Key occasions
twelfth over: England 79-0 (Malan 30, Bairstow 38) Malan takes an enormous backlift to Iftikhar, and chops him into the bottom. On the radio, they describe the pitch as “two-paced”. Certainly don’t fancy Pakistan chasing down England’s whole within the blink of an eye fixed.
eleventh over: England 74-0 (Malan 27, Bairstow 34) Wasim, too, tightens issues up. Just a single a chunk.
1oth over: England 72-0 (Malan 27, Bairstow 34) Apologies, my tv inexplicably turned itself off. Relief for Pakistan, as no boundaries off Iftikhar.
ninth over: England 69-0 (Malan 26, Bairstow 32) Malan’s flip to get caught in, and he powers Afridi for consecutive fours, bumptious and highly effective.
Dhamma Service writes“The Taliban in Afghanistan is not even considered a government by most governments in the world. So no use comparing how any global organization deals with issues concerning Afghanistan (where the entire population is more or less hostage) and other countries like Sri Lanka supposed to have legitimately elected governments.” Yes that’s true, though through the Apartheid period, solely a tiny variety of folks have been permitted to vote in South Africa and it didn’t cease Cricket from taking a stand.
seventh over: England 69-0 (Malan 16, Bairstow 32) Spin, with Iftikhar. Jonny tucks in with 4 by way of backward level – Malan plonks the entrance foot and will get an out of doors edge – not the place he supposed however 4 nonetheless.
seventh over: England 49-0 (Malan 11, Bairstow 27) Jonny dig his entrance spikes into the pitch and with excellent steadiness, powers Afridi’s second ball by way of further cowl for 4. Then an higher reduce for six. The beautifully coiffured Afridi will not be impressed.
Ali Martin
sixth over: England 38-0 (Malan 11, Bairstow 16) Rauf proving costly. A large loops over Malan and the slips earlier than operating right down to the rope, then Malan pulls inelegantly for 4.
Ali Martin will get in contact with a tasty nugget: “It can often be the little things for Jonny Bairstow, with today the first time during this relatively new opening alliance with Dawid Malan that he did not face the first ball of the innings. YJB’s ODI average when doing so is 33, and 47 when he doesn’t. In his famous partnership with Jason Roy, YJB faced the first ball of the innings just once – the World Cup group stage match against West Indies in 2019, when Roy couldn’t bat due to a hamstring tear in the first innings, Joe Root opened and Chris Woakes then emerged at No3.”
fifth over: England 26-0 (Malan 5, Bairstow 15) A traditional YJB dispatch, clubbing Afridi leg facet, then a fast single.He’s simply beginning to tick – I’m plumping fo a Jonny century as we speak. Malan performs and misses.
And an electronic mail arrives. Morning Guy Hornsby: “Well this has a very after the lord mayor’s show feel about it Tanya. Looks like England are trying to help keep the score low enough for Pakistan to still be in with a chance! I have to say the situation with Afghanistan is so utterly dismal. The ICC have shown themselves to be real hypocrites, but no one is surprised any more, are they? I think it’s ok to be pleased for the men’s team while agreeing they shouldn’t be full members anymore, right? It’s almost as if the ICC don’t place womens’ cricket with nearly as much importance as men. Anyway, rant over, come on lads!”
Yes, I believe there was a case for watching and ready to start out with – however not now.
4th over: England 21-0 (Malan 5, Bairstow 10) Bairstow overwhelmed by the primary two balls however a thick edge brings a streaky boundary – and 4 extra as Rauf drifts leg facet and Bairstow nudges him previous nice leg. Ah and that’s beautiful, 4 by way of the covers for Malan – three fours from the over.
third over: England 7-0 (Malan 1, Bairstow 0) Malan escapes first ball as he hits the ball straight again at Afridi who, in his comply with by way of, can’t form his palms in the correct place to take the catch. Bairstow picks up a single however neither batter appears snug.
2nd over: England 6-0 (Malan 0, Bairstow 0) Haris Rauf’s first ball is a gigantic broad that makes an attempt to cross the Bay of Bengal earlier than ending up previous the boundary rope. In his earlier sport, Rauf was pancaked by New Zealand, ending with 1-85. Lots of applause for his second ball which does land on the strip. A large on the off facet follows. Then a 93mph magnificence that almost attracts in Bairstow. Once Rauf finds his line, Bairstow appears all at sea.
1st over: England 0-0 (Malan 0, Bairstow 0). Shahid Shah Afridi has the ball, and Malan performs out a maiden. Low and sluggish.
Air air pollution
The air air pollution is “very poor”- presently 199 AQI, which is rated unhealthy – 29 occasions the WHO recommened protected ranges. On the radio, they report a haze over the bottom.
And right here come the gamers:
Anthem time at Kolkata, as a person within the crowd pulls on a Rohit shirt the incorrect manner spherical. Harry Brook appears very jolly, Jos Buttler much less so. David Willey sings his coronary heart out.
And the way forward for the Champions Trophy:
Our queen of girls’s cricket, Raf Nicholson, on the ICC.
ICC in response to ladies cricketers in Afghanistan being banned and having to flee for his or her lives: “We do not get involved in Board affairs.”
Also ICC: pic.twitter.com/ZGo6cszmVr
— Raf Nicholson (@RafNicholson) November 10, 2023
Teams – Pakistan
Pakistan XI: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Agha Salman, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Teams – England
England XI: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt, wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid.
Pitch Report
Conditions at Kolkata: black soil, plenty of cracks, dry, not a lot live grass. Dinesh Karthick says pitch will flip, difficult to bat.
England win the toss and can bat!
Jos Buttler, pressured smile and all, declares an unchanged group: “It is always nice to end that losing streak, we want to leave India with our heads held high.” And on David Willey, who performs his final worldwide sport as we speak – “He’s been a great performer over a long period of time.”
Babar Azam wished to bat due to internet run price – Pakistan’s theoretical push for the semis will now imply knocking off no matter England rating in a sprinkling of overs. Challenge just about over.
Our man on the bottom tells me that England met Mick Jagger final evening – insert Stones gag right here.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka , have been suspended by the ICC over “government interference” – which, as many have identified, compares unusually with the therapy of Afghanistan, whose ladies’s group now not exists after the Taliban takeover.
Ali Martin’s ode to the band:
Preamble
Once extra unto the breach, pricey pals. The roundabout slowly involves a cease, and really quickly each England and Pakistan can get off: battered and bruised. But first, they need to play one final match. Pakistan can theoretically nonetheless attain the semi-finals, and knock New Zealand out, in the event that they beat England by 290 runs – which, if it occurred, would blow the ultimate gasket on England’s disastrous marketing campaign. England don’t have any prizes to seize at, however a win would add a bit of honey to the saucer of bitter milk, and may very well be added to the victories over Bangladesh and the Netherlands.
Many of these pulling on the darkish blue of England gained’t play one other 50-over World Cup -if there is one other 50-over World Cup. And who is aware of whether or not Babar Azam’s captaincy of Pakistan has lengthy to run. All in all, a match to savour – careers to understand – simply don’t point out what each groups got here right here to do.
Play begins at 8.30am GMT – a closing likelihood to chew over what occurred to certainly one of cricket’s surethings within the hurly-burly of a World Cup marketing campaign in India.
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