Bit meh today
SA look very destructive this time around. Canât imagine any other team who have this balanced a side.
Hitting power throughout the batting order , very serviceable bowlers and not lacking in the spin department either and some very good allrounders too
Only chance is for teams to catch them slipping when chasing a score. They donât look beatable when they bat first and set a score.
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England no longer bottom 
I guess this is what it is like to follow Everton 
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Top two scorers for Bangladesh
Mahmudullah 111
Liton 22
A rather bleh match today. Shit organizing.
Are the top 4 set now ?
I would say the top 3 are set.
4th still up for grabs between Aus, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Canât see anyone below being able to jump all 3 of them
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Cummins part of a hundred-run partnership with 8 runs contributed. 
It would take a minor miracle for Pakistan to make a comeback now. They havenât been convincing in their wins and have been down right shambolic in their losses .
As much as it would be romantic for afghan to make the semis. Itâs farfetched now. Their fast bowling attack is too weak and they will be up against teams which are tough including NZ , SA , Aus To turn over two of them and still ensure that they beat SL , Netherlands isnât easy.
If Australia do a complete collapse , not the match against Netherlands but following matches. Then , the #4 position becomes a free for all
Yup, Australiaâs to lose. Besides NZ, Iâd be surprised if they lose another game.
Edit: I meant the group. Not the KO matchesâŚ
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Australiaâs record against NZ is pretty good Iâd say. NZ even if they have a strong side almost always seem to go to pieces when they fade Aussies.
The argument can well be made that NZ havenât played against the strong teams (apart from England & india) and probably have more to do to ensure their qualification.
Nzâs record against Pakistan isnât great either even if this Pakistan side is shit
The review of the Big Showâs dismissal is bloody ridiculous. Checking to see if the Dutch player used the ball to push himself onto his feet (and therefore making it a dropped catch) even after he had stopped moving. Change the bloody rules if thatâs the interpretation. FFS.
Iâd say Australia could lose to both NZ and England. But I think theyâll just pinch 4th regardless.
Will be very tough for Aus to get 4th if they lose 2 more matches.
Would depend on the various permutations but off hand , a team would need to win 6 matches atleast to qualify.
Certainly one of those days that would benefit from 2 matches.
None of 2-4 are decided. If Australia manage to be flawless in the remainder of this round robin, I think we could pinch 2nd for instance. I didnât expect such massive swings in NRR but Iâve seen how a single thrashing can turn that around. And Aus still have a couple of teams to really turn the afterburners on against.
I know they havenât exactly dazzled but even Pakistan could pinch a spot if they miraculously turn around their form. Theyâd have to beat both NZ and SA to do it though. I could see them doing that against SA, who I think are still a bit iffy.
I would lol if everyoneâs second team, NZ get knocked out from here. Or SA given how everyone is bigging them up.
Aus - New Zealand , England , Afghanistan, Bangladesh
NZ - Australia , South Africa , Pakistan, Srilanka
SA - Pakistan, NZ , india , Afganistan
India - England , Srilanka , South Africa , Netherlands
Pakistan - South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, England
England - srilanka , India , Australia, Netherlands , Pakistan
The 6 contenders. Will take a minor miracle to prevent India from wins against Srilanka and Netherlands , Mostly through to the semis
NZ have a route to the semis which still includes matches against Australia, South Africa, Pakistan. I expect them to lose 1 or 2 of those matches, anything more than that would be catastrophic.
SA - superior runrate and 2 beatable sides in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Expect them to be beating either of India and New Zealand if the toss etc goes their way and they put a huge total batting first. Canât rule out a choke though as itâs in their playbook for every world cup. But they should be one of the teams in the semis
Aus - can afford to lose one match out of the 4 and there are 2 beatable sides for them in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Look to be picking up momentum and should be one of the teams in the semis
England - Pending the result against SL which they should win , they still have India , Australia, Pakistan and Netherlands to beat. Possible - Yes , Probable - No
Pakistan - left themselves a mountain to climb with the loss against Afghanistan. Disappointing world cup so far for them especially coming into the competition ranked #1 in ODIs. Need to win all 4 to have a good chance having already lost 3. But as the permutations go , might as well find that 3 wins be enough to sneak through. Bit of Luck and some other results going their way , who knows. But their batting isnât strong enough to really boost their NRR the way Australia did against Netherlands. Possible not Probable.
Keeping the expectations down as far as Afghanistan is concerned. For me their pace bowling is a liability and they wonât find pitches where 4 spinners will be useful all the time in their remaining matches. Their chances would have been a lot higher had they beaten Bangladesh for instance.
I think youâll find that the NRR mostly takes a upward spike if the teams bat first and set a huge total that the opponent end up losing by a huge margin. Australiaâs win against Netherlands for example.
Indiaâs wins even if most of them are comprehensive do not offer the same NRR changes because they have chased in all of their matches.
Something perhaps for the ICC to ponder about , how does a 320 vs 250 chasing be different than a team chasing 250 in say 40 overs.
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