The Top Order Cricket Podcast

In this episode of the show, Baldy and Stu look back at Day 6 of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which featured three games: Sri Lanka v Oman, Nepal v Italy and India v Namibia.

We start the show by discussing India's cruise to victory against Namibia, which saw the return of Jasprit Bumrah and another masterclass from Varun Chakravarthy. There were runs from Ishan Kishan at the top, and a bit of a stutter at the death, mixed in with some nice bowling from Gerhard Erasmus and Bernard Scholtz, as India got the job done before their big clash with Pakistan over the weekend.

In the second match of the day, it was the Azzurri of Italy who shone bright, powering to a 10-wicket win against a Nepal side fresh off pushing England so close in their opening game of the tournament. Kalugamage's three wickets led the Italian spinners, before the Mosca brothers made short work of Nepal's 124-run target.

Sri Lanka began the day with a comprehensive victory over Oman, who have found it hard work in this tournament so far. Fast fifties for Pavan Rathnayake, Kusal Mendis & a record-breaking half-century for Dasun Shanaka took the home side to 225, which they defended with ease.

To round out the show, the boys look ahead to Day 7, which sees Zimbabwe face Australia in Group B, Canada v UAE and a key game for the Netherlands against the USA to keep the pressure on India and Pakistan in Group A.

 

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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening. 

0:00 Intro

2:20 India v Namibia

13:35 Italy v Nepal

20:50 Sri Lanka v Oman

28:15 Day 7 preview
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In this episode of the show, Baldy and Raj look back at Day 5 of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which featured three games: South Africa v Afghanistan, Australia v Ireland and West Indies v England.

We start the show by discussing the Super Over mayhem as South Africa survived about a million scares to prevail against Afghanistan in surely one of the best T20 internationals ever. Ramanullah Gurbaz, Lungi Ngidi, Tristan Stubbs, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada and so many more talking points from this wild and emotional game with huge implications for progression to the Super 8 stage. 

The final game of the day saw the West Indies defeat England thanks to an impressive half-century from Sherfane Rutherford and a collection of wickets from the Windies spin attack, with Gudakesh Motie leading the way.

To cap off the last game on the slate we move to Group B, where Australia kicked off their World Cup campaign in style against Ireland, thanks to 4-wicket hauls from Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa. There’s talk of Australia’s bowling lineup without the familiarity of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood, a nasty injury to Mitchell Marsh and how the batting line up looked without him in it. 

To round out the show, the boys look ahead to Day 6, which sees two home teams in action in Sri Lanka and India as they face Oman and Namibia respectively, while Italy take on Nepal in between those two fixtures. 

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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening. 
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In this episode of the show, Binksy and Stu look back at Day 4 of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which featured three games: Netherlands v Namibia, New Zealand v UAE and Pakistan v USA.

 

We start the show by discussing the Black Caps' win against the UAE, which saw them power home thanks to a record-breaking partnership between Tim Seifert & Finn Allen. We talk about playing smart, bowling rotations, Alishan & Waseem's 100-run partnership and the impact of Michael Bracewell's injury news.

The first game of the day saw the Netherlands bounce back from their tough loss to Pakistan with a fairly comfortable win against Namibia. There were missed chances early, but Aryan Dutt and Logan van Beek were impressive with the ball, then Bas de Leede produced an all-round masterclass to ice the game and get the Dutch back on track.

Next we move on to Pakistan's victory against the USA, which edges them one step closer to the Super 8s. There were runs for Farhan and Babar, then wickets for the spinners to restrict the USA. Despite the loss for the USA, there's praise for Shadley van Schalkwyk and the batting of Ranjane & Jahangir, plus Shadab Khan's impact for Pakistan.

To round out the show, the boys look ahead to Day 5, which looks set to be a cracker, with games between Afghanistan and South Africa, England and the West Indies, plus Australia begin their World Cup against Ireland.

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 [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

 

0:00 Intro

2:30 New Zealand v UAE

13:50 Netherlands v Namibia

19:05 Pakistan v USA

26:00 Day 5 Preview
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In this episode of the show, Binksy and Stu look back at Day 2 of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which featured three games: New Zealand v Afghanistan, England v Nepal and Sri Lanka v Ireland.

 

We start the show by discussing the Black Caps' crucial victory against Afghanistan. Lockie Ferguson dismissed the dangerous Gurbaz & Ibrahim inside the powerplay, but it was Gulbadin Naib who powered Afghanistan to 182-6. The total looked even more challenging when Mujeeb went bang-bang in the second over, but Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips combined to get the Kiwis back on track. And despite the odd stutter along the way, the Black Caps secured a crucial victory to get their tournament off to a great start.

Up in Mumbai, England chose to bat first against the well-supported Nepal, and again you’d have been forgiven for thinking they were going to rack up a huge score and a comfortable win. But boy oh boy that’s not what played out. We chat about the dramatic finish, Sam Curran's final over, Lokesh Bam taking down Jofra Archer, and what both sides can take away from this thrilling encounter.

The final game of the day saw Sri Lanka host Ireland and it was yet another case of the underdog left thinking about what might have been. Kusal Mendis and Kamindu Mendis led the way for the home side, but Ireland had their chances to restrict the Sri Lankan total to well below the 164 it finished up on. Then with the bat, Ireland needed 60 off 6 with Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker at the crease, but Sri Lanka's spinners showed their class and ultimately sealed the win for their side.

To round out the show, the boys look ahead to Day 3, which sees one of the tournament favourites, South Africa, in action.

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 [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

 

0:00 Intro

1:15 New Zealand v Afghanistan

13:55 England v Nepal

24:05 Sri Lanka v Ireland

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In this episode of the show, Raj and Stu look back at Day 1 of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which opened with three games today: Pakistan v Netherlands, West Indies v Scotland and India v USA.

 

We start the show by discussing India's game against the USA, which saw the hosts open the tournament with a win - but not without a few stutters along the way. An early score of 45-1 quickly became 77-6 and it took a captain's knock from Suryakumar Yadav to lift them to a total in excess of 160. Then, after early wickets from Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj, the USA got themselves into a position to strike, but ultimately back-to-back wickets for Axar Patel settled any Indian nerves.

Speaking of nerves, the Pakistan ones must have been jangling when a fairly comfortable chase flipped completely on its head and Faheem Ashraf found himself on strike with 29 needed off 12 balls. A few sixes and a dropped catch later, he walked off the field a hero. For the Netherlands, it'll be a case of what might have been, as they nearly started off the tournament with a bang.

 

West Indies v Scotland was probably the least dramatic of the games on Day 1, but there was still plenty of action. We were treated to power hitting from Shimron Hetmyer, a couple of incredible outfield catches, a hattrick from Romario Shepherd and a Scotland chase that looked poised at one stage to take the game right to the wire.

To round out the show, the boys share their feelings about the Black Caps' Day 2 match against Afghanistan, which could prove pivotal for both sides for the remainder of the tournament. Plus we have games between England & Nepal and Sri Lanka v Ireland to look forward to.

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 [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

 

0:00 Intro

1:40 India v USA

10:55 Pakistan v Netherlands

21:30 West Indies v Scotland

28:00 Day 2 Preview: NZ v Afghanistan
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