Go Aussie! 

Aus already 0-49 from 8 overs. 

We used to have a few experts on here. 

How is Coulter-Nile a better ODI bowler than Hazlewood? 

Lucky there! 

Snick  thru slips for 4!

Aus 0-77. 

Review. 

LBW looks close. 

Hit top of stumps!

Not out Finch. 

Close!

Just don’t believe we are 0-91 after being sent in. 

Went to get a frothy and we are already 0-135. 

Thought the pitch itch was doing a bit too. 

Nice straight drive from Finch to the spinner about 30 odd runs ago. 

Hassan just bowled one at 144 clicks. 

There are a lot of speedy bowlers in world cricket these days. 

Finch caught off a mistimed drive off Amir for 80 odd. Good knock! 

Not bad to be 1-146 though. 

Lovely off drive from the cheat. 

He is 60 Not Out. 

We’ve had our share of luck in this innings. 

Another lovely off drive from the cheat off spinner, Shoaib. 

Horrible shot from Smith to be caught off spinner Hafeez  for 10. 

At 2-189 it doesn’t matter though. 

Just missed Maxwell's demise. He didn't last long!

I'm surprised we have reached 3-253.

Shocking dropped chance from Hafeez off Wahab.

It was a sitter.

It was! 

The Pakistani fielding has been woeful.

Warner’s gone.

Coulter Nile caught behind for 2.

Aus 7-299.

Is 301 at the 47th over enough?

We hope so.

Are you watching  this in Vancouver, Grazor?

Good fight back from Pakistan. 

Poor batting from Australia after the top order. 

Abysmal batting after a good start..

How many did we lose for the last 130 runs?

Too many. 

Finch must be so pissed off with the middle and lower order capitulation. 

Cummins  is getting good seam movement. 

What happened to Baggy Green? 

He was a top poster here. 

Agree. He is a top poster.

He said he will return when The Ashes start.

Cummins is bowling well. 

Building pressure at mid 130 clicks. 

Good hook from Imam off a Starc 147kph short ball.

Babar nice off drive off a decent good length Cummins’ ball. 

Plus a second one on the up - Babar is a class batter.

Kane Richardson displayed a funny front foot in his action at Bellerive in the Shield this season. 

He looked innocuous, like now, apart from the first ball when he induced an edge. 

He is only bowling at 128kph. 

NCN does not even play Shield! 

He looks a lot more threatening than Richardson though.

Richardson is getting good movement off the seam going into the batter. 

What a straight drive from Babar for 4!

Babar gone!

Pakistan 2-56 off 11 overs.

Aussie fielding is decidedly superior to Pakistan’s. 

finally a wicket

its been painful to watch at times how easy it seems for the batters

gee thats a gift

1 more wicket before 35th and we should have this

weird thing about the phases is if Pakistan get 1-55 off two of them and 2-55 off one of them then they win 2 and draw 1 phase yet are behind in the match at 4-165 after 30

I'd play 2 overs from smith here


he's a wicket taker and new batsmen might be reluctant to take risks

why would you bowl finch ahead of smith

how many wickets has carey missed?
I'd be surprised if he's an improvement over handscomb

seriously if Carey takes that wicket its probably the matchwinner

finch takes the wicket so we probably win from here

In t20 you almost always win if you take 3 in the first 10

in odi against any half decent total you almost always win if you take 4 in the first 35

nearly a runout

all 4 wickets were gifts really

Australia with a lot of luck so far

wicket seems harder to play on with the older ball for both teams

Australia almost certain from here

australia were pretty disciplined with their bowling

I'm amazed at how easy pakistan made their bowling look at some stages

Pitch getting harder and pakistan collapsing

credit to australia for having slips in even when Pakistan were looking comfortable

with only 4 wickets to take we may as well bowl out our strike bowlers

don't know why we are bowling out our 4th and 5th against the tail. Need to think about NRR

huge fightback from pakistan and some awful bowling from a few aussies

closer than it should have been when paki was six down

Australia's 3rd and 4rd bowlers need so much work

surprised the dorf hasnt had a chance

We also dropped Zampa and did not select Lyon. 

Just before I went to bed Richardson got movement from the pitch and was unlucky not to take wickets. 

Gday Dc,
jaszyjim - Well an interesting match, at least we tried something different.
The match showed up our fragility against good bowlers. From the top;
Finch - a good score but very lucky. Never looked settled, no foot movement,
a day when luck went his way.
Warner -  Finally showing his class & why he is so important to this side.
Smith - uncharacteristic shot, his head & body not to the ball, hence weight on back foot
resulting in a lolly pop.
Maxwell - given his chance early, no real pressure, no foot movement = out.
Marsh - never looked settled, slow to get to the ball = out
Khawaja - same as Marsh.
Carey - Not a big score but in the middle order only Marsh @ 23 was higher.
Coulter Nile - Disappointing & the rest the same.

Conclusions:-
The main point in this world cup is consistency. Too often we hear the excuse that so & so is having
an off day. It's the world cup & an off day can cost you a match. These guys are paid
extremely well not to have an off day = not an excuse. If you want an off day, then go home. 

Finch & Warner stay as 1 & 2, given the understanding that Finch will be suspect with top bowlers.
Smith stays at 3.
Now we get interesting - Marsh & Khawaja playing together, what a chance to compare.
Both got a start & both failed = 4th spot a ? - due to lack of batsmen to select from
in the squad, probably Marsh
5th spot - Maxwell to me, as I said from the start should be dropped.
Batting = no foot movement, bowling not good enough and will be picked off in both by good teams.
If we use him as our yard stick as to who is included = no one better & he is included,
we loose against good teams.
If dropped will probable be replaced by Khawaja - no one else over there.
6th should be a good an allrounder, Stoinis being injured was our best, but we don't have one.
Carey should bat 6.
7 - Coulter Nile, unimpressive with both ball & bat = drop him & replace with M. Marsh.
At least he can't do any worse & may provide a spark.
8 to 11 = bowlers;
Cummins & Starc the only ones performing, although if Starc has an off day like he did against India,
then he is a liability. Inaccurate at his pace = lots of runs.
Richardson got wickets but not impressive.
Why Finch bowled himself, despite getting a wicket, in lieu of Smith I will never know.
Was not impressed with Finch's captaincy at all in this match. Is he feeling the pressure from
Smith looming over his shoulder?
Lyon should be included at 11.
Should Behrendorff replace Richardson? 
That's my lot
 

Good round  up, JJ.

Ae you still in a remote location?

No unfortunately,
Stubbed my big toe the day before we left - went bad & had to come
back to get treated. Such is life.
Camped on the beach, we had satellite TV connected to Vast & a 5m Telstra aerial up,
so had both free to air TV, internet & mobile phone. Not a bad life & hard to leave.
Regards jj

Good insights into technique, JJ.

I think we need a specialist new ball bowler. Cummins is just as effective with the old ball and we have good new ball bowlers. Also I thought cummins and zampa had a good partnership going

australia just need to win 1 of their hard games against NZ, England and south africa to make the knockouts and not have a slip up against Bangladesh/Sri Lanka

all of oz's wins have been performances with the ball more than the bat and our 3rd and 4th bowlers look vulnerable. So really its been Starc and Cummins show. The one game they didn't fire we lost. If we could find just one more bowler to fire we look a lot better. Here's hoping the Dorf gets a shot

I’m assuming we lost? 

I’ve just got up. 

I think you are right about back up bowlers and Cummins is effective with the old ball anyway. 

no we won haha I meant the india game was when starc and cummins didn't fire

its pretty odd to me to advocate dropping maxwell when we have a weakness when it comes to accelerating and chasing those big 350+ scores. We are already majorly unbalanced toward the accumulators as it is.

If it was the 1999 world cup fair enough but maxwell keeps us in the game when our bowlers have an off day

Gday gb,
jaszyjim - I keep hearing that but what has he done - starts but that's it.
He may hit big scores against so, so sides but he definitely isn't doing it here.
He has no footwork & the better bowlers know that, bowl so he has to move his feet,
his positioning becomes wrong & he holes out.
Bowling wise he isn't good enough. Classed as a batting allrounder, too inconsistent, time to go.
The one thing I do agree with, is the the selectors got the squad wrong - nothing to choose from
for batters.
With Stoinis out, a choice between Marsh or Khawaja, Maxwell & Coulter Nile not performing, the tail turning to jelly,
it's not a good sight.
To be brutally honest, Marsh, Khawaja, Maxwell, Coulter Nile, Patterson & Zampa should all be sent home & replaced
with players who can do the job. As I haven't been able to follow who is performing I will leave the choice to others.
I always suggest Agar as spin allrounder, usually to much controversy.

some of his best innings have been against decent sides

http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerOpponents_ODI.asp?PlayerID=3969

I think Australia's conservatism has them really behind the best teams. Hopefully their bowling can pull off a miracle in the knockouts though