So the India has clinched a place in the semifinals. How'd they do it? Well, let me tell you. The West Indies batted first and managed a total of 233. 60 from Charles and 56 from Sammy (who by the way I had on my team the other day and then he DID NOT PLAY!). Anyway, they seemed to do OK but really India was on point the whole time, especially with Jadeja who racked up 5 wickets, Yeah that's right, 5 wickets! Who picked Jadeja? Anna did of course. Then India took center stage and just went balls to the walls cracking shots like no bodies business. They won the game with 8 wickets and 10.5 overs to spare. I mean seriously folks, I would have liked to see that batting. They only had four guys batting and all four had strike rates around 100. Nuts. Dhawan got a century and 1/2 centuries went to Sharma and Karthik. So there you have it, India is looking GOOD! They simultaneously secured their place in the semis and knocked Pakistan out.

Tomorrow Australia really could use a win against New Zealand. If they lose it will be hard for them to move on. So, GO AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!!

As for us, check the worm.

I'm Back!

Sorry about last night folks, Michael wanted to watch the chick flick I got on Netflix so I told him he had to write the blog while I made my trades so that we would have time for the movie. And don't let him fool you, HE wanted to watch the chick flick, he likes a good romantic comedy. Anyway, Tonight he's catching up on some press conference about the new x-box. He's almost as excited to watch the press conference as he is about the new machine - geek. So what happened? Well, Solid hitting by South Africa got them a decent score of 234 in the opening innings of todays game against Pakistan. The total would have been much higher if not for Pakistans even more solid fielding. Amla had a respectable 81 and everyone else did pretty good with double digits. Four of the wickets were run outs (2 from the Haq, he also had a catch) so you'll pick up some points for that since you'll be missing some wicket points from the bowlers. When it was Pakistans turn Jamshed had a pretty good run with 42 but wasn't able to develop any real partnerships. Later the Haq got 55 but they just didn't have a high enough run rate so all their fielding was for not as they went all out with only 167. Hats off to the rookie, Morris for some fine bowling and to McLaren with a 4 wicket haul. Did we all learn our McLaren lesson? Pakistan now needs to beat India to have any hope of moving on, they also need the West Indies to win their next two matches.

Tomorrow West Indies take on India.

Is McLaren red? cause that's who we need to watch as Anna once again claims the top spot. Sorry foxes, not red enough apparently. The Rainbow Horses also had a nice surge today, well done Moira. Hey, I just realized all these top folks have colors in their names.....is that the secret? Its the power of the color wheel. Do think the color you choose matters? Maybe I'll change my team to the Cerulean Dragons! They surged today for sure but they just didn't surge enough to fight off the Brietenfoulers (is that a reference to Olga's color or her bright feathers?), Michael's pasty legs, or the Clear (Blue?) Weathers. The Dark Grey Balls of Thunder also slipped while the Chartham Aces of Spades and the Jr. Siren's Red Crabs held their ground. Hilary's ST Gold Stars are languishing in last place - I'm sure it was Michael's fault, lets blame him. Now you might be wondering about the new Brown Outhousers 2 team? We had a snafu with Aunt Katy and her computer so I had to create a new team for her. But we can't get into erase the old team. So, you should now ignore the Yellow Outhousers and add 537 to the Brown Outhousers 2. Or just look at Anna's worm to see where Katy S stands - she surged today for sure.

Enjoy!

Lots of movement

Or would that be wiggle?

Katy made me do it

This is Michael telling you stuff today. Apparently the game was very exciting but I didn't watch it. I think it was New Zealand and somebody else playing today coz I got points from my New Zealand guy but not for anybody else coz I forgot to do trades yesterday coz I was feeling a bit under the weather which I guess was fine for the game coz they played and my mom said the game was exciting on facebook. It was also exciting other places. Maybe I should look up what happened. How about if I just cut and paste a few sentences from cricinfo in here? NZ survive Malinga magic in thriller. Malinga 4/34. Wow, that's some good throwing. Oh ya, Malinga plays for Sri Lanka so that must be who New Zealand were playing. What happened in the tennis by the way? I was watching the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix, so I know what happened in that, but that was after the cricket and the tennis so that is no excuse for not watching either one. Where was I? Oh, Sri Lanka and Stuff. Word is SL lost the game by not batting better. There you go then, bat better if you want to win. At one point NZ needed 11 from 12 but despite Malinga's previously mentioned heroics NZ won anyway. So there you go, now you know as much as I do about today's game, if not more. Oh ya, Catherine looks like she is the winningest fantasy cricketer right now. I just double checked and she is in fact at the head of the bunch (that's the term for all of us together). Bob, Missy, James, Moira and Hilary all moved up the rankings. The rest of us didn't move up, some not moving up more than others. I know coz I checked. Now quit asking questions like when will Katy get back to blogging coz we like her better. That's not nice. Love, Michael

Getting Interesting

I Surged and So Can You.......

Today saw a match between England and Australia. England came out strong with Bell putting up 91 and a few other guys in the 30's and 40's, resulting in 269 for Australia to chase. Australia for their part didn't have any 3-wickets hauls but McKay and Faulkner both had 2 a piece with pretty good econ rates. Enter Australia: Warner and Watson got off to a slow start and the speed never really picked up. Bailey and Faulkner both got 1/2 centuries but it was no near enough to bring England down. Anderson led England's bowlers with a 3 wicket haul and an econ rate of 3.00. So well done England! Hope they can keep it going.

As for us, there was lots of action. I had a surge, so did Bob. Moira slipped as did James. No need to worry folks there is lots of cricket left. The rumor poolside is that Bob is banking heavily on the Sri Lankans and Anna will only charge you a dollar to see the results of her tri-grouping pivot experiment. The excitement continues to mount..........

Tomorrow we see the last of the 8 teams New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They are both looking to add some trophies to their tiny collections so it should be a good game. Enjoy!