What a Nail Biter!

Epic final tied, Super Over tied, England win on boundaries!! Woakes woak, Ferguson wicketed, Henry Bowled, Morgan MEH, Anna wins the World Cup!

What a final match that was! New Zealand batted first and it was a bit of a slow plod. Nicholls got 55 but the English bowlers kept things in check while the Kiwis slowly built the total to 241/8. 3 wickets each to Woakes and Plunkett.

England dropped wickets early and it looked kinda bleak, then Stokes and Buttler got in a groove that began to wake the crowd up to the idea that England might just win this thing. Then Stokes lost Buttler, it looked bleak again, but Stokes held on. Finally it came down to the last over. England needed 15 runs off that last over to win.
.1 no run
.2 no run
.3 Boult to Stokes, SIX!
.4 Boult to Stokes - hit deep mid wicket and they ran, 1 run in, Stokes diving to make 2 pushes the incoming ball forward disrupting the play and sending the ball to the boundary for 4 more!! WHAT??!! 6 runs
So now 3 needed from 2 balls
.5 1 run, now 2 needed from last ball
.6 Boult to Stokes 1 run, and OUT!!! It's a tie!!

So onto a Super Over where each side gets 1 over. England bat first
.1 Boult to Stokes , 3
.2 Boult to Buttler, 1
.3 Boult to Stokes, 4 (Damn this is good)
.4 Boult to Stokes, 1
.5 Boult to Buttler, 2
.6 Boult to Butler, 4!

15 runs for England

Now its New Zealands turn
.1 Archer to Neesham, 2
.2 Archer to Neesham, 6!
.3 Archer to Neesham, 2
they need 5 off of 3 balls
.4 Archer to Neesham, 2
3 off of 2 now
.5 Archer to Neesham, 1
2 off of 1 (does this sound familiar?)
.6 Archer to Guptil, 1 run, heading for 2 but.....Buttler makes a dive at the wickets and .....OUT!!!!

That left it tied again, forcing them to look at total boundaries in the game to determine the winner and England wins the World Cup, England wins the World Cup!

As for us, Anna wins the Robinson World Cup Sweaty Teddy of Winngingness!! Anna wins the Robinson World Cup Sweaty Teddy of Winngingness!! Anna wins the Robinson World Cup Sweaty Teddy of Winngingness!!

Final podium: Bronze to James and the Crackpot Rabbits, Silver to me and my Political *unkies and the gold goes to Anna and her Clustercluck2019

I am up Twenty20 in 2020! Who wouldn't be, I'll have to start planning my name now.....

Thanks everyone for another fun tournament.

Woakes + Ferguson + Henry - Morgan = winning formula

Sorry I missed out on watching the last half.  Sounds like an epic final.  At least I got  a rusk.

Anyone for T20 in 2020?

On the eve of victory

At least I'm hoping for victory, it's best to be positive about these things.   Seems it worked for England who absolutely crushed Australia the other day.  I mean WTF Australia?? Seriously, it looked like the US women's game against Thailand. So in a surprise final we have England vs. New Zealand.  Can the home team prevail? Will the Political *unkies get the popular vote or be thwarted by the Clustercluck2019s electoral strategy? And what about the Crackpot Rabbits? Where did they come from? Was their surge to late? The Nagels should have cooked those rabbits when they could, I fear they will prove to be too wiley for the Nagels now.  What trophy do you think the Trophytakers are planning to take??? They seem to be playing the tournament backwards.  Hmmmm..... Did the Panicky Squids relax enough to take the trophy? I'm anxious just thinking about it.  Finally, it seems the Muttermatters do matter, at least a little more than the Stour Powers power. But one good captain could change it all.....

So make your trades, grab a rusk and a coffee and settle in for the final showdown.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Anna has done it, she's surpassed me, but I'm only 33 points back and tomorrow I'll have a captain in the game, so.......

NZ retook the field and yesterday's work of Williamson (67) and Taylor (74) got them to 239/8.  India then dropped 3 quick wickets it wasn't looking good.  But they rallied, Dhoni and Jadeja both did their part. Michael says it all got quite exciting at the end.  India came close but eventually went all out 18 runs short.

So NZ will play the winner of tomorrow's match between Australia and England.  I'm hoping my captain comes up big, fingers crossed, toes held, burning sage....

Rain, Rain, Go Away

NZ batted first and got to 211/5 with 23 balls remaining when the rains began.  So play was suspended and they'll try again tomorrow.  Bad news is that the weather tomorrow doesn't look any better.  So,  if the rain stays away they will pick up where they left off,  if not then I believe India is awarded the win since they went into the tournament ahead.

No new trades to make, for now we wait