sports Editor, a.k.a. Satish.
00:30Satish, welcome to the show Satish.
00:33And tell us straight away, what did you think of today's two matches?
00:40I think given more exposure, these smaller teams will come back and do bigger deeds is
00:46what I could put it in one line, if that's the impression I got.
00:52Because Ireland played really well, they went after the chase.
00:56I think they let go of the game sometime at the end of their game, end of their bowling
01:02innings, basically the last 4-5 overs.
01:05But apart from that, they were pretty much on target and that extra 30-40 runs which
01:09they gave away came to bite them.
01:12But the way they approached, they were positive, they went through the chase and they didn't
01:20take a step back.
01:21It was a pretty good, very refreshing sight.
01:25Of course, Ireland is still a test-playing nation.
01:27But with more exposure, they will also come back and probably, they will do better deeds
01:32and they have got a very good team, it's a mix of experience and the young.
01:37So it was a pretty good game and I quite liked it.
01:39And the second was…
01:40Satish, but that has been the general trend in this World Cup, all the minnows doing very
01:46well actually.
01:47And there has been not many one-sided matches really.
01:52So that wasn't a surprise.
01:53But the biggest surprise came from Afghanistan, the way they fought against Australia.
01:57What did you make of that match?
01:59Actually, Afghanistan lost the match, if you ask me, in one run.
02:02They were cruising at 99-2.
02:07And then suddenly, they lost 4 wickets in the space of 6 runs and about 9 balls.
02:13And that's where they lost the chase.
02:15I mean, that was at the 12th over, or the 13th over rather.
02:23And those 3 wickets in one over hurt them.
02:26Yeah.
02:27And that was brilliant run-out to trigger with.
02:32But if they had taken a few more deliveries to play, like 2 wickets of that over and one
02:38of the following over of the keeper, Nabi.
02:41So, 4 wickets, it's too much for a team to win from there.
02:46But still, they gave a good account of themselves in the final game.
02:50Okay.
02:51So, just to rewind back in this match, let's go to the start of the match.
02:57Okay.
02:58Why did Australia drop Mitchell Stark, yeah?
03:01Because I thought, okay, Mitchell Stark gave away runs in the last over.
03:04But his first over, those 2 fantastic yokers, it's enough for him to keep his place in the side.
03:14I thought if they had to pick Kane Richardson, they should have dropped Pat Cummins.
03:19What is your view on this?
03:22I suspect that Stark might have a niggle-sham, though they have not said it.
03:27Though they said Stark was dropped.
03:29But a bowler like Stark, you don't drop them in a crucial match like this.
03:33Especially his express pace will come in handy against Afghanistan and the yorkers, of course.
03:39So, I suspect that it could be a case of not giving the full information.
03:45Because maybe, maybe, maybe they might be thinking, okay, it could be the last game for the World Cup.
03:53Because if England win tomorrow, they will go to…
03:57But Satish, this is a very crucial game, isn't it?
03:59Yes, of course.
04:01For all you know, this result would put Australia out of the tournament.
04:05Not really, Shyam. Because they won it anyway. They got the 2 points on board.
04:10Right. Tomorrow, England beat Sri Lanka. It is goodbye for the defending champions.
04:16Anyway, Shyam, their first match, after they lost such a bad loss, their run rate was way behind.
04:23So, it was impossible for them to come in the positive and overall, that deficit in run rate.
04:31But also, Satish, throughout the tournament, they never played like champions.
04:36Yes, of course. Of course, I think that's another one, Shyam.
04:41I think, if at all there is one game that they played like champions, it's today.
04:45Especially in the last 10 overs, when they really played like the Australia where they were down and out.
04:50They came back strong. And again, in the first over, when they were batting,
04:54it was kind of going around the 10th over. It was not going up to the way that it was supposed to.
05:00Yeah, I am glad you brought that up. Because the Afghan attack has been superb, isn't it?
05:06The young Faisal Haque Faruqi and the Naveen Ul Haque, both are youngsters.
05:11What a show they put up. So, take us through that.
05:14Yes, of course. From 10th over to 15th over,
05:17Maxwell and Stoinis were threatening to take the match away.
05:21And suddenly, these two bowlers came in the last five overs and they were bowling yorkers,
05:27bowling a change of pace. It was really difficult.
05:30And I am sure they showed what they could come up and test somebody like Maxwell and
05:38Stoinis. And they got about three or four wickets during that phase,
05:40where it was a beautiful yorker to get rid of Wade.
05:44So, they did exceedingly well in that phase. That showed, again, chump.
05:48Like, if you look at whether they were bowling in the death overs or whether they were batting
05:52in the chase, the body language was pretty composed. And they wanted to probably enjoy
05:58this game and then go out with their head held high, which they did at the end of it.
06:05At one point, when Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, two of the biggest hitters in the
06:12game were there today, even at that point, they didn't never look like blowing away the
06:17Afghan bowling, isn't it?
06:18Yes, of course. Of course, Shan. No, that was one phase. When the spinners were bowling,
06:26I think that's the time, especially Mujibur Rahman today was not very successful.
06:32Because what was happening is, the wicket was stopping and bouncing.
06:35So, the length should be altered accordingly.
06:40Maybe Mujib was not aware of this or maybe somewhere…
06:43Maybe it was his off-day.
06:45Off-day. Or even Najib, the keeper, had an off-day. So, they were hit at that point of time.
06:51But Rashid Khan brought a semblance with that wicket. And then from there,
06:55the two fast bowlers took the game on. At least, Australia finished 20-25 runs short of what they
07:02were going at that rate when they got…
07:07That is true. Because the death bowling was superb.
07:09Superb, yeah.
07:12Okay. So, 168-8, we knew is a subpar score. I mean, most teams… Against most teams,
07:22that wouldn't have been enough. But against Afghanistan, we knew they might be able to
07:26pull it back. But the way the Afghan son took up the chase was fabulous, isn't it? With Gurbaaz
07:32leading it and later Najib picking up. It was so good until the 13th over or the 14th over.
07:39So, the first ball of the 14th over sparked the collapse. That is,
07:43Najib got run out. Then the Sampa over the double strike. Tell us something about the Sampa's spell.
07:51Sampa was keeping it on the stumps. So, he was expecting the batters to hit him,
07:56especially the shorter area. So, he was actually bowling slightly outside the off-stump in that
08:01sense. He was not giving them the chance to hit him over the leg side. That's exactly what he was
08:06doing. And though the Afghan batters were getting some shots on the ground, they were not able to
08:12pierce the field. But the biggest turning point was… I think the other thought process from the
08:18Afghan side was, they probably wanted to see Sampa because they knew that he can get wicked. So,
08:23they wanted to see Sampa and then play him safe. But this unexpected run-out, which was a brilliant
08:30throw, almost from 40-50 yards, a direct hit of Maxwell. That changed the match-up. It was a
08:36needless run-out, to be honest. They could have… I think that over, they got some runs already.
08:43I also get the feeling that Sadran kind of ambled through rather than finishing the run. He just
08:51took it a little easy, is it? No, no, no. It was absolutely…
08:55Sam, you need the distance. Because see, if the ball crosses to 50 yards, almost 50 yards,
09:00the fielder is coming in. So, you need to go almost 50 yards this side and that side.
09:06So, the time was not enough for him to come back and beat that throw, basically.
09:14Alright. Anyway, that certainly was a turning point.
09:19Yeah. That's when they should have taken a fresh guard and gone in a much smoother way,
09:28as they were going in the first 12 overs, 13 overs. If they had done that,
09:32maybe they would have easily gone through the chase. But suddenly, Panic set in.
09:37Yeah. But then, Satheesh, when you have a new batsman at the crease, you know what happens.
09:41So, that's precisely what happened there. How good was Rashid Khan's innings?
09:47It was a set-batsman who was out the next ball. See, Naib got run out. And Zadar got
09:57caught by Marsh of Zampa, playing a sweep shot from outside the off-step.
10:00Correct.
10:01Two set-batsmen were out in almost three balls or so. That changed the complexion of the match.
10:06Had one of them been there, things would have been different.
10:09Then, you had Naji Sardar out for a duck. So, there were actually four wickets in the match.
10:18Seven runs. Five runs, almost. Four runs, four wickets.
10:25So, that was where the match was lost, until Rashid Khan came onto the scene.
10:30What a knock that was. Tell us all about it.
10:34He was… It's his ground, Shyam. When Kohli said, I am a different player in Adelaide.
10:42You need to see the body language of Rashid Khan today. Amazing. He was acting like a king.
10:48Because he has been playing for Adelaide strikers. He knew the ground inside-out.
10:53How it behaves. What are the strengths. What are the weaknesses.
10:56Even when he was bowling, he was quite cool. They were not able to hit him.
11:01And when he came to bat, he exactly picked the slots and he knew where the ball will bounce.
11:07So, he was waiting for those balls to hit over the mid-wicket fence to long-arm fence.
11:11And one beautiful shot he played over the X-Factor buzzer.
11:15So, he knew exactly where to hit. And it shows, Shyam.
11:19Like some places where you have a special affinity, where you have performed well.
11:24It automatically tells you that, okay, I'll do well. The confidence that comes with it.
11:28So, that helped him to perform better.
11:31So, that's exactly what has happened to Rashid Khan today.
11:34And my God, what a knock he played. Coming from nowhere.
11:3948 of 23 balls in the last death when almost all the other batsmen have gone.
11:45In fact, if you look at it, he didn't run the first ball.
11:48So, there was a dot ball.
11:50And maybe if he had connected that, Afghanistan could have been a super-over as well.
11:56That's true.
11:57Anyway, certainly, Afghans deserve to be winners.
12:01But that was not to be.
12:02And Australia pick up two points, which gives them seven points in the table.
12:08And right now, they are behind New Zealand.
12:11Because New Zealand has a run rate of two plus, two points.
12:16Yeah. So, New Zealand are sitting pretty.
12:18So, the race is on for the second slot.
12:21Now, Australia are there with seven points.
12:23And tomorrow, England have a chance to make it to seven points.
12:28So, which means, tomorrow's England-Sri Lanka match holds the key to the second slot.
12:35So, if England win, England come to a second slot.
12:39And it's goodbye Australia.
12:41But if Sri Lanka wins, that's the only way Australia would go in, right?
12:48Correct.
12:49Because their run rate is really, really bad.
12:52Or the other option is, if it rains off, then the one point will not help England.
12:58If it rains off, then Australia would go through.
13:04Correct.
13:05Tomorrow, there is no threat of rain tomorrow.
13:07The last weather report I saw, there was no threat of rain in the next few days.
13:13So, the last set of matches should go through, which should make it an interesting award.
13:19But yeah, the key lies with Sri Lanka now.
13:23Whether Sri Lanka can stop England.
13:26Or whether England is collapsing under pressure.
13:30What's your gut feeling, Sandeep?
13:31Will Sri Lanka upset Australia?
13:36England.
13:37I mean, sorry.
13:38Tomorrow, England.
13:39Correct.
13:40Yeah.
13:40I think the chances are maybe 20%.
13:44But there is nothing for Sri Lanka to lose.
13:47But England under pressure.
13:49It's like a first knockout.
13:50It's like a virtual quarter-final for England tomorrow.
13:53So, I am sure England will be under pressure.
13:55But they have the strength, the way they played against New Zealand.
13:59They should sail through tomorrow, Shyam.
14:02There shouldn't be any hiccup in terms of England going through tomorrow's game.
14:06You gave them 20%.
14:07I wouldn't even give them 5%.
14:09Simply because I think England are too big a team to fail.
14:14Because they have such quality all around the ranks.
14:17Right from the opening batsman, Josh Butler.
14:20Right down to Kevin Curran.
14:21I mean, to Curran.
14:24Not Kevin Curran.
14:25Kevin Curran is a tennis player.
14:26Sam Curran.
14:27Sam Curran.
14:28Who comes late down to 9 or 10.
14:30Adil Rashid can come and hit you a 6 in the last ball.
14:32That's true.
14:33That's true.
14:34So, there is so much of quality batting there.
14:37And the bowling led by Mark Woods who has been bowling over 150 clicks in the last few matches.
14:45So, there is a lot of variety there.
14:48Spin in the form of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone.
14:52And a pace attack led by Mark Woods, Chris Foulkes, Brian Stokes and one more, Sam Curran.
14:59So, there is pretty much an all-round well-rounded team.
15:03So, I don't see an upset happening there.
15:06So, to me, it's goodbye Australia.
15:09And I saw England go into the semi-finals tomorrow.
15:14But in cricket, nothing is certain.
15:16We call it the game of glorious uncertainties.
15:19So, let's wait and watch tomorrow.
15:21And let's see how that England-Sri Lanka match pans out.
15:26Till then, for more news and updates, please head over to our gulfnews.com.
15:32And goodnight from me and Satish.
15:35Bye-bye.
15:36Thanks, Lakshan.
15:46you