World Twenty20 Championships XI - Everything Thread (IC)

[Liventia]

Liventia thump Barunia to set up crucial Northwest Kalactin decider
XI World Twenty20 Championship — Group Stage Group 2
Played at Greencaster Oval, Greencaster, Ko-oren (20-over match; T20I)
Barunia v Liventia
Barunia won the toss and elected to field first
Liventia won by 72 runs
Man of the match: DHJ Edwards (Liventia)

Liventia innings (20 overs maximum)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
DA Hennessey		c Daley b Thorne		 14   9   2   0  155.56
JCA Quinn		c Smith b Cooper		 20  14   2   1  142.85
PD Finch		c †Price b Thorne		  0   1   0   0    0.00
DHJ Edwards		c Dougherty b Martinez		 79  37   7   4  213.51
OH Kerr*		run out (Waterman/†Price)	 37  28   1   2  132.14
E Reynolds		b Smith				 13  13   0   1  100.00
MQ Sarrin†		c Smith b Thorne		 11   8   0   1  137.50
RJ MacMaster		c Dougherty b Thorne		  0   1   0   0    0.00
DM Quinn		not out				  9   7   1   0  128.57
JPK Adams		run out (Cooper/Beech)		  1   2   0   0   50.00
RPT de Cerci		not out				  0   0   0   0    ----
  EXTRAS		(1lb, 3wd)			  4
  TOTAL			for 9 wickets (20.0 ov)		188 (9.40 runs per over)

FoW 1/20 Hennessey 2.3, 2/20 Finch 2.4, 3/51 JCA Quinn 5.3, 4/151 Edwards 14.3,
    5/154 Kerr 15.1, 6/172 Reynolds 17.6, 7/178 Sarrin 18.2, 8/178 MacMaster 18.3,
    9/186 Adams 19.4

Barunia bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
M Thorne		4.0   0  31   4   7.75  (1wd)
J Beech			3.0   0  34   0  11.33
V Cooper		2.0   0  22   1  11.00
OS Martinez		4.0   0  27   1   6.75
Z Adams			2.0   0  20   0  10.00
L Morgan		2.0   0  29   0  14.50  (1wd)
L Smith			3.0   0  24   1   8.00  (1wd)

Barunia innings (target 189 from maximum 20 overs)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
T Waterman		c †Sarrin b Kerr		  6   6   1   0  100.00
B Price†		run out (de Cerci)		  1   3   0   0   33.33
L Smith*		c Finch b DM Quinn		 26  27   3   0   96.30
M Dougherty		lbw b de Cerci			 30  26   5   0  115.38
L Morgan		run out (Kerr/†Sarrin)		  4   8   0   0   50.00
S Daley			lbw b DM Quinn			  1   4   0   0   25.00
OS Martinez		c MacMaster b de Cerci		  8  10   0   0   80.00
V Cooper		c Reynolds b DM Quinn		  0   4   0   0    0.00
J Beech			not out				 13  16   1   0   81.25
M Thorne		b Kerr				 21  15   1   2  140.00
Z Adams			not out				  1   1   0   0  100.00
  EXTRAS		(1lb, 4wd)			  5
  TOTAL			for 9 wickets (20.0 ov)		116 (5.80 runs per over)

FoW 1/7 Waterman 1.2, 2/8 Price 1.4, 3/66 Smith 9.5, 4/67 Dougherty 10.4,
    5/68 Daley 11.2, 6/75 Morgan 13.1, 7/75 Cooper 13.5, 8/88 Martinez 15.6,
    9/115 Thorne 19.4

Liventia bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
JPK Adams		4.0   0  18   0   4.50  (1wd)
OH Kerr			4.0   0  21   2   5.25
RJ MacMaster		3.0   0  23   0   7.67
E Reynolds		2.0   0  23   0  11.50  (2wd)
DM Quinn		4.0   0  15   3   3.75
RPT de Cerci		3.0   0  15   2   5.00  (1wd)

Notes
DHJ Edwards: 50 off 27 balls, 4x4 2x6

[Ko-oren]

World Twenty20 Championships XI@Ko-oren

MD5 Results

Group A
Elejamie 202/7 (20 overs)
Ko-oren 129/3 (20 overs)

Mughals royal 137/7 (20 overs)
West Phoenicia 140/4 (19 overs)

The Plough Islands 165/6 (19.5 overs)
Darmen 164/7 (20 overs)

Group A               Pld   W  D  L 
1 Ko-oren                 5   4  0  1 (on H2H)
2 West Phoenicia          5   4  0  1
3 Elejamie                5   3  0  2
4 Darmen                  5   2  0  3
5 Mughals royal           5   1  0  4 (on H2H)
6 The Plough Islands      5   1  0  4

Group B
Mattijana 150/6 (19 overs)
Eastfield Lodge 148/5 (20 overs)

Liventia 165/7 (20 overs)
Northwest Kalactin 159/6 (20 overs)

Rooimervania 157/5 (20 overs)
Barunia 132/6 (20 overs)

Group B               Pld   W  D  L 
1 Liventia                5   4  0  1
2 Rooimervania            5   3  0  2 (on H2H)
3 Mattijana               5   3  0  2
4 Barunia                 5   2  0  3 (on H2H)
5 Northwest Kalactin      5   2  0  3
6 Eastfield Lodge         5   1  0  4

Semifinals

Ko-oren vs Rooimervania@Royal Oval, Willowbourne

Liventia vs West Phoenicia@Greencaster Oval, Greencaster

[The Plough Islands]

Aaaaand that's us out, although I'm more than happy to leave on a high note - bad luck Darmen, and the best of luck to the four sides left in the competition. To tell the truth, I think the pace of RPing would have done for me even if the results didn't, heh..thanks very much for having me though, and hopefully you'll allow me back next time for some more fun!

---

20-OVER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: FOXES TAKE LAST-GASP VICTORY TO FINISH CAMPAIGN
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, in Willowbourne

As they say across the multiverse, "everybody loves a happy ending". That it needs to be said implicitly recognises that not everybody will get to experience one - and indeed, going into today's game the Plough Islands had long been aware it would be their last of the tournament. After being comfortably beaten by Darmen in the group stage, and with an exhausted team reduced to fielding coach Lourens Hendricks as a player, the realistic view was that they would fall to another defeat. However, for once fate turned the Foxes' way, as a thrilling game of this most compressed form of cricket went down to the last over; set 165 to win, captain Kevin Laing led the charge to set his team up after a stuttering start, and Arthur Donovan (unbeaten on 48) and Sarah Ashe (11 not out) saw the Foxes home with just one ball to spare as their return to the Halcyon Archipelago ended on a high note at the Royal Oval.
Darmen were unable to break into the top two of group A even with a victory, such was their head to head record against the other teams in it, and it was with some resignation that the Test champions took to the field in contrast to a Foxes side that had been buoyed by their performance against the hosts, and were sensing an opportunity to get back at Darmen for their defeat in the final qualifying group encounter. Like that match, Darmen batted first; also like that match, they suffered an early wicket in a straightforward lbw decision, but this time it was the captain Sigmund Winter who fell, Colin McCarthy's attempted yorker just missing his bat and catching the knee roll to leave Darmen on 3 for 1. Soon after, Theudofrid Milligan had been and gone, the hero of his side's qualifying campaign driving Ashe back over her own head for a boundary before missing a McCarthy inswinger that went right through him, and this set the pattern for much of Darmen's innings; quick, explosive scoring repeatedly checked back by wickets.
While Vinnie Acker dug in and proved resilient as Laing rotated his bowlers, Ellar Ready lasted just fourteen balls before indecision over which shot to play to Hendricks resulted in the easiest of return catches for the Plough Islander coach, who was increasingly playing like a man younger than his fifty-one years, before Ionathan Odell came in and steadied matters somewhat; the left-hander playing with fluency and power and setting the stage for a half-century partnership with Acker that encompassed the opener's own fifty. This was eventually broken by a slightly fortunate run out; the Foxes' fielding bore the telltale signs of a team that had played far too much cricket in far too short a time, and it was a case of the right place at the right time for Naomi Salisbury, the ball bobbling virtually to the feet of the left-arm spinner - and she had the presence of mind to avoid a direct hit and instead aimed for Lebed, the wicketkeeper just needing to deflect the ball's path to remove Acker for 55. Salisbury was able to contribute with the ball more conventionally as well; bowling accurately and tightly to restrict the Darmeni scoring before inducing a thick edge from Odell to Laing for 26, and with her very next ball she tempted wicketkeeper Adelfuns Armbruster into doing the same thing, this time through to a diving catch from Lebed.
With the scoreboard reading 104-6, Darmen were in need of a good partnership to revive their innings, and they found one in all-rounders Domenic Gardenar and Corwin McAlister; the pair were able to take advantage of the Foxes' bowling attack tiring and Laing running out of overs for McCarthy (2-40) and Salisbury (2-26) to use, and punched the ball through the fielding circle at regular intervals to keep the score creeping higher. The Darmenis showed very little of the exhaustion that had permeated the entire Plough Islands side by this point, and took on Ashe, Audrey Leggett, and the trundling medium pace of Laing with aplomb - but, with two overs remaining, the man from the Cape struck again; Hendricks sent down a quick delivery that verged on being a full toss, and Gardenar (32) plucked it out of the ground but could not get any power behind the shot and saw it drop harmlessly into the hands of Ashe at mid off. The Foxes celebrated wildly around a grinning Hendricks, but McAlister was able to see Darmen to the end of their innings without further incident, the fast bowler finishing on 22 and leaving the Foxes with a daunting 165 between them and a group stage win.
Graeme Holt had been a very steady presence at the top of the Plough Islander batting order in both long and short forms of the game, but today was not his day; he weathered two of Kieran Rosenfeld's bouncers before attempting to hook him and only brushing the ball en route to Armbruster, the Redcliff left-hander departing for a duck and a very inauspicious start to the last innings of the Foxes' tour. Teenager Rory Aliyev was able to get the innings off the mark with Leggett, but the next over he misjudged a slower ball from Gardenar and was clean bowled; captain Laing was left to come in and get to the serious business of scoring runs, and did so with fluidity, trading scoring shots with Leggett against the Darmeni pace attack. Leggett eventually succumbed to her baser instincts as the Bradford goatherd set off for a bye without looking and was stumped by Armbruster, but Laing was able to carry on as normal with new man Tim Bleasdale as they ate into the target.
Together, the captain and the Swift batsman added almost fifty runs to the total, but it was Laing who was next to go, tricked by a delivery from Dorian Myers that failed to turn and caught him plumb in front on 37, and this brought in Donovan who took little time in getting up to speed. The dismissal of Bleasdale (23) threatened to hold back the Foxes' progress, but Donovan was in his element under pressure and, like the previous match against Ko-oren, relished in attacking the Darmeni pace bowling and flaying their attack to all corners of the ground. He wasted few opportunities as he brought the Foxes past 100 and, with wicketkeeper Lebed providing good support, honed in on the target; though the Foxes were slightly behind the required run rate, with 18 overs bowled in the second innings the situation stood at 142 runs with five wickets in hand.
Once again, it was Donovan and Lebed to face the last twelve balls with a brick wall of a target looming large, but while Seophyn yMharwn had responded to the challenge 24 hours earlier with a series of good lengths that made scoring near-impossible, Rosenfeld never looked comfortable coming in to bowl having been rested since early in the Foxes' reply, and Lebed swept his first delivery to the square leg boundary to set the pair's stall out. Rosenfeld was able to get a ball to drift between Lebed's bat and pad to take out his leg stump and send him on his way for 17, but otherwise cut a frustrated figure as he was hit for fifteen runs off the over, with Donovan flicking two balls backwards of square leg for successive fours to set up a tense finale - eight runs needed from six. New batswoman Ashe faced Alf Dickinson for the final over, and the New Hibernian was able to work the first ball away past midwicket and towards the boundary to cut the requirement in half, before the Darmeni left-armer forced her into successively defending two short pitched balls, then sent the fourth delivery just past a probing bat to keep the match hanging in the balance - then, in front of hundreds of Plough Islanders at the Royal Oval and a hundred and forty thousand more at home, Ashe was able to get a thick edge on the second-to-last ball of the match and turned to see it roll away for four more, and after three successive last-over defeats, the Plough Islands could finally celebrate a last-over victory going their way.
After all, everybody loves a happy ending.
The celebrations out on the pitch were rich with ecstasy and emotion, and it was a very happy Laing that came down from the Foxes' changing room, "incredibly satisfied, tired, exhausted, but really happy, I always felt we had one of these performances in us and I am so happy for everybody who came on this trip with us". The captain had summed up the general mood among the team reasonably well, as while most of the team were walking on air following the victory, many of the players told this author they were looking forward to a long rest. Hendricks - who took two wickets, amid only partially facetious suggestions he could retain a place on merit! - said he "just wants to lie down and get my legs back, quite honestly...", and batting hero Ashe commented that "Ko-oren have been incredibly good to us, but it feels like the right time to return home - I think I can be pleased with how the tour has gone for me though". The last word fell to Laing; "we have come out here and proven more than we thought we could, to ourselves and to the world - but I will be glad to get home and get a rest and then get back to some proper cricket..."
While the tournament might not have done much to enhance the reputation of the 20-over format among serious followers of the game, the Plough Islands have succeeded in capturing the public imagination, and can leave the competition with their heads held high following some superb performances from a team that never intended to progress as far as they did. They will slip back into hibernation now as the Celestial Ocean winter begins to draw in and the cricket season comes to a close, but the experience gained here will be invaluable for the Plough Islands Cricket Association now and in the future, with talks already underway regarding future limited-overs tournaments. And, as the sun dipped low over the Willowbourne skyline, nobody could say that the wider cricketing world had not gained a newfound respect for these determined, cooperative, and brave Foxes.

[West Phoenicia]

The Semi-finals are here for World Twenty20 Championships XI and The West Phoenicia Lighting Bolts have worked hard to obtain one of the four spots.

After a victory against Mughals royal by 3 runs with only 4 players out in the last match it allowed West Phoenicia to finish on 4 wins equalling Ko-oren. Placing them still in the number two position they will now face off against Liventia.

"We have a very good shot at moving to the finals, it's cricket not Cycling. While Liventia dominates cycling tournaments with their high number of talented cyclists West Phoenicia has shown remarkable talent and skill in cricket both in the twenty20 and at the Olympics. It is definitely going to be a must watch game," team captain Jack Tennessee stated in the post match game against Mughals royal.

Indeed tickets have begun to sell cast as both teams fans lined up at the ticket counter to purchase a ticket for a terrific game. Out of the two semi-finals, this is the one people should be watching.

Cricket coach Edward Mount-Alexander has kept his word and done some last minute reshuffling in the hopes to give The Lighting Bolts the extra edge they need to out bat Liventia by rostering the Emanon brothers higher due to their fantastic batting record this championship.

The new rotation as follows;

Starting:
1. Timothy Emanon
2. Harry South
3. James Emanon
4.Jack Tennessee
5. Grey Gryphon
6. Jasper Millington
7.Alan Narre
8.Bradley Swanston
9.Jonathan Church
10. Aaron Shields
11.Ali Leballas

[Ko-oren]

No vacancy. Hotels, hostels, B&Bs and even Aorbnb's (Atlantian Oceanian Rent-a Bed And Breakfast), the latter being a fairly new invention giving homeowners the ability to rent out a room, have been full all over Greencaster and Willowbourne. Fans from the Super 12 (and some hopefuls from the qualification stage) have flocked to the two cities to see the exciting conclusion to the T20 World Championships, whether they even have tickets to enter the stadiums or not.

Sure, some fans expected an exit in the Super 12. We have seen fewer and fewer Plough Islander flags (and there weren't many to begin with, the Plough Islands being the least populated nation in the group stage), and the number of Rooimervania fans has dwindled too - little did they know, they would actually still be in. Meanwhile, there has been an unending stream of Darmeni, Elejamian, Mattijanan, Eastfielder and Barunian fans, a bit disappointed that their teams haven't made it, but happy to be part of something here in Willowbourne and Greencaster.

Hell, even Apoxian fans are still around, just consider them and how they must have felt these past matchdays not having a national team of their own. They must have had some very different ideas about how their stay in Ko-oren would have been. The same goes for fans from Ethane, Damukuni and the Busoga Islands, all of which have been spotted somewhere around the Royal Oval or the Greencaster Oval. Poor fans, though most of them have adopted some sort of secondary team, mostly helping out the Plough Islanders but they're pretty well divvied up.

Apart from these, there is another group of fans. There are still many, many Northwest Kalactinian fans around as well. Fierce supporters of a donut chain which can't be found anywhere near the Dragonfly Archipelago, they've been a headache for hotel and restaurant owners. Speaking in long sentences running on without much of a hint or anything as to where there should be a pause they have made it very hard for those in hospitality to understand them or even know what they're going on about at times. If you're not sure if the person you're dealing with is from NK, don't worry, they'll bring up their T20 WC win up at some point. Well, we also won one.

How different is that from the Liventian and Plough Islander fans. They are all polite, friendly, happy to be here, ready to explain the intricacies of the game while all making it very clear they are only here because 'cricket is cricket', even if T20 is the very wrong kind of cricket. Capitalism cricket. Don't actually even think of mentioning reverse swing around them. The ball will never be old enough to display any kind of reverse swing, and to be fair, if there's never a chance of reverse swing in a match, it's not real cricket. On the other hand, you can talk to them about anything from Herschel Marsden to the backup wicketkeeper for East Surbourneshire's List-A side, these guys love this game. Them telling you that it's not a hook but a pull, and it's to square behind, not square, not off and not on, it's not an insult, it's a form of endearment.

Then there's the West Phoenician fans. Phans, if you will. If you hear a group of fans talking about the fireworks, pre-match entertainment and the tunes that are played for every 6, they should be West Phoenician. Don't get me wrong - they're still enjoying their time here a lot, maybe more than others. And even if don't mention subtle fielding adjustments and how [bowler here] deceived [batsman here], it doesn't mean they're not knowledgeable about the game. They just pay attention to different things. These guys love this game. We should have some more celebrating around our sports.

If 'Did you know we won the 10th World Championships' is met with noises of disapproval: congratulations, you've found a Mattijanan. When they think they're out of earshot, you might catch them humming 'Kalactin is apathetic', a summer hit by A Flock of Seagulls, who by the way are playing a few concerts around Ko-oren later this season if you're into that kind of thing. Some Mattijanan players are among the biggest players of this tournament, including Gluckspiel and our favourite name of this World Championship, Googlov.

If someone tell you Test cricket is better than T20, they're not always Liventian or from the Plough Islands. They might also just be a bitter Darmeni. You've won a Test cricket championship. Celebrate it. *sobs*

And Teusland, we want to play you next time around. Elejamie, from one T20 World champion to another, we should finally get to play against one another as well. The 8th WC was better than the 9th one, just so you remember that.

There's nothing like some casual racism and discrimination around World Cups, World Championships, World Bowls and Classics. We love these guys and girls, and we love this game.

[Ko-oren]

World Twenty20 Championships XI@Ko-oren

Semifinals

Rooimervania 158/7 (19.2 overs)
Ko-oren 156/7 (20 overs)

Liventia 138 (16.3 overs)
West Phoenicia 157/8 (20 overs)

Final

Rooimervania vs West Phoenicia@Greencaster Oval, Greencaster

[West Phoenicia]

Lighting Bolts cruise into finals!

The Lighting Bolts have done it!

After slogging through qualifications, group stages and now beating Liventia by 19 runs. Coach Edward Mount-Alexander praised the Batting roster shuffle placing the Emanon brothers in a position where they could do the most damage.
However Liventia bowlers had such skill with the bowling, they avoided The Lighting Bolts from scoring too many sixes. Oliver Harvey had the dubious honour of knocking both brothers out of the game. Tim Emanon fell to an LBW, while Jimmy Emanon was run out. But even with two of the top players gone it could not stop Liventia from achieving the runs needed to win, nor deal with the Lighting Bolts bowling that had the team out in 16 overs.


The West Phoenician Cricket team find themselves in the finals again playing off against unranked team Rooimervania. Who would have thought that an unranked team would have taken out the likes of Ko-oren and left Mattijana in 3rd place in the group stages. It is true that the dark horses in sports can sometimes surprise us.

Unlike the World Twenty20 Championship X where they placed second to Northwest Kalactin, the Lighting Bolts goal is to win.

The Lighting Bolts fan base is hungry for a win and the West Phoenician Cricket Federation is hungry for an international title, that will truly represent their number one playing in the game.

An army of purple and gold are expected to dominate the Greencaster Oval. 70 year old Grandmother of the Emanon brothers Doris Clipburn has vowed if the Lighting Bolts win the finals she will be streaking across the Greencaster Oval.

[Ko-oren]

World Twenty20 Championships XI@Ko-oren

Final

Rooimervania 128 (18 overs)
West Phoenicia 129/2 (16.3 overs)

West Phoenicia win the eleventh World Twenty20 Championships! Congratulations!