It starts at 6 am our time, and yet I won’t see much as I am off to work. I value my sleep and I need to have my wits about me tomorrow.
India seek to continue their dominant ways, while Virat Kohli may try to find someone else to scream at. The West Indies, meanwhile, better not win given the poverty they inflicted on the BCCI after the aborted tour at the end of 2014.
Comment away.
A small change as I put both the games together for the comments thread. The first game, starting at 1 am our time, I do believe, is seen as a clash of the form teams. I fancy Australia, who have not played for a fortnight, might get caught cold, as the Black Caps, already with three games under their belt, have been very impressive. This is the best chance for the home team to win, so I’d suggest a home defeat may have a huge effect.
The second game couldn’t be more of a contrast. India have discovered World Cup form while the UAE, who have won many friends with their play against Zimbabwe and Ireland now meet a full test nation foe (I don’t really consider Zimbabwe to be that) and we’ll see how competitive they are.
All comments below….
The big one in Group B in terms of prospects for the World Cup, rather than prospects for the Indian TV revenues. Comments on this match up between the two favoured nations in the supposedly weaker group should go below.
Another supposedly 90000 fans (how many times have we heard that about attendances at the MCG) will pack the concrete jungle for this match. I’ll probably be a kip for most of it.
This is the game thread for this much trailed match. Please feel free to jot down what you like, when you like.
So the hype has been incessant, as if this has been something special at World Cups. As alwayst the truth is somewhat different – there’s some shocking old figures from the very few times these two have met in this competition. Did you know it has produced just one century in the history of their meetings, and that by Saeed Anwar is just 101 (made at Centurion)? Games appear to suffer from the pressure of the occasion.
Sachin Tendulkar has two of the four highest scores in their World Cup meetings, with a 98 in the same game at Centurion, and an 85 in the 2011 Semi-Final. The other score over 80 was by Navjot Singh Sidhu at Bangalore in 1996.
In their previous World Cup meeting in Australia, in 1992, India won in the early stages of the competition. This game was played at Sydney. If ever a game represented a bye-gone era, this was it. Pakistan were 40 runs short with one over left. Miandad batted for an age for 40.
The last meeting was the Semi-Final in Mohali in 2011. Wahab Riaz produced Pakistan’s best figures against India in the World Cup in that fixture, but the best in the series at the main ODI competition is held by Venkatesh Prasad, who took 5/27 at Old Trafford in 1999.
This match is played at Adelaide. Peter Kirsten (84) holds the World Cup record at this venue, made against India in 1992. Azharuddin holds India’s best score in the World Cup at that ground with 79. Pakistan played there against England in 1992, when they were bowled out for 74. Salim Malik and Mushtaq Ahmed both made 17, so the Pakistan record had better go!
World Cup records:
Sourav Ganguly – 183 v Sri Lanka at Taunton in 1999. India have 20 World Cup centuries.
Imran Nazir – 160 v Sri Lanka at Kingston in 2007. Pakistan have 13 World Cup centuries.
Being Outside Cricket 