Australia vs England in ICC champions trophy match (Prediction)

So it is time to look into the crystal ball and yet another game between England and Australia but this time at Centurion in Pretoria. Centurion has one of the best batting pitches definitely in South Africa with true bounce and not deteriorating throughout the day. I think this pitch is probably the best one day “day game” pitches in the world but does benefit the team batting first in a “day night” game mainly to two factors. During the day the pitch is so flat and does not deteriorate a whole lot, but at night there is just a bit of nip around but does not moisten the ball sufficiently to detract from bowling and the second factor will play into the team bowling second will be that the ball will discolour quicker due to the moisture on the ball that makes it difficult to pick up from the pitch.
England posses a devastating team in suited swinging conditions for bowling, but I don’t think Centurion will have wet enough conditions and Australia has a hard working attack that will pick up wickets on a regular basis.
My Prediction Scenario one -- England wins the toss and elects to bat. England will score 287 to 293 for the loss of seven wickets. Australia should win with 4 wickets in the second last over.
My Prediction Scenario two – Australia wins the toss and elects to bat. Australia will score 310 to 320 with the loss of six wickets. England will fail to get the needed runs to win and lose by about 25 to 17 runs if there is no movement of the ball at night but will win by 45 it there is assistance.

Pakistan progress to next round of the ICC Champions trophy

So Pakistan also progressed to the next round of the ICC champion’s trophy due to the fact that the game between Australia and India was rained out and them being at the top of the pile. Meanwhile the rain looks set to continue today and might influence the outcome of today’s proceedings. It has been a great tournament so far that have produced interesting outcomes

England VS Sri Lanka Update

England is coping better with the Sri Lanka unorthodox bowler Mendis than South Africa a few days ago. Both the England players at the crease tried to play the bowler with a straight bat and also tried to play the ball well away form the pads.
Collingwood has played selectively attacking cricket with big over’s in between solid defensive cricket. The score have progressed to 63 for 2 wickets after 17 overs which should stand them in good stead in the latter overs. Murali have not started his bowling spell yet and I suspect he will do his complete spell without interruption from somewhere in the early 20th over

England VS Sri Lanka Champions trophy match

The England cat is literally amongst the Sri Lankan pigeons in their Champions trophy match played on the Wanderers cricket stadium. The Wanderers gave more than expected assistance to the bowlers in the first few over’s and reduced the Sri Lankan team to four wickets down in the first few over’s that helped England to restrict Sri Lanka to 212. It is still going to be a tough ask for the England team to get the runs. The openers should be circumspect in the first few over’s and play each ball on its merit more than the olden day type cricket.
My view is that they should play save for the first 15 to 18 over’s and the number of runs scored then will make a big impact on the score chase scenario.

Sharks vs Cheetahs 24-13

The final score in the game between the Sharks and the Cheetahs is 24 – 13. It was a physical game with the Sarks paying off mistakes form the Cheetahs. Neither team earned a bonus point in the match but the Sharks have been promoted to the top of the Log with their win

ICC Champions trophy

Expectation is mounting as the warm-up matches for the Champions trophy is being played and some of the countries start to arrive in South Africa. The only teams still to arrive is Australia and England that is still in there closing match in England and Australia trying to white wash England it he current one day series.
The last match in England will start on the 20th September and will be flying out to South Africa soon after the completion of this match. It is indeed going to be a spectacle of a mini worldcup format with all the major strengths in Cricket being represented in South Africa. The first match will be between the hots South Africa and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka that have performed consistently during the past view years will probably be the favours to win, with South Africa that only had a warmup match that thy played against West Indies.
Although South Africa won the match convincingly it will be a difficult task to beat Sri Lanka. Time It normally takes some time in the centre in a competitive match to gain momentum and form. With the South African team that took some deserved time out of competing before a tough season it might be a bridge to far to expect of them to start firing from the get go.