1st Innings Break Comments:

Pakistan has ended up with 348/8 . England will have to get the highest score in the history of the World Cup. They will have to break their own record of 338 which they made against India which resulted in a tied game. The highest World Cup victory when chasing was 329 which was by Ireland against England.

CricViz has placed the chances of England winning at 56%. CricViz has been changing the face of cricket analysis. The only part of their analysis I do not agree with is their score and win predictor. I compare cricket to the 2008 financial crisis. People lost money in that year and a couple of years after that because they treated those years as normal financial market behaviour. What happened in those years was what Nicholas Taleb described as a Black Swan. The gods of cricket have a great sense of humour. This would not be a game that I would have bet on because Pakistan is unpredictable. I will not be surprised if England loses this game. England if any is the team in this World Cup that is capable of breaking records.

England’s strength has been their fielding and their middle overs bowling. Their fielding in this game has been sub-par. Adil Rashid was dealt with effectively. Jofra Archer was expensive by the standards that he has set so far. This is the point where his character and skill will be tested. If he is not careful then he will be a one hit wonder that will get relegated to a white ball mercenary rather than an elite soldier.

End of Match Analysis

England lost by 14 runs. I am not surprised and I clearly stated it in my mid innings review. I am an England supporter and at times I was hopeful of an England victory. Though I still believed that Pakistan would win. The turning point was the wicket of Joe Root. Joe Root is the foundation on which the more charismatic players can build their innings. I stated earlier that the bowlers and fielding that would make the difference. The fielding of England was a big let down today. The fifth bowler options for Pakistan of Hafeez and Malik was extremely good. England’s next match is against Bangladesh. Bangladesh have already beat South Africa. That will be a good game.