Comments on: Aussies v. Black Caps

Aussies v. Black Caps

inflatablekiwi — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 16:52:20 -0800

In a few short hours the final of the Cricket World Cup will be held at the 'G. With some games of the World Cup reaching a billion viewers globally, it has now come down to a dream final between co-hosts Australia, who have won the cup four times, and first time finalists New Zealand.

Australia have been installed as favorites, with concern (or not) about NZ's ability to handle the size of the MCG. Emotions are high on both sides, with the announcement that this will be the Australian captain's last international one-day game, and terminally ill New Zealand cricket legend Martin Crowe describing this as likely to be the last game he'll ever see. In any event, plenty of New Zealand's Beige Brigade are making their way across the ditch to support their team, while Aussie fans prepare for hosting the final at home in Melbourne. The competition so far has provided some magic moments including: - Huge hits - Super work in the field (even if unrewarded) - Top bowling - Last minute heroics - Outstanding sportsmanship New Zealand fans will be sadly without the services of its Alternative Commentary Collective (some content NSFW) today, after their accreditation was pulled, and who have called the "absolute scenes" of the NZ games so far. Their adult-rated(NSFW) cricket commentary, from inside a 1975 Sprite Alphine caravan, has produced a cult following as they renamed the NZ team members (including crowd favorite - the Hairy Javelin(lyrics NSFW)). Cricket is a game that inspires its fans, and for those teams who didn't make the final, there have been somewhat passionate reactions. And of course no post about Australia and NZ cricket rivalry would be complete without a reference to "the underarm incident ", which also occurred at the MCG 34 years ago.

By: mollweide

mollweide — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 16:57:41 -0800

Is there a free site to legally watch it in the US?

By: Drinky Die

Drinky Die — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 17:08:12 -0800

ESPN appears to have the US rights and is selling some sort of online subscription to tune in.

By: inflatablekiwi

inflatablekiwi — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 17:10:46 -0800

Is there a free site to legally watch it in the US? I believe ESPN3 has the rights as mentioned above. In the slightly grey legal column, I'm told that smartcric dot com may be able to assist you as well....

By: mollweide

mollweide — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 17:17:13 -0800

Excellent, thanks much.

By: mysticreferee

mysticreferee — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 17:49:43 -0800

Woo. "Go Black Caps!" from an Indian fan.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 17:58:07 -0800

Looking forward to this a great deal; hoping for a tight game, and may the best team on the day carry the spoils!

By: Mei's lost sandal

Mei's lost sandal — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 18:47:18 -0800

So at 1:29 in the Huge Hits clip, is that at all unusual to hit the ball backwards, behind the batsman? That was amazing.

By: deadwax

deadwax — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 18:53:32 -0800

No not at all unusual. Though obviously the standard of batting in that clip is rather high.

By: doublenelson

doublenelson — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 19:36:33 -0800

South African fan here hoping NZ win. Partially because they deserve to but mainly because I'd love to see Australia finally lose a final.

By: langtonsant

langtonsant — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 19:40:01 -0800

Australia have been installed as favorites, with concern (or not) about NZ's ability to handle the size of the MCG. Yes, #MCGsobig has been a gift that keeps on giving. "Kane Williamson's" ill-fated expedition to find the pitch stands as a yet another reminder that the dangers of the Australian bush are not to be underestimated.

By: Gyan

Gyan — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:31:20 -0800

Australia finally lose a final. They lost in 1996 to Sri Lanka.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:35:43 -0800

Well, that was quick.

By: unliteral

unliteral — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:36:56 -0800

1-1 already!

By: Gyan

Gyan — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:37:14 -0800

Sometimes, it pays to get your eye in.

By: bardophile

bardophile — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:37:41 -0800

Most of Pakistan rooting for the Black Caps

By: coriolisdave

coriolisdave — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:38:58 -0800

That was a craking first over.

By: dhruva

dhruva — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 20:51:36 -0800

wow that's a big blow for NZ

By: inflatablekiwi

inflatablekiwi — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:11:13 -0800

It was always the plan to bring Old' Steady the Ship Williamson in early....grumble grumble - damn it McCullum

By: coriolisdave

coriolisdave — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:21:02 -0800

What the actual shit.

By: inflatablekiwi

inflatablekiwi — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:25:59 -0800

No Guppy! No!!!!

By: bardophile

bardophile — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:28:01 -0800

Kiwis looking pretty uncomfortable. :(

By: bardophile

bardophile — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:32:00 -0800

Oh dear.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:32:03 -0800

Big job ahead for Taylor and Elliot here.

By: coriolisdave

coriolisdave — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:32:10 -0800

Mitch's to the left of them, Mitch's to the right of them.

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 21:41:34 -0800

Yeah, I dunno, I reckon five hundred is a little optimistic...

By: OHenryPacey

OHenryPacey — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 23:22:50 -0800

I was gutted for SA, but guess i'll root for the black caps in the final as the underdog. the are not having an easy go atm tho.

By: bardophile

bardophile — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 23:51:49 -0800

Restricting Australia to a total of about 200 seems like an unlikely prospect.

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 23:56:50 -0800

200? 183.

By: Combat Wombat

Combat Wombat — Sat, 28 Mar 2015 23:59:23 -0800

Can Australia do it in twenty?

By: gaspode

gaspode — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 00:30:04 -0800

We would tie the record for lowest defended world cup score if we pull this off. Come on, boult.

By: gaspode

gaspode — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 00:50:10 -0800

Boult!!

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 02:37:07 -0800

Horse has boulted, I'm afraid.

By: bardophile

bardophile — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 03:13:15 -0800

Well, that's that.

By: Start with Dessert

Start with Dessert — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 03:19:40 -0800

Really good bowling from Australia. Pretty much took the game away from New Zealand. With the way the Black Caps have played the game I'm sure they'll be treated like heroes on their return to the country. They never let the odds get them down. Well done and be proud

By: unliteral

unliteral — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 04:15:28 -0800

No interviews for NZ players. No awards shown for NZ players. There was much interviewing of when and how long and how hard the partying would be etc. Poor form TV.

By: inflatablekiwi

inflatablekiwi — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 04:19:32 -0800

Well done Australia - better team on the day for sure and well deserved. So then....ummm....I guess it's onto the Rugby World Cup instead?

By: PenDevil

PenDevil — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 05:09:57 -0800

Boooo!

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 05:37:51 -0800

Poor form TV. Channel 9, the usual triumphalist rubbish. Put the radio on. Boooo! What was that about "poor form"?

By: Sonny Jim

Sonny Jim — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 05:59:31 -0800

I was momentarily crushed by this result when I woke up to it this morning. Until I remembered John Key was still Prime Minister, and then I felt better about it. What can we conclude from this? Starc is going to be a wonderful bowler. New Zealand, despite their undeniable improvement over the last couple of years, are still a fundamentally vulnerable side. New Zealand cricket teams, due to the low overall numbers of professional players in the country, have traditionally relied on two, perhaps three players of true international quality, while the rest are just good enough to make the side. Indeed, where there have been as many as three of these players (M. Crowe + Turner + Hadlee, say), NZ has performed very well. This side is no different, if, perhaps, a little stronger than usual. The "true internationals" here are McCullum, Williamson, and Boult, accompanied by a strong cadre of promising players (Henry), former "true internationals" (Vettori and Taylor) who are now over the hill, and others (Southee, Guptill) who are capable of good performances but can't produce those consistently enough to be considered "true internationals." What Australia did was neutralise NZ's key quality batsmen early, essentially taking NZ's bowling out of the equation. The game was essentially over once McCullum and Williamson were out cheaply. Make no mistake, though: historically speaking, this is a very strong NZ side. But they were always likely fold sooner or later. NZ sides are inherently brittle.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 06:56:07 -0800

Auckland: going to spend the afternoon watching the cricket.

By: bukvich

bukvich — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:05:59 -0800

Australia rarely looked troubled, sealing a seven-wicket win in 33.1 overs, with captain Michael Clarke scoring 74 and Steve Smith 56 not out. Clarke, in his final one-day international, was given a standing ovation by the record 93,000 crowd and welcomed by his team-mates on the boundary when he was bowled by Matt Henry with eight required. He was part of the Australia team that last lifted the trophy in 2007, with this success extending their record for most World Cups won. No other team has more than two. They look pretty happy in that photo.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 09:40:29 -0800

This American has finally learned to appreciate cricket with this World Cup, as I realized I should be looking at batsmen through the Ichiro/Rod Carew lens, and not expecting them all to be swinging for the fences at every opportunity.

By: ethnomethodologist

ethnomethodologist — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 13:31:34 -0800

Well that was boring as hell. Jesus- talk about a meltdown. I thought NZ was unstoppable but my Trinidadian hubby, who got me interested in cricked, reminded me at that start that this is the first time in the tournament NZ hasn't played at home and about how tough Melbourne is even without 93,000 people cheering for the other team. A purpose-built cricket stadium is a LOT harder to manage to hit boundaries in and we saw that for sure.

By: coriolisdave

coriolisdave — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 15:23:28 -0800

Although I found the game slightly underwhelming as a spectacle (well played Aussies, etc etc) what's impressed me in the wash-up is the sportsmanship of the Kiwis, McCallum in particular. Gracious in defeat, papering over yet more reports of Aussie boorishness to praise us instead.. running over to shake Clarke's hand when he got out, etc etc. Good show, chaps. Sorry it wasn't your day. An example

By: coriolisdave

coriolisdave — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 20:24:28 -0800

And here's an entirely reasonable "team of the tournament"