The men in orange played the men in orange

and it was a battle for orange pride. The men in Orange won!! I mean the real men in orange, Netherlands can certainly hold their heads very high indeed. Netherlands batted first and set a mediocre target of 133. Broad did his best to limit things with a 3 wicket haul. But 133 proved to be enough. With some good bowling and poise on the field the Dutch won by a whopping 45 runs! Both Bukhari and van Beek take home 3 wicket hauls. The English get to take home...well......nothing.

The big match today was New Zealand against Sri Lanka. They were battling for a spot in the semis. Some good bowling by New Zealand kept Sri Lanka's opening inning to a mere 119. 3 wickets a piece for Boult and Neesham. And when New Zealand picked up the bat things started OK, I'm sure they were feeling like 119 wasn't going to be a problem. Then Herath picked up the ball to bowl. He proceeded to retire 5 kiwis on his own! Anyone capitalize on Herath?? New Zealand just couldn't regroup. They were dropping like flies and went all out at 15.3 overs managing only a paltry 60 runs. So Sri Lanka advance to the semis.

One more day of group games. Another pride fest for Australia and Bangladesh and then Pakistan will battle West Indies looking for the last semi slot.

In other news: The Superheros are about to do some slamming of their own. Meanwhile K-Rod is circling Aoife. The Gryllidae have been steadily migrating north. Lord of the Runs has been wiping up lately while the Strikers are in striking distance of some runs of their own.

Enjoy!

Too close for comfort

headache

all this cricket has given me a headache. So, no blog. South Africa won - they will go through. New Zealand won, no big news there. Next up its Pakistan against Bangladesh and Australia against India. Bangladesh need to win in order for Australia to have a chance to advance. So if they lose then Australia is knocked out and the game against India will be for pride. I'm cheering for Bangladesh. Go Tigers!

Historic first ebb!

James is apparently trying to keep it a close competition.

So much cricekt, so little time

In today's first match Australia took on the West Indies and the really needed a win, they did not get one. They batted first and scored a total of 178 -not bad, but nothing to write home about. The West Indies had little trouble chasing it down however and won by 6 wickets. Half century to Gayle - glad to see he showed up.

In the second match Bangladesh was trying not to look to bad against India. They were marginally successful, but not really. They batted first and got to 138. Wah Waaa.... Anamul Haque got 44 - so close but not quite. 3 wicket haul to Mishra. India really had no trouble reaching the mark in 18.3 overs with 8 wickets to spare. Half centuries to both Sharma and Kohli.

So India lead group 2 with 6 points and it looks like Pakistan and the West Indies will battle for the 2nd slot through to the semis. For Australia to go through they'd have to win their next matches and have both Pakistan and the West Indies lose theirs. Actually looking at the schedule that can't happen since Pakistan and West Indies have to play each other in a few days so someone will win. I guess Australia is out, looks like I have a captain change in my future.

Tomorrow New Zealand plays the Netherlands and England plays South Africa. New Zealand and England both need another win to keep them in the hunt. If South Africa win they pretty much guarantee their advancement.

A few notables in our crowd. Mom is making gains on James - will it be enough? Aunt Katy is quietly, oh so quietly passing people in the middle. Watch out for that one. And finally Michael is a mere 31 points behind Catherine. Watch out Catherine or your son will be passing you the sweaty teddy.

Enjoy the games tomorrow.

More of the same

Let's hear it for O-R-A-N-G-E!!

Well it was a good day for orange. First the Netherlands played South Africa and they didn't win. But, they did give SA a run for their money and redeemed themselves from their showing against Sri Lanka. The started off by restricting SA to 145 with a 5 wicket haul from Ashan Malik! Anyone have him? Major bonus points if you did. Then Myburgh stayed in there for 51, all was looking very very bad for SA and very very good for Netherlands. But they just couldn't finish what the they started. The wickets started to fall and the went all out after 18.4 overs. Too bad for them because they were only 6 runs away from winning. So well done Netherlands, and well done South Africa for coming through in the end. They needed the win to stay in the hunt for the semis but they sure could have used a better run rate advantage than they got.

Then the second orange team took the field against Sri Lanka. England was the underdog here I think and the beginning of the match was much as you might have expected. England did not field well and they allowed Sri Lanka to rack up 189 - a tall order for them to chase. Dilshan and Jayawardene had a 145 partnership! They only dropped 4 wickets so not a lot going on with England's bowlers. Then England came out to bat, and bat they did. But the first over was bad, real bad. Two ducks in that first over. But Hales and Morgan went balls to the walls. Hales earned the first century of the tournament and made some fantasy cricketers very happy - not me of course but somebody. Kulesakara earned the only 4 wickets and he couldn't pick up enough slack to give Sri Lanka the win. What happened to Malinga and Mathews?? Anyway, England won by 6 wickets with 4 balls remaining! Well done England.

Check the worm - there's action there, there's action - not from me but from somebody.

Hey! Wipe that egg off your face!

The west Indies had some face to save after their first match against India, and they did, mostly. They batted first and Dwayne Smiths 72 helped them reach a defendable total of 171. The 3 West Indians that didn't bat, Narine, Santokiem, and Badree all made up for a lack of run points with some superb bowling. They dismissed 3 major Bangladeshi hitters in the first 4 overs. Badree went on to get a 3 wicket haul. So West Indies win by 73 runs.

How about us? Well Catherine may be the Lord of the Runs but her runny son is closing the gap. Team Grllidae swarmed right on past the Chartham Strickers, Wizzywigers and K-Rod. Meanwhile Vidar and the Super Heroes continue to tango, leaving Slam! to run away from us all.

No cricket tomorrow, you can spend your time contemplating whose Doosra will fly the fastest.

Netherlands Make History!!

First match of the day was New Zealand v. South Africa. I think this was the match to watch with some good solid cricket going on. South Africa batted first and put up 170 to chase. 86 of those from Duminy! Who will be the first to reach a century?? 86, that's getting close. New Zealand gave a good chase with both Williamson and Taylor reaching the half century mark. But they just couldn't get past Steyn. He had 4 wickets! that's 165 fantasy points to him! Who had Steyn?? South Africa won by 2 runs.

The second match saw the Netherlands make history! But not in a good way. They were the only associate team to make it into the Super 10's and they had to play their first round 2 match against the number 1 team Sri Lanka. But, I was expecting more. This was an embarrassment and Sri Lanka held nothing back. Netherlands went all out after only 10.3 overs and only managed to get 39 runs! Yes, that's right 39 runs off of 63 balls. The smallest Twenty20 total ever. I think Sean could have done better. There were 4 ducks and only Cooper got into double digits with 16. 3 wicket haul to Methews and Mendis. But the Sri Lankans didn't stop there. They cracked out 40 runs in only 5 overs! So its not surprise when I say, "Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets!"

Lots of surges happening in our crew. James finally found the pivot point, unfortunately for the rest of us! and Moira? I thought you said you made no trades - are you just being cheeky??

Finally a hardy welcome to LEAH!! She has decided to join us in this little adventure. Welcome Leah!

Moira's got the right idea

Hello West Indies? Hello?

Pakistan and Australia played first today. Pakistan batted first and earned 191, 94 of those coming from Umar Akmal. So all in all a solid showing. Australia then went in to bat and dropped 2 wickets right away in the first over, losing both Warner and Watson (that didn't help anyone's slope)But, Finch and Maxwell were able to hang in there and put together a pretty good partnership, both surpassing the half century mark. Unfortunately for Australia they were the only two who hit double digits and so it just wasn't enough. Wickets all over the place for Pakistan - well done bowlers. 2 a piece to Babar, Gul, Afridi, and Bhatti. Pakistan won by 16 runs.

Hello West Indies? Hello? Did you come to play cricket??? It certainly didn't appear so. We actually caught the end of this game. We can watch the matches live on the xbox. So, anyone that wants to show up 6am to see the second match of the day, I will happily brew you a latte. Anyway, West Indies had a lackluster batting run only reaching a target of 129, me thinks thats not enough against India. Jadeja did well bowling with a 3 wicket haul. So, India didn't have to much to do and they handily won by 7 wickets. Sharma and Kholi banged out most of the runs, each reaching the half century mark. The West Indian bowling was dismal and only of note because Bravo earned me -45 points, thanks a lot Bravo.

chek out our worm! Lots of steep slopes today with a massive surge my James. Well done James, that table is starting to pivot. And Missy had overtaken Bob, and they both left Katy S in the dust. So much more to come, what will happen?

Tomorrow is New Zealand v. South Africa and Sri Lanka v. Netherlands (the usual men in Orange).

Slam! is right

things I'm obsessed with today....

There are two things I am obsessed with today, but they can wait. So, the first game was Sri Lanka and South Africa. Sri Lanka batted first with 61 from Perera they were able to hit a respectable 165. Tahir was able to earn a 3 wicket haul - so good for him. South Africa then took the pitch. They did OK, but they didn't get their numbers high enough early enough to take the pressure off the bowlers coming in late in the line up. Sri Lanka won by 5 runs.

Then England took on New Zealand. And here is where my obsessions begin. But first, England batted first and put up 172 - good for them. Then New Zealand came up and started chipping away at the total. But around the 4 over the rains started. According to D/L, New Zealand needed to score at least 42 in 5 overs. Well, they got 47 in 5.2. So, New Zealand gets the win. Tough luck for the men in orange. That's right, you heard me, the men in ORANGE???? WTF??? These are not the Dutch, what pray tell are they doing in orange? Obsession number 1. Number 2 is Stuart Broad. Have you seen how tall that guy is?

check the worm for our action, and notice my slope - looking good, looking good.

Tomorrow is Australia Pakistan and India West indies.

Katy B surges!

So did I but you need a microscope to see it.

House is Clean....for now

OK, so lets see what happened in cricket today? The final matches for group B were on and Ireland, Zimbabwe, and the Netherlands all had potential to make it through. Ireland being the favorite. So what happened? Hang on a minute and let me read................ Looks like Zimbabwe beat the UAE by 5 wickets. There was a 3 wicket haul for SC WIlliams and a half century for Chigumbura. Their win gave them the top slot, for the moment since they had a better run rate than Ireland. So, with that Ireland needed to win. Did they????

patience, I'm reading................

NO! Netherlands won by 6 wickets. with a half century for Poynter and 47/42 for Porterfiled /O'Brien Ireland put up a huge 189 to chase. Well done to them. That should have been enough. They can lose so long as they don't lose big. And with 189, surely they can't lose big. Lets see.......... Netherlands bats and we see a half century for Myburgh, and 40/45 for Barresi/Cooper. 2 wickets a piece for Jamil and O'Brien. So......did Netherlands go through or Zimbabwe?? Let's see....Netherlands had to win BIG and with 189 to chase they needed to neat that in 14.2 overs. Tall order. checking...........uh huh.......ooh I see..........WOW! They did it in a mere 13.5 overs!! Netherlands go through!! Netherlands into the Super 10!!

That was some damn exciting cricket.

Here's how the Super 10 round looks: Group 1 is Sri Lanka, England, South Africa, New Zealand, and Netherlands. Group 2 is West Indies, India, Pakistan, Australia, and Bangladesh. everybody plays everbody else in their group. Top two from each group go through to the semis.

the first match was India / Pakistan. Always a battle. here's what the pros said, "You don't often know what to expect in big India-Pakistan matches, but Pakistan are on to a disturbing trend of predictability of late. They work themselves up into a frenzy, try too many things, make too many mistakes, and India coolly stand in a corner doing little things right and stroll their way to a win." And this is apparently exactly what happened. India won by 7 wickets. Pakistan put up 130 which India answered with 7 wickets to spare. So, India off to a good start.

How about us? Well, I did nothing. Aunt Katy's captain got her negative points, and lets see what else? James had a surge, and as Anna so nicely points out, "Robinsons in America make no move" Just you wait dear sister, just you wait.

Tomorrow its South Africa against Sri Lanka (expect a surge from Moira) and England up against New Zealand (expect a surge from Catherine - unless England disappoint which she says they are always doing, so who knows)


Enjoy!

James makes his move...

Robinsons in America make no move

short and sweet

Ok, so Ms. Page is coming tomorrow and I have to clean this house. Here is the days events in summary. Nepal beat Afghanistan giving them a slim hope of making it through. Half century to Khakurel and 3 wicket haul to Mikhiya. Then Bangladesh took the field against Hong Kong. It was sad. they put up 108 and 4 wickets to N. Ahmed - well done Hong Kong! This really opened the door for Hong Kong as well as Nepal. And Hong Kong did come through - at least for themselves. They BEAT Bangladesh by 2 wickets with 2 balls remaining! WELL DONE HONG KONG! but, the net run rate wasn't enough to get Nepal through so Bangladesh still advance to the super 10's. 3 wicket haul to Shakib Al Hasan.

No change in the top of our game but did you see those Gryllidae? They swarmed!

Tomorrow its the last game in group B and the first matched of the Super 10. Have fun!

Anyone's Game

Happy Birthday to Missy and Katy!

while it might be the twins birthday it was not their cricket day. Seriously Bob, its kinda rude to overtake them on their big day. In other news, Moira surged above Anna and James and Henry had a massive gain as well, putting himself right in the mix. I think Michael is still on the toilet, let's hope he doesn't get to dehydrated.

In the real cricket tournament, Zimbabwe beat the Netherlands by 5 wickets on the last ball. In contrast to their last ball defeat to Ireland on Monday. Well done Zimbabwe. Netherlands put up 140 with 70 coming from T. Cooper. And of course P. Utseya earned 2 wickets - I say of course since last time he earned me negative points and I benched him - but anyway..... Zimbabwe's chase was a little more spread around and B. Taylor was 1 run shy of a half century. P. Seelar earned 2 wickets for his efforts.

In the second match Ireland beat the UAE by 21 runs using the D/L Method (look it up on cricket 101 if you care). UAE batted first and put up 123, dropping 6 wickets. There were 2 wickets a piece for Stirling and KJ OBrien. Then Ireland went to chase. Porterfield did well opening with Sterling who left the field due to injury after 8 runs. But EC Joyce came on and crancked out 40 more runs. Then in the 15th over the lights went out....came on....went out.....and it started to rain hard, so they called it. The win puts Ireland in the top slot so far for group B.

Tomorrow we have the last games for group A. Afghanistan / Nepal and Bangladesh/ Hong Kong. Bangladesh will go through from that group unless they lose by a lot to Hong Kong, which no one is expecting. On Friday we will see the last two games from Group B as well as the first match for the round of 10. So go, get cracking!

Michael, are you there? Anyone...anyone...

By popular demand....

Bangladesh puts Nepal in their place

among other news. So before I get to my match analysis let me just review the format of this tournament. There are 16 teams that were seeded before the tourney began. The bottom 8 teams were forced to play in a preliminary round (the top 8 given automatic berths to the second round). In this initial round the 8 teams have been divided into 2 groups A and B. they will play each team in their group - so 3 matches. They top team from each group moves on, the other 6 go home. The two teams that move on are then slotted into new groups along with 4 of the other top 8. So again we will have two groups (1 and 2 this time) that will all play each other within the group (so 4 matches this time) and the top 2 teams from each group will move on to the semifinals. So, there you have it. That's why all the best teams don't start playing until next week.

So, today Bangladesh crushed Nepal. They won by 8 wickets. Nepal batted first and put up a mere 126 to chase. Khadka and Vesawkar were able to hit the 40 mark but little else happened. They did bat for the full 20 overs, only dropping 5 wickets, so apparently the runs were coming in pretty slow. Bangladesh only needed 15.3 overs to crush Nepal's tournament dreams. The highest run total came from Anamul Haque (42).

The other group A game today was Afghanistan and Hong Kong. Afghanistan won by 7 wickets. Hong Kong were out (or is it in?) first and hit 153. Their opener went out with a duck, I of course had him on my team - lesson learned. The next three guys did most of the work and Hong Kong hung in for all 20 overs, so well done for that. On the bowling side, 2 wickets a piece to Zadran, Hotak, and Nabi. Then Afghanistan were up and their early order went to town chasing down the 153 in 18 overs losing only 3 wickets. Shahzad and Shafiqullah both hit half centuries.

Despite Afghanistnas win today it seems unlikely they will advance, that privileged will most likely go to Bangladesh.

How about us??

Missy retook the top spot from her adoring husband but Bob and Katy S are hot on her heals. Anna and James must be shy on some pivot data cause they are both around 400 points back with Moira close behind. Henry left me at the ice cream shop and is leading the laggers followed by his adoring wife and daughter in law. Michael? well lets just say he didn't drag his butt out of bed in order to make his trades, so........... he's in last.

WORM?? Yes! We need a worm. Anna? would you take over worm duty? Come on, I know you already have one started.

Tomorrow will be group B with Netherlands taking on Zimbabwe and Ireland vs. the UAE.

Twenty20 2014

Hi all you cricketers! Welcome back to another exciting tournament. Matches started to day and I quickly fell to the bottom. To be honest I gave my team zero thought. I randomly put in players for the 4 teams playing. And my lack of preparation shows. BUT, Sean's party is over and so I can now focus. I will make a surge. As for the rest of you, well I was going to make some smart comment about how Missy was feeling pretty good about herself calling herself a super hero and all, but then.....well.........yeah, she pretty much kicked our collective butts. So, you go Mom! Bob and Katy Soucy also got off to strong starts. In fact everyone racked up some good points aside from myself and Henry. Hey Henry, maybe you and I should just go get some ice cream and let the rest of them battle this out?

Tomorrow is Ireland V. Zimbabwe and Netherlands V. U.A.E.

I promise more complete cover as the tournament progresses.

Katy