GCF ODI World Trophy I - RP/rosters/results thread

[Kriegiersien]

Colonel von Schneider looked at the newspapers and a drawing board, trying to find any useful information about Jeckland or making sense out of her own strategy. Suddenly two Zombieservants brought a stretcher with a groaning Frank Idle on it, accompanied by Major Pennywise and Lieutnant Longbottom.

“What is it?”

“Major Idle has fallen on his shoulder. We tried to fix it, but he still seems uncomfortable”, said Major Pennywise.
“How did you try to fix it?”
“Well, I have relocated it, as I learned it on Medical school, where I was working as a clerk once..”
“I am feeling much better, just some pills and a good tea..”, gasped Pennywise.
“But I am not sure it worked. Maybe someone else should look at it…”
“Captain Longbottom has some medical expertise.”
“Well, then get him, Pennywise.”

“I don’t think that is necessary. Just get me a good Green leaf tea, aromatic, relaxing, the best there is…”

“Even though it is healthy and marvelous, I don’t think that he helps with a dislocated shoulder.”
“I am really fine.”
“So you are crunching with your teeth because of the joy that we won against Burtander?”
“I do see canaries. Red and yellow”, mumbled Idle.
“Ah, Captain Longbottom. Do you know how to make that better?”

The Captain looked at it and tried to get the Uniform off of a struggling Idle.
“No, Uniform mustn't be removed..”, Major Idle gasped and fainted.
“I guess it is better we relocate the shoulder now... properly.. and then we get him to a doctor.”
Captain Longbottom ripped the uniform open, raised the Major and snapped the shoulder back into the right position.
“No magic, only some experience needed. Unlike what some Major did who went off to get some tea. Why are you looking so shocked, he will be fine. I did that more than….you got to be kidding me!”
Without the uniform the torso of Major Idle gave a bit more away about his physique than before.
The Colonel looked around. Only Colonel Samantha von Schneider, Charline and Marcy Longbottom and now presumably Major Michelle Idle (unconscious) were present. The Zombieservents wouldn’t talk.
“Thank violet that only we three are here now.”
“That is why I always have a second strict bound vest under the uniform”, said Charly.
“That’s easy for you to say”, scoffed Marcy.
“What do you mean?”
“We’ll talk later. First we get her to a doctor, I guess in Liventia they have confidentiality, too.”
The colonel closed Major Idles Uniform and let the Zombieservants put her on the stretcher.
“And I have a feeling you have to play from now on, Lieutnant Longbottom.”

[Sylestone]

A dominating performance by the Sylestoneans against The Booter meant they moved up into equal second place on the table with two games to go. The Booter won the toss and batted first and got off to a good start, but Zangj Jonjaakh's pace troubled them and the top order collapsed. Throughout the next thirty overs, the Sylestonean spinners and Norbert Pistecial kept the foot on the brake and took wickets at regular intervals. Despite a little rally by the tail in overs 45-49, Vilesti and Jonjaakh bowled well at the death and restricted The Booter to only 9/247.

Joshua Vilesti 9 - 0 - 49 - 0
Norbert Pistecial 10 - 2 - 34 - 2
Zangj Jonjaakh 10 - 0 - 56 - 4
Broughton Hall 10 - 0 - 47 - 2
Liam Afosha 8 - 0 - 43 - 1
Lachlan Edwards 3 - 0 - 15 - 0
Extras: 5 Leg Byes, 4 Wides
Total: 9/247 (50)

Tiati and Edwards went out to bat full of confidence, but The Booter's opening bowler was explosive and he took the wickets of Tiati, Fomleya and Charlton, exposing Sylestone's weak middle order and throwing the game wide open. A 127-run stand partnership by teenage cousins Oliver and Lachlan Edwards brought the game back into Sylestone's favour, with Oliver Edwards reaching 72 and Lachlan Edwards reaching his first ODI ton. Soon after he was dismissed and Jonah Appleby and Liam Afosha finished the game off in style with more than 5 overs to go.

Luke Tiati 5(9) Bowled
Lachlan Edwards 109(111) Caught
Daniel Fomleya 3(18) Bowled
Zachary Charlton 6(8) Caught
Oliver Edwards 72(65) LBW
Liam Afosha 35(28) Not Out
Jonah Appleby 15(20) Not Out
Norbert Pistecial DNB
Zangj Jonjaakh DNB
Broughton Hall DNB
Joshua Vilesti DNB
Extras: 4 Leg Byes, 1 Wide
Total: 5/250 (44.5)

After the game:
"We are incredibly proud of how we played. We have a few things to work on, but that's good. There is always room for improvement. However, good things outnumbered bad things in this game, and we hope to carry our momentum into the final two games of the Group Stage against The Holy Land of Burtander and Baggieland, and hopefully into the next stage if we make it." Oliver Edwards

[Samrakstivu]

Samrakstivu Defeats Anserisa Thanks To The Power of the Kāppāḷar

The Samrak team brought tremendous honour to the Kāppāḷar in their third matchup at the ODI World Trophy against Anserisa. In bowling first, the Samrak side did a great job forcing "bits and pieces" cricketing from their opponents, who were very conservative in their batting attack. The beautiful energy of the Kāppāḷar clearly instructed the team not to worry with taking wickets and simply prevent runs, and Johnnyhallyday Ramachandran did not need to worry about earning another hat trick and instead focused on keeping Aquila Améristum and Hormisdaso Tallérium to a combined 68 runs- a very disappointing effort for such a duo.

Kaartikka Balasubramanian was the big bat in this matchup, and the Samrak side batted much more aggressively than the clearly terrified Anserisa team- showing the power of the Iṟaiyāṇmai concept. The Samrak side had no reason to have fear, removing all such emotions from their hearts, and replacing them with both love and obligation for the Kāppāḷar, which allowed them to swing for boundaries and sixes. Balasubramanian in particular hit for 70 on her own, better than the big duo for Anserisa. In the end, Samrakstivu was able to win with 8.5 overs to spare and are now in a tie for first place. Technically our team is listed as being in third place due to something called "net run rate", but this is just another disrespect from the GCF towards the Kāppāḷar, eternally merciful.

Speaking of such disrespect, the GCF referred to playing in Group E, the sole non-test playing group that is playing at Lewes Park as being a privilege, which we agree with the GCF on- it is a privilege for the GCF to be able to welcome our very large poster of the Kāppāḷar (shown above, with the caption "We must respect our protector so she will protect us") to the Lewes Park stands in place of the fans that would be there were fans allowed to travel to Liventia from Samrakstivu.

[Baggieland]

The Daily Boing

Matchday Three
Baggieland 243/7 (50 overs)
Jeckland 245/6 (39.2 overs)

Scorecard

Batting
1. Billy Richards not out 124
2. Reg Marshall caught 27
3. Peter Mead bowled 21
4. Richard Smith bowled 17
5. Garry Greenidge (C) lbw 17
6. Brian Parks (WK) caught 13
7. Sam Udal caught 9
8. Steve Warne timed out 0
9. Michael Marshall not out 3
10. David Shackleton
11. Paul Sainsbury
Extras 12

Bowling
Sam Udal 1 – 55
Steve Warne 1 – 24
Michael Marshall 0 – 45
David Shackleton 3 – 61
Paul Sainsbury 1 – 60

Baggieland tasted their first defeat in the G.C.F. Cup, losing to Jeckland by four wickets, who had 10.4 overs to spare. Billy Richards was the only batsman to get going, scoring a magnificent ton, while all the others fell cheaply. David Shackleton finally got his tournament out of the blocks by picking up three wickets, and Steve Warne got himself out in the most bizarre of circumstances.

Greenidge won the toss and chose to bat first. While Richards looked to bat cautiously, mostly picking up ones and twos with the occasional boundary, his opening partner came out swinging. Reg Marshall hit ten runs off the first over he faced, much to the enjoyment of the travelling Baggieland support. After reaching a quick-fire 27, Marshall was confronted with a bouncer, which he tried to hook over the rope. However, he didn’t connect cleanly with it, and was caught on the boundary at deep square leg. Mead, Smith, Greenidge, Parks and Udal all came out and got off the mark, looking to post good scores, however, none of them pushed on with Mead’s 21 being the highest score of those batsmen. Meanwhile, Richards was quietly edging ever nearer to his century. Then, Steve Warne got himself out in an extraordinary way. After Udal was dismissed, Warne headed down the Pavilion steps. Just before he made it out onto the field, he started to have a heated discussion with a woman, believed to be his girlfriend, in the stand. Their ‘conversation’ lasted quite a while before Warne eventually walked to the middle. The Jeckland players, believing that he took more than three minutes, appealed to the umpires. After checking their watches, the umpires agreed and gave Warne a timed out decision. He then headed back to the Pavilion, having not faced a single delivery. Michael Marshall then played a superb role as second fiddle to Richards who eventually made 124 not out.

After the break, the Baggielandian bowlers knew they would have to keep it tight in order to restrict Jeckland to a score below 242. Michael Marshall and Shackleton began the pace attack with precise, neat bowling that was causing their opening batters plenty of problems. Shackleton also got his first wickets of the tournament, picking up both openers with a fine spell of bowling. However, after a promising start, it all began to go pear-shaped for Baggieland. Jeckland’s middle order started to go after Marshall and Shackleton and were scoring freely off their bowling. Greenidge then turned to his spinners, and Warne in particular was the pick of them, no doubt looking to make amends for his comical dismissal earlier. He bowled all ten of his overs, finishing with figures of 1 – 24, some of his deliveries were literally unplayable. Unfortunately for Baggieland, no other bowler could keep the run rate down, as Jeckland moved closer and closer to their target with plenty of time left. Baggieland’s only hope was to bowl them all out. Shackleton came back into the attack and picked up his third wicket, Udal and Sainsbury also picked up a wicket each. But it was all in vain as Jeckland reached their target with 64 balls left in their innings.

Baggieland’s batsmen will be disappointed that only one of them posted a decent score, which was no doubt the main reason for this defeat. However, all of them have notched up good scores during this tournament, so there is no reason why they shouldn’t be confident going into the next match. The group table is now very tight, with no team running away with it at the top, nor languishing at the bottom. With half the games played, this will be the most interesting group to follow and it’s anyone’s to win.

G.C.F. Stats

Most runs
Billy Richards: 227
Peter Mead: 182
Reg Marshall: 159
Garry Greenidge: 119
Richard Smith: 97

Most wickets
Michael Marshall: 6
Paul Sainsbury: 3
David Shackleton 3
Sam Udal: 2
Steve Warne: 2

[Martune]

Martune Continue To Excel In ODI; Win Big Against Northwest Kalactin

Martune 347/5
Northwest Kalactin 245/9
Martune wins by 102 runs

Another glorious day for Martune cricket as the national squad pummeled their Kalactin opponents today in a much needed win to stay on top of Group D. Now with Kalactin in the rear view the team must now focus on their next opponent and now biggest match of the first round, Serriel. Serriel is also 3-0 and are tied with the Martune team at the top of the group. It is safe to say that whoever wins this match will take the Group and avoid the Playoff round. Here are the standings for Group D so far:

1. Martune (3-0-0)
Serriel (3-0-0)
3. Subramani (1-0-2)
4. Northwest Kalactin (1-0-2)
Virtual Nerdania (1-0-2)
6. Bolgano (0-0-3)

The victory today can easily be accredited to the top three in the batting order as they combined for 203 of the 347 runs attained by the squad. Notably, Raymond Antonino who batted in the third slot avoided being dismissed and batted for 98 runs. The Kalactin squad gave up 13 extras (7 wide, 5 no balls, 1 bye) and took 5 wickets, one of which was off a miscommunication between batsman whilst running. The batting performance by the Martune squad left a big gap for the Kalactin team to make up for, and it would prove difficult for them to do so.

Lead bowler, Leon Holland, took 4 wickets today off of Campbell, Gonzalez, Adams, and Martin. He bowled Campbell in a spectacular showcase of his ball control while the other three were caught out by other fielders. The Martune side conceded 9 extras (5 no balls, 4 wide) and took a total of nine wickets; almost ending the Kalactin batting attack before the 50 over mark.

Coach Swanson was briefly interviewed before rushing off to the clubhouse:
"Well, I told the guys before the match that we needed to come out and give it our all. We expected a challenge and we were prepared for whatever they could throw at us. We just got down to business and won another great game today. Hopefully we can keep up this performance and avoid the playoffs, but even then we will continue fighting strong."

The match versus Serriel will prove to be the most important yet. Will the Martune team come out on top, or have to face elimination? Find out tomorrow.

[Waisnor]

FNC NEWS:

Waisnor suffered a first defeat in ODI World Trophy. Waisnor Cricket Team was defeated by The Sarian 334-332 by three wickets with 1 ball to spare.

Vitaly Ustinov, captain: "I don’t think we should be upset about one defeat. Moreover, we still have 2 matches ahead and we can still show what we are capable of."

The next game will be held with a fairly comfortable opponent - Ricardos7qm, who has not won a single game yet.

[The Jovannic]

Long-Awaited Jovannic Victory now Reality
There are celebrations across the country as The Jovannic Cricket Team achieves its first victory against Ricardos7qm. Our Team lost the toss, but some solid bowling managed to hold the opponent to 210 runs. some good power batting managed to overcome some weak Ricardo Bowling to down them by the 31.5 runs.
Captain Sale Miski says "We managed to defeat this team because we never really gave up on our abilities even though we lost our first two matches."

The team played very well today. The next match against the Grearish Union will be tough, and Fe Penu may start again as his fast batting may be just the counter measure against the Grearish Union.

[The Sarian]

The Sarian versus Waisnor
Transcript of the Final Over from Radio Saarivision 2

Ball One - The Sarian 325/5; seven needed from six balls
Katelyn Daalmans 29
Anders Ruitdekker 95

Katelyn Daalmans is on strike now, The Sarian might have felt they could have wrapped this up several overs ago but it comes down to this. A little over one a ball is needed for the win. Igor Krutov will be bowling this final over. The Sarian have already seen him take the wickets of Ouder and Beau Bisschop. He runs up now, Daalmans swings for it. Big shout here from the Waisnor players. Daalmans is shaking her head, big appeal... the finger goes up. The ball just clipped Daalmans shin... is she going to review? She got to! There's a discussion going on down there.. surely she must? A review in the final over for LBW? No! She's walking. I don't understand that. Daalmans out for LBW, twenty-nine runs scored from forty-two deliveries. Why wasn't that reviewed? Seven needed from five deliveries now. Oh no! The replays gone up on the big screen and it was clearly missing the wicket. What an extraordinary decision from Daalmans and captain Ruitdekker not to review that. The Sarian fans have their heads in their hands. This could have been wrapped up before the power-play and now the pressure is clearly getting to the team. I just can't believe that wasn't reviewed. Bilie Moeris is coming onto the field, what a weight on her twenty-one year old shoulders.

Ball Two - The Sarian 325/6; seven needed from five balls
Bilie Moeris 0
Anders Ruitdekker 95

I assume that was a few encouraging words from Ruitdekker but Moeries is straight to the crease. But, Igor Krutov is taking his time over this delivery. Look at the look you can see on Bilie Moeris's face. A few more words from Ruitdekker, presumably he's telling her that she's gonna go for the single and put him on strike for the last four balls. He's on ninety-five, that could be the stuff of heroes if he does. Though I don't suppose he'll want the added pressure of the nervous nineties. Krutov still hasn't run up. Poor Bilie Moeris, he's got to hurry up. And he's finally taking his run up.... Oh no. The balls battered against mid-stump. The finger is straight up. The wheels are coming off this cart very, very quickly. Beautiful piece of bowling by Igor Krutov but Moeris could have done so much better to get across that. They're reviewing! What are they reviewing for? I suppose with four balls left they don't want to lose that wicket but this is bizarre. Didn't review a questionable LBW but a pretty clear bowl? Maybe they saw something wrong with the delivery? It's on the screen now, fair delivery... yep, it's out. It was always a desperate appeal. They should have used it on Katelyn Daalmans. The pressure is on now... Oli Abal is coming out, he actually got a hundred for Kroningdam once but he's seen how Krutov has taken four wickets from his batsman. The mood in the ground has completely changed. After twenty overs, The Sarian supporters had all but declared the game over and now there is complete silence. You can really feel the tension here in the Dawston Ground.

Ball Three - The Sarian 325/7; seven needed from four balls
Oli Abaal 0
Anders Ruitdekker 95

Imagine walking onto the crease like this. Oli Abaal has got the weight of a hopeless nation on his back. He had a great innings bowling and he just wants a single here to get Ruitdekker on strike. Enormous weight on this man's shoulders. A little pep talk from Ruitdekker. The Waisnor are crowding the wicket. Not sure that's the choice if I were Vitaly Ustinov. I know Anders Ruitdekker will want to be receiving the next ball but a boundary from Abaal changes the arithmetic here. Krutov is again taking his time here. Ruitdekker telling him to hurry up on the non-striker end, half the Waisnor fielders seem to be at slip as Igor Krutov goes to bowl... They're running... Abaal hit it down mid-wicket but this could be close. Yakubenko should have sent it to the other side. The Sarian 326 for seven now. Poor fielding from Waisnor, they went on saving one but couldn't execute. They could have maybe got Ruitdekker out if it had been sent to Svyatoslav Sychev the Salisbury End. Ruitdekker is back on strike, 95 not out. Six needed from three. Two a ball. That was a deep breath from Ruitdekker, you can see him just talking to himself under his breath there. It's all on the captain now.

Ball Four - The Sarian 326/7; six needed from three balls
Anders Ruitdekker 95
Oli Abaal 1

Much quicker from Igor Krutov this time... Good topspinner, but Ruitdekker is much than a match... hit down deep square leg... that's one but they've got to go for two... Sychev hits the ball against the wicket but Ruitdekker was far over the line. Small cheer from The Sarian supporters in the ground but this isn't where they thought they'd be. Four needed from two. The game was all but over, really shaky last fifteen overs by The Sarian to get them in this position. Two wickets gone in this final over. Still, Ruitdekker is on strike. Ninety-six (sic). Four needed. It writes itself, doesn't it? Ruitdekker and Abal having another discussion. What are they gonna do if it looks like they can only get a single? They won't want Abaal taking on the last two deliveries but they need the runs. The pressure on those two men as they had back to their creases.

Ball Five - The Sarian 328/7; four needed from two balls
Anders Ruitdekker 97
Oli Abaal 1

Ruitdekker nods up to the sky. Krutov is coming forward now, big spin on it but look at that! It's in the air! It's out of the ground! Six! He's done it! What an end to a game! What an end to the innings of Anders Ruitdekker! 103 not out! The Sarian win with just one ball to spare! The Waisnor players sink to the ground dejected. They put in a great showing. High score and then to bring that bowling back after The Sarian were running riot at the start of this afternoon. Look at that, Ruitdekker salutes the crowd! What a way to end this game! Second win on the trot for The Sarian, I just can't believe it. First ball, out. Second ball, out. A single out of nowhere for Abaal, a nice double and then that fabulous shot from Ruitdekker. He's been hiding that shot away. Magnificent! Hooked over fine leg. The precision and the discipline and the skill to get that right. A fabulous cricketer. A fabulous day of cricket. Top that! Amazing! The Sarian win by three wickets. 334/7. What a day!

[Krytenia]

Saxon Masterclass Lifts Stars To New Heights
Angus Haggerston reports from City Centre, Liventia

They say form is temporary, but class is permanent. After an excellent display with bat and ball against Lisander at the NCE Oval, Krytenian captain Lynton Saxon is confident his team have both right now. Certainly with the likes of Ed Fenn and Gavin Udall backing him up, the Stars will be full of confidence going into the second half of group play.

Krytenia made a single change from the side that defeated Ethane last time out, with William de Tong making way for Graham Monciestri on a pitch where two spinners were an unnecessary luxury. Monciestri, batting much lower down the order than he did against Darmen, also added attacking options - provided he could score quicker than he did in the Stars' opening match.

One place that Saxon doesn't have the magic touch is the coin toss. For the third game in a row, he was at the mercy of his opposite number; he may have been a little relieved when Dionisio Aurand decided to field. To be fair to the Lisander captain, he'd probably listened to the weather forecast, with cloudy skies overhead in the morning but the expectation of sunshine and rising temperatures to take the sting out of the swing later on.

So it was, then, that the duo of Shelton Schneller and Howard Tatton took to the crease. Schneller, living up to his name, started quickly, finding Isaac Highfield's bowling particularly to his liking. At the other end, though, Tatton never got the chance. He'd put on all of three runs when he got trapped LBW to a clever delivery from Braydon Lawes that stayed low and arrowed into the opener's pad. Vernon Fulmer managed to steady the ship, though it took him an over or two to open up the bat and start scoring at more than a trickle. Both men, though, survived the remainder of the opening ten overs.

Schneller, sadly, wouldn't last longer than that. A useful score was, once again, brought to an end by a cheap wicket; this time, Schneller was a tad guilty of waving at the wider stuff and poked one almost down the throat of Sam Ayers at second slip. It then got worse for the Stars, as Lauro Deville's next delivery absolutely castled poor Ryan Watling. Any notions of a hat-trick, though, were dispelled when new man in Fenn tickled the next delivery backward of square for a couple. It wasn't to be the end of Krytenia's collapse, though; the next over, Highfield picked up his first wicket when Fulmer tried the big shot but succeeded only in putting it into the hands of Harry Graham at extra cover. Fenn and Udall would, perhaps wisely, lower the tempo a little in the next few overs and resettle.

Once confidence had returned, though, it was a different story. Both men are known for their swashbuckling nature, and Fenn reached fifty with a typically cavalier swish over square leg for six. Udall chased behind with his own selection of exquisite shots too, until dancing too far down the wicket chasing a Graham delivery. Germano Hagen may never have an easier stumping. Krytenia again threatened to collapse, this time with Brad Grafton caught leg before later in the same over, but as it turned out, they needn't have worried.

Captain Saxon took to the crease in no mood to lose his wicket cheaply. He wasn't in much of a mood to kowtow to Graham's swing, either, sending his first delivery ten rows back in the Academy End Stand to complete the over. Fenn, too, was itching for runs; perhaps wisely, Aurand changed field positions every time Fenn found a gap to potentially exploit. As the young buck approached his ton, Saxon steamed to his half-century with a tasty four through the covers. The final few overs saw both men add to their tally; sadly, though, Fenn ran out of deliveries before he could reach three figures, but a total of 284 was reasonable considering the travails of the middle overs.

Lisander started their reply in determined fashion. Dante Brandet, especially, tore into the Krytenian attack, with Harvey Reiman chipping in at a decent clip. An early wicket, in this situation, would be crucial, and it came from a stroke of good fortune. Stuart Obermann's quick delivery clipped a tiny rough patch on the track, foxing a helpless Brandet entirely and clipping the top of off stump just hard enough to send the bail falling apologetically to the turf. Brandet was rightfully furious, and Obermann offered a slightly bemused apology, but there was nothing the Casterwill batsman could do and he returned to the pavilion shaking his head in disbelief.

If Brandet's dismissal was ridiculous, Reiman's was sublime. This time it was Saxon getting in on the action, with an almost laser-guided yorker beating the batsman and sending the middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground. Saxon almost got a second in the over, with Sam Ayers looking plumb LBW. As soon as the finger went up, though, Ayers reviewed and correctly so, as the snicko revealed an inside edge onto his pads.

It was probably around this time that Lisander's captain would have been cursing himself. With two unsettled batsmen in the middle, the cloud began to draw in again; Krytenia might have some use for the swing after all. The middle overs consisted of Bartlett and Ayres attempting to get a rhythm going, and Udall and Monciestri - plus a tricky bit of Brigham Hill spin - frustrating them. Nevertheless, both men made it past fifty, albeit having to run the wickets more than clubbing boundaries.

Saxon put himself back in the attack to try and break the partnership, and it worked superbly as Ayers nicked one back to Grafton. Bartlett would be gone the following over, the latest victim of Hill's ability to make the slow ball dance onto the pads. Lisander back to square one and with a mountain to climb as the balls ticked down. The men in charcoal and teal needed a captain's performance; sadly for them, wrong captain.

With time not on their side, Lisander had no choice but to attack. Saxon had two overs left of his allocated ten and made the most of them. First, Franco Mader gave Grafton his second catch of the innings; then, Hagen underhit a slog into the waiting hands of Fenn. With a five-for in sight, Saxon finished things off with his final ball obliterating the stumps and sending Highfield back to the dressing room. Aurand and Lawes played out the last couple of overs, but by then the game, and their will to fight, had gone, and they ended up a good forty runs shy of the Krytenian total.

Krytenia now stand tied for second in Group B, with the top four all qualifying for what we're calling the Second Round Proper in this Gordian knot of a format. They've got the next matchday off - and that could be a well-timed rest, as their next game is a crucial one against the very team they're tied for second with: Teusland. Win that, and the Stars can almost smell the next round.

KRYTENIA INNINGS - 284/6

BATTING
SV Schneller    c Ayers b Deville        38
HM Tatton       lbw Lawes                 3
VC Fulmer       c Graham b Highfield     31
RJ Watling      b Deville                 0
EL Fenn         not out                  87
GM Udall        st Hagen b Graham        44
BH Grafton      lbw Graham                2
LR Saxon        not out                  68
EXTRAS                                   11

BOWLING          O    R   W   Econ
I Highfield     10   70   1   7.00 
B Lawes         10   37   1   3.70
L Deville       10   50   2   5.00
F Mader         10   51   0   5.10
H Graham        10   76   2   7.60


LISANDER INNINGS - 244/7

D Brandet       b Obermann               19
H Reiman        b Saxon                  24
C Bartlett      lbw Hill                 63
S Ayers         c Grafton b Saxon        60
F Mader         c Grafton b Saxon        12
D Aurand        not out                  35
G Hagen         c Fenn b Saxon           6
I Highfield     b Saxon                  5
B Lawes         not out                  10
EXTRAS                                   10

BOWLING          O    R   W   Econ
SA Obermann     10   63   1   6.30 
LR Saxon        10   59   5   5.90
GM Udall         8   30   0   3.50
GDJ Monciestri   9   36   0   4.00
BY Hill         10   44   1   4.40
RJ Watling       3   12   0   4.00

[Ko-oren]

ODI WT I - Dragonflies lose to Plough Isles, Changes made, Greencaster needs to evolve, says chairman

The results up to this point are not bad at all, but the loss to the Plough Islands still sparked some debate among the selectors. Have they put too many younger players in? Is Marsden really an all-round captain capable of leading the team in limited overs? Some simple mistakes cost the team the match against the Plough Islands, despite the fantastic chase in the second innings. Sure, the Foxes were allowed to put up a target of 329, but you can't always limit your opponent in Park Central Oval. A target of 300+ was pretty much expected, so the focus is on matching the target rather than keeping the other team under 300. Some fielding errors, giving the Foxes a few fours here and there, further got the rivals out of view. In three remaining matches, the Dragonflies will probably need to win two in order to stay in the top four. If not, the team will still go to a longer second stage, but if at all possible you'd like to avoid that, go into a tough, but short, second stage, with a chance to snatch a quarterfinal berth without a lot of hassle.

At this point, the team is certainly not at that stage. Only four teams can get that 'easy' quarterfinal spot, and Ko-oren is definitely not one of the four best teams in the GCF. Sure, Ko-oren has a few top-tier wicketkeepers, but unfortunately you can only play one of them at a time. While Hellver has stayed mostly error-free in the three matches so far, the opinion is that Meredith can pull the team further with his extensive international experience, keeping Wheelwright on the bench for a little longer, for if things get tough. Wheelwright is absolutely the worse batsman among the three. Willis was moved up the order a lot to act as an anchor should Shapter (or rarely Twaddle) get out early. Commins is doing pretty well, despite his age, and is given a few more chances. Still hitting at fourth - there are no other options on the bench for now. The other batsmen that were selected to join the team in Liventia re even younger and lack even more experience. The bowling is fine, as Ko-oren can rely on the services of four-to-five good ODI bowlers. Marsden is always the first name on the team sheet, and Lincoln and Fox are given some rest in favour of Courtenay, and, making his debut, ySarthylhar. The all-rounder situation looks good and stays that way, with Whitley batting a little earlier as well.

The focus for the remaining matches will be shifted towards batting a little: avoiding runs (and keeping scores low) will always be a Ko-orenite's first move, but the situation calls for a different approach. At least be happy that the KCB finds this out now, and not when it's too late, halfway through the sixth group match hoping to avoid the longer second stage. Getting into that top four is an absolute necessity, nothing else will do.

Starting XI going forward:
Shapter
Twaddle
Willis
Commins
White
Whitley
Meredith (wk)
Darknoll
Courtenay
Marsden (c)
ySarthylhar

The changes mean that East Surbourneshire relinquish their stranglehold on the starting XI by a little, losing Fox and Hellver, while Willowbourne and Mawryshire get an extra player in (Meredith and ySarthylhar, respectively).

All six cricket regions are responsible for their own 'pyramids', so to speak. They are all responsible for finding and nurturing talent, and it's clear that Greencaster cannot get that done - even with their population, and short distances. They're not the only ones with trouble: the other city-region, Willowbourne, are also having trouble but putting all their faith in the generation that's about to start play. Quelch and Lafaille are immensely talented batsmen - but that's the pride of Willowbourne going forward. Leeshire are arguably in bigger trouble: they still have a decent crop of players, but are staring at a void once they age. For that reason, Leeshire are given priority status, along with Willowbourne, in recruiting players from other areas of Ko-oren - most notably Gehrennan-speaking Mayara and French-speaking Cote Austral, regions that have already yielded a little bit of talent, and are expected to deliver even more now that there are T20 teams stationed in those areas. Greencaster will have to get creative in their cricket infrastructure. Chairman of the region, Godfrey Crayford, has commented that it's his ultimate challenge to get cricket on the radar alongside gridiron and rugby union, almost admitting it's his job to keep baseball out of Ko-oren's largest city. "There is plenty of talent coming through, and it's my duty to see them wear the green and blue. Even more can be done in the towns that lie on the edges of the region, though," referring to the towns that are wholly separate from Greencaster, but still are part of the region in cricket terms. It's indeed been a while since Kingsfield, Caringmeadow, and Abingdon have sent a player to play for the region.

[Darmen]

A Darmeni Cricket Blog

Why does Darmeni Cricket have a fascination with All-rounders?
-Christopher Wilkie

By my reckoning, when Darmen made its debut on the international cricketing scene at the ODI "World Cup" held in North Chicanan, every single one of the fourteen players who made up the squad was an all-rounder. That fact however can be attributed to ignorance, not any traditional strength or strategy. With cricket having been suppressed for the majority of the 64 years spent under Communist isolation, the concept of players specializing in batting or bowling, or even wicket-keeping for that matter, had not yet occurred to those involved in the Darmeni cricket scene. Had cricket not been suppressed by the communist authorities for being "cosmopolitan" and "colonial rubbish", Darmen's long history of producing all-rounders might have provided an explanation for the oddity.

It is important to remember that prior to the Communist coup d'état in 1946, Cricket was among Darmen's most popular sports, having a history dating back even further than football's, to the early-1720's. Introduced by British merchants and traders, as well as visiting Royal Navy sailors from the HMS Cambridge, cricket initially caught on with Darmen's middle and upper classes, becoming an important weekend pastime and social event. By and large cricket remained confined to the large coastal trading cities, most of which had a sizable portion of their populations made up by those of British heritage.¹

Cricket's migration into Darmen's rural inland began with the arrival of the railroads. The first steam locomotive arrived in Liverpool in July of 1832, being used to move iron form the mines to the city's foundry.² By the end of the decade, the usage of railroads had been expanded to include the transportation of passengers from city to city. As the railroads expanded their reach inland through a quagmire of tracks of different sizes and incoherent planning, the marketing ingenuity of the railroading executives took off in all sorts of directions, attempting to find the best way to promote the new form of mass transportation.

Kendal Ó Conaill, an excellent cricketer of the 1830's from Sterling City, was recruited by the Northeastern Rail Road Company to embark on a rail journey to various locations in Darmen's northeast. At each stop along the way, he was to challenge a local cricket player — or if there were none, anyone who was foolish enough to try to defeat one of Darmen's best players — to a contest of single-wicket cricket. Following the end of each match, agents from the railroad were to sell tickets to fans interested in seeing the next match, which would be held in the next town. It worked a charm, as eager new cricket enthusiasts and those fascinated by the steam engines rushed to buy tickets.³

The first tour, in 1839, took Ó Conaill on a three month journey to various towns and cities in Darmen's northeast. Altogether, Ó Conaill played 53 matches, losing just two of them later in the tour as he began to grow fatigued. The Northeastern Rail Road Company's coffers were filled and the railroad would go on to enjoy a long history that lasted into the early 1900's. Other railroads took notice and began to follow suit, employing their own players to embark on tours of their lines and play single-wicket cricket along the way. The very next year, the 37 year old Ó Conaill, was lured away from the Northeastern RR by the Aylesbury and Northcentral Rail Road with the offer of a £1,000 salary. The news sent shock waves through both the Darmeni cricketing world but also the railway industry and sparked a several decades long arms race among railroad companies to not only dominate the passenger and freight markets but cricket as well.³

With single-wicket cricket's emphasis on not only excellent batting but superb bowling as well, it soon became impossible for any player in Darmen not excelling at both aspects of the game to approach the status of star cricketer. Even in the multi-day format of the game, a batsman could hit as many half-centuries as he liked, but if he couldn't bowl, he was considered a second rate player. The same was true for a bowler, five wickets in an innings would not be enough to make up for the duck in the following innings.

Up until the end of the second World War and the imposition of Communism in Darmen, all-rounders continued to be Darmen's preeminent type of player. While the all-rounders of Darmen's early participation in GCF cricket can not be said to have been a part of that long tradition, the arrival of Matthew Johnson in the 5th season of GCF Test cricket as not only the team's captain but as a bona fide all-rounder, revived that tradition. In his very first test series, touring Gruenberg, he scored 426 runs at an average of 71.00 and took 19 wickets at an average of 29.58.⁴ He would continue to have an excellent career at the international level, before the implosion of Darmen's government and the disappearance of Darmen from the international game.

Gwynn Milford would pick up where Johnson left off, as Darmen's captain all-rounder for the 8th and 9th season's of GCF Test cricket. Although nowhere near as talented as Johnson with the bat or the ball, Milford will nevertheless go down in history as the captain of the side that won the World Test Championship in Season 9 over Ko-oren. Milford retired from the international game following the season, handing the captaincy off to current captain Sigmund Winter (not an all-rounder) and the mantle of Darmen's primary all-rounder was given to Domenic Gardenar, who has yet to truly impress in the role.

One can only hope that Gardenar's bowling game will improve immensely in the months and years to come, or that younger players like Bud Bachmann will get the chance they deserve to prove that they can carry on Darmen's tradition of excellent all-rounders. Until then, Darmen's star players will continue to be batting or bowling specialists (See: Milligan, Myers, van der Zee and Wakefield).

Bibliography
1. “Cricket in Darmen.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Mar 7, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_in_Darmen.
2. Ó Gallchobhair, Cedar. Cedar Ó Gallchobhair to Bradley Garner, July 7, 1832. Letter. From Museum of Darmeni History. https://www.museumofdarmenihistory.dar/resources/railroads/771832/item_3.html.
3. Arrington, Pearce. Darmeni Cricket: Honor, All-rounders and Floppy Hats. Scott City: Sherburn & Son, 2042.
4. Samuel, Veit. "Darmen Looks to Turn Things Around at Home." Darmen Times (Scott City), Mar 25, 2014. www.darmentimes.dar/archives/3252014/dl_1_tt_0_ta_9_ah_3.

[Mattijana]

Rails back on as Marmots Beat Darmen in ODI World Trophy

MFO SPORT

Jonas Agnitz, MFO Krikete correspondant

Darmen 251/5 (50 overs)
- Milligan 70, Acker 55. Riegler 2-32 (10 overs)
Mattijana 253/5 (43.1 overs)
-Zackov 104, Vukjic 67. Myers 3-59 (10 overs)
Mattijana win by five wickets with 6.5 overs to spare

Mattijana claimed their first victory of the ODI World Trophy with a comfortable win over rivals Darmen in City Centre, Liventia. The bowling attack, lead by Kasenka Riegler's 2-32, restricted the Darmeni batting lineup to just 251 on a good pitch, before a sensible chase led them to the target with just under 7 overs to go.

It appeared Mattijana were keen to avoid the mistakes from their opening defeat to Elejamie as they won the toss and stuck their opponents in on a pitch that looked a good one for batting, albeit with a little bit of variable pace and bounce to exploit. Fast bowler Kasenka Riegler did just that too. First an out of sorts Sigmund Winter nicked off to Marko Zackov at slip with a fairly horrible looking poke outside his off stump, before Winston van der Zee was castled by a 93 mile an hour delivery that used a hint of early seam movement to nip back through the gate.

Darmen's middle order certainly had the quality to recover from the precarious position they were in at 19-2 and Vinnie Acker and Theudofrid Milligan set about doing that. With the Mattijanan quicks and subsequently the spin attack keeping the squeeze on however, they were unable to do so at the rate they would have liked to. Acker's 55 came off 79 balls before he spooned a leading edge to mid-off, whilst Milligan was a little more adept at rotating the strike, but still chewed up 85 balls on his way to 70. Ellar Ready and Kenny O'Callaghan managed to accelerate the scoring towards the back end, but Rabada and Karamov were still able to keep a handle on things at the death.
Young spinners Johanna Murska and Jan Nortje were particularly impressive in the middle overs, bowling a tighter line and using much more constrictive field placements than against Elejamie. Milligan and Acker did allow them to keep the pressure on however, not by failing to hit the big shots, but with a number of shots that failed to pierce the gaps in the field and a lack of positive running to rotate the strike. That left the middle order with a lot to do at the death and a total of 37 from the final 5 overs just wasn't enough.

With Mattijana facing a fairly benign total, they didn't have to hit out from the start and even if they wanted to, they would have struggled. Menashe Wakefield and Corwin McAlister posed a threat with the new ball and induced several early plays and misses from both Mattijanan openers. In contrast to the Elejamie match though, they managed to weather the storm and when McAlister in particular began to offer up some freebies, they didn't miss out.

Sava perished without building on her start, slicing a wide one to backward point for 18, but Vukjic was able to get going, beginning to hit out more expansively as the ball aged. He eventually holed out to deep mid wicket for 67, but had taken only 59 deliveries to get there and hit 3 sixes in the process.
The calmer approach of Marko Zackov partnered the brutal hitting of Vukjic well and the Mattijanan number 3 accumulated in his characteristic fashion, working ones and twos around the large outfield and making sure any bad balls found their way to the boundary. The 31 year old is a wonderfully classical player and brought up his first ODI century from 110 balls to take Mattijana within sight of victory.
He eventually fell for 104, bowled by the pick of Darmen's bowlers Dorian Myers, but his innings had laid the groundwork for a comfortable Mattijanan victory and despite losing Jasmina Benzeni for a quickfire 30 and Fredi Glukspiel for 9, the returning Jelena Laramazic and Jos Illicic managed to get the marmots over the line with a sizeable chunk of the innings remaining.

The performance with both ball and bat couldn't have been different from the one against Elejamie. More nous whilst bowling and infinitely more maturity with the bat, especially at the start of the innings, were the real positives and hopefully they will carry those attributes on for the rest of the tournament. Had the Marmots been able to finish their overs, they almost certainly would have scored over 300 runs having scored only 14 from their first 6.

What they do for the next game against Ethane is an interesting prospect. Seamer Daniella Johanovic, dropped for this match in favour of the extra batting of Jelena Laramazic, could return, especially now the batting has shown itself to be a bit more sturdy, but it would be harsh to change a winning formula and having Laramazic does give the likes of Vukjic, Benzeni and Glukspiel more license to thwack.

Ethane haven't been in great nick so far, losing 2 out of 3 so far, but Mattijana have to be wary of underestimating them as they did with the Elejamie side they faced in their first game. They do now have the advantage of getting some knocks and some wickets behind them, getting an all important first win on the board, and now a much more realistic idea of the demands of ODI Cricket compared to the one-day game back home.

[The Grearish Union]

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Dream Games Revived! Cricket Game in the Works?

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The Grearish public are now in a frenzy to buy the latest Dream game, following a large boost in gaming interest after talks of the imminent release of World Domination 85 - the football game, forgetting the past of the company, and the relationship with Electrum. Jack O'Nealy writes...

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Dreamland Hill, Atheburn overlooking the Salz Lake

ATHEBURN, GU: Grearish Union found itself smack bang in the middle of international attention yet again, as the World Domination 85 game captures the imagination of people worldwide. Hundreds of clubs from a variety of different nations of the multiverse have licenced the game, making it one of the most celebrated gaming releases in the entire multiverse.

With stalwarts like the Nepharim Premiership and the Audioslavian National League having been licenced for the upcoming release, it is no wonder that the hype for the product would also skyrocket. The average passionate Grearish would easily overlook the question one would probably very promptly ask next. Who are Dream Games, and why are they important to non-gamers like you? Before you accuse me of endorsing a brand openly on a national media outlet that is not open to advertisement, I was a skeptic to begin with too, in my defence! Dream Games, however, managed to pull the covers of doubt off of my thoughts as they unveiled their plans going forward. “It is a gradual process,” said Ronald Green, “to bring the multiverse a little closer with every game and every update.” One would be a little confused as to how that would happen in eventuality, but before that question fructifies, Green answers it out of your head, almost as if he could read your mind. “Our simulation games let us travel to countries we have never been to, and be people who we can never become. It is going to bring us all much closer, and through the sports games, the sporting community shall be closer than ever before!”

The enthusiasm that this man has for his trade is infectious, to say the least, and it will get to you before you know it. We shall not talk about the man himself, however, we shall discuss a tiny bit about Dream Games incorporated. Quoting their own website,

There were two factors which saw the Dream Games brand fall into obscurity in recent years. First, the nation of Electrum was frozen in a time loop - after being frozen in place for several years and the intervention of a fifth dimensional entity, The Computator, the nation unfroze itself many years later. The links between Electrum and Gloriax were shattered, with the Electrumite side of the business unable to contact the Gloriax side. Second, in a simultaneous time period, the country of Gloriax disappeared from existence. Over time, a new nation, The Grearish Union took its place. After some impressive detective work, the Grearish discovered that the nation of Gloriax had preceded them, and not only that, the Electrumites were contacting them, wanting to do business and revive Dream Games. Of course, the Grearish agreed to the proposition.

Sounds like a fairytale, doesn't it? That is because it probably is. For two nations to revive themselves in a fashion that they did, and to revive a company that was once the main dealer in entertainment to the entire multiverse, or at least the ones closely related to games and sports. It still remains undisclosed as to how much of the company is owned by whom and what the business model looks like, but the government has surely shown it's backing by designating 56, Grand Road in the centre of Atheburn for the office space, as shown in the picture above, overlooking the Salz Lake and the Meroc hills in the distance, on the horizon.

Leaked picture of prospective cricket game

You might still feel that we haven't yet come to the topic that we were to discuss about, and in that case, your heart is absolutely correct. At the moment, the last delivery victory against a Kohnhead side who almost chased down 244 except for the last 6, caused an excitement about the game of cricket that amounted to something much lesser than a leaked picture of a 3D modelled cricket game, that have had cricket fans raving for days. The smash-hit success of World Domination 85 with the critics already has driven up homes for the cricket community expecting some sort of a realism-oriented gaming experience for them as well. Can Dream Games deliver to up to this hype if the cricket game is indeed in progress? One would only have to wait further to see what unfolds.

In other news, The Grearish Union cricket team are now slated to face-off against the Jovannic, who are currently placed fifth in Group F. Grearish skipper Potter sees this game as a very crucial encounter for them to cement their place on the top of the table, for as things stand now, no real points separate the top three, and picking up those critical points from the next fixture would be tantamount for the Black Dolphins' World Trophy hopes. "We wouldn't want to get into a playoff scenario, really, and we have to treat every match as a Final, and try to win each one, one at a time." Potter was recorded saying to the press before ascending into the team bus in Orean, Liventia.

We're in the thick of cricket, and it only gets better!

Thanks to Electrum for the website text.

[Martune]

Conflict In Martune Cricket Team; Leadership Struggles Between Captain And Vice-Captain

"We need stability on this team. 
There is no reason for our Vice Captain to say the things he did. 
But we will move on keep succeeding in the future.
-Coach Dale Swanson

Dissent has arisen in the Martune cricket club as ex-Vice Captain Yusuff Daniell was stripped of his title after a conversation between him and other players was leaked onto Twitter this morning.
The audio picks up Daniell's and other's voices talking about their most recent match against Northwest Kalactin. In the clip, Daniell states,
"Gardener is a shoddy captain and a ball boy at best. There is no leadership to be found there." After the clip was leaked it went viral on Martune twitter and the hashtag, #cricketbackstab, hit trending status within a couple of hours. Coach Dale Swanson and the National Cricket Committee both released statements this afternoon reprimanding the words spoken by Daniell. The NCC wrote, "It is within reason to demote and find a new Vice Captain. They are there to win matches, not gossip amongst one another."

Daniell has refused to comment, yet is expected to be on the starting 11 for the match. His replacement was shortly announced as new Vice Captain Leon Holland will take on the new role. "It's unfortunate. I still love the guy but we have to stick together." The club hopes the new controversy won't spark a rift in the team before their big match against Serriel, as it may determine the winner of Group D.

Daniell is not expected to receive any further punishment and no future statements are expected. Tune in again when we display the results of the very heated matchup: Martune vs. Serriel.

[The Plough Islands]

MAAALCOOOLMMM WAAALLEEERRR!

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WORLD TROPHY: PLOUGH ISLANDS OVERCOME OLD FRIENDS IN ANOTHER THRILLER
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, in Orean

The World Trophy campaign of the Plough Islands continues at full sail in Liventia as Kevin Laing's team took on familiar faces in the shape of a buoyant Ko-orenite side. After the high farce of their previous game against Damukuni at Folenisa, the Foxes had hoped for a more traditional match against the Halcyon Archipelago, but what transpired instead was another close game; although, as many of the Plough Islanders in attendance and their hundred and forty thousand comrades following back home would have been grateful for, one that limited its drama merely to the natural highs and lows of good cricket.
The sky in the Liventian capital was clear and sapphire blue, and for the first time in many years in a limited overs game, the Plough Islands did not take the field wearing green; Graeme Holt and Audrey Leggett instead came out wearing the Plough Islands Cricket Association's reserve kit of red, in order to comply with Global Cricket Federaton regulations for major tournaments as the Foxes' green was deemed to clash with the Ko-orenite gradient colours. Though the colours were unfamiliar, the attitude of Holt and Leggett certainly was not; they took full advantage of the typically flat Liventian pitch to attack almost from the very start of the match, buoyed by a capacity attendance at the home of Liventian cricket. The pair treated pace and spin, as Ko-orenite captain Herschel Marsden resorted rather quickly to unorthodox approaches to breaking the partnership, with equal disdain, and put on a quick 93 partnership before Leggett leant too far into an attempted sweep and was trapped in front by Erik Whitley for 40. The flow of runs was not stemmed, though, with Shauna Weaver picking up the scoring baton from Leggett, and Holt in particular was fully settled in and playing his own, natural game.
While the partners changed - after Weaver edged Zacharias Fox behind for 26, captain Laing was perhaps unlucky to deflect a good Fox length on to his own stumps later in the over, Arthur Donovan contributed a run-a-ball 13, and Andrew Fairfield provided good support thereafter with some opportunistic shot selection - Holt remained in the trenches, scoring increasingly at will and able to find frequent gaps in Marsden's field placings. After the fifty, the century never seemed to be in doubt, and it arrived - the first ever for a Plough Islander in a GCF One Day International - with an attempted yorker from Fox that was flicked over fine leg for four, and the helmet (and glasses) came off and the clenched fist was raised as Park Central Oval saluted the Redcliff left-hander.
Holt was only finally removed in the 44th over, with Theophilus Darknoll drawing him into trying to scoop the ball over midwicket; the opener failed to connect cleanly with the ball and Sherman Commins held on to the catch. He left to a chorus of appreciation from the Foxes fans and his comrades on the boundary, before Fairfield and Tim Bleasdale continued in much the same manner; Fairfield reached his maiden half-century, and Bleasdale was able to hit Marsden for three successive fours as the Ko-orenite fielding was again found wanting, with the score passing 300. Whitley returned to bowl Bleasdale through the gate with eight deliveries remaining, but Sarah Ashe, next in, hit the medium pacer for six over square leg off the first ball she faced, in the most dramatic example of some late Plough Islander scoring that saw them set the Dragonflies a daunting 329 to win.
It was, though, a task that Ko-oren would set about with enthusiasm, as anyone could have expected; Carlton Shapter and Reginald Twaddle made the very most of the initial fielding restrictions to get the chase going very quickly, and the loss of Shapter to an Andrew Baxter yorker for 20 hardly checked their progress as Twaddle did his best to flay the Foxes to all corners of Orean. The Dragonflies scored particularly heavily against pace bowling; it was Everett White and Twaddle combining to hit seventeen off one Colin McCarthy over that prompted Laing to rotate his bowlers, and it was the veteran newcomer Fairfield that struck to break the partnership; White mistimed his shot to offer the New Dalmatian a simple return catch and was gone for 32.
This seemed to precipitate a significant slowing in the scoring rate, with more Foxes fielding outside the circle, Twaddle getting bogged down in the sixties and seventies against a front of accurate spin bowling from Fairfield, Sarah Ashe, and Naomi Salisbury, and new man Commins looking distinctly uneasy at the crease. The 21-year-old had been arguably the player of the match against Barunia and contributed solidly against Damukuni in the Dragonflies' previous two matches, and this represented something of a comedown for him as he left too many balls he perhaps should have played. It was one of these that did for him, a McCarthy inswinger skimming the edge of his bat and plucking his off stump out, and before long Twaddle was also gone - he had looked set to match Holt with his own century when he tried to hook McCarthy and top-edged the ball to Bleasdale behind the stumps.
With two new batsmen in, the required run rate began to creep up just a little bit, and it was possible to detect that the match situation was getting into Ko-orenite heads somewhat, with twelfth man Caprws ySarthylhar starting to make more regular trips out with drinks and messages from the pavilion. Patrick Willis took it upon himself to chase the total with vigour, at times perhaps a little too eager to take every possible opportunity - he was almost gone on 22 after swatting the ball straight to Weaver, but McCarthy had overstepped the mark - but was soon building up a head of steam, with wicketkeeper Lionel Hellver providing reliable, if occasionally slow, support. It led to a contrast of approaches, with Willis racing past fifty as he saw the end of the allotted overs fast approaching, while Hellver's distinctly lacked in urgency, or at least it did until - having apparently decided to step up a gear - he recklessly set off for a run that was never there and was easily run out by Laing for 39. Darknoll, the next player in, leaned by necessity more towards the Willis approach, but even as they picked the sluggish run rate up the end was fast approaching.
Ko-oren needed a difficult, but not unachievable, nineteen from the last over. Salisbury would be bowling it, with Laing keeping fielders out on the boundary to limit the scoring, and essentially was responsible for keeping things low and accurate; she performed as expected, only conceding a two off the first three deliveries, and though her fourth one was released a little early and went for four leg byes, this only brought the Dragonflies to a place where they could win by hitting both remaining deliveries for six. Willis did clout the ball with desperate intent as it came in, but could not connect cleanly, and the Ko-orenites were only able to take two as it bounced towards Graeme Holt; mathematically, there was no way back now. The last delivery met with a swing and a miss, and a deflated Willis was left to shake hands on an unbeaten 91, his team ten short.
After another close finish, Laing admitted to this author that "I do hope these matches get a little less tense, for my own sake!" but was full of praise for everyone involved in the match - both his own players and the gallant, much-respected Ko-orenites. "Everybody rose to the occasion, particularly Graeme, he I think wanted to prove something after the last match and he was outstandingly good today. I think we were all looking forward to this match as soon as the schedule was announced! It never grows tiresome to play them, they are the spirit of cricket embodied as a team and our paths have intertwined so much...". Holt was rather more modest about his achievement - "well, it was going to be somebody, being the first does not necessarily mean being the best" - but was happy with the manner in which he and his comrades had played. "It was a really good, flat, perfect track out there, and, well, some days you can just see everything coming. It came really easily once I was settled in - once you get a rhythm going, you can almost bat on autopilot, and it was just a joy to be batting out there, with the people I was batting with".
There is little rest to be had for the Plough Islands; their attention now switches back to Folenisa and the next group game against Liventia, in what has now become a highly anticipated game between the only two sides left undefeated in Group A. The Foxes will be riding a wave of justified optimism following their performances thus far, but will have to dig deep to beat the hosts on not only their home soil but at what is widely seen as the nerve centre of Liventian cricket, but the last two games have only added to the evidence that, on their day, our small country are capable of competing with and beating anyone in the cricketing world. As always, Plough Islanders can follow the next steps on Kevin Laing's team's Liventian journey in these pages, or with Ian Goswell and Andrew Kulayev on Plough Radio from 8:00am Rushmori Eastern Time.

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR WORLD TROPHY VS.   LIVENTIA

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#10 G   Holt             LHB      
#12 AC  Leggett          RHB   RLB
#16 SLC Weaver           RHB   RLB
#2  RP  Aliyev           RHB      
#1  KCT Laing (c)        RHB   RMD
#6  AM  Donovan          RHB      
#7  AG  Fairfield        LHB   SLC
#5  TM  Bleasdale (w)    RHB      
#3  S   Ashe             RHB   ROB
#14 CG  McCarthy         RHB   RFM
#15 NA  Salisbury        LHB   SLA

[Liventia]

Matchday 4
Group A
Liventia 287/6 (50 overs)
The Plough Islands 291/4 (49.2 overs)
The Plough Islands win by six wickets with 4 balls to spare

Sajnur 248/4 (50 overs)
Damukuni 252/5 (45.1 overs)
Damukuni win by five wickets with 4.5 overs to spare

Eastfield Lodge 252/8 (50 overs)
Barunia 242/7 (50 overs)
Eastfield Lodge win by 10 runs

  Group A              Pld   W  T  L  Pts 
1 The Plough Islands     3   3  0  0    6
2 Liventia               4   3  0  1    6
3 Ko-oren                3   2  0  1    4
4 Damukuni               4   1  1  2    3
5 Barunia                4   1  0  3    2
  Eastfield Lodge        3   1  0  2    2
  Sajnur                 3   1  0  2    2

Group B
Teusland 275/5 (50 overs)
Lisander 319/5 (50 overs)
Lisander win by 44 runs

Mattijana 402/6 (50 overs)
Ethane 284/9 (50 overs)
Mattijana win by 118 runs

Elejamie 272/5 (50 overs)
Darmen 273/5 (47.2 overs)
Darmen win by five wickets with 3.4 overs to spare

  Group B              Pld   W  T  L  Pts 
1 Darmen                 4   3  0  1    6
2 Krytenia               3   2  0  1    4
  Mattijana              3   2  0  1    4
  Teusland               4   2  0  2    4
5 Ethane                 4   1  0  3    2
6 Elejamie               3   1  0  2    2
  Lisander               3   1  0  2    2

Group C
Holy Land of Burtander 322/7 (50 overs)
Sylestone 273/8 (50 overs)
Holy Land of Burtander win by 49 runs

Baggieland 376/7 (50 overs)
The Booter 280/9 (50 overs)
Baggieland win by 96 runs

Kriegiersien 276/5 (45.4 overs)
Jeckland 272/6 (50 overs)
Kriegiersien win by five wickets with 4.2 overs to spare

  Group C                Pld   W  D  L  Pts 
1 Baggieland               4   3  0  1    6
2 Kriegiersien             4   2  0  2    4
3 Holy Land of Burtander   4   2  0  2    4
  Jeckland                 4   2  0  2    4
5 Sylestone                4   2  0  2    4
6 The Booter               4   1  0  3    2

Group D
Bolgano 286/9 (50 overs)
Subramani 237/7 (50 overs)
Bolgano win by 49 runs

Northwest Kalactin 277/2 (42.5 overs)
Virtual Nerdania 275/7 (50 overs)
Northwest Kalactin win by eight wickets with 7.1 overs to spare

Serriel 287/7 (50 overs)
Martune 342/6 (50 overs)
Martune win by 55 runs

  Group D                Pld   W  D  L  Pts 
1 Martune                  4   4  0  0    8
2 Serriel                  4   3  0  1    6
3 Northwest Kalactin       4   2  0  2    4
4 Bolgano                  4   1  0  3    2
  Subramani                4   1  0  3    2
  Virtual Nerdania         4   1  0  3    2

Group E
New Maxwellia 283/7 (44.3 overs)
Notun Ahom 281/5 (50 overs)
New Maxwellia win by three wickets with 5.3 overs to spare

Anserisa 287/7 (50 overs)
Drew Durrnil 288/7 (41.3 overs)
Drew Durrnil win by three wickets with 8.3 overs to spare

New Lunenburg 325/6 (50 overs)
Samrakstivu 284/7 (50 overs)
New Lunenburg win by 41 runs

  Group E                Pld   W  D  L  Pts 
1 New Lunenburg            4   3  0  1    6
2 Notun Ahom               4   2  0  2    4
3 Samrakstivu              4   2  0  2    4
4 Drew Durrnil             4   2  0  2    4
5 New Maxwellia            4   2  0  2    4
6 Anserisa                 4   1  0  3    2

Group F
Ricardos7qm 233/9 (49 overs)
Waisnor 231/8 (50 overs)
Ricardos7qm win by one wicket with 6 balls to spare

Kohnhead 220/3 (50 overs)
The Sarian 224/4 (35.2 overs)
The Sarian win by six wickets with 14.4 overs to spare

The Jovannic 236/7 (50 overs)
The Grearish Union 302/5 (50 overs)
The Grearish Union win by 66 runs

  Group F                Pld   W  D  L  Pts 
1 The Grearish Union       4   3  0  1    6
2 The Sarian               4   3  0  1    6
3 Kohnhead                 4   2  0  2    4
  Waisnor                  4   2  0  2    4
5 The Jovannic             4   1  0  3    2
6 Ricardos7qm              4   1  0  3    2

[Kriegiersien]

“Did you understand?”
Captain Cothelstone starred at the Colonel and raised slowly his finger.
“Pardon. Let me repeat.
Major Pennywise was hit in the belly and after that you found out that he had some things missing down there… for a man….”
“Yes”, confirmed Captain Longbottom.
“Luckily that that didn’t happen to Major Cheese, who is pregnant, as we found out.”
“I figured that he was getting fatter very fast in the last months…”
“But we will handle that…”
“And on your birthday party, which was only for the ‘higher ranks’, the hired 'dancer' that jumped out of the cake was the mother of Major Palin who recognized her daughter…”
“That was an embarrassing moment…”
“And you all here are...what you want to say is that half of the force...all Majors, the Colonel and a Captain…”
“..and the Lieutenant, are women.”
“Oh”, said Captain Cothelstone.
“See, the funny thing is… “
He removed his moustache.
“I am a woman, too.”
“Full house”, remarked Captain Longbottom.
“I am not surprised anymore”, said the Colonel.
“At some point it gets clear, that the Multiverse has some agenda going on.”
“We found out that Mordbruck identifies as a female orc, too. But his species reproduces through spores, so that doesn’t mean much and his/her name is really Mordbruck”, added Major Idle.
“Oh, he is one of those Orcs. Interesting. I didn’t know that. And the Zombies?”
“Female of course, but there is not much that you want to see anymore. However Captain Francine...?”
“Yes.”
“Captain Francine Frank Cothelstone, you are the last of the five other captains we briefed separately before and in a not surprising twist of events...they are all woman. So the entire 42nd Loyal Regiment of the Mounted Mango Fusiliers here is female.”
“Gosh.”
“Do you understand what that means?”
“We .. are giving ourselves up?”
“Hell no! Excuse me.”
The Colonel straightened his uniform.

“No. No one tells anyone about this. We are staying in this disguise as before. Are you with us?”
Captain Cothelstone considered for a moment the options.
“Well, going back to my old job as tiler, naked in the burning sun of New Scorpion City is not what I prefer. Sir, becoming Captain Frank Cothelstone and joining the 42nd Mounted Mango Fusiliers after stealing a uniform from a theater, was the best decision of my life.”
“Very good. To the other point, you may have noticed that we are trying a bit more to better our cricket game…”
“And with good success, if I may say so.”
“Yes. And that is because we fear that, among others, the 43rd Fusiliers are jealous that they have no mounts, a smaller budget and less spiffy uniforms. They want us to fail here at these World Trophy and eradicated.”
“Because of a cricket match?”
“The president of our beloved nation has sometimes strange ideas and years ago losing in the quarterfinal or earlier in any sport was a reason to trial whole teams for treason.”
“So we have to get further? Oh my.”
“In the last years he didn’t care much, especially in non Olympic Sports. But if our sources are right and some people whisper in his ear that our failure has to be punished, no one knows what could happen. Our best option is to win as much as possible and then hope for the best.”
“Oh dear.”
“So, I just want to make sure that everyone grasps the gravity of the situation. We need to train harder and play a bit more … serious.”
“But isn’t the sovereign and relaxed kind we play the games expression of ourselves, of the art of the game?”
“Yes. And we shouldn’t lose that and who we are. And I don’t mean that we should cheat, or break the rules, but in all seriousness.. and with calm instinct.. bend them.”
“I don’t know if I understand that.”
“Just don’t be too fair and nice and let our key players do their thing. Oh and Mordbruck is on the extended list of substitutes, so she will play now for Major Cheese, who has tummy ache.”
“This beast playing with us? Well, if you say so.”
“Yes I do. Training in an hour. But first: Tea. Green leaf tea, aromatic, relaxing, the best there is…”

[Northwest Kalactin]

Northwest Kalactin 277/2 (42.5 overs)
Virtual Nerdania 275/7 (50 overs)

Batting
Campbell: 104-b. Bowler 1-LBW
Gonzalez: 78-b. Bowler 3-c Fielder 2
Powell: 55-not out
Griffin: 40-not out
Bowling
Green: 2-89
Adams: 1-67
Wood: 2-65
Lopez: 1-33
Campbell: 1-13
Griffin: 0-8

The game was a good one for the Kalactanian team as they batted second and beat the team from Virtual Nerdania by 8 wickets. The batting was on point for the Kalactanian team today especially for Craig Campbell who recorded his first ever century before being dismissed by Leg Before Wicket. Campbell also did some bowling today as he bowled for 3 overs before Justin Griffin came in to finish the game off for the team. Greg Green bowled 8 overs today and gave up the most runs out of all the bowlers, at 89. Joseph Gonzalez scored 78 runs before he was dismissed on a catch by the 3rd fielder for Virtual Nerdania. Powell and Griffin was the pair that finished the game for the Kalactanians today and they finished with 7.5 overs to spare. Overall, it was a relatively strong game for a team that was looking for a win today.

[Eastfield Lodge]

The Lodger Online Gazette

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Sport >>> Cricket >>> GCF ODI World Trophy

Sajnur narrowly prevail in low-scoring match

Sajnur 213/2 (48.3 overs)							
Eastfield Lodge 212/2 (50 overs)							
Sajnur win by seven wickets with 1.3 overs to spare							
@ Folenisa Cricket Ground, Folenisa							
							
Batsman			  Dismissal	Runs	Balls	S/R	4s	6s
AM Samsurov		    not out	82	131	62.60	3	2
W Leblanc	c Vurda	  b Burovin	21	30	70.00	2	0
C Bahri		lbw	    b Tijer	39	72	54.17	2	0
F Akhtar		    not out	56	67	83.58	3	1
K Forbes		did not bat	-	-			
D Khalil-Farran		did not bat	-	-			
M Waldron		did not bat	-	-			
W Ben			did not bat	-	-			
L Madi-Zaidi		did not bat	-	-			
R Hollis		did not bat	-	-			
R Sayman		did not bat	-	-			

Extras		       8wd, 2nb, 4b	14				
			      Score	212/2 (50 overs)

Bowler		O	M	R	Econ	W
N Burovin	10	2	32	3.20	1
Sirua		10	1	46	4.60	0
A Tijer		10	1	41	4.10	1
E Cazla		8	0	39	4.88	0
T Jorse		10	2	37	3.70	0
T Piqa		2	0	13	6.50	0

FOW: 41-1, 128-2
Batsman			     Dismissal	Runs	Balls	S/R	4s	6s
H Kotte		c Sayman  b Madi-Zaidi	4	9	44.44	0	0
G Fiume			       not out	92	164	56.10	3	1
D Zulje		c Forbes      b Hollis	45	58	77.59	1	1
T Piqa			       not out	60	60	100.00	3	2
S Tawas			   did not bat	-	-			
E Vurda			   did not bat	-	-			
T Jorse			   did not bat	-	-			
A Tijer			   did not bat	-	-			
E Cazla			   did not bat	-	-			
Sirua			   did not bat	-	-			
N Burovin		   did not bat	-	-			

Extras			     11wd, 1nb	12				
				 Score	213/2 (48.3 overs)
							
Bowler		O	M	R	Econ	W		
R Hollis	9.3	1	45	4.74	1		
L Madi-Zaidi	10	2	40	4.00	1		
W Ben		8	0	41	5.13	0		
R Sayman	9	0	38	4.22	0		
D Khalil-Farran	9	1	34	3.78	0		
M Waldron	3	0	15	5.00	0		

FOW: 5-1, 102-2

A late flurry of runs and a half century from Sajnur captain Tomas Piqa broke the deadlock in this tight second match of the opening group stage against Eastfield Lodge, as Folenisa's slow pitch heavily limited both scoring and wickets by both sides, looking destined to go down to the final ball.

Eastfield Lodge went into the second match of the top seed first group stage still smarting from a comprehensive loss at the hands of the host nation, whilst their opponents Sajnur were still fresh after having their bye in the first round of matches. Confidence wasn't high in the Eastfielder dressing room, and the state of the pitch didn't make things much better, as Sajnur won the toss, and elected to put the Eastfielders into bat. Abdul Majeed Samsurov and Wajdi Leblanc retained their spots at the top of the order, and managed the early pace bowling well, albeit slowly - Samsurov hit double figures with the first boundary of the match in the fourth over, sweeping Sirua out to fine leg for a 4. Leblanc followed closely behind the following over, sending Nikolas Burovin's full toss back the way it came. He also punished Sirua's no ball in the sixth over, clipping the free hit out to the boundary through cover. Leblanc didn't stay at the crease for much longer however, caught behind by Emre Vurda in the tenth over following a neat little outswinger from Burovin, curtailing the opening stand at 41 as the captain left the field with 21 runs to his name. Claribel Bahri came out, and alongside Samsurov the pair settled in for a long haul of singles.

The pair brought up 50 for the innings shortly after with a single to point from Bahri, before she picked up a boundary a few balls later off Alan Tijer, hooking his bouncer square for 4. The first six of the innings came off a loose ball from Elsa Cazla, Samsurov sending the ball over the ropes at long-on and beyond the fingertips of Sirua. The second 6 brought up the pair's 50 partnership, Samsurov again providing the fireworks as Sirua's full toss cleared the boundary rope at cow corner. The Sajnuran attack was having a hard time forcing the issue, struggling to find the edge of the bat consistently, although the fielders were doing well to limit the runs to singles, at best. The first real fielding mistake gave Samsurov a lifeline shortly after his half-century and the team's century was brought up, as he connected a thick top edge to Sirua's outswinging ball, only for Sajnuran opener Harry Kotte to drop an easy catch at point. The luck continued for the batting side as both batsmen survived lbw calls from the umpire - Bahri was found to have clipped the ball with a thin inside edge on review, whilst Samsurov was initially given out for a Tijer bowl that bounced off the surface, but was heading over the bails.

That luck didn't last, as Tijer got his revenge and trapped Bahri plumb with a perfect inswinger, sending the Benopia player back to the pavilion for 39. The score stood at 128-2, with just over 18 overs to play, as Farida Akhtar came out to bat, Samsurov at the crease with 58 to his name. Farida immediately stamped her intentions on the game, converting her second ball for a four the following over to get off the mark and hitting the otherwise efficient Taljo Jorse for a second 4 to finish that over. She managed to get away with her aggressive introduction as well, although she slowed down a bit after a pulling a hook shot straight to Tijer at deep square leg - her dismissal overturned by the no ball call from the umpire. Samsurov did his part to keep the total going, but he was beginning to tire from the mental effort, mishitting a few simple shots as the innings entered the final powerplay and losing out on the singles. As were the Sajnuran bowlers, it seemed, as Burovin sent a wild bouncer past Samsurov's shoulder, missed by Vurda and all the way to the boundary for 4 byes. He managed one last boundary to bring up the 200 mark for the innings, top edging Sajnuran captain Tomas Piqa down to the third man boundary in the 48th over. Akhtar grabbed another couple of boundaries both sides of that, hitting the final six of the innings a over earlier, as she elected for an audacious ramp shot off Jorse. And with the penultimate ball of the innings, she hit Tijer for four over point, bringing the Eastfielder innings to a close at 212-2. A very low score, but given the state of the pitch, quite possibly defensible.

And the defence started superbly well, as the team's new bowler grabbed an early breakthrough with a maiden and a wicket in the second over - Layton Madi-Zaidi peppering Kotte with a full length barrage before he hooked a short ball straight Ronan Sayman at mid-wicket, sending the opener back to the pavilion on 4. Unfortunately, that was possibly the peak of the Eastfielder defence, Gabriela Fiume and the new batsman Darjo Zulje putting up a tremendously tenacious display to stabilise that early Sajnuran wobble. The opening boundary of the innings did take a few over to materialise though, as Fiume clipped Wiktor Ben out past the third man on the boundary to take the score to 17-1. And in a portent of things to come, the following ball saw Fiume perform nearly the same shot, only this time straight at Montrell Waldron at gully, who dropped what should have been a simple catch. Fiume was spared, and she punished Ben again a few overs later, hitting the left arm bowler for a spectacular six back over the bowler's head. The pair looked in complete control, picking and choosing their shots and picking up singles at a steady, if slow rate.

The 50 partnership came and went in simple fashion, Zulje pushing a single out to mid-wicket, but he would ramp the pressure up with his next strike, this time flicking a wayward short ball from Sayman square for four. And a couple of overs later, Ben was again on the receiving end of a boundary, this time a free hit Zulje converted for six after Ben's no ball. There were some good shouts for the Eastfielders though - Madi-Zaidi twice came close to trapping Fiume lbw, but both overturned on review for narrowly missing the off-stump, before Hollis had an lbw review denied by umpire's call, her ball only clipping the top of the bails. In the end, it was a mistake from Zulje that got him out, as he inexplicably waved at a ball from Hollis that was going wide and caught by Kasib Forbes - a review from the bowling side found that Zulje had nicked an edge on its way through, and that was the end of the partnership, 3 runs short of a century stand with Zulje 5 short of his own half-century. Replacing Zulje would be the Sajnuran captain Piqa, with his side needing another 111 runs in the remaining 22 overs of the match.

Fiume however was still as stoic as ever, ringing up her half century the next over with a couple of well struck drives to the boundary fielders for 2 runs each. Piqa got up and running fairly quickly as well, as he grabbed a six of his own off Ben, striking him over the boundary at deep mid-wicket. Fiume grabbed her third boundary of the innings off Ben a couple of overs later with a four through fine leg; that ended up being his last over of the match given his poor and expensive bowling. Whilst Fiume was picking and choosing her battles, Piqa was gunning for it, albeit missing a lot of his shots - he was however dropped on 24 when he nearly holed out at long-off from Hollis, only for Madi-Zaidi's outstretched hand to fumble the catch. He wasn't put off by that near miss however, managing another pair of 4s in the following overs from both Walrdon and Sayman, before Fiume grabbed her fourth boundary of the match with a flick to fine leg. They were keeping the run rate in perfect sync with Eastfield Lodge's, and even this late on it looked like it was going all the way to the wire - the bowling side didn't help themselves when Khalil-Farran sent the ball careering towards the boundary late on, with 4 wides signalled by the umpire.

With 3 overs to go, Sajnur were on 198-2, with Fiume on 89 and Piqa on 48, their partnership hitting 89 at this point, and needing 15 off the remaining 18 balls. The first three balls from Madi-Zaidi went for nothing, well played yorkers that were smartly blocked, before Fiume flicked a wider ball out to the third man for 2 runs. She then grabbed another single, Piqa barely making it into the crease to avoid the run out, before the Sajnuran captain retained the bat for the next over as he too grabbed a single with a nudge out to cover. 11 needed from 12 balls. Rita Hollis stepped up to bowl, and in a cruel twist of fate, caught the inside edge of Piqa's bat, the ball racing away four 4 runs at fine leg and just beyond the reach of the covering Sayman. There was nothing lucky about the next shot though, Piqa advancing up the wicket and levelling the scores with a tremendous shot into the stands. All of a sudden, Sajnur just needed a run to win, with 10 balls and 8 spare wickets to get them in. They only needed one ball however, Piqa clearing the ball out to the square leg fielder and forcing the run through, Fiume barely making it at the strikers end. It was enough though, and Sajnur secured the win in their first match of the tournament, whilst consigning Eastfield Lodge to a second straight defeat - their bye round can't come soon enough it seems.

[Sylestone]

In matchday 4, the Sylestoneans were thoroughly outclassed by a strong Burtander side. They remained on the back foot during the entire game, but despite a late spree by Liam Afosha and a 150 from Lachlan Edwards, they remained behind. This means that their match against Baggieland is a must-win, but their spirit is high and they believe they can.

Joshua Vilesti took the big wicket of Scott Spanner on the first ball of the first over, but that was the only one for nearly forty overs more. Abraham Israel and Eric Reeves of Burtander, or the Canaries as they prefer to be called, both notched up centuries on the way to a brilliant 243-run partnership. For the first time in the competition, Broughton Hall's mystery spin was treated like toddlers bowling long hops. Only Norbert Pistecial, bowling accurate swingers, was spared. The Sylestoneans ran through seven bowlers but failed to break the partnership until finally, Norbert Pistecial broke through on the last ball of the 40th over. Then carnage ensued, with 79 runs coming off the final ten overs for five wickets. The Canaries finished their innings at 7/322 and leaving Sylestone with a formidable chase on their hands.

First Innings:
Scott Spanner 0(1) Bowled Vilesti
Eric Reeves 135(119) Caught & Bowled Pistecial
Abraham Israel 118(128) Caught O.Edwards Bowled Jonjaakh
Joshua Stryfe 3(5) Bowled Jonjaakh
Johnathan Buckstain 15(12) LBW Vilesti
Jeff McJohnson 10(14) Run Out L.Edwards
Khan Singh 2(4) Caught Tiati Bowled Vilesti
Joshua Jones 11(8) Not Out
Ben Flags 15(7) Not Out
Nick Coffee DNB
Lincoln McAfee DNB

Extras: 4 Byes, 5 Leg Byes, 4 Wides. Total: 13
Total: 7/322 (50)

Joshua Vilesti 9 - 0 - 56 - 3
Norbert Pistecial 10 - 0 - 38 - 1
Zangj Jonjaakh 8 - 0 - 48 - 2
Broughton Hall 6 - 0 - 49 - 0
Lachlan Edwards 7 - 0 - 45 - 0
Liam Afosha 8 - 0 - 60 - 0
Oliver Edwards 2 - 0 - 22 - 0

Sylestone started off strongly with a hundred-run opening stand, but when Tiati made fifty, Canary spinner Khan Singh dismissed him. Both Fomleya and Charlton were tied down by Singh's spin, too and struggled to score. Lachlan Edwards got to his second century of the tournament, and with Liam Afosha, smashed the bowling all around the park. However, Afosha was dismissed, and Sylestone collapsed to 8/273 after their fifty overs, with Lachlan Edwards making 151 Not Out and everyone else basically collapsing around him.

Luke Tiati 50(71) Caught & Bowled Singh
Lachlan Edwards 151(145) Not Out
Daniel Fomleya 7(30) Bowled Singh
Zachary Charlton 10(25) LBW Singh
Oliver Edwards 2(5) Bowled McAfee
Liam Afosha 30(17) Caught Israel Bowled McAfee
Jonah Appleby 1(3) Bowled Coffee
Norbert Pistecial 8(7) Bowled Coffee
Zangj Jonjaakh 4(4) Caught Reeves Bowled McAfee
Broughton Hall 0(1) Not Out

Extras: 0
Total: 8/273 (50)

Nick Coffee 10 - 0 - 41 - 2
Lincoln McAffee 10 - 0 - 56 - 3
Ben Flags 10 - 0 - 80 - 0
Abraham Israel 10 - 0 - 68 - 0
Khan Singh 10 - 0 - 28 - 3

After the game:
"Unfortunately we aren't necessarily satisfied with how we played our cricket today and it has seemingly put us in a pickle, but we are still confident we can make the top three and win our final game against ladder-leaders Baggieland." Lachlan Edwards said to the media afterwards.
"And how do you feel about the way you played?" Says a news reporter from Wolf Sports.
"The team is more important but I felt I played a good role today. However, if the team doesn't do well, I don't care how well I do. But to answer your question, I am pleased and I hope I can do more against Baggieland."
"And you have possibly another twenty years ahead of you? How do you feel about that?"
"I am excited for the future, I am looking forward to seeing how I turn out as a cricketer, but just focussing on this World Cup, and in particular, the game against Baggieland is my main priority now."
"Thank you for talking to us. Good luck against Baggieland tomorrow."
"Thank you."

[The Sarian]

De Telegraaf Sport presents...

THE OFF STUMP
The Rolling Cricket Blog

The Sarian versus Kohnhead: Three Takeaways

Now that is how you do it!
For all the dramatics of the Waisnor game, it was really a disappointment. The Sarian were running riot for the first twenty-five overs, but just managed to slug it over the line in the face of a not-particularly-well-disciplined bowling attack. Whether it was nerves or just a reversion to the mean, the coaching staff wouldn't have been doing their job if they didn't press that it was unacceptable once the jubilation of the final over had died down. The message sunk in. The Sarian started well, and had the stamina to keep it going for the full thirty-five innings (and two balls) that it took to get the job done. Lucie Snaijer led the charge, starting on the innings on strike and finishing the game with an excellent four - a beautiful top-edge sweep which just kept travelling. But she wasn't the only hero of the innings - Luuc Ouder got a respectable thirty-one from just twenty-five balls, which included five boundaries and Anders Ruitdekker's quality as a batsman was underlined at his disappointment of only(!) receiving forty-two. Of course, not all the credit can go to the batting - the bowlers did well to keep Kohnhead to 220. Whilst only three wickets were taken, the likes of Jon Sloote and Rajtsel Smid kept good economy. Particularly successful was the neutering of Bernardo Johnson - the Kohnhead captain was restricted to forty-eight, not out, despite being on the pitch for all of the fifty overs.

Time to jiggle the order?
It almost seems impolite to bring up when the team has won three on the trot, but some players are pulling their weight more than others. Whilst Anders Ruitdekker and Beau Bisschop have generally impressed at three and four, Luuc Ouder has been criticised as an opener and Flynn Pembeurtuon has been an easy wicket in all four games. Indeed, he is yet to top twenty. Whilst everyone likes to play as an armchair expert, there is something in the calls to move Bisschop into the opening slot. It could be a straight switch - Ouder could have a lot to offer in the number four slot or even moving him back to number five, where his higher run rate could give a good buffer if The Sarian need to get runs quickly. Pembeurton is a trickier problem to solve. On paper, he's a much better batsman than the players behind him. Plus, as the squad's only real wicketkeeper, the calls for him to be dropped entirely seem short-sighted. There could also be something to gain by switching out the all-rounder Bilie Moeris in exchange for a bowler - Wera Coupeur and Wilaam Kietlyng being the names which come up most frequently. Moeris has taken just one wicket in four games, albeit with a good economy rate. It would be a bold call, but going into the later rounds - if The Sarian get there - one that could pay fruit. On the other hand, there is a lot to be said about stability whilst the team is on a winning streak. I guess there are worse problems to have.

The spectre of the format looms large
Everyone knows that cricket can be a closed game at times. And not being a test playing nation, The Sarian have a longer ride to the knockout phase than the more distinguished sides. But as a result of the sides opening day defeat, the quest to get there could be much harder. Only the winners of each of the four bottom-seed groups progresses to the second group stage - where they will play the worst-three top seeds. The next two from each group go to a playoff to earn their place. There is some consonation in The Sarian camp because of this: you can make a mistake in a group game, but a playoff is less forgiving. And the team has already been shown that it can struggle when their is pressure added. In addition, there is growing concern that the team's playoff opponents could be Jeckland - a team with a rich cricketing heritage who have recently returned to international competition. Whilst the Spuds are well short of their best, it is not a prospect anyone is relishing. Of course, this is a lot of speculation. But with a lot of The Sarian's destiny outside of their hands, something has to fill the vacuum.

Kohnhead 220/3 (50 overs)
Jon Sloote 1/51

The Sarian 224/4 (35.2 overs)
Lucie Snaijer 77*

Kohnhead won the toss and elected to bat first
The Sarian win by six wickets with 14.4 overs to spare

[Martune]

Martune Scorecard

Batsman			  Dismissal	Runs
01. Daniels		  bowled  	 77
02. Dalton         	  bowled         88
03. Antonino		  caught         63
04. Gardener	          caught	 68	
05. Daniell		  run out	 9				
06. Garrett		  not out	 14				
07. Holland		  lbw	         2				
08. Garry		  not out    	 7				
09. McFay		  did not bat	 -				
10. Qadir		  did not bat	 -				
11. Alfarsi		  did not bat	 -				

Extras		       	      14, 6 wide, 5 byes, 3 no balls	
			      Score	342/6 (50 overs)

Bowler		O	R	W
Holland	        10	30	3
Garry		10	45	2
McFay		10	41	1
Qadir		10	59	1
Alfarsi		6	68	0
Antonino	4	44	0

Martune Top Order Leads Team In Huge Win
In a milestone victory for Martune cricket, Martune bested Serriel in a matchup that will most likely win them Group D. Once again, the top of the order hit big and garnered a huge lead which was promptly defended by the Martune bowling attack.
The Daniels/Dalton pair took off in the first few overs, totaling six 6s and five 4s within 15 overs. A method of unorthodox shots were used, including a flailing attempt at a helicopter shot by Dalton that would cost him a wicket and some pride. Gardener also had a good game to and notched himself another half century for the GCF ODI. The most notable performance came from recently demoted ex-VC Daniell who only managed 9 runs before being run out. The performance was seen by some as half hearted and lackluster; many are calling for the removal of Daniell from the starting lineup entirely. However, we have heard no word from Coach Swanson about any potential changes in the roster.
Sponsorship Bid?
Many companies and corporations are now competing to be the official sponsor of the National Martune Cricket Club. Notable pursuers such as Hershmee, Alligator-aid, and Red Boar have submitted huge sponsorship offers proceeding the win against Serriel. Many wonder how the extra money could be used to help the club, while many conspiracies online hint at embezzlement and siphoning of funds to the Prime Minister's offshore accounts. In the real world however, this is a huge step for the Martune international sports as many are looking to form new international sports teams, most notably a football club.

[Baggieland]

The Daily Boing

Matchday Four

Scorecard
Baggieland 376/7 (50 overs)
The Booter 280/9 (50 overs)


Batting
1. Billy Richards hit wicket 48
2. Reg Marshall lbw 51
3. Peter Mead caught 60
4. Richard Smith caught 104
5. Garry Greenidge (C) caught 81
6. Brian Parks (WK) bowled 5
7. Sam Udal bowled 7
8. Steve Warne not out 4
9. Michael Marshall not out 2
10. David Shackleton
11. Paul Sainsbury
Extras 14

Bowling
Sam Udal 5 – 66
Steve Warne 1 – 48
Michael Marshall 1 – 51
David Shackleton 1 – 58
Paul Sainsbury 1 – 57

Baggieland got back to winning ways with a 96 run victory over The Booter. Unlike in the last game, all five of the top order batsmen notched up decent scores, with Richard Smith the only one to go on and make a century. Sam Udal then produced a master-class in off-spin bowling to pick up five wickets to lead Baggieland to a comfortable win and back to the top of the group standings.

Booter won the toss and surprisingly asked Baggieland to bat first. The dusty pitch looked inviting to the batsmen, and later would aid the spinners, of which Baggieland has three world class ones. Richards and Reg Marshall began the day’s play and they were just short of their 100 run partnership when Marshall was trapped lbw. Shortly afterwards, Richards lost his wicket in a moment of indecision. He was looking to defend a delivery, when at the last moment, he changed his mind and decided to whack it. He was standing too close to the stumps and this last second shot selection resulted in his bat knocking the bails off. Mead and Smith were now in the middle and they were both playing some delightful shots, Mead in particular was giving the Booter bowlers and fielders a day to forget. He was eventually out when he tried to hit the ball for six back over the bowler’s head, but fell victim to a superb catch at long off, just inside the rope. Smith went on to reach a ton, but was out caught soon after. By this time Greenidge, who had replaced Mead, was already on his way to a half century. Parks and Udal both tried to support Greenidge, but gave their wickets away cheaply. Warne then came out and allowed Greenidge to keep the strike in order to reach 81 before he too was caught out. Warne and Michael Marshall then saw off the final over to end with a total of 376.

Michael Marshall and Shackleton then began Baggieland’s pace attack, but it wasn’t long until Greenidge asked his spinners to take over. Although The Booter were scoring at a good pace, the required run rate was creeping ever upwards. Udal, Warne and Sainsbury all took advantage of the dusty wicket to give The Booter batters all kinds of trouble. Udal was the pick of them as he came away with his first five wicket haul, Warne and Sainsbury also picked up a victim each. With the top and middle order gone, Greenidge recalled his fast bowlers for the final ten overs who terrified The Booter tail-enders, eventually picking up a wicket each. The Booter just about managed to complete their 50 overs, but it was an all-round solid performance from the Throstles.

With one more game left to play in the group stage, Baggieland will be supremely confident of progressing into the next round. Their batsmen are all scoring plenty of runs, and their bowlers are picking up plenty of wickets, however, anyone who watches Baggielandian cricket will feel that this group of players still haven’t hit top-gear yet and the best is yet to come from them.

G.C.F. Stats

Most runs
Billy Richards: 275
Peter Mead: 242
Reg Marshall: 210
Richard Smith: 201
Garry Greenidge: 200

Most wickets
Michael Marshall: 7
Sam Udal: 7
Paul Sainsbury: 4
David Shackleton 4
Steve Warne: 3

[The Jovannic]

The Jovannic lose, but lessons learnt: Mickey Tastudo
The Jovannic came to the match against the Grearish Union confident, but were outclassed. The Grearish Union batted first. We started off fine, with Mickey Tastudo bowling well to hold the Grearish Union to minimal runs. However, several weak bowls were all that was needed for the Grearish Union to push off to a far lead with 302 runs. The Jovannic tried hard but the Grearish Union was able to bowl well and hold them to 236 runs. Now there is no way for The Jovannic to reach the playoffs. However, Sale Miski is insistent that the team has not reached their best formation and team combination.

Team Upheaval imminent?
Sale Miski has hinted that many players may be dropped from the lineup and younger players may be put onto the Team. For example, Firtew has been rumored to be replacing Gelgan as the new Wicket Keeper. Salfar may replace Viso as a bowler, Fe Penu may permanently replace Marck Janjo as Batsman with his good performances. Tafoga may also replace the under performing Jan Clausineck.

The next match will be against Sarian. Many will hope for a final victory. Sale has said that there will be a new rigorous training schedule to train up consistency and performance. We go into the match as underdogs but The Jovannic will put up a very good fight.

[Holy Land of Burtander]

Canaries Improve to .500

Liventia

by Andrew Metcalf, HLBBC Sports

SCORE
Holy Land of Burtander 322/7 (50 overs)
Sylestone 273/8 (50 overs)
Holy Land of Burtander win by 49 runs

Eric Reeves and Abraham Israel combined for 243 in a stellar display of batting aptitude, propelling the Cricketing Canaries to a 322/7 innings.

The Canaries batted first, and the openers were Scott Spanner and Eric Reeves. Spanner attempted to play a shot on the first ball of the first over, and ended up losing a wicket. Asked about it after the game, Spanner said "it was just a very good ball, should have played it more defensively, you've just got to move on as a team." And move on they did.

Abraham Israel came in and immediately got to work with the bat, and along with Eric Reeves, the two dominated the Sylestone bowlers. However, after 135 runs off 119, at 39.5 overs, Reeves played a lofted delivery that was sent directly into the hands of swing bowler Norbert Pistecial. After netting another boundary, Abraham Israel was caught out after a poorly played drive landed directly in the hands of youngster Oliver Edwards, ending his day with 118 runs off of 128 balls. The rest of the innings took on a frenetic pace, ending with the team going 79 for 5 in the final ten overs. Burtander ended the innings with 322 runs, while giving up 7 wickets.

The Sylestone side went out with a lofty target set for them, and started off with a quick century from the partnership of Luke Tiati and Lachlan Edwards. The partnership was broken by Khan Singh. Singh followed up by dismissing Fomleya and Charlton. A pivotal moment would come when Liam Afosa had quickly ascended to 30 runs off of 16 balls, with Edwards reaching a century as well. Abraham Israel made a splendid catch near the boundary to dismiss Afosa, and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way, with the only solid performance on the batting side of Sylestone coming from Lachlan Edwards' wonderful 151 runs not out. Sylestone would fail to reach their target, finishing the day with 273 runs for 8 wickets.

After the conclusion of the matchup, captain Kahn Singh was quoted as saying "I'm really proud of the boys after a game like that, bowled a good innings on my side of things too, against a team that really put up a good fight." When asked about his thoughts on the team's prospects for the next round of the tournament, Singh said "So long as we win to finish this round, we should make it through." adding "If we don't make it through to the next round, we'll only have ourselves to blame."

Friday's must-win game will be broadcast on television by HLBBC Three and via streaming on sports.hlb and the BCB's website, check your local listings for more info. Radio broadcasts will be available on The National 99.9, and internet radio on The National's website.

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