It’s like being 1 up against Pompey in the FA Cup Final and your captain scores 2 own goals in injury time,
I guess we should have seen it coming when he promoted himself up to open the batting a few games ago (with no success). Pretty clear that the other batters who have all been pushed down are better. Can't bat, can't field, and absolutely can't bowl. Appointed as captain just weeks before the tournament started, against the wishes of the coach.
And we still might only need that NZ win. But it would now mean that we'd be relying on a favour from Bangladesh, who will quite likely already have been knocked out by then (or if they're not, it'll be because we've lost to both India and NZ, in which case we don't care about that Bangladesh-Pakistan game!). So yeah, now looks like we must win tomorrow. Had Pakistan not won today, one more win for us would have put through on the assumption that India do their job vs SL and Bangladesh.
If Pompey ever meet Southampton in an FA Cup final, I am going to do a sponsored swim in the Solent, naked!!
You know what, I really wouldn't be surprised if it comes out that Gulbadin threw the game in a match fixing scandal. It really was that bizarre. To bowl the one over in that position was very strange but then to follow it up with the last was just incredible.
England absolutely bottled both rugby and cricket World Cups at home. Imagine what the footballers would do!
Taking us out of the equation for one moment, the very narrow nature of Pakistan's win means that their NRR is still worse than Bangladesh's. So Pakistan v Bangladesh could become a de-facto QF, in the event that we lose to India and NZ (both of which take place first). Today has hurt us and SL, but it hasn't actually hurt Bangladesh.
The misfield in that final over too, to concede two runs rather than pull off the run-out. At the very least, you would hope that some degree of enquiries are undertaken, if for no other reason than to rule it out. It's difficult to not at least wonder. After losing seven out of seven, it's hardly a stretch to think that people would have had money on them losing an 8th (or even on them losing all 9).
The music and swinging culture was in full flow then too, we really did rule the World in a lot of ways back then. I'm not one of those people pining for a mythical somehow lost culture though. Countries evolve and change naturally with passing time.
Giles, who knows a thing or two about Edgbaston, reckons that tomorrow's fresh pitch could be the best batting track of the competition so far. (I don't know if the SF will be played on the same pitch or a different one. But if the same one then it makes sense that tomorrow would be as flat as anything, because they would still want it in a decent state for the SF.)
