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At the end of last year I wrote a bit about how I think rugby has changed and that "taking the three" isn't always a great option.
Canes appear to have had the better of most of the stats and kicked five penalty goals, while the Blues kicked none.
I think the Canes would have been better kicking to the corner more often - and especially in Super rugby this year, where tries are coming thick and fast. Might have been a strategy that cost them the match.
@bayimports said in ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
Loser of this match plays SA which coincidentally sounds better than winning and playing Australia
Disappointing to lose, but I'm not disappointed to get SA rather than Oz.
SA look pretty tough, but if things go well for Oz their batting line-up can chase down anything. Maybe not vs the Indian spinners on their home pitch though!
Anyway, we can have a David semifinal and let the Goliath's slug it out - don't want to have to kill two Goliaths no matter how good our slingshot is!
@No-Quarter Maybe not - but, I think that's where the change would come. Hard to see them leaving out Mitchell, who averages nearly 50 in ODIs.
22 runs from wides and 15 extra balls. That needs to be tidied up.
Anyone watching late in the Bangles innings? In O'Rourke's last over, Taskin was backing away and swiping wildly - and O'Rourke was digging it in and bowling into his body - which was economical because Taskin didn't have an answer - but I reckon it was crying out for a yorker and was a bit surprised Will didn't give him one.
@Canes4life One surprising thing I found when I re-checked something is that Young has played more ODIs than Conway.
I would have lost a lot of money on that bet.
Thought some of our bowling was a bit wild - especially O'Rourke. Lots of wides. That's my main concern against the best batting line-ups.
@Canes4life said in ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
@Cyclops said in ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
Satisfying win in a bit of a banana skin chase. Nice to see us close it out without too much drama. Would have been nice ta have had at least one of Ravindra or Latham at the end though.
Ravindra obviously the key batter, but Latham's innings more valuable than it looks on a scorecard. A slow fifty was exactly what we needed when we were three down with Ravindra in full flow at the other end.
It's almost a certainty now that Conway will be dropped for the remainder of the tournament when Mitchell comes back in. Ravindra and Young to open being the form batsmen. Hopefully Gary doesn't play favourites and actually picks on form.
It's a nice problem to have for once - who has to be left out, rather than who we have to put in to play.
But, on form, I think Conway should play ahead of Will Young.
On this tour, Devon has scores of 97, 48, 66, 10, 30 = 251/5 = 50.2 average
Will has scores of 4, 19, 5, 14, 107, 0 = 149/6 = 24.83 average. One century, but not much else.
I think Kane is averaging 57.75
Mitch Jr 48.5
Tom Latham 48.8
Rachin 68.5
Given Devon has historically been preferred to Will, I don't see Ultra-Steady changing that give recent individual results.
@Bones said in ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
@Chris-B pretty bloody good recovery! Could be very interesting if it's a tough pitch.
Yeah - they did well to post something to give themselves a chance.
Should have been buried when Jaker nicked his first ball to Rohit - straightforward slips catch and Axar's hattrick ball gets dropped.
Probably would have helped us if the Bangles had been buried under a massive negative runrate.
Pakistan have now lost Fakhar who is probably their most dangerous batsman, so their work will be cut out to beat India in their next game. Hopefully we'll have a chance to finish the group the following day.
Obviously, a huge win - beat Bangladesh and we're 9/10ths of the way into the semis, with a free swing against India. And already our fifth win on the trot.
Despite the prognostications of doom, we haven't fallen apart as our golden generation have departed.
We won this game with only three of the team that won the WTC - and Little Kane only contributed one run. Rachin, Sears and Ferguson on the injured list - but, we're able to send home for Big Kyle!
This sort of result would have been unimaginable in the low points of the Young Guns (early-mid-90s), late-90s, Dan Vettori as captain/coach/bus driver.
To the extent that it all traces back to Hesson replacing Rossco with BMac as captain - that's probably the greatest decision in NZ cricket history. (I think I was critical of it, because I thought BMac was a moron!) 
@canefan said in ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
@Chris said in ICC Champions Trophy 2025:
Great stuff Latham 6 then a 4 putting some pressure back on the Pakis
I can hear Bob Cunis' voice saying Pakis in commentary and being met with silence 🤐
Poor old Bob was on the receiving end of "This is Cunis at the Vauxhall End. Cunis, a funny sort of name: neither one thing nor the other."
Will Young finally gets his nose ahead of Devon in the line-up - Rachin gets hit in the face, Devon gets a reprieve - and has completely out-batted Will in the warm-up games.
I see he kept vs Afghanistan.
I think Devon is locked in to play now - alongside two of Rachin, Will and Tom Latham (I expect Tom to play).
The Fergburger bowled three overs - but, will they risk him over (probably) Duffy or O'Rourke?
I'd guess Conway, Young, Williamson, Mitchell, Latham, Phillips, Bracewell, Santner, Henry, Duffy, O'Rourke for the Pakistan game.
@WillieTheWaiter said in Track Cycling:
Both the TT and IP moved to mat h thr men's distance on 1 jan...
So Botha and andrews record were about 3rd attempt. But both are topof the game so deserve to hold them.
I felt like it was a missed opportunity to organize a track day on new years day and have my kids be world record holders 😅😅
I've thought for years that NZ should host a Track and Field meet that kicks off 10 seconds after midnight on New Years Day - so that everyone who wins their event gets to hold an official World's Best. Be a good draw for some decent talent, I think.
@1kiwi This bodes well!
SL vs AUS Cricket Scorecard, 2nd ODI at Colombo, February 14, 2025
Get cricket scorecard of 2nd ODI, SL vs AUS, Australia in Sri Lanka 2024/25 at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo dated February 14, 2025.
@Daffy-Jaffy Aha - hadn't heard that, but actually, I'm not too disappointed.
I'm inclined to think Duffy is a better option at present.
1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner (capt), 9 Jacob Duffy, 10 Nathan Smith, 11 Will O'Rourke
No Henry, no Sears - not desperate to win this one - though, I'm far from convinced Henry, Sears, O'Rourke is our best ODI pace trio. Henry definitely is.