71-5 Top three all out for 1 run each. And to think, before the competition started there was talk about it being far two biased towards batting.
Think 50/20 overs cricket has been a batsman's game for quite a few years. However the game has moved on very quickly and the variations now being bowled, very much as a necessity is slightly bringing the bowler back into the game.
I think it makes a difference that the pitches are prepared by a neutral. England have been preparing roads and it has showed. All the talk of it being a batsmen's game has allowed for more interesting pitches that give the bowler more help and then on top that you put in overcast conditions and it becomes much more of a contest between bat and ball.
Thing is, NZ are not proving to be the most exciting team in the competition. Steady and quite boring. Their bowling is good however. If it ended up as a NZ Australia final there wouldn't be the same buzz as if England played India.
The turning point...... Glad that New Zealand won. Nice to see that the final won't be of 2 of the big 3 that get most of the money from the sport.
To be fair cricket is india's number 1 sport by a country mile and there are a billion of them. So yes that is where the money's at. New Zealand's number 1 sport is rugby by a country mile and it only has 4 million inhabitants. So pleased for them though especially as they play the game as it should be played with a great deal of humility (unlike their grotesque neighbours accross the tasman sea) Up the black caps.
New Zealand were my tip from the start because of a tremendous bowling attack in English conditions. Would love them to win, always play fair and give their all and produced some very good but under rated players. Hopefully we’ll beat our convict cousins and progress to the final.
