Cracking T20 today, Pak smashed 195, Eng got to 199 with an over to spare. Some of the bowling was a bit duff on both sides but the batting was terrific.
Another good T20 tonight, looked to be all over but 12 needed off the last 2 balls Curran goes and hits a 6! Sadly he couldn't repeat it. Glad that Pakistan got a win though, would have been ****ty for them to have come here, lived in a bubble and gone home empty-handed. They've made a good series of it.
I was also pleased they got the win, they played some really good cricket in both the test matches and T20's, they deserved to at least take a win back with them.
As a team Pakistan are a good side, I'm glad they have gone home with a win under there belt, plus my lasting memory of this series was on Zak Crawley dismissal after hitting his 267, was every Pakistan player running over to shake Crawley's hand, true sportsmanship well done to Pakistan.
T20 is not my favourite form of the game, but to get a win over the Aussie's is always satisfying, particularly, as I am sure they sat smugly on the balcony when Warner and Finch were batting, thinking we got this in the bag, to then being clawed back from a winning position to lose it, really makes you smile.
Tbf when Warner and Finch were at the crease they DID have it in the bag .. they lost a game they should never had .. but let's not forget they pushed us this close despite having not played for nearly 6 months ... love any form of Ashes contest and this game didn't disappoint
Convicts snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is always worth the money regardless of what format. Always brings a smile... Anyone cry? Or resign live on telly whilst crying?
We seem to be consistently finding a way to win when not playing well in all forms of the game. Its a great habit to have. It means we hung on in hoping they'd bottle it, and they obliged. Some fantastic bowling at the death. We are putting together very strong white ball squads, with Stokes and Roy (Root's form for Yorkies is showing he's not going give his place up easily either) to come. Need to get Bairstow firing. Although last two season's he's probably the best opening bat in the world I get the feeling he's the usual fall guy for selectors.
just found an interesting list. cricinfo report that ian bell will retire at the end of the season and the associated list shows the top run scorers for england at international level in all formats. bell is currently 4th on that list, with 13,331 runs. things are obviously a little distorted because there are players on the list who only played tests, while others played tests plus one day games, and more recent players also played 20/20 games. at present, the first place is held by alastair cook with a total of 15,737 and an average of 42.88. joe root is second, for the time being, on 14,638 (1,099 behind cook) at an average of 48.15. the next highest current player is eoin morgan, 11th, with 9,699. johnny bairstow is 17th with 7,820 and jos Buttler 18th with 7,764. ben stokes is 21st, moeen ali is 35th, jason roy is 41st, and stuart broad is 47th (broad's average of 17.01 is the only one in the top 50 below 30). root has the highest average of anyone in the top 22. the second highest in that group is that of another yorkshireman - geoff boycott's 45.98. he is in 13th place with 9,196. boycott played 144 games for england; the rest of the top 19 all played more; morgan's 325 is the most, with alec stewart's 303 games second, and paul collingwood's 300 third. the only players with higher averages than the yorkshire pair only played test matches: hammond, 23rd, acquired 7,249 at 58.45 hutton, 26th another yorkshireman, made 6,971 at 56.67 barrington, 27th, made 6,806 at 58.6 compton, 31st, racked up 5,807 at 50.06 hobbs, 33rd, accumulated 5410, at 56.94 and sutcliffe, 39th, yet another yorkshireman, scored 4,555 at 60.73, the best average in the top 50. may (40th, 46.77), dexter (42nd, 47.89), and amiss* (43rd, 46.57) averaged below 50 but higher than boycott. (* amiss played 18 ODIs and averaged 47.72) https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/e...most_runs_career.html?class=11;id=1;type=team
See Bairstow found another way of getting out. Attempted pull, missed, spun round and hit his wicket with a trailing bat. Not good, he seems totally lacking in confidence at the moment
Can't decide if this bloke's unusual but ok or a bit of a dick... Nothing to do with being vegan btw. "I don't really see myself as a cricketer," Zampa says. "I see myself as quite a cultured person. "I have a lot of thoughts about life. I think about things a little bit differently to other people." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/54056253
Reading the article, I agree hes a dick. Someone should have told him he could buy a microwave for less than £50 at most superstores. Would have saved him lugging his own across the world.
that was a surprise result. not expecting that at all. i assume by now nobody's about to watch it on tv. so england struggle to 149-8 with about 10 overs left and end 231-9. australia get to 37-2 and recover somewhat with labuschagne and finch adding more than a hundred, and needed 87 from 20 overs. then a double bowling change brings four quick wickets, 144-3, 145-4, 145-5, 147-6. soon after it's 166-7, 166-8, 176-9, and the last two add 31 and they end 207 all out. so, series all square and one game to go.