Happy Birthday Dad! (a few days early)

and Hello Kathy.

Day 2: Oman? Who knew?

Day 2 closes with wins for Bangladesh and Oman. Bangladesh won pretty much on the shoulders of Iqbal. I think Iqbal was also responsible for James's climb through the ranks. He was one of the openers and lasted all 20 overs finishing with 83 not out. In the end Bangladesh put up 153 for the Netherlands to chase. They did drop 7 wickets and a gugten job for van der Gugten with a 3 wicket haul. The dutch did OK, but no one really out up the kind of numbers needed to overcome Iqbal. 2 wickets each to Al Hasan and Hossain.

The second match was all about Oman, Ohh MAAAANNNN!!!! The Irish were expected to bring their famous luck, but I guess they don't know leprechauns in Oman. Ireland started off well enough, they only dropped 5 wickets and they put up a decent 154. So, you go into drinks, thinking you know whats coming. Oman's innings start and they just start plugging away, chipping at the total needed. dropping wickets but nothing major. At the start of the 20th over they needed 14 runs off 6 balls, and in the end, THEY DID IT!! Huge upset for Ireland. They will need to beat Bangladesh to have any hope.

With us? Michael and Moira took major hits, did you guys make trades? While James had an early surge. I'm still at the top, for now.

Tomorrow will be back to Group B, Scotland v. Zimbabwe and Afghanistan v. Hong Kong

No sign of Kathy or Sally yet....still hoping they work out their tech issues.

Day 1 Done

Well the tournament is officially underway and some of us took full advantage! Zimbabwe beat Hong Kong by 14 runs and takes one step toward a berth in the next round. Zimbabwe were the opening batsmen and Sibanda put up a half century to get things going. Chigumbura only faced 13 balls but managed to score 30 runs from them. But it wasn't a walk in the park. They dropped 8 wickets with 2 a piece to Afzal and Khan. KHAAAAAANNN!!!!!!!!! anyone? anyone? ok, I digress. So at the end of 20 overs they had put up 158 for Hong Kong to chase. Hong Kong stayed strong for all 20 overs but fell 14 runs short. Half Century for Atkinson and Afzal had a good day with 31 not out. Bowling props to Tiripana and Chatara with 2 each.

The second match was Afghanistan v. Scotland. The Afghanies batted first and put up 170. Half centuries for both Shazhad and Stanikzai. Not much to note in Scotlands bowling. Lets see how they batted? They hung in for all 20 overs and started strong with their opening pair earning 40/41. But after that they never really seemed to get much going. And fell 14 runs short. 2 wickets to Rashid Khan. KHAAAAANNNN!!!! I am sensing a theme.

One day of play has me in the lead, yeah!! Mom is hot on my heels with Moira right behind her. So much more to play, so much more. Rumors abound that Kathy and Sally will be joining us soon, very soon.

Get your trades done, tomorrow is Bangladesh / Netherlands, and Ireland / Oman.

Who's Ready?

Do you have your team ready?? Only a few days left. First match is Hong Kong v. Zimbabwe and Afghanistan V. Scotland on March 8th. For us US folks we will need to make our trades on the night of the 7th (that's Monday night). Don't be caught out! I am busy plotting my strategy. Seems that if I can't make trades in between matches, which I can't, then I can pretty much make full team trades for each day. Oh the possibilities....

DON"T FORGET to make 2 teams, yes, TWO. One for Qualifying and one for the main event.

ICC World Twenty20 2016

Hi all, welcome back! Please read this entire post as there has been a few changes and some weird things in this tournament. First, let me break down the format for this tournament. Remember, this is a Twenty20 tournament. So, they will be playing 20 overs a side. Its a short game. Players who excel in Twenty20 are not always the same as those that do better in the longer versions. The tournament has been broken into 2 different sections. There are the qualifying rounds, and then the main tournament.

Qualifying: Starts March 8th
Group A: Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands, Oman
Group B: Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Scotland, Zimbabwe

Main Tourney: Starts March 15th
Group 1: England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Group B winner
Group 2: Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Group A winner

So, you'll see that the main teams do not play in the initial rounds. Cricketweb has broken the fantasy game into 2 tournaments. So, I have created a separate User Competition for each. You will need to create 2 teams and join BOTH competitions. You can give your teams the same name and since the two parts of the tournament aren't concurrent you will only be managing one at a time. I am assuming that Anna will agree to help out with a worm, and maybe she can carry the qualifying worm over so that we can see how we all do with both parts combined.

Other changes: When you create your team you will notice that you only have 3 batsmen, 1 wicket keeper, and 3 bowlers. The last 4 slots are designated as "mixed". Once you fill your 7 required spots, the last 4 players can be from any of the player types. So you can add 4 extra batsmen if you think they will be racking up major runs. Or, if you like both wicket keepers, you won't have to choose. Use them both. I think it will make it a little more interesting and opens up way more team options in the later games when we all tend to have the same players.

So, go now to cricket web. Log on, and make 2 teams. Add one to the World Cup T20 2016 Qualifying and one to World Cup T20 2016. Cricket web will be emailing you an invite into our competition but you can also use the following keys: For Qualifying use 1456787952 and for the main tourney use 1456788101.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Katy