Yes, advantage Australia but one decent partnership will make it interesting. The pitch has obviously been very kind to batters for most of the match but looks like it will be doing a lot now.
Scotland are three for three in Group B (yet to play Sri Lanka, tbf) and definitely through as Ireland have a shocker to lose all their matches so far.
The Super Six format is a bit odd: three teams from each group go through but they only play the teams from the other group: the points already earned head to head against the other qualifiers in their group carry over.
So Oman go through from Group B but having lost to SL and Scotland start on 0 points. SL and Scotland both beat Oman so start on 2 points. They play each other next so one (probably SL) will take another 2 points through.
In Group A, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Netherlands look to be through. WI lost to Zimbabwe so can’t take more than 2 points through to the Super Six. They are playing Netherlands now and are 128/1 after 20 overs, so looking good. But assuming matches go with the form book, the SUper Six table will start off looking like:
Sri Lanka: 4
Zimbabwe: 4
West Indies; 2
Scotland: 2
Oman: 0
Netherlands 0
with 6 more points up for grabs for everybody.
Yes, with Zimbabwe owning the tie breaker with the West Indies, so WI need to end up with more points. So the must beat SL (and therefore own the tie breaker over them) or they will Scotland, Oman or Netherlands to take points off SL and/or Zimbabwe.
They’re giving it a bit of a go but ultimately losing wickets a bit too often to get close, I reckon Australia will wrap it up before lunch.
NETA: and the ninth wicket went down just before I could submit this.
ETA: and in fact all done within the edit window! Credit to Australia, there were a couple of times they were on the back foot but they demonstrated their superiority in the end.
Scenes!
WI vs Netherlands has gone to a Super Over! Scores tied at 50 overs - 374 apiece.
Netherlands were chasing - last I checked they need over 11 an over in the last 8 overs and I really didn’t think they’d get close. Amazing.
Netherlands batting first.
20 off teh first four balls!
30 off the over. Whatever the opposite of choking is, van Beek of the Netherlands just did it.
WI hit first for 6, but second for 1. So need 4 sixes in four balls.
But no! Next two balls are wickets (van Beek, who is clearly having a moment, is the bowler) and the Netherlands win.
This makes it pretty much impossible for WI to qualify, and leaves the Associates licking their lips.
Josh Tongue in for Ali for tomorrow second Ashes test. Suspect we might get battered under a weight of runs.
Surprised that ENG are going with four seamers inc Anderson. They are all rright arm overs?
He was way underused in 1st Test and didn’t look like he’d bought into the concept of attacking lines/lengths. I thought they’d have brought in Wood for him.
Bairstow keeping is a mistake.
Wood isn’t fully fit, apparently.
We put the 18 year old leggie in the squad, but not in the team - not a very Bazball move in truth. Where’s the entertaining bravery? Funny how a loss affects the mind. (Or maybe he’s not god enough on closer inspection).
It’s basically a lack of options. We’ve developed a whole two frontline spinners across our first class game, and they’re both injured so hey, we tried. We have however developed a lot of right arm seamers, so let’s go with what we know.
You pick the best bowler you got to take 20 wickets.
If they all happen to be Paul Adams, Que, sera, sera
339/5.
Very much Australia’s day, especially as England chose to put them in. A double wicket over from Root - who needs Jack Leach? - late in the day salvaged something for England who until then didn’t seem to have any means if stopping Australia scoring. Head in particular made it look easy until being stumped in the 70s in a manner not a million miles away from Root’s dismissal in the second innings at Edgbaston.
Notably, Australia failed to declare before the close which is frankly rude
Noted. The apology is in the mail, 2nd class via tramp steamer.
Definitely unsportsmanlike, not giving the other team a chance to bat and all. 
In the WC qualifiers some chap called Sean Williams has the following in the last five matches:
103* off 70
91 off 58
23 off 26
174 off 101
127* off 97 (he’s still batting)
Now it’s against some rather mediocre opposition, but still quite a purple patch.
Well done Smudge!
Yes, a great knock but over now - the strange agony of cricket is that having made 110 Smith’s main emotion on getting out is disappointment that he couldn’t score more runs.
Australia on 393/8 with lunch on the horizon - it would now be genuinely funny to declare but Cummings and Lyon will back themselves to put on more runs (as we know they can!) before even considering it. Maybe a brief pre-lunch dart at England if they’re nine down with 20 mins to go, but I think there is an Ozzie plan to bat long and put miles into England’s legs - Broad and Anderson distinctly vulnerable to this.
In other news Pope is still suffering from his shoulder so may not bat at No. 3.
When the sun shines, make all the hay you can.
Maybe, but it would tick the England openers off more to bat for 20mins after lunch then declare. Under the new protocols, these fast scoring Poms aren’t concerned about losing time, no?
Crawley dropping anchor, 3 off 8 and letting Duckett do the Baz.
I love how scoring 3 off the first 8 deliveries of the innings can be referred to this way.
England 46/0 off 10. It’s the hope, etc…