Weather is looking a lot more promising than it was earlier in the week.
Fingers crossed we'll get away with it.
I'm hoping for a decent fight from the Tigers - and certainly not ruling out them taking a win.
Also off to Old Trafford on Saturday where again the weather currently looks like it won't get in the way.
Was hoping for a Kiwi loss today to spice that one up, but still hoping for some entertaining / big hitting cricket.
Been busy listening to TMS whilst 'working' for nearly every match so far so very much looking forward to being there...
There was a fair bit of availability for England vs Sri Lanka earlier - nabbed a ticket before realising it was in Headingley.....£125 for trains as well from london. Expensive day out tomorrow
Congratulations on getting a ticket, I hope you have a good day out and get to see some fireworks.
Today sort of petered out after Warner scored all those runs. The Bangladeshis tried so hard to get back into the game but kept getting set back. The atmosphere must have been pretty special.
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Thank you! There was a whole block of eng vs ind tickets released today. No luck getting them with the rubbish system. I’m angling for nz vs aus ones which come up time to time.
For bangladesh - keep in perspective that their total was higher than the highest WC run chase. Not bad. Sadly this WC is becoming a bit predictable. Tomorrow is really the last meaningful game. If England win top 4 is sorted.
Enjoyable day out yesterday - but even though the Tigers were scoring quicker than the Aussies they were also losing wickets regularly so it never really looked on.
Bangladesh do appear to be the best of the rest for me and have performed really well in the games they've lost - but the Australians were just annoyingly workman like in the way they steadily amassed a huge total and then calmly defended it.
Crowd was probably 80% Bangladeshi and the noise and atmosphere was awesome for much of the game. You could spot the 'neutral' England fans very easily when Smith went cheaply.
I enjoyed it, my 7 year old enjoyed the few hours he got to join us for after school and the whole crowd was having a good time all day.
Listening to TMS today whilst 'working' (great start for England and Archer again) and looking forward to Manchester tomorrow.
Ooops......
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Oops indeed. On the train back to London - England on slower pitches are a worry. Very visible ball not coming onto bat once the ball got a bit softer. But fantastic performance in the field by Sri Lanka.
Fun fact - we play Australia, India and New Zealand as our run in. Not beaten any of them in a WC match for 27 years...
A pic or two from today!
Shame that you went all that way just to watch England lose. Did you enjoy it otherwise?
The Aussies will smell blood now which will give them even more encouragement (as if they need any) to beat us. Tuesday will be a very interesting.
The competition was just about getting dull as everything was going as had been expected and this has shaken it up a bit. It's a shame it had to happen to England today.
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We'll it's just got interesting now hasn't it!
Typical England performance when the pressure is on worryingly - distinct lack of thought or discipline once it became clear that some was required.
Still, while we haven't beaten Australia in a world cup for a little while I watched the vast majority of the current squad absolutely destroy them a couple of summers ago at Trent Bridge. That was a day where the aggressive approach worked well granted, but what a day out it was.
I head for Manchester tomorrow now really hoping the Windies turn up. About time we had another upset.
I have been impressed with the Windies' progress this year and hoped that they would be the big surprise this world cup. And they have to an extent but their injuries have set them back. I was really surprised that they wheeled out Russell in the last match, he can hardly string together two overs.
I hope they can pull something out of the bag tomorrow.
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l
Always a fantastic day out! Overall atmosphere was a bit tense. Firstly was this going to be one sided, secondly 'oh hang on we might lose this' to lastly, we're gonna lose. Odd match/throw back to old school ODI, which is ok, but can be dull in patches as boundaries aren't flowing. But as I said, tenser for it!
We do badly on slow pitches. And with pressure, best bet this WC is to set/bat first. We'll do better next game.
Enjoy tomorrow!!!
Ouch! That hurt the Paddy Power account big time.
Two cracking games in progress! It seems a lot of the lower teams simply needed time to come into the tournament, fingers crossed for a few more upsets!
In other news, I just snagged a ticket for Eng vs Aus at Lords on Tuesday......
Nice :)
I had to turn down a corporate ticket for this just last week. The whole package just beggared belief. First class travel, full complimentary bar, breakfast , lunch and tea in the members lounge. Meeting with a former captain and access to net practice . Still , work comes first eh ?
Now Im hoping that we get through to the semi final at OT .
So close but yet so far for both Afghanistan and the Windies. Would have been great if either had won.
Nice to see India being put under pressure and squeaking a win. Hopefully we can put even more pressure on and come out on top.
Great news, two matches in a week is good going. Especially as you didn't have any tickets two weeks ago or so.
I'll be there too, really hope we can come out fighting and beat them. Might even spare a thought for the hard working Goat
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You definitely got a great game in the end!!! Damn shame no win for either - the tournament needed it to blow the semi berths wide open - tho no teams can simply take any team for granted. Especially for momentum as a tournament progresses.
Tomorrow is sadly one of those dead rubbers - Pakistan have a very vague chance of progress, SA are out. I hope they can just let go and put on a great game!
Cannot complain with my ticket results! As a terrible planner I rely on getting last minute stuff! Hopefully we can stuff them! Enjoy the match as well!
Just got home from Old Trafford - what a game that was.
So close at the end. My poor seven year old boy had been fully converted to become a Windies fan through the day and was in tears at the end.
How different things could've been with just a couple more runs in this game and India's...
Great view from our seats but there's no shade at Old Trafford is there!
A good toss to win. If that Kookaburra won't swing today it won't ever.
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I've turned it off. I never like the Muppets.
Oh well, there's always the Ashes to look forward to...
Not seen it but we’re the bogans absolutely awesome or did our heads get addled because it’s australia?
There were times when I wished I could have done.
The Aussies coasted at 5.5 an over throughout and we couldn't match it. They found the gaps and we found the fielders.
Maybe their heads are a bit fried as they look like they are feeling the pressure.
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Same old England bottled when it matters
Argh so many frustrating things not sure where to start. Will pen thoughts later when home.
Yup England couldn't quite handle the pressure today. The Aussies did well to survive the initial onslaught and could've easily been a couple wickets down early on. Still England did well to restrict them to a gettable total, but why are they so gung ho when it's not needed? Just ticking the score over with safe 1s and 2s would've got us home easily. Instead we were arrogant to think we can slap the ball around for boundaries to win was just plain idiotic. Cooler heads were needed today, so hope we can get it together for the last couple games. Aussies though look good and well deserved the win today.
Judging by Morgan's interview I saw on the News this morning I doubt this will be a match he'll forget soon.
Pressure did get to them today, but its more the team's methodology that is the issue. Breaking down yesterday
The toss - one you actually wanted to lose. You had to bowl first if you won with the conditions, too risky to opt to bat, yet statistically really tough chasing in this world cup.
Aus innings - We effectively lost the game in the first 10 overs by not taking any early wickets. I felt we bowled too short. Yes we pulled it back, but if we took early wickets, we could have restricted further. There has been lots of criticism for Warner's approach being too slow this WC, yet he is respecting the pitches and realising they're a bit slow and two faced.
Eng innings - No Roy is an issue. This England team is reliant on the top 2 getting us off to a good start. The most frustrating dismissal was Bairstow - absolutely not needed stroke and he knew it. The ball that got Stokes out was outstanding. If you're going to an Ashes Test watching Starc and Cummins bowl is a joy.
Will be tough to qualify, we need Pakistan to do one on NZ, possible of course so let's see!
Pakistan taking 3 wickets in first 10 overs after being put into bowl by NZ. This is why dangerous to bat first in potentially seamer friendly conditions. England just didn't take the wickets when bowling.
What a great game earlier today, Pakistan thoroughly deserved the win and NZ have been over achieving this far on recent performances. Am I write in thinking (hypothetically) if England and Pakistan win both their remaining games and NZ lose both theirs then they could be out the semi's?
The tournament is alive because of England's calamities and Pakistan's standard form book - total unpredictability, Shaheen Afridi's 3-28 was outstanding - he should have been man of the match. WI should have beaten NZ over the weekend and I agree they've been flattering to deceive.
You are correct about NZ's predicament - I've been saying for some time, they're in as much trouble as England. The run in for all 3:
England - India and NZ
Pakistan - Afghanistan and Bangladesh
New Zealand - Australia and England.
New Zealand's run in is as tough as Enlgand's - don't expect Australia to lose momentum by a weakened team against them. But they're favourite due to a good net run rate and a rained off match is enough for them to progress. Pakistan can catch them up by thrashing Afghanistan. The New Zealand versus England game could be a winner take all.
Oh don't forget Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are still very much in it too, but slightly tougher tasks. In particular Bangladesh need to beat India. Fingers crossed no more rain - be sad if that is the reason one of the team's progress. But the tournament is very much now in full swing!
Totay agree - it can't be a coincidence that when Vince has opened during Roy's absence that the whole aproach has looked off kilter. Roy and Bairstow were averaging something ridiculous for the first wicket and that sets up the team to lay with the freedom that we have seen over the last 4 years. It's also off the team got to be the best team in 1 day cricket, so I can see why they still want to play the same way, albeit that sometimes you have to adapt a little to suit the situation. Getting Roy back is pretty essential for the remaining matches.
On that note, how frustrating is Vince!?!? He looks every inch the international class player and somehow manages to snick one to slip pretty much everytime he gets going.
With Vince (or Wince as Prakash pronounced on TMS which seems apt) in the team you can pretty much assume we'll be one down too early in the innings.
I can't help feeling that a bit of Curren would liven things up a little.
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If only Hales hadn't piddled on his own chips. He'd have been an instant swap for Roy as soon the injury was confirmed as being serious. i.e. before we lost those two games...
Silly boy.
After yesterday's bonkers cricket, pressure is on England and thank god Morgan won the toss and is batting first on a gorgeous day! Roy is back and Plunkett is in for Moeen. This is a must win game and should be a cracker! And to let you all know, I'm not attending, so we should win
England off to a cracking start.
Come on India
Ha, my comment featured on bbc's feed at 11.18! Come on England!!!!!