Posted by The Champions Trophy doesn’t hang about. Hosts Pakistan are out already. So are Bangladesh. Things don’t look too spanking for England either.
We’ll start with the England game for (a) chronological reasons, (b) because we’re an England focused website, and (c) to get it out of the way.
They reached 200-2 after 30 overs, but then added only another 151 in the final 20. It sounds harsh to say 351 wasn’t good enough, but with England’s more-wicketkeepers-than-bowling-options formation, that’s what it proved to be.
We’re not sure whether Josh Inglis is as widely referred to as “Leeds-born Coventry fan Inglis” in Australia as he is in BBC headlines, but whatever they call him, his unbeaten 120 off 86 balls shone a blinding LED light on all the holes in England’s attack.
Right-arm seamer Brydon Carse has now gone home with a blister. We can’t help but note that in Rehan Ahmed, he’s being replaced by a leg-spinner.
The Big Match
The start of an India v Pakistan match (and it does seem fair to list India as the home team with Pakistan the ones obliged to travel) is always exciting. It still unavoidably carries that unmistakeable air of being A Big Thing happening live.
But then the match gets underway and are we misremembering or have they pretty much always gone the same way in recent years? Pakistan’s totals always seem too small and they no longer have a bowling attack that can dig them out of such a hole.
And then probably Virat Kohli makes all the runs for India because he’s a lot more desensitised to attention than anyone else.
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Watched much of the England v Australia match – with increasing dismay as the match went on. Actually I thought fielding (not least catching) was the main difference between the two sides, rather than the bowling. But then the Aussie attack looks less than special too.