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The Aussies were outstanding while Team India’s unbeaten run has come to an end as Travis Head’s top knock of 137 has sealed Australia a 6th Cricket World Cup trophy

by Sports Benches

So there you have it! The Aussies have lifted the Cricket World Cup trophy for the sixth time now after their six wicket win v the Hosts Team India a few hours ago at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

They won the toss with little surprise by going to bowl/field first and it actually paid off really well, having got both key men in Virat Kohli & KL Rahul not long after their respective 50s before Australia bowled India all out for 240 right at the end of the opposition’s 50-over batting shift. Then all the Aussies have to do is meet the 241 run target later on with the bat and the tournament will be theirs where they didn’t fire off well thanks to the early dismissals of Dave Warner, Mitchell Marsh & Steve Smith. But there’s one man who made Australia’s resurgent turnaround end India’s unbeaten streak is the other opener Travis Head, who scored an almighty 137, as Australia take home both the win by six wickets along with that prestigious trophy.

Commiserations to Team India who wanted to cap off their unbeaten campaign on a perfect sweep until this point, which was ruined by the Aussies on their home turf in front of a very huge crowd. India hoped they can score something big after their semi-final win v New Zealand where some good Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli & KL Rahul weren’t bad before things went downhill unexpectedly to 240 thanks to an brilliant Australian on-field display.

The same has been said later on when Mohammed Shami saw Dave Warner knock to Kohli that early while Jasprit Bumrah also quickly dismissed both M. Marsh & Steve Smith, but unfortunately couldn’t find a way to stop Head in its tracks where the fan noise volume went pretty quiet for the rest of the night due to his stunning knock off the willow. India might still be one of the top opponents to face regularly, but winning World Cups isn’t their trophy hunting ground having won twice back in 1983 & 2011.

And the now six-time World Champions Australian side showed what they can go to bounce back from 0-2 at the start to being triumphant at the final with the trophy. First of all, their fielding has been top-notch where they stopped some potential boundaries while producing stunning catches along the way that gave the bowlers some credit. Great seeing the Fast Bowling group pick up most of the wickets such as Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins & Josh Hazlewood that limited India’s ability to score big in the final.

Then with the bat, we all know Dave Warner will no longer be playing International Cricket soon while questions will be raised about Steve Smith in particular, who hasn’t been in great form lately, despite rejecting the chance to appeal his LBW dismissal which went outside the line. But as said, how good was Travis Head where he has silenced the crowd with some amazing cricket shots downtown alongside some amazing back up at the other end from Marnus Labuschagne. Now Marnus is more Test focused but he can still make a decent impact when he can possible. And although we would’ve loved to see Head finish off the winning runs when he couldn’t find the rope straight to Shubman Gill, but still it was an amazing final where Glenn Maxwell came in next up to hit two runs that steered the Aussies home first towards their record 6th world crown!!

Bring on Test Cricket now as the Home summer is coming back soon for another season sometime next month where there will be three Tests v Pakistan through Christmas/New Year + another two-match series v West Indies in January.

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The hosts India stay on stop towards Sunday’s Cricket World Cup final since 2011 after they def. New Zealand in the first semi-final match

by Sports Benches

The host nation India has stayed undefeated yet again this time in a semi-final v New Zealand. They won the toss by electing to bat first where India scored nearly 400 (394-4) & while New Zealand never gave up chasing that big reply later on, but that wasn’t enough unfortunately to secure them a 3rd straight final after being all for 327 with just an over to spare. India won by 70 runs who are now through to their 4th World Cup final since 2011 – also as previous hosts at the time with a world championship. They only lost a World Cup final once in 2003 also against the Aussies but have won both past finals back in 1983 & 2011, so this is something Australia or South Africa needs to watch out for v this undefeated team. Now the second semi-final awaits where one of them will take on India this Sunday for the big final in Ahmedabad hopefully tonight or tomorrow if rain doesn’t hold back play between the Aussies and South Africa.

Brilliant stuff from start to finish by Team India where Shubman Gill fire off well until he got some cramps on 79 not out before Virat Kohli delivered another magnificent ton along with Shreyas Iyer & fast bowler Mohammed Shami was outstanding that made the home supporters reach something special with the ball thanks to his seven-wicket haul. Meanwhile, commiserations to New Zealand when they did the best they can to respond to that 398 run target under pressure after a tough time early in the afternoon on the field. Their batting was top-notch too led by Daryl Mitchell who scored an excellent hundred including skipper Kane Williamson at the top-order, as well as some good runs a bit down the order from Glenn Phillips. But sadly, the fielding and bowling performances were far outweighed by the always impressive Indian batting attack where NZ fell short towards the end there. It would’ve been their third straight World Cup final if they did beat the hosts but they’re still a Top 4 side who hopes to bounce back better next time.

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Team India stays undefeated in the 2023 Cricket World Cup at their own backyard after an easy win v the 2nd-ranked Proteas team from South Africa

by Sports Benches

It’s been a big day for Team India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday when not only they made good use of the winning toss by batting first thanks to their big batting score of 326-5, but they also had no problems cleaning up the opposition relatively quickly later on after the Proteas were all out for 83 with the 243 run win.

Hats off to the birthday boy (age 35 now) in Virat Kohli who is amazing with the bat after he got away with a magnificent hundred & not having to been dismissed along the way. Shreyas Iyer also did well to back it up on 77 including 1-2 big hits downtown & how about an all-round display from Ravi Jadeja where he can both bowl well with spin after his 5fer as well as being able to bat a bit too!! Lots of good things to describe Team India as they head into the last group stage game still undefeated v Netherlands on Sunday.

And it has been a great run until this point where it’s not been the Proteas day when being easily beaten by a side who is in red-hot form on home soil. They fired off not bad with 1-2 early wickets, but then they couldn’t stop Virat Kohli as well as Iyer and the two all-rounders down the order for the majority. Even though they had to meet the 327 run target, things has gone from bad to worse when their batters are just not up to the task sadly with that big loss v a top-ranked team. They got Afghanistan coming up on Friday but it looks it’s going to be the same old Proteas like it was in previous World Cups unless they find a way that saw them win games regularly v top-ranked sides every year.

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2023 Cricket World Cup weekend review: The Aussies has escaped the Blackcaps’ resurgence with the bat while England are still rock bottom after another loss v India

by Sports Benches

It was a huge weekend of World Cup cricket from a few days ago where one match was a Trans-Tasman rivalry between Australia & New Zealand while another was the host nation (India) battling up against the under-fire defending champions (England).

Australia was sent into bat after New Zealand won the toss by electing to field first as the returning Travis Head & Dave Warner got them to another best possible start, with Head backing up his 100 on his first match back from injury. Although Australia did well to keep on scoring up to 388, they were under threat by the attacking NZ side with the bat later on thanks to some spectacular knocks from Rachin Ravindra on what has been another ton, as well as 50s coming from Daryl Mitchell & Jimmy Neesham. But in the end though, the Aussies were able to put them into bed at 383-9 thanks to a narrow five run win after 50 overs of play. Meanwhile, a similar thing happened the next day to India when they were also asked to bat first after losing the toss to England. Now India might not have scored as much as they’d like especially when Virat Kohli didn’t do so well, although Rohit Sharma is still at it in his Opening role as always. However, they defended their score of 229 where the fast bowling duo of Mohammed Shami & Jasprit Bumrah dismantled England’s batting card so quickly before the opponents were all out for 129 that secured them a 100 run win.

First of all, the Blackcaps showed some good rebound with the bat after a poor showing on the field except the last couple of overs with the ball. It’s still just not enough sadly when they fell just short towards meeting that 389 run target as there’s still time to improve their fast starts (either way or hopefully with the bat next first time) as well as these catches on the field. Aussies on the other hand have been so fortunate to escape NZ’s chase on the pitch as the overs comes down where it would be great if their quicks step up when building on these early scalps other than just the usual Adam Zampa show with spin. Other than that, the opening partnership has been strong as always regardless of the other partner with Dave Warner lately including 1-2 in the middle to lower order like Glenn Maxwell, wicket keeper Josh Inglis & skipper Pat Cummins.

Then India would’ve love to score as big as they’d like where that match could go England’s way at last who is good with their so-called Bazball tactics when it comes to playing attacking cricket. But they were fortunate to shut the opposition’s batting card down as quick as they can thanks to the excellent fast bowling duo of Mohammed Shami & Jasprit Bumrah as said above including some help in the spin department from Kuldeep Yadav. And speaking of England, their bowling wasn’t bad where the could come at last after bowling them out for 229. But unfortunately, their batters still blew it up before it was too late just short of 100 runs which was the 230 run target as they are still rock bottom in this CWC.

Australia will renew its long-standing rivalry v England this Saturday while New Zealand will next be out on the field soon tonight v South Africa followed by Team India the next day v Sri Lanka.

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2023 Cricket World Cup, India def. Blackcaps out of the best undefeated sides yesterday in a low-scoring contest

by Sports Benches

The Top 2 & also both undefeated teams have finally met yesterday where host nation India take on the Blackcaps (New Zealand), having seen India won the toss by electing to bowl/field first. India fired off with two early wickets while the Blackcaps eventually got off the mark when Rachin Ravindra scored 87 at his own pace as well as Daryl Mitchell who made lots of runs so quickly at 130 off 127 balls before they were all out just at the finish line of their batting shift for 273. Then India went on to make an impressive batting performance right away including Virat Kohli where he might not be able to get his 100 after being caught by Glenn Phillips on 95, but it’s still not hard for to meet the 274 run target with the win by 4 wickets.

Commiserations to the Blackcaps for losing this match when their openers weren’t up & firing yesterday. Although nothing against from Ravindra & Mitchell whom they’ve batted so well, but the rest of them including their on-field and bowling performance just wasn’t there to give themselves a better chance towards frustrating that in-form Indian side. Yes, I know they had 1-2 overs left to make an outside chance of turning this around after getting a couple of the opposition batters out, but it’s still hard get out of jail under pressure when trying to make them swing & miss or flick straight to the fielder.

And hats off to the remaining undefeated side in India right now who not only made good use of their winning toss, but they’ve produced an all-round display that made them easier to chase – even though it was a low scoring match against a fellow top notch team in the Blackcaps. As said, it was good seeing India remove both openers early, while Mohammed Shami caused a huge domino effect towards the rest of the NZ batting card after he ended Ravindra’s patient innings that led to his five-wicket haul. With the bat, they didn’t have any problems getting the ball rolling before Virat Kohli came in & scored something special despite being five runs short of a 100. Plus, shoutout to Shreyas Iyer for backing him up as well as Ravi Jadeja, who can do spin & bat a bit by scoring the winning runs for Team India.

Next up, India have the near whole week off ahead of facing the under-fire England team this Sunday. Meanwhile, the Blackcaps meet the Aussies with our Trans-Tasman rivalry the day beforehand (Saturday afternoon at 4pm AEDT) as the 2nd-4th places are heating up that would mean a semi-finals berth going past the halfway group stage mark.

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2023 Cricket World Cup, Pakistan’s steady start has turned into another round of India’s all-round winning performance at Ahmedabad

by Sports Benches

There’s a massive rivalry that is so synonymous of the Cricket World Cup where India v Pakistan on another huge occasion last night, but the winning team has always gone India’s way – having restricted Pakistan to 191 in 42 overs before they had no difficulties getting the job done in return with 20 overs to spare (30 of 50) by seven wickets (192/3). Gotta say that Pakistan started not bad with the runs they’ve built step after step, especially when they’ve got the ball rolling with their top-order card. However, they just couldn’t turn into quickfire and consistent boundaries when being tested under pressure in the 2nd half batting shift. Sadly, that’s where things have gone India’s way before Pakistan found it incredibly difficult to defend 191 on the field – despite seeing Shaheen Afridi cleared out both openers & Hasan Ali caught Virat Kohli out early with the ball.

And hats off to India who holds the most wins including last night against their arch-rivals (Pakistan) that will live on to the next World Cup edition. They did well to find the breakthrough off Pakistan’s safety first start with the bat before India turned themselves around when Pakistan tried to score big during the 2nd half of their 50-over shift. Plus, their batting was fine where Opener Rohit Sharma did well on 86, while Shreyas Iyer helped the Indian fans move on from the early disappointments of Shubman Gill & Virat Kohli by bringing them the winning runs home in such tremendous style – thanks to his own quickfire batting spell of 53. Such a huge crowd when getting the chance to see their favourite team play at a 120,000 seater Stadium in Ahmedabad along with a huge fan base elsewhere across both countries no matter the result that happens once in a while during World Cup (either way in both ODI & T20I tournaments) and/or even Champions Trophy years.

Although seeing India win all the time in this contest is like the Cricket version of the Bledisloe Cup where the Wallabies keep on losing over the last 20 + years while the All Blacks always get to take home the series trophy every year. India will now v Bangladesh on Wednesday while Pakistan take on the under pressure Aussies this Friday.

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2023 Cricket World Cup Week 1: Blackcaps def. England in 2019 Final rematch while the Aussies looked lost with the bat against India

by Sports Benches

We’ve reached the first week of six in this year’s Cricket World Cup over in India with some exciting match-ups to kick things off, such as the 2019 Final rematch opener between England v New Zealand. England didn’t do so bad for a start thanks to Joe Root (77) earlier on of 282-9 even though they couldn’t reach 300, but that big batting partnership of Opener Devon Conway (152) & No.3 Rachin Ravindra (123) has helped NZ wow the defending champions by a nine wicket win – having each recorded their own 100s.

Sounds like NZ’s attacking approach is the original birth place of Bazball where it has been adopted to England since last year by their Test coach Brendon McCullum. Although it’s safe to say that he’s not their white-ball coach (Matthew Mott is who formerly coached the Australian women’s side), despite having a similar kind of dedicated coaching staff who shares the same philosophy as him. NZ went on to beat the Netherlands two days ago by 99 runs two days ago (Monday) while England has also recorded their first win of the 2023 CWC v Bangladesh yesterday by 137 runs.

Then the tables turn on our Aussies who unfortunately didn’t get the win they wanted from Sunday v the host nation, India. It looked so promising from the start when you got Dave Warner & Steve Smith smashing 30/40s, but then the rest didn’t do so well where they ended up just above 200 before India were too good to bring it home with the winning runs by six wickets.

Their next game is tomorrow night AEDT v South Africa who got their first win from Saturday v Sri Lanka. Now the Proteas would want to treat carefully with water later on who is well known for being chokers like India – but so far, so good. 

SA recently beat the Aussies at home out of a five-match ODI series last month (3-2) & that it’s something the Aussies needs to do in order to turn things around such as their batting card on such hot conditions over there. There is still some time left to play for where Australia will look to win some matches against 2-3 top teams & then hopefully put themselves into the Top 4 finals, with Sri Lanka coming after this next game on Monday.

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2022 T20 World Cup: Persistent rain abandoned Australia v England game tonight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground without a ball being bowled

by Sports Benches

Well, we were hoping to have at least some play tonight between Australia v England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but again Mother Nature ultimately won this game ahead of the two teams without a ball being bowled.

With that being said, Australia should not have to face any issues beating Ireland and Afghanistan to complete their Super 12 campaign. However, like Mother Nature, Australia will need some luck & pray that England lose to the Black Caps (New Zealand) on Tuesday. 

That way, not only Australia can end up in the Top 2 Group 1 ladder, but they can advance into the semi-finals v India or South Africa in order to continue their World Championship defence on home soil.

For now, the Australian Opening and Top-Order will need to be at their best by scoring big, so they can come to a semi-final fully prepared to upset a giant like India as if their 2nd place finish in Group 1 was confirmed. 

Meanwhile, their bowling has been okay on the other hand but again they will need to be up and running right & nail down early wickets from the very start. If not, they will have a hard time overcoming India in the semi-final and potentially throw away another Trans-Tasman showdown v the Blackcaps (New Zealand) for the big T20 World Cup Final at the MCG come Sunday November 13.

We love seeing some underdog teams upset the big nation Test sides so far in this tournament, as we can’t wait to see how the business end of the Super 12 group stages unfold going into this weekend as well as the entirety of next week.

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