In this episode we tried something different. Baldy joined Binksy and Raj on the pod, with Raj and Binksy having watched the overnight games and having prepared. Baldy joined with live reactions not knowing the scores to get real-time, unfiltered feedback on the games overnight, especially Australia's must-win fixture with hosts Sri Lanka.
The cricket wasn't pretty - neither were the reactions. If Australia's campaign was on a knife-edge before it has completely unravelled now. From batting collapses to bowling that was yet again unable to make inroads, the crew dissects where it all went wrong for Australia. Where were Steve Smith and Matt Renshaw again? The selection conundrums continue to perplex - but was the batting or bowling more to blame? One thing is for certain - the post WC retrospective will be one to tune into.
To the England-Italy fixture we go and the Azzurri put up yet another inspired performance against England. While some big(ger) names haven't quite got going for England yet Binksy is heartened by Will Jacks with the bat, and Overton, Archer, and Curran with the ball. Have England found a winning combination with the ball?
Finally, we cover the clutch victory for Afghanistan over the UAE. Omarzai's performance has us fulsome with praise. Rashid brings up 700 T20I wickets as we rue missed opportunities in what could have been a stellar campaign for Afghanistan.
Let us know if you enjoyed the 'live reactions'. We did. Well, most of us...
We'll be back in your feed again tomorrow with the next instalment of our T20 World Cup coverage. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.
You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.
And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at thetoporderpodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices