Aus batting are 0-67. 

Finch 40

Warner 42 

13th over. 

Finch has scored at over a run a ball so far.

SL have a long on and a long off. 

warner isn't selected to plod

He is a long way off form

he needs to be 6+ an over again by the time we face the big teams

australia just getting a touch boged down here when they should be accelerating

run rate dropped under 5

Warmer out for 26.

He is top scorer at this WC.

warner bowled

he is in all sorts of trouble this tournament

swap him with khawaja and have him come in later as a pinch hitter

Warner is top scorer though. 

The game has changed

these days you can be top scorer and lose the game (he was one of our top scorers against india and cost us the game)

Why was that?

Scoring too slowly? 

yep
if the gap between run and balls was 20 less than it was by the end of the 30th its a very different chase. A lot of our middle and lower order had to overcompensate for warner's stodginess since the run rate ballooned to unacceptable levels

Should Usman open?

SL on top ATM. 

Last 5 overs for 16 runs. 

Usman didn't  get hold of that sweep.

Out in the deep.

2-100.

warners plodding also means we dont get the best out of khawaja

if khawaja opens he's a 6rpo player averaging over 50

lower down he's not much use to be honest

Funny that? 

The stats in cricket make  for interesting comparisons. 

hope there is something in this pitch

reminder we are a bowler short to play a longer batting lineup

Nice square drive from Smith for 4.

Two 6s in a row from Finch off spinner De Silva. 

This is a pretty brilliant partnership

this is a super impressive partnership

It is! 

Finch makes a hundred. 

with Finch and Smiths incredible form, I wonder what we look like with an in form warner

Malinga has lost some pace. 

great way to bring up the 100

its been about 9-10 an over since these 2 have come in

if we can just get Warner and Khawaja's form to life a touch...

i love that in the modern game with fielding restrictions you can still find the fence with proper cricket shots

a rare couple of tight overs from sri lanka


happy hour starts now. Should aim for 10 an over from here

100 of 80 almost makes up for the 36 of 58 from Warner/Khawaja

Do people think there is something in this pitch?

A bit. 

2-206 Australia.

37 overs.

if warner plays a bit more agressive it at least allows khawaja to play an anchor like role in this middle

rain permitting we have one more easy-ish game against Bangladesh to get it right

London is quite a dry place. 

That was a big 6 from a pull from Finch. He is 132 NO. 

Australia a bit conservative here for my liking

only 2 down with 12 overs to go. If its a t20 match and you are 2 down with 12 to go, you have to go beserk

Australia has listened to you,  Grazorblade. 

They are throwing the bat now. 

its been an impressive partnership. Just need Warner/Khawaja to lift a gear. They cost Australia 30 valuable balls

If they lift and we are 267 with 10 to go Australia is well and truly back

One or two awful looking shots from Finch as he is throwing the bat! 

350 on here which is nice. Better from Warner Khawaja and the 380 would be on

will australia make good use of the scoop shot against malinga

surprised teams in this situation don't have players retired hurt so that maxwell carey can have a tonk

though hard to tonk better than that smith!

great innings. 350 is very much in play between Carey and Maxwell

wish we had M Marsh as well. I rate him in this game

brilliant over so far. Just 5 off 5 and a wicket

with only 3 down on a good wicket will aim for 12 an over from here

brilliant from smith as well

malinga bowls yorkers so often you almost have to think of scooping every other ball

surprised Marsh is ahead of carey here

couple of big ones from maxwell gets us back on track for 350

twice full tosses haven't been given as nbs

surprised there aren't more scoops against malinga

smh shots like that from marsh in the last 5

very poor from marsh here

not even turning over the strike

marsh 3 off 8 in the last 5 overs

for goodness sake

marsh out 3 off 9

terrible

Marsh not only couldn't hit boundaries but he's a danger of hurting Maxwell's rhthym and getting him out

about 20 yorkers from Malinga and not a single scoop...

warner/Khawaja and Marsh probably cost Australia 40 runs with their plodding

still gonna be an ok score

we are really struggling to finish innings

wonder why starc isn't ahead of cummins in this form of the game

Cummins is more defensive

pretty brilliant innings from maxwell

wish we had mitch marsh

333 against sri lanka. We scored a lot more last world cup against a better sri lanka. We also had a better bowling attack to defend it

still we should win this game if we bowl and field well

97 off the last 10 which is ok. You'd like another dozen or so with so many wickets in the shed. Probably all dozen of those runs should have come from Marsh (if mitch Marsh comes in we are a lot more balanced)

If warner gets back to his best and our 2nd string bowlers get back in form we have a good chance

not a great over to start but some brilliant batting

where was this from warner

ugh need to start with the dorff not cummins

cummins is just as lethal in the middle overs and its a completely different team if 10 of the middle overs are from him

gee 24 from the first 2

pitch looks very very easy

no explanation for warners performance really

good stuff bringing on the dorff

wish we saved all 10 cummins for the middle overs

I think he's the one bowler in the world that is better with the old ball and 10 cummins overs in the middle is worth everything

start and finish with starc and the dorff

ugh why so short

this start and how easy its looked should really be a rocket up warner

the wicket is so easy

what the heck was warner and khawaja doing?

you really should have starc and the dorf bowl the first 10 imo

the wasted review comes back to haunt us as the umpire makes a howler

would love to sub a pace bowler for zampa on this pitch

he has 1 bad performance on a pitch with no spin against the best players of spin in the world and he's off

its like we are back to the days of pre finch captaincy

lessons from this game

1. Warner needs to get his agression back. If he plays like this against England its game over practically before we start
2. Zampa should play at the oval. He will leak runs, so will everyone. But he will take Brittish wickets
3. Cummins should play the old ball. I can't think of any bowler in the world better between overs 10 and 40. Dorf can take early wickets if he gets a chance and he's ok at the death

Warner's aggression needs improvement and we could still do a lot better with the ball outside Starc Cummins. I think Zampa threatens a lot more if you open with the Dorf/Starc and bowl Zampa in tandem with cummins in the middle overs.

Look how much Zampa benefits from an economical bowler at the other end

Zampas average/economy after an economical bowler (cummins/lyon) 20.1/5.1
Average/economy after everyone else 46/6.3

Interesting comments.

i think your point that Cummins is still potent whether he bowls with an older or newer ball is a good one. Hence, opening with someone else.

Gday Dc,
jaszyjim - I tape the matches and watch it next morning - hence my late reviews
as I want to comment on the whole match.
Have read all the post to date so here's mine & as usual a slightly different take.

Positives;
We won
Finch got 150 with feet moving well - a good innings.
Great partnership between Finch & Smith, set up the game.
Cummins & Starc bowled well.

Negatives;
Warner, Khawaja & Marsh.
Maxwell running out 2.
(before you all cry me down, he was the one with a view of ball & fielder
did not call quick enough - exactly same scenario with SL batting,
a very quick call of no, saved he run out).
Note despite scoring 40 odd & bowling good economy, Maxwell not in my positive list.

Team selection;
All I can think off, is that the selectors assumed we would win regardless and put in players
to compare them against one another. No Lyons again - who has he upset?

Before we get too excited about our performance, lets look at other details.
The pitch was perfectly suited for scoring off medium pace.
SL pace attack was not pace, it was medium pace - low to mid 130ks.
The same speed as Dorf & Richo - Cummins & Starc = 10ks quicker.
More damming that Warner did not score against them & it gave Finch time 
to move his feet, which = confidence & let him open up later, despite
the lack of speed in the attack, a real good innings by Finch.
Why are Khawaja & S. Marsh in the side, I agree that if you want to retain Khawaja move
him to open, Smith still at 3 & Warner  @ 4.
S. Marsh needs dropping, never to play in this tournament again.
Maxwell - came in under no pressure, scored early & did not really go on with it against
an only medium pace. Watch his feet, he is really just a slogger that relies on hand eye
coordination with little foot movement. The problem with players like this, is as they age
the hand eye coordination lessens and they will fail against fast pace & good spin.
He should have scored more & in reality failed the last overs.
Bowling wise had good economy, no wickets & showed why we should have a least one spinner in the team.
Dorf & Richo took wickets but unimpressive.
As mentioned in the posts, Dorf is a new ball bowler, so why wasn't he bowled openning - didn't
Finch trust him with the new ball?
Carey & Cummins batting can't comment on as they had the unfortune to bat with Maxwell.

Upcoming match against Bangladesh will be interesting, only to see what the selectors do,
ie should be the team that will face England.
My team for this match & against England. 

Finch, Khawaja, Smith, Warner, M. Marsh, Maxwell, Carey,
Stoinis, Cummins, Starc & Lyon.
If Stoinis not fit, replaced by Richardson batting @ 10.

Love your round ups, JJ. 

Some of Maxwell’s agricultural slogs were not in the textbook, but he was very effective. 

With his wonderful fielding and part time spin I suppose he earns his spot for mine. 

Thank goodness we won!

In Australia, most of us are in bed of the second innings of these World Cup One Day games.



Lots of good up to dates, Grazor.

@Decentric:

Incidentally Here is Cummins average and economy since the start of the india tour in each power play
18.3 at 4.1 an over in the first power play
22.7 at 4.4 an over in the 2nd (few are better)
10 at 5 an over at the death

The figures in the first 10 are very good, no doubt. But we can get other bowlers who have similar impact at that part of the game. The middle and late overs he's unmatched

With those figures, well said. 

Maxwell definitely a positive for mine

That side is aggressive! It would allow us to bat very deep and give the top order confidence to go hard. I guess you could argue we don't lose too much since our 4th bowler hasn't been great anyway

Gday gb,
jaszyjim - Bowling wise it is not too bad.
Obviously Cummins, Starc & Lyon as the 3 mains  for 30 overs & despite my criticism of Maxwell,
he has been bowling with good economy.
So for the other 20 overs you have a mix of Maxwell, M. Marsh & Stoinis or Patterson.
Having 2 slow bowlers give Finch the ability to mix things up a bit more.
I believe this is the best mix of the players we have over there, to get 10 wickets
& the opposition from scoring too many.
Like you mentioned also a very good line up with a blend of aggression & accumulators.