GCF ODI World Trophy III [RP/Roster/Results]

[Rundel]

The Annasholm Sentinel

The cricketers of Rundel have begun their first excursion into the One-Day International format, defeated by Darmen in the fifty-overs game. "I am excited to log even more infrequent statistical achievements," claimed scorekeeper Vealun Gonzha. "Not only shall we encounter boundary-pushing, and -clearing, plays, the defensive styles espoused by our bowlers may even culminate in the appearance of multiple maidens. Giggity."

With Callo Kemdawn having retired after captaining the side for two Twenty20 tournaments, Wilk Eutaw steps up as the new captain. The pressure seems to have shaken him, as he had an underwhelming performance both as a batsman and bowler, but credited the team with maintaining cool heads. "Massoin didn't get a lot of opportunities to bat last time around and I think he's been keen to prove himself, he helped us stay in the game today," he reported.

Visiting fans were also impressed by the infrastructure at Venus Gardens. Nothing like it has ever been attempted here because there isn't enough sunlight to bother.

[The Plough Islands]

WORLD TROPHY: SAILOR'S CURSE FOR GNEJS AS FOXES CRUISE TO OPENING VICTORY
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, on Burnet Island

The Plough Islands' third World Trophy campaign began in Ko-oren today with what some would once have described as an omen. According to some historians, around the time that the islands were first settled by Captain Sutton's colonists, it was considered bad luck to shoot an albatross, and to do so would bring doom upon the perpetrator. While such superstitions have mostly foundered on the rocks of enlightenment in the year 2022, those of a nautical bent watching today's opening Group B game at Ruby Hills may well have feared for the soul of Gnejsian right-hander Göran Grums, though the batsman's victim in the 17th over of his team's innings was a mere seagull.
The incident came when Balthazar Berenz's men, having started well in their pursuit of the Foxes' 280, had been pegged back to 66-3 thanks to two quick Sarah Ashe wickets. Trying to get his bat on an Andrew Baxter delivery that angled across his body, Grums sent the ball into the air at a sharp angle and the unfortunate bird - one of a flock that had made the short glide inland to Burnet - likely never saw the ball coming. In the confusion afterwards, Tim Bleasdale instinctively lunged for both the ball and the gull as they fell together, and seemed to have actually taken the catch, but Laing did not join in the appeal and rushed to help Grums' partner Theodor Andersson attend to the avian casualty. There was nothing that could be done, however, and after a respectful silence, a change of ball, and some further discussion, the game went on. Bleasdale would later tell this author that "I got the ball cleanly, somehow, but I didn't know whether [umpire] Burnadette Taylor had called dead ball or not, and it was a really weak appeal and I didn't wanna be the one pushing it with a dead seagull right there, you know?", but it made little difference to the match; Grums, perhaps shaken by the incident, hesitated over the next delivery and was clean bowled.
The prophecy, such as it was, may have been a dark one, but the incident actually marked the start of something of a rally for the team in grey; next man in Glaucon Hansson, having seen what came before from the balcony, came out evidently determined to arrest the slide by blocking and defending any difficult balls that came his way. While he held down one end, Theodor Andersson began to rebuild at the other; showing good awareness of where his off stump was, he played only the shots he needed to, and played them well. The resurgence soon had Gnejs over 100, although just as they were beginning to approach a competitive scoring rate, disaster struck; of a more mundane variety this time, with Baxter sprinting from long off to cut off a Hansson front-foot drive and his throw finding both batsmen trying to make the same ground. With the left-hander gone for 18, Theodor was joined by his brother Mikael, who made a valiant attempt at picking up the pace; he played well against Dimitry Andreyev's pace and Ashe's offspin, forcing Laing to rethink his tactics as the runs began to trickle in steadily.
Eventually, Mikael pushed his luck a little too far and mistimed a pull shot, deflecting an Arnold Tyrie leg break onto his stumps for only the New Dalmatian's third One Day International wicket. Theodor, though, refused to fall or even kneel in the face of steadily more improbable required run rates, and if anything was playing better and more fluidly as a Gnejsian victory became less likely. Laing's tactics had switched to containing the right-hander with wide fields rather than trying to get him out, and when, with two overs remaining, he steered Baxter through the gully to reach three figures, the applause from the Plough Islanders was generous and genuine. He lost new partner Stian Kramp soon after, Ashe's third wicket of the match, but remained unbeaten on 107 at the end, and could justifiably have claimed to be the best player on either side today.
Theodor's heroics, and Grums' misfortune, had the effect of livening up a match that had until that point been mostly anodyne from the Plough Islander point of view. Having won the toss and opted to bat, Laing found himself having to bat rather sooner than intended, as the Foxes lost both openers cheaply; Audrey Leggett gloving Peter Klöver to second slip for seven, and Andrew Weaver's full length dive on 16 being beaten by the quick reactions of Tharysmachus Svensson behind the stumps. The Gnejsians, playing in their first international match, were briefly on cloud fourteen, but Laing and Tyrie dug in and steadied the Plough Islander innings, settling quickly on a rough pitch and beginning to accumulate runs. Tyrie in particular found the Gnejs medium pace attack easy pickings, finding the gaps in the field easily and racing towards his third ODI half century, but Berenz's team never let the game get away from them completely; Tyrie fell to a direct hit from the captain immediately after his milestone, and the wickets thereafter came at regular, if widely spaced, intervals.
It was Laing, returning after a long absence, that held the Plough Islands together; Klöver (2-43) and Kramp (2-72) gradually wore down the middle order, but none of the Gnejs bowlers really had a plan to deal with the Foxes captain, and he was virtually ever-present in a series of partnerships that stretched out the total. After putting on almost a hundred with Tyrie, he added 23 with Arthur Donovan, another half century with Andrew Fairfield, 30 with (and mostly contributed by) Bleasdale, and only finally fell when Mikael Andersson sneaked a delivery low past Laing's bat; Taylor's lbw decision looked dubious at first glance but television replays showed the ball in line with leg stump. As it happened, however, Laing's 82 - combined with some generously wide Gnejsian bowling - gave the Foxes enough of a margin on this pitch to be safe.
Laing greeted the result with both satisfaction and relief - "They fought really well, and their batting in particular holds up very well with any team I can remember playing" but, two hours later, the seagull incident was still the main topic of conversation. "I hope Göran is alright! I think we were all a bit shocked when it happened, I know I forgot cricket was happening for those few seconds. It is not the first time I had a match interrupted by something like that - the Foxdale Sports Club is right on the docks so you get a lot of seabirds there - but never at international level. It will take a little while for the image in my head to fade I will admit..."
There is precious little time for the Plough Islanders to recover though; within an hour of the match ending, the Foxes had started out to catch the ferry from Burnet to the mainland, to begin the long journey to Cirelbourne for their next game. They will be keen to maintain their good start - Laing spoke of "a strong feeling of unity and togetherness" among the squad as they had travelled from Llandy - against a Bollonich side recovering from a 110-run defeat to Indusse. For now, they will have to continue without Shauna Weaver and Jannie Hendricks, still getting back to training in Llandy, but it is otherwise a full-strength Plough Islands team heading east to Surbourneshire, and after today's performance, they will do so with a little more wind in their sails.

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR WORLD TROPHY VS.  BOLLONICH

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#12 BK  Scarbeck         RHB      
#10 AC  Leggett          RHB   RLB
#13 ADM Tyrie            RHB   RLB
#1  KCT Laing (c)        RHB   RMD
#7  AG  Fairfield        LHB   SLU
#5  TM  Bleasdale        RHB      
#9  IT  Lebed (w)        LHB      
#2  DV  Andreyev         RHB   RFM
#3  S   Ashe             RHB   ROB
#4  A   Baxter           RHB   RFS
#11 NA  Salisbury        LHB   SLA

[TJUN-ia]

After a long break, TJUN-ian cricket was ready to come alive once more. It certainly has been a while since the bats and stumps have come out for Bowlin' Jags but finally, Brookstation would be their home for the next few weeks as we tried to figure out a new 50 overs king or queen. We managed to nearly make the Super 8 on debut in a group with 5 others so no one really knew what to expect the 2nd time around in a group with 7 others but Virat Indushapa had confidence in Captain Joseph Gregorson and his men's abilities out on the green. Will this campaign be just as fruitful as the last? There was only one way to find out.

Goolsea Riverside Ground would host the first game against debutants Godchouzetsu, a seamers paradise due to how many swing balls can get here historically. TJUN-ia did win the toss and with the pitch conditions in mind, Gregorson opted to bowl first and sent the debutants into the swing zone in their first-ever game. As expected, the swing was certainly an issue here and the debutants certainly learned that the hard way in their innings. We traditionally used a 5-bowler attack of Ahmed Ali, Peter Kylasov, Esteban Soto, Rohit Rajpore and Roger Ntini and all five of them would contribute to one of the best innings they've ever bowled in any format. All you need to know is that maidens were plentiful, wickets were falling at a slow rhythm and the run rate would fall down to a slog - both via the inexperience of the batters and the swing our bowlers were producing from this pitch. Speaking of the bowlers, Kylasov managed the best numbers with 4-34 while the others did good enough as well, with Rajpore getting the final wicket in the end. 43.5 overs were played and poor Godchouzetsu only managed 180ao.

So, we would chase down a target of 181. Sounds easy, right? Well, this is the part where we remembered the pitch because now, we had to bat on that same pitch...and it was chaos. The debutants may have been inexperienced, but they weren't stupid - they saw what the swing was like and decided, smartly, to use it to their advantage. Our top order struggled - not in terms of scoring runs, but from avoiding being caught out as everyone aimed to make this job as quick as possible. 10 overs in and it was 65/5 and was 100/7 after 15...and then Gregorson was at the crease and decided that this opportunity for a win was not going to slip away this time. He managed a very strong 65* and while another wicket did fall, his efforts were enough to cross into 182/8 with 4 balls over a T20 limit - a 2-wicket win that was very convincing in some factors. It may not have felt like a convincing win all things considered, but the NRR of 5.206 says otherwise.

So yeah, we're top of the group...but for how long? We're off to the Spike Spiegel Stadium in Essidise up next with a date with debutants Sarzonia. No, we aren't going to use THAT GAME as a reason to hype up a game against the Stars...we've moved past that. From this point on, the only thing we care about in terms of the Stars in kicking their ass. GO BOWLIN' JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group D, Brookstation)
MD1: vs Godchouzetsu (UR) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea W by 2 Wickets (1st)
MD2: vs Sarzonia (UR) - Spike Spiegel Stadium, Essidise
MD3: vs StrayaRoos (UR) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea
MD4: vs The Sarian (2) - Spike Spiegel Stadium, Essidise
MD5: vs Gruenberg (5) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea
MD6: vs Samrif (UR) - Spike Spiegel Stadium, Essidise
MD7: vs Lisander (19) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea

[Kimi-Suomi]

Hei, ja tervetuloa Kriketti-ajatuksia! This is the show where we try to highlight cricket in Kimi-Suomi to a nation that may not be exactly familiar with the sport, while also highlighting how our Karhut does in GCF competitions. Cricket isn't exactly the most popular sport in this country, but the KSK managed to become affiliated with GCF in a way that allowed them to enter a team into this World Trophy. Now, our Karhut (managed by JYK-ien's Lorcán Ua Tuathail) find themselves in Ko-oren looking to try and do...something? I guess? The main aim was simply "win as much as possible" so...yeah. But now, it's time for your first lesson on how this sport works.

FORMAT/MUOTOILE
The basic rules of cricket are easy to understand - 11 players each, both teams bat at least once, 10 Wickets or all Overs played = end of innings, highest score after all innings wins, 6 balls = 1 over. Simple. But there are some other things that will need to be understood for a greater understanding of how Kriketti is played. Not all cricket games are played to the same length and in the GCF, there are 3 Formats that define this game.
Test/Testata - The longest and oldest format of the game. Both sides get 5 days to play 2 innings each, with two breaks available every day. Very tactical, everyone wears white and is mostly enjoyed by the hardcore fan.
One Day International (ODI)/Yksi Päivä Kansainvälinen (YPK) - The format of the World Trophy, which is what this competition is called. Designed to be played over 1 day, each side has 1 inning of 50 overs each. Sides usually wear simple coloured kits, there are powerplays involved and it is considered the best form by those who want to expand the game without forgetting tradition.
Twenty20 (T20)/Kaksikymmentä20 (K20) - If you want your cricket to be as long as a film, then this is the right place. 20 overs each means a greater emphasis on quick scoring and big plays, with vibrant kits and greater attention to atmosphere. If you want to introduce someone to the sport, then T20 is your best bet.

As you can see, we played fellow-debutant Delaclava at the Summerkind Oval in Willowbourne in what is known as YPK, which meant we both had a maximum of 50 overs each to try and put up the best score. Mika Linnankoski, our captain, won the toss and opted to bat first - which meant that both Albert Aaltonen and Wäinö Tykkä would try and start off the run-scoring here against the Meadowers. Our innings actually ended up going alright, as we put up a very competitive score and certainly put the pressure on Delaclava today. Alina Järnefelt would make history with our first ever century while our first ever half-century was achieved by Albert Aaltonen in the midst of two great top-order partnerships. Everyone else managed some steady runs as well and while Ferdi Barthel did manage 3-44 and get bowled all out with 7 balls to spare, we ended up with a final score of 322ao - certainly a good output in this format.

So, out came Roby Michaud and Fran Welley to try and chase down a target of 323 (our 322+1 of course). This part of the game was all about our bowlers trying to frustrate the opposition in any way they can and oh boy, they certainly did that. The key here would be Lina Lehtovaara, who not only managed to get our very first GCF wicket but also 3-36 - great figures overall. The runs chase was certainly stifled by our 6 options with the ball, Zhaib Magrew getting the Meadowers' best score of 44 and the total score started to look better and better in our favour as the overs went on. In the end, Delaclava ended up with a final score of 197/7 - meaning we managed to take a debut win by 125 runs.

A great performance to start with, but the road will certainly get tougher from here. Liventinen (or Liventia) are up next, a team in the Top 10 and considered a cricket powerhouse in all formats. The aim will not be to win...but to at least be respectable. Yritä edes. NOSTA KUIN KARHUT!

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SCHEDULE/AJOITTAA (Group A - Ko-oren)
MD1: vs Delaclava (UR) - Summerkind Oval, Willowbourne W by 125 runs/V 125 juoksulla
MD2: vs Liventinen [Liventia] (10) - Dawsend Oval, Idyllwild
MD3: vs Laukkumaa [Baggieland] (15) - Accord Oval, Oceanside
MD4: vs Goram (UR) - Goledon Oval, Bruncester
MD5: vs Kriegiersien (24) - Bwdellafon Parc, Mawrystwyth
MD6: vs Kryteninen [Krytenia] (1) - Southbight Ground, Ansonville
MD7: vs Milchama (UR) - Ocean Crest Oval, Penstead

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

SCROTON (UPA)—Nate Miller enters the tournament having never played a white ball game for Uncertainty. The desire to unify the Test and ODI captaincies means the skipper made his debut at Venus Gardens, and also led to the controversial omission of Tom James and Schalk de Villiers in order to accommodate Miller in the middle order. His first act was to lose the toss and Eastfield Lodge chose to bat first. Justin Arnold (2-51) was the pick of the bowlers, proving his red ball form translated to white, and accounted for both openers within the powerplay, helped by a good catch by Shahbaz Bahawalanzai (who otherwise had a sorry game behind the stumps, putting down two catches and fumbling a run-out chance) and a great catch by Miller at backward point. But Eastfield Lodge rebuilt through their middle order, adding 114 for the 3rd wicket and 118 for the 4th wicket. Worryingly for Miller, both spinners looked toothless, leaving questions about where he will turn with no other slow bowling options in the squad. After milking Thilakarathne Silva at a run-a-ball, Eastfield's 4th batter tamely hit back a caught-and-bowled chance, but their 5th batter continued the free scoring, swinging 3 sixes in a 68-ball 73. It took the seamers' return to restore some order and prevent Eastfield Lodge making the most of their solid basis. Eyeing a century, their third batter was well caught by a tumbling Naseem Latif in the covers, and Farooq Hasan finally located his yorker to remove their 5th batter's off stump. Farooq Hasan and Jannie Wessel added a second wicket apiece and two run-outs in the final over compounded the collapse, though 300 still looked a tough target on a pitch offering plenty to the seamers.

The reply began disastrously as poor calling from Shahbaz Bahawalanzai stranded Ariana Cooper to be run out on just 2. The stocky wicket-keeper attempted to make amends for having more success running out his teammates than opponents with some spirited bashing, however, and he and Jack Harper quickly added 50 for the 2nd wicket. They took 65 off the first 9 overs and forced Eastfield Lodge to turn to spin early, which brought immediate reward as Harper edged the first ball behind. Shahbaz Bahawalanzai, less comfortable with pace off the ball, had taken 40 off 30 balls but managed just 4 off the next 9 before being trapped in front. Miller's chance to establish his credentials came and went in a 9-ball cameo before he too fell LBW to spin. From 65-1, Uncertainty had collapsed to 95-4 against spin. Only Pranav Joshi looked comfortable, mixing good footwork with judicious sweeping to compile a patient 76 ball fifty, but as Jacques Van Jaarsveld struggled for fluency at the other end the required rate spiralled past 8 rpo. Eventually Van Jaarsveld fell, cutting too close to his body, having crawled contributed just 22 off 38 to the 57-run 5th wicket stand. Naseem Latif limped to 11 off 21 before being caught LBW as the seamers returned, but Joshi had begun to accelerate, finding the boundary regularly. Wessel, promoted ahead of Silva, stepped up with the bat, flaying 34 off 21, including two sixes. But as they scrambled for a dangerous second the big fast bowler struggled to make his ground and was well run out. A cramping Joshi tried to reach his hundred with a six but managed to find only the deep cover fielder. His fine innings had given his team a chance, but the lack of support compared to Eastfield Lodge's steady partnership building made it an effort in vain. A scrambled run-out -- the third of the innings -- accounted for Silva after a brief cameo of 12 off 8, and Arnold finished unbeaten on 27 off 19, striking 5 fours but left with too much to do.

The result leaves Uncertainty facing some ugly truths about their squad selection. Neither spinner seems a genuine first choice option, making the decision to leave Mukesh Abhijeet out perplexing, and Miller himself appears to unbalance the side as an extra middle order batter who doesn't bowl. There will be hopes that Harper, star of the last ODI Trophy, can recover his batting form, but questions too about what Van Jaarsveld, who bowled only 4 expensive overs and looked lost trying to work the spinners with the fielders out, offers that his young protege de Villiers does not. Arnold bowled well but Hasan lacked penetration, while some sloppy fielding cost valuable chances and poor running gave away needless wickets. A hasty recovery will be needed in order to avoid the same group stage exit as last time.

Eastfield Lodge 299-9 (50 overs) (Batter #3 98, Batter #5 73, Batter #4 61; Wessel 2-49)
Uncertainty 285-9 (50 overs) (Joshi 94; Spinner #1 3-52)
Eastfield Lodge win by 14 runs

[Gortolekua]

OOC: Many thanks to Sylestone for the help and guidance in making my very first ever scorecard! An American learning cricket? Who'd have thought?!

Gortolekua Batting
Batter                                        R   B  4s  6s   SR
G Bustillo       b Vobama                    49  60   2   0   81.67
H Wheelock       c Barracki b Obamnus        31  49   1   1   63.27
M Martel (c)     not out                    134 127   6   5  105.51
M Rachyl         lbw b O'Bama                40  49   3   1   81.63
K Lynwood        not out                     31  22   2   2  140.91
      EXTRAS     (1 b, 4 wd, 7 nb)           12
      TOTAL      for 3 wickets              297   (50 ov; 5.94 RPO)
Did not bat:   R Zavala, N Darnell, A Gore, G Slater, G Palmer, R Bone

FOW: 1-80 (H Wheelock, 17.1 overs); 2-109 (G Bustillo, 20.5 overs); 3-212 (M Rachyl, 40.2 overs)

West Barack and East Obama Bowling
Bowler              Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
A O'Bama             8   0  64  1      8  (3 nb)
K Obammus           10   0  86  1    8.6  (2 wd)
M Hobama            10   0  52  0    5.2  (2 nb, 1 wd)
S Obama             10   0  58  0    5.8  (2 nb, 1 wd)
T Vobama (c)        12   1  36  1      3  

West Barack and East Obama Batting   (Target: 298)
Batter                                        R   B  4s  6s   SR
R Obama-Paris    c Lynwood b Palmer          13  16   0   0   81.25
B Morris         b Slater                    10  11   0   0   90.91
Wong BM          c Rachyl b Gore             33  39   2   0   84.62
J Barracki       b Palmer                    13  17   1   0   76.47
A Obama          run out                     19  15   0   1  126.67
T Vobama (c)     not out                     55  65   1   2   84.62
S Obama          b Martel                    22  19   1   0  115.79
K Obammus        lbw b Palmer                10  11   0   0   90.91
P Obamahama      c Gore b Bone                7   8   0   0   87.5
A O'Bama         run out                     14  12   2   0  116.67
M Hobama         b Palmer                     0   1   0   0    
      EXTRAS     (2 b, 3 lb, 6 wd, 3 nb)     14
      TOTAL      all out                    210   (35.1 ov; 5.97 RPO)
               

FOW: 1-17 (B Morris, 3.5 overs); 2-29 (R Obama-Paris, 4.4 overs); 3-51 (J Barracki, 10 overs); 
     4-79 (A Obama, 14.3 overs); 5-97 (Wong BM, 17.5 overs); 6-129 (S Obama, 24 overs); 
     7-158 (K Obammus, 29.2 overs); 8-175 (P Obamahama, 31 overs); 9-203 (A O'Bama, 34 overs); 
     10-210 (M Hobama, 35.1 overs)

Gortolekua Bowling
Bowler              Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
M Martel (c)         5   0  35  1      7  (1 nb)
R Zavala             6   0  49  0   8.17  (2 wd, 1 nb)
A Gore               6   0  44  1   7.33  (1 nb)
G Slater             6   0  37  1   6.17  (3 wd)
G Palmer           7.1   1  12  4   1.67  
R Bone               5   0  28  1    5.6  (1 wd)

Venue: Shanahra Oval, Maethoru, Ko-oren
Match number: Match 8
Toss: Gortolekua won the toss and elected to bat
Season/Tournament: GCF ODI World Trophy III
Matchdays: Matchday One
Player of the Match: Marjorie Martel

Umpires: unknown
TV Umpire: unknown
Reserve Umpire: unknown
Match Referee: unknown
Match Result: Gortolekua win by 87 runs

---

"How's your arm, Mister Treasurer? Not too sore I hope following that performance, I bet!"

The television inside a Maethoru hotel room blared highlights from this first day of action at the ODI. Gavin Bustillo, the Cricket Board of Gortolekua's president and opening batsman, brought an icepack to Garnett Palmer, board treasurer and surprise star of the night.

"Four wickets on your own ain't too shabby, Mister President!"

Both of them laughed, as they cracked open a cold can of sparkling water—the brand was Nestiotza, known in Gortoleki circles for its can designed to resemble of one of the country's many IPA beers. That proved to be a hassle, however, when the squad had to convince Ko-orenite officials that it was literally just sparkling water and not beer. The cricket squad, after all, was the country's first ever representative to the rest of the world; imagine the controversy of smuggling illegal contraband into another country!

But it didn't matter now. Nectar of the gods in hand, metal to lip...ahhh.

"This, Gavin, is what I call the life," Garnett told the country's cricket president. Team captain Marjorie Martel, meanwhile, walks in to the room. She's tired, but she just hit for a century. Of course she's going to be happy—even if there's some salt from the team that a century is more impressive than four wickets.

"Before you say anything, you deserved player of the match, Garnett," Martel told her and Bustillo. "I'm not the reporter, blame whoever from Totegia is covering cricket now."

The three looked at each other for a minute. Low-volume Ko-orenite reports on the telly were the only thing keeping this room from being pin-drop silent.

The three all burst out in laughter, looking at each other. They had just beaten a squad in their first foray into multiversal cricket, much to their honest surprise. For cricketers that were barely that, this was a massive win. But the laughing subsided as all three looked at each other once again, this time with a fond appreciation for the road to here.

"Do you remember when we had to tell the cops this was art? And not a sport, back in the day?" Bustillo asked the two.

"I try not to," Palmer replied. "Those were dark days for all of us."

"I'm glad they're not here anymore," Martel chimed. "It's nice to finally be able to play cricket instead of presenting cricket as some sort of interpretive art piece. Us being here, after we had to figure out pirate radio to listen to this? This is beautiful."

"Cheers to that," Bustillo said. "Cheers to that."

Cans were hoisted to the air, as the three sipped on their sparkling water. To a brighter future, they all thought.

[West Barack and East Obama]

BBC OFFICIAL REPORT: Winter Lynxes Cause Obamen Jinxes with Mayara Routing

By Cricket Correspondent David B.O. Chase

Mayara, Ko-oren - West Barack and East Obama's chances of qualifying for the ODI III Knockout Rounds were heavily dampened today following a defeat against fellow unranked international team Gortolekua, with the Obamen embarrassingly losing all of their wickets. Badabing badaboom, just like that.

Unlike the game against Sylestone, this team of misfits and amateurs actually had a chance against Anaian ODI 6th placed team Gortolekua. The Gortoleki won the coin toss and elected to bat first. Things got really bad right off the bat, as yet another shameful bowling performance from the Obamen allowed the opening batsmen to rack up the runs. Mediocre half-arsed bowls from Stanley Obama, who clearly has forgotten what kind of playing field he's on, resulted in the Bustillo-Wheelock partnership scoring 80 runs in 17.1 overs, hardly the most auspicious start.

Skipper Vobama once again bailed out the Obamen with a fantastic ball that burst through the opening batsmen's defence and sent Wheelock packing. Not long after, Bustillo knocked the ball straight into Jenny Barracki's safe hands, with the Obamen sprinter proving more and more each day her capabilities as a catcher. A ball from Kate Obammus was the one that knocked Bustillo out, but that was the highlight of her abysmal performance that day, far from the one we saw against Sylestone. Hopefully her turnout as the worst bowler on the oval this match was her off-day.

Soon, Gortoleki captain Martel stepped up, and the Obamen were no match. While the Obamen catchers were running around like headless chickens trying to scramble his runs, Martel was effortlessly destroying the opposition, scoring five 6s and six 4s. It wasn't too long until they and their partner Rachyl brought the score up to 3-212 in 40.2 overs, which was much higher than the Obamen would have wanted but still achievable, and just needed to make sure that the opponents scored as little runs as possible in the next ten overs. Rachyl was out next from an Aidan O'bama throw, but Martel was still in the game and looked dead set for a century, which they achieved with a jaw-dropping 134 runs from 127 balls. The captain and Rachyl replacement Lynwood stayed on until the final ball, with their score being 3-297. Not the greatest of days for West Barack and East Obama's bowling, with the captain once again being the standout performer.

Soon, it was the Obamen's turn to bat. Unlike the match against Sylestone, the batters showed some urgency in their chase, with the opening batsmen Rachel Obama-Paris and Barack Morris achieving a run rate of 81 and 91 percent respectively. The attack mindedness of the two was ultimately their downfall, with most of the players being used to a very defensive style of play by this time. The score was 2-29 by the time the two opening batsmen were out, and this worrying trend continued for the rest of the match, with sloppy defending from the batsmen leading to more and more felling wickets.

By the 24th over, when Stanley Obama was out, the Obamen had achieved a score of 129, not too far off the Gortoleki's score at the same point in their inning, indicating that there was a chance that the Obamen could steal a victory from their remaining batters, consisting of the captain, the wicketkeeper and the bowlers. Trent Vobama continued his impressive batting form by hitting two 6s this time and scoring 55 runs. However, a comeback was not on the cards for the Obamen, as Gortoleki bowler Palmer had a field day destroying the amateurs. In particular, wicketkeeper Percival Obamahama only managed to survive 8 balls before going out, and 58 year old Hobama only survived one before the wicket fell right onto the ground with just under 15 overs to play. A devastating end to the match for the Obamen, who felt they could had achieved so much more, with the fall of wickets in both innings being the downfall for the team.

With defeats against home team Ko-oren and titans The Plough Islands, and lowest ranked team in the competition Indusse grabbing a victory against Bollonich, the Obamen will need to guarantee victory in their next four games (Sajnur, Gnejs, Bollonich and Indusse, probably not in the particular order) to get a snuff at qualifying. Obama-Hempstead better be a wise guy and get his team back on track if he doesn't want to be sent on a vacation to "Guanobamano Bay" after the competition ends.

[Krytenia]

Boisterous Bond Bludgeons Baggies
Angus Haggerston reports from Mawrystwyth

All the talk of selection, all the questions regarding the absence of Ryan Watling, all the fear of Krytenia falling flat as a result, all silenced in one ruthless performance from the Stars. Young quickie Mason Bond took centre stage as Krytenia methodically dismantled Baggieland with both ball and bat in a commanding performance at Bwdellafon Parc.

With the pitch looking pretty friendly, and the possibility of cloudy skies later in the day, the sensible decision for whoever won the toss would be to have a bat in the morning and hope that the conditions lend a hand in the afternoon. Lynton Saxon called correctly, and did just that.

The early exchanges made a few wonder if this was a mistake. Howard Tatton and Andrew Taylor started in their usual fashion, clipping the odd one or two as they looked to build a solid foundation for the Krytenian innings. Baggieland's attack bowling of Michael Marshall and David Shackleton, meanwhile, attempted to make life hard for the Krytenian openers with a nice variation of line and length, preventing either batsman from getting too comfortable. Shackleton especially was finding some nice movement off the seam, and it was this unpredictability in the bounce that did for Taylor. A delivery that broke away on the bounce led to the East Mercia man edging the ball into the waiting fingers of Richard Smith in the slips. Tatton would follow in the next over, being done over by the Marshalls; a mis-timed drive from Michael's delivery saw him toe-end the ball to Reg for a straightforward snaffle at mid-off.

Damon Stenson probably wasn't expecting to be making his debut with barely twenty runs on the board and a partner on just three, but that was the situation he found himself in when he came to the crease. It would be at this point that, if this were Ryan Watling, you'd expect attempted (and probably failed) GBH on the Baggieland bowling. Stenson, despite his tender years, is an entirely different animal. His gameplan was to keep the ball largely on the floor and thump it hard and low into the gaps. Combined with Ed Fenn's sublime talent for doing the same, the pair set about destroying the Throstles' bowling brick by brick. Marshall turning to the shorter stuff backfired almost immediately, Stenson sending the ball flying over deep backward square for Krytenia's first six of the innings.

Time for Baggieland to change up the bowling...to what turned out to be little effect, at least initially. Both Krytenian batters cruised into the thirties, and looked to be taking the game over the hills and far away before their opponents even had the chance to take the crease. That was, though, until Sam Udal turned one onto Fenn's pads. There was a moment's pause as Krytenia decided to review, with Fenn believing he'd got a bit of bat on it, but when the snickometer disagreed with Fenn's hypothesis, the Stars' primary danger was on his way back to the changing rooms.

Or so people thought. Stenson was still at the crease, of course, and he was now joined by former baseball player Diego Aquino. Between them, the pair continued to provide headaches for the Baggieland bowling. A sumptuous cover drive from a Paul Sainsbury powderpuff brought up a half century for the debutant, who drank in the applause. The very next ball, though, would prove to be his downfall. Caught out by the turn when coming down the wicket to meet the delivery, Stenson found himself in no-man's land as Brian Parks clipped off the bails. Stenson may have been disappointed in the way that he had left the middle, but a debut fifty at least offers promise for the future.

Coming in at six, then, would be Wes Kosta. The Krytenian wicket-keeper is an unassuming figure, happy to quietly set about his task whilst others collected the plaudits. Today, though, would be different. Kosta's safe pair of hands guided the ball effortlessly into space as he kept the scoreboard ticking over, and with Aquino set at the other end, it would take either an inspired moment from the Throstles or a howler from one of the Krytenians to break the partnership. It turned out to be the former. Looking for a big six to bring up a deserved fifty, Aquino lofted a Steve Warne delivery to deep extra cover. Shackleton leapt to catch on the boundary, but realising his momentum was carrying him beyond the rope, the Baggieland fielder instinctively tossed it in the direction of Billy Richards, who grabbed onto the ball to dismiss the dangerous Krytenian. Lynton Saxon was next in, but would depart without troubling the scorers courtesy of an inside edge onto his stumps. The captain shook his head at his poor fortune as he trudged back to the pavilion, and he wouldn't be the last.

With the big guns coming back to the forefront of the Baggieland attack, the Krytenian innings looked in danger of collapsing entirely. Gavin Udall had a quick cameo to show the duality of his batting ability, smashing Shackleton for a one-bounce four with one delivery before top-edging to Parks with the next, and with only three wickets left, the emphasis was more on the tail not getting out and allowing Kosta to do the heavy lifting. Mason Bond did a decent job of that, nurdling singles here and there as his team-mate powered past fifty, but he had no answer to a toe-crunching yorker from Michael Marshall. Lovatovic, too, managed to keep his nose clean for a while before becoming Shackleton's third victim. To be fair to the Krytenian seamer, it was a top-notch inswinger from the Baggielander, and would have given more prominent batters food for thought. As it was, Lovatovic's guard wasn't quite enough as the ball squeezed through the gap and dislodged middle and off stump, leaving the Stars with just Brigham the bunny to aid Kosta. In Hill's defence, he did manage to stay at the crease, allowing Kosta to add a few more runs to the score and bring Krytenia to a decent but gettable 261.

If Baggieland's opening bowling pair looked dangerous, then Krytenia's should have come with a large-print health warning with graphic photos. Both Udall and Bond are capable of sending the ball down the track at speeds of up to and above 150km/h; add some variance in line and length, and that's enough to make opposing batters wonder exactly which bit of protective equipment is going to be stress-tested with the next delivery. Suffice to say, the Baggieland openers were having some problems getting themselves settled. The run-rate was painfully slow, Richards was almost out on three after a thick edge just failed to carry to Tatton at second slip, and the men in navy could see the match starting to drift away.

The last thing they needed, then, was to lose an opener with relatively few runs on the board. Unfortunately for Baggieland, this is exactly what happened to Reg Marshall when he got his footwork all wrong attacking a slower one from Bond, departing for an inexpensive eighteen. To make matters worse, Udall was getting in on the action too, clean bowling Peter Mead with an absolute missile. The only surprise is that the stumps didn't catch light, such was the heat on the delivery.

Calmer heads ensued as Richard Smith joined Richards in the centre. The runs may not have been coming at a rate of knots, but wickets were at least a little more expensive. Richards was still adding in ones and twos; to his credit, though, Smith was at least trying to be aggressive, especially as the clouds started to roll in. Things seemed to be starting to get back on track...right up until the point when Smith flashed at a Lovatovic ball and succeeded only in clipping the ball into the hands of Andrew Taylor.

This brought in Baggieland captain Garry Greenidge, and a period of frustration for Krytenia's bowlers. Richards was still at the other end, still scoring at a snail's pace, whilst Greenidge was at least trying to be positive. Neither of them, though, seemed willing to give the bowling attack a sniff. Saxon rotated through himself, Hill, and Lovatovic looking for a breakthrough. There were even two overs from Ed Fenn; his slow right-hand nothingburger bowling, though, was very much not the answer, and when Greenidge clattered one over his head for Baggieland's only six of the innings, that idea was firmly filed in the drawer marked “Let Us Never Speak Of This Again.”

Krytenia finally managed to break the partnership with six and a half overs remaining. With the target in danger of disappearing over the horizon, Richards finally started opening up the bat. This ended up being his downfall. Attempting to hook one to the stands, Richards fell a little short, with Bond making an athletic diving catch at fine leg to send the opener back to the pavilion agonisingly short of his half-century. Greenidge, on the other hand, did at least pass fifty before becoming the architect of his own demise. Going for a run that just wasn't there, the captain was undone by a quick thinking grap and shy by Aquino, who landed a direct hit to effectively end the game as a contest.

Nobody had told Mason Bond of this last fact – or at least, if they had, he simply didn't care. The quickie set about mopping up the tail, and did so with a first for a Krytenian in one-day cricket. First, Parks was beaten all ends up by a rip-snorting 155km/h bullet, then Sam Udal got a thin edge on the next which Kosta swallowed up greedily. With the Krytie Krazies in the crowd willing him on at full volume, Bond then trapped Warne leg before to complete his hat-trick, the Stars team mobbing the young bowler as Warne quietly maed his way from the field.

The final throes of the game saw an odd dichotomy of bowling, with Udall dialling down on the pace and giving the tailenders some respite, whilst Bond continued to attack, looking to complete his five-for. Marshall and Shackleton weathered the storm, albeit well short of the target, to bring the match to a close. Bond's 4-38, combined with his excellent catch to dismiss Richards, earned him the player of the match award as Krytenia completed an effortless eighty-one run victory.

Krytenia travel east to Ansonville for their second game, facing one of the new boys in the form of Goram. On paper, this should be routine; the Goramites, however, will likely not feel that way, especially in the wake of a positive performance in their narrow defeat to Kriegersien. They'll want to upset the apple-cart by taking down the world number one, and the Stars will be under no illusions that this game will be a challenge, albeit one of a different kind. After this statement win, though, Krytenia will go in with high confidence; the trick will be making sure that that confidence does not turn into arrogance and lead to sloppy play. Lynton Saxon and the boys will still need to be on form, but we have seen what they are capable of, and another performance like this one will well and truly send a message to their rivals: The Stars are here to shine brightest of all.

KRYTENIA v BAGGIELAND (ODIWT4, GSMD1)
@ Bwdellafon Parc, Mawrystwyth, Ko-oren

KRYTENIA won toss and elected to bat

KRYTENIA innings, 261/9 (50)

HM Tatton      c R Marshall b M Marshall  11
ARD Taylor     c Smith b Shackleton        8
EL Fenn        lbw b Udal                 38
DN Stenson     st Parks b Sainsbury       52
DAR Aquino     c Richards b Warne         46
WS Kosta       not out                    76
LR Saxon       b M Marshall                0
GM Udall       c Parks b Shackleton        6
MFP Bond       lbw b M Marshall            9
OP Lovatovic   b Shackleton                5
BY Hill        not out                     2
Extras         2nb, 2w, 1b, 3lb            8

BOWLER         OV  RN  WK  ECON
S Udal         10  61   1  6.10
S Warne        10  64   1  6.40
M Marshall     10  51   3  5.10
D Shackleton   10  38   3  3.80
P Sainsbury    10  47   1  4.70


BAGGIELAND innings, 180/8 (50)

B Richards     c Bond b Saxon             48
R Marshall     lbw b Bond                 18
P Mead         b Udall                     7
R Smith        c Taylor b Lovatovic       30
G Greenidge    run out (Aquino)           51
B Parks        b Bond                      8
S Udal         c Kosta b Bond              0
S Warne        lbw b Bond                  0
M Marshall     not out                     2
D Shackleton   not out                     4
P Sainsbury
Extras         1nb, 2w, 4b, 5lb           12

BOWLER         OV  RN  WK  ECON
GM Udall       10  29   1  2.90
MFP Bond       10  38   4  3.80
LR Saxon        8  32   1  4.00
OP Lovatovic   10  36   1  3.60
BY Hill        10  42   1  4.20
EL Fenn         2  13   0  6.50


KRYTENIA won by 81 runs

[Gnejs]

The Port Kejm Sentinel

---

Cracquet

Perceived win actually loss – 3 out of 4 not able to comprehend cracquet scoring system
By: Demeter Husqvarna

Confusion was the name of the game yesterday, as an hitherto unseen gathering of up to seven Union cracquet fans loudly celebrated what they understood to be a decisive PUCK (Prosaiska Unionens Cracquet Klubb) victory in the opening game against the Foxes of the Plough Islands Cricket Association. Several complaints about noisy disturbances were made to the Port Kejm Police Department as loud singing of newfangled cracquet shanties such as “The Wicker Man” echoed between the buildings on the corner of Ringgata and Heimdalsgata.

The Sentinel caught up with a few of the fans – who are colloquially known as PUCKers – after most of the ruckus had died down, to get their take on the game. In a surprising turn of events, what fans had perceived as a win had actually been a loss, and it quickly became apparent that the rules and scoring system of cracquet – despite a thorough awareness campaign from the government – is still not quite clear amongst many Union citizens.

“What do you mean they lost?” asked Elias Stirner, a 25-year-old linguistics student at Port Kejm University. “Yeah, we did the calculations,” his friend Guro Hagga – a 28-year-old linguine student at the Waterfront Food Institute – continued enthusiastically, “and for the Foxes it was 279 divided by 8, multiplied with 50 overs divided by the run differential of 44, making 39,6 and that’s over the total of the PUCK’s (235/7)*(50/44), meaning we came away with the lowest penalty quotient and thereby got the full 150 points for catching the Golden Seagull.”

At this point, other fans joined in the discussion, and Guro was accused of forgetting to carry the run differential, although all agreed it had no real effect on the results, as the Golden Seagull sealed the deal conclusively regardless. It required numerous reports from different international news outlets for this Sentinel journalist to finally convince the PUCKers that their team had in fact lost, a fact they ultimately accepted with a quiet dignity. “Well, sometimes you eat the stumps, and sometimes the stumps eat you,” Elias said, before continuing, “But hey, at least our Friends in Baggieland won their opener; I’m sure we got the results right in that game.”

On the MD2, PUCK will be up against the hosts Ko-oren.

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[Darmen]

Darmeni National Cricket Team
presented by the
Darmeni Cricket Board

All-time ODI record

Opponent	   Pld  W  T  L
Ko-oren              4  3  0  1
Krytenia             3  2  0  1
Lisander             3  2  0  1
Barunia              3  1  0  2
The Plough Islands   3  1  0  2
Elejamie             1  1  0  0
Ethane               1  1  0  0
Indusse              1  1  0  0
Sajnur               1  1  0  0
Teusland             1  1  0  0
TJUN-ia              1  1  0  0
Gruenberg            1  0  0  1
Mattijana            1  0  0  1
Saint-Domingue       1  0  0  1
Sylestone            1  0  0  1
The Sarian           1  0  0  1
OVERALL             27 15  0 12

The Selection Committee of the Darmeni Cricket Board has announced the fifteen player squad that will contest the third edition of the GCF ODI World Trophy, to be held in Brookstation and Ko-oren.

Batsmen
Máel Sechlainn Brice - Right-handed Batsman - 28 years old - Vogler City CC
Yet to make ODI debut
Brice has yet to appear in an ODI, but make no mistake, he's an experienced international cricketer now who has opened the batting for the Test team and looked sharp doing it. Generally viewed as more consistent than the man he has replaced, Vinnie Acker, Brice is the perfect opening partner for his captain, Winter.

Sigmund Winter (Captain) - Right-handed Batsman - 34 years old - Bloomer CC
27 matches; 913 runs @ avg. of 33.81, 105 x 4’s & 21 x 6’s, 5 x 50’s, HS of 93; 3.0 overs bowled, 0 wickets @ avg. of ∞
His leadership has always outshined his skill with the bat, but his scores have slowly climbed to higher totals as he's gained more experience in the one-day format. Nevertheless, he's still liable to give up his wicket cheaply on occasion and Darmen still largely relies on their middle-order for runs. Winter also bowls very occasional right handed medium pace bowling, but when he takes the ball, it usually means one of the bowlers has been injured.

Theudofrid Milligan - Right-handed Batsman - 30 years old - Romanopolis CC
27 matches; 1328 runs @ avg. of 60.36, 145 x 4’s & 19 x 6’s, 11 x 50’s, 3 x 100’s, HS of 104
Milligan is inarguably Darmen's best batsman. While he's known for his incredible patience in first-class matches, he's also shown that he's adaptable to the needs of limited overs cricket. Any score of less than 20 is a bad day for Milligan and likely for the team as a whole. He generally bats third and is incredibly averse of risky shot selection.

Winston van der Zee - Right-handed Batsman - 29 years old - Hendricks City CC
24 matches; 1072 runs @ avg. of 48.73, 121 x 4’s & 43 x 6’s, 8 x 50’s, 3 x 100’s, HS of 107
van der Zee might not be Darmen's best batsman, but he is certainly the flashiest and most exciting. His 43 maximums are over twice that of the next highest batsman (Winter) and are a sure indicator that van der Zee is the opposite of Milligan. Where Milligan is always looking for gaps in the field through which to direct his shots, van der Zee is trying to clear the rope first and ask questions of the opponent's fielders later. When it works, its riveting to watch; when it doesn't, welp. Generally bats fourth.

Kenny O’Callaghan - Right-handed Batsman - 25 years old - Bloomer CC
16 matches; 487 runs @ avg. of 44.27, 62 x 4’s & 9 x 6’s, 2 x 50’s, HS of 88*
O'Callaghan has now firmly supplanted Ready in the limited overs setup for Darmen. The twenty-five year old is the most adept runner between the wickets for Darmen, which either means an extra run gets scored when you might not expect it, or his batting partner gets sold down the river. Generally bats sixth.

Ellar Ready - Right-handed Batsman - 30 years old - Sterling City CC
11 matches; 353 runs @ avg. of 39.22, 41 x 4’s & 7 x 6’s, 2 x 50’s, HS of 81
Ready is not content to remain on the bench all tournament and will be chomping at the bit should he receive any chance to impress the selectors and win back his spot in the starting XI from O'Callaghan. It's at least an improvement for him that he's even been named to the team for the ODI's, as he was not named to the roster for either the 2nd World Trophy or 14th T20 Championship. Will bat between fourth and sixth when included in the starting XI.

All-rounders
Bud Bachmann (Vice-Captain) - Right-handed All-rounder - Bowls right fast - 26 years old - Johnho CC
20 matches; 487 runs @ avg. of 48.70, 60 x 4’s & 7 x 6’s, 3 x 50’s, HS of 64*; 196.0 overs bowled, 26 wickets @ avg. of 40.08, 16 maidens
Bachmann has always been touted as Darmen's next cricketing super star, but has yet to fully live up to that hope. Solid with the bat and in the field, his bowling is where improvements need to be made. He's been given the vice-captaincy this tournament, mostly because someone was needed to replace the retired Dorian Myers in the role but also it is hoped that putting him in a leadership position can help spur him on to greater success. Generally bats fifth and bowls following the power play.

Wicket-keepers
Justin Beckett - Left-handed Wicket-keeper - 26 years old - Romanopolis CC
11 matches; 174 runs @ avg. of 29.00, 18 x 4’s & 4 x 6’s, HS of 45*
Beckett is for sure better with the gloves behind the wicket than he is with the bat in front of it. His quick reflexes, particularly when collecting spin bowling, make opposing batters nervous of being stumped. Darmen's reliance on pace bowling however makes actual stumpings a rare occurrence. Generally bats seventh.

Caerwyn Rodgers - Right-handed Wicket-keeper - 25 years old - Starburg CC
Yet to make ODI debut
Rodgers has found himself in the same position Beckett used to occupy, the heir apparent wicket-keeper who has to wait patiently behind the first choice for any playing time and a chance to impress the selectors. Allegedly better with the bat than Beckett, although no one's actually certain of that just yet.

Bowlers
Corwin McAlister - Right-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls right fast - 30 years old - Bloomer CC
27 matches; 264.0 overs bowled, 43 wickets @ avg. of 34.70, 2 5wI, 19 maidens; 163 runs @ avg. of 12.54, 14 x 4’s & 4 x 6’s, HS of 22
McAlister is now Darmen's primary wicket taker following Dorian Myers' retirement. Despite his solid record of 43 wickets at an average of 34.70 McAlister's knack of bowling wides when under pressure and his questionable ability to deal with pressure in the first place raise doubts about the overall health of Darmen's bowling attack. Will open the bowling and continue for five overs or so, before bowling his remaining overs at the death; he generally bats eighth.

Kieran Rosenfeld - Right-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls right fast-medium - 28 years old - Romanopolis CC
12 matches; 115.2 overs bowled, 13 wickets @ avg. of 46.49, 8 maidens; 26 runs @ avg. of 6.50, 2 x 4’s & 1 x 6’s, HS of 10
For some time now, Rosenfeld's inclusion in the starting XI has been questioned, but it looks safe for now. Not nearly as fast as McAlister, Rosenfeld is more accurate and far less likely to give up cheap extras. Rosenfeld will take the new ball from the opposite end as McAlister and normally bowls his full ten before the thirtieth over or so. Generally bats ninth.

Alf Dickenson - Left-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls left fast-medium - 29 years old - Brham CC
23 matches; 228.0 overs bowled, 31 wickets @ avg. of 41.84, 14 maidens; 6 runs @ avg. of 2.00, HS of 4*
Like Rosenfeld, Dickenson has always been fighting to maintain his spot in the starting XI. While his spot in the team looks safe for now, it only takes one or two bad matches for that to change. Bowls the middle overs and generally bats tenth.

Ilia Snelling - Left-handed Spin Bowler - Bowls slow left-arm wrist-spin - 30 years old - Romanopolis CC
3 matches; 29.2 overs bowled, 5 wickets @ avg. of 31.60, 1 maiden; 2 runs @ avg. of 1.00, HS of 1
The only spin bowler in the starting XI, Snelling has big shoes to fill following the retirement of Dorian Myers. Normally, Snelling doesn't bowl until after the powerplay and does so whenever Winter thinks the match calls for it. Generally bats eleventh.

Gregor Bean - Left-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls left fast - 24 years old - Menomonie CC
Yet to make ODI debut
"Give'r the beans!" as they say. Bean bowls a straight express ball, rarely producing any swing and likes to nibble at batters feet with his dangerous yorker deliveries. Or it all goes horribly wrong and his full toss nearly takes off the opposing batter's head before he gets yelled at by the umpire.

Jean-François Simonson - Right-handed Spin Bowler - Bowls off break - 23 years old - Cosmopolitan CC
Yet to make ODI debut
If conditions call for a second spin bowler, Simonson is the only option. The youngest player on the team, Simonson is known for his jovial attitude and he neither engages in, or is impressed by, sledging.

Style Modifier: +1
RP Permissions: No killing or other serious life altering events. If you create a scorecard for your team, please also create one for mine too. Otherwise, have fun!

[Ko-oren]

The opener for the ODI World Trophy on home soil is over, and what an opener it was. Ko-orenite teams rarely have to deal with the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd during major tournaments... across almost all sports. Except cricket. Because half of our Tests are at home, and we've hosted the T20 World Cup in the past as well. It's good to see that that kind of pressure doesn't get to us.

One bonus of the way cricket is set up, is that you run into the same teams quite frequently. The same thing can also be a downside, sure, but more often than not you get quality opposition that you have some history against, even in a format that we haven't explored that much yet. We have played Sajnur once before, in a win for us. This group stage, we will also play our second match versus the Plough Islands and Indusse in an ODI WT - the rest are new to us.

Ko-oren 315/3 (50 overs)
Sajnur 223 (46.2 overs)

The right-handers dominated the Ko-orenite batting order, with Twaddle and Leaby marching out of the Timberton Oval pavilion. In fact, Meredith and the staff rolled with the exact starting order that was communicated ahead of the tournament, including just Taylor as the only leftie. "We're well aware of the disparity, and we're going to roll with what works," Meredith told the press days before 'kickoff'. Whether it was a risk worth taking versus one of the highest ranked teams in the tournament, was parried, responding "Obviously Sajnur have a strong team that we're not underestimating. However, all we've seen from them indicates that they will also not bring a lot of lefties to the table."

And that's exactly what happened.

Just like Taylor was the only left-handed bowler (or teammate in general) of Ko-oren, Sajnur only played Cazla as part of the bowling attack, the left-handed orthodox spinner. Sure, that's a dangerous delivery to right-handers, who naturally push the ball into the slips if not careful. Still, Sajnur started with Tijer and Harrison, both right-handed pacers, hoping to survive powerplay with little damage. Twaddle didn't agree, and while not finding the boundary from the first over, he eased into the conditions very quickly and made the powerplay count - he was also dropped by Tawas in the infield early on, and if it wasn't for that this match would've looked very differently. Leaby initially tried to return the strike to Twaddle, but also contributed. Twaddle wouldn't survive powerplay, however. In the eighth over, Tijer had him nudge one to Berrisk. Two deliveries later, Leaby was deceived in an identical way: Tijer took two huge wickets, fairly early on, but after the openers did what they had to. Pardey and ySalw did everything to find runs late in the powerplay, and after 10 overs, it was 2-79, not a bad start.

After that, what do you do? Try to keep the powerplay 'vibes' going, or reel in and protect the wicket?

ySalw did the former, Pardey the latter. Ironically it was Pardey who didn't survive much longer, with Cazla, now on the attack, getting Pardey to chase a ball beyond off stump. Caught in the slips by Zulje. After that, ySalw and Risewell slowed down when Cazla was in at the Exhibition end, but really stretched the fielding when some poor pacer bowled from the Berks end. After a brief lull, the duo got the run rate back up, racing to 100, 200, then 300, as a partnership that's already in the books for the best Ko-orenite one in WT ODI history. ySalw would end at 115, Risewell at 87. ySalw's debut was a memorable one - and potentially the start of a long, prolific career.

Before long, the parade of fours was done and Kotte and Fiume came out for Sajnur. Their old-ish team, visibly banking on established commodities and experience, seemingly lacks some fresh blood to keep the team running for years and years. The Dragonflies are on the opposite side of that graph, selecting mostly younger players to create a core that can carry us for the next few ODI tournaments. Either way, Magcay and Smith started off hammering away at the wicket. With a target of over 300 staring them down, Kotte and Fiume were a little on edge to get going, and while they survived a few overs of pace bowling, the introduction of yLellmedd threw them off their game. The rhythm was off, there was quite a bit of movement (as Cazla had shown earlier on the day) as the pitch started deteriorating a tiny little bit - but that still left us better off. Kotte, left-handed, hacked away and chased a ball all the way beyond off-stump - an easy catch at point. Captain Piqa went for a duck next ball. Tawas and Fiume allowed the visiting fans some reprise, but Smith broke up their partnership with a slower delivery to the pads. Now trying to salvage the innings as much as possible, but still with some quality batting options, it was Tawas and Jorse. If anything, the left-right-left-right alternating batting lineup meant that Meredith and co had to switch up their fielding almost every ball, but the fielders happily did so (Meredith didn't, as the wicketkeeper, of course). Giving up a few fours with the inevitable gaps in fielding, sure, but ultimately creating a lot of will-he-won't-he-raise-his-finger situations. Every over had at least one moment where a Ko-orenite bowler was beside himself shouting anywhere from "HOW IS THAT" to "HOWAAAAA". Enright had Jorse on the ropes, but couldn't finish the job. Smith came in to clean up that wicket, and then Enright had his moments, taking Zulje, Tijer, and Cazla in his next three overs. Harrison and Sirua were tenacious, batting more for NRR purposes at this point, and Taylor came into the rotation which opened up opportunities for the visitors.

(It'll take some getting used to to call all of our opponents 'visitors'.)

A few overs later, both Harrison and Sirua, too, lost their wickets. A comprehensive victory for Ko-oren, and some great things to look forward to.

---

Indusse towers above Kimi-Suomi's 322 and Milchama's 327 to set the highest target of the Ko-orenite half so far, at 330, something the Bollonich squad couldn't overcome in a loss by over 100 runs. The Plough Islands are enjoying their first match here, meeting an impressive Gnejs side (for such a new team) but claiming the victory on runs. Gortolekua also set an insurmountable target - so all four results in Group B so far have been wins by runs - aka, the first innings. Group A had one successful chase, in the Goram-Kriegiersien match. Let's hope that the team batting second will have more of a chance in upcoming rounds.

---

Batting order vs Gnejs:

Twaddle, Penn, Pardey, ySalw, Risewell, Barklas, Meredith, Enright, Courtenay, yLellmedd, Smith.

[Brookstation]

MATCHDAY 2-KO-OREN HALF

GROUP A
Delaclava 430/9 (50 overs)
Kriegiersien  295/5 (50 overs)

Krytenia 220/7 (50 overs)
Goram 319/6 (50 overs)

Milchama 194/5 (31.3 overs)
Baggieland 191/6 (50 overs)

Kimi-Suomi 248/9 (50 overs)
Liventia 257/7 (50 overs)

  GROUP A                       Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts   NRR
1 Milchama                        2   2  0  0  521 457 +64    4   1.823
2 Kimi-Suomi                      2   1  0  1  570 454 +116   2   1.16 
3 Goram                           2   1  0  1  573 475 +98    2   0.948
4 Delaclava                       2   1  0  1  627 617 +10    2   0.1
5 Krytenia                        2   1  0  1  481 499 −18    2   -0.18
6 Liventia                        2   1  0  1  523 575 −52    2   -0.52
7 Kriegiersien                    2   1  0  1  550 684 −134   2   -1.303
8 Baggieland                      2   0  0  2  371 455 −84    0   -1.823

GROUP B
Indusse 249/7 (50 overs)
West Barack and East Obama 253/6 (49.3 overs)

Sajnur 210/8 (50 overs)
Gortolekua 214/7 (47.1 overs)

Gnejs 196/6 (40.5 overs)
Ko-oren 194/9 (50 overs)

Bollonich 270/7 (50 overs)
The Plough Islands 323/9 (50 overs)

  GROUP B                       Pld   W  D  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts    NRR 
1 The Plough Islands              2   2  0  0  602 505 +97    4    1.059 
2 Gortolekua                      2   2  0  0  511 420 +91    4    0.97 
3 Indusse                         2   1  0  1  578 472 +106   2    1.036
4 Ko-oren                         2   1  0  1  509 419 +90    2    0.477  
5 Gnejs                           2   1  0  1  431 473 −42    2    0.015
6 West Barack and East Obama      2   1  0  1  463 546 −83    2    -0.807
7 Sajnur                          2   0  0  2  433 529 −96    0    -1.114
8 Bollonich                       2   0  0  2  489 652 −163   0    -1.63

[Brookstation]

"Come on boys, only 3 more runs needed." shouted coach Hartshorn. Usually no one should be panicking at this situation. Not being able to score 3 runs within 6 overs is practically impossible. Even if the team defended each and every ball, they would've won. The factor that worried coach Hartshorn was the number of wickets in hand. Robbie had played a brilliant innings and despite of being a bowler, he managed to put a score of 19 runs but on the other side was Jimmy Montgomery, a hard hitter who had only scored 2 runs in 5 balls. If either of their wicket were to fall, the team would be dismantled. Captain de Vries ran up and delivered a short length inswinger which was left by Montgomery. The eagerness was visible in Jimmy's face. He wanted to finish the match as soon as possible and go back to the dressing room to change and take a shower. Montgomery had become one of the most celebrated players in Brookstation and he was undoubtedly the man of the day. He was the one who dropped the wickets of openers Haak and Romedahl early in the game which was a serious blow to the Cyborg Holland team. Apart from the three wicket streak, Montgomery was also able to maintain an economy of 3.8.

de Vries bowled another inswinger. Jimmy had made up his mind, he wasn't going to defend every other ball. Jimmy stepped up and cut the ball towards the far end of the field, giving him enough time to run between the wickets twice. The scores were equal and only one more run was required to finish the match. de Vries bowled a reluctant bland ball which was easily driven by Jimmy for a single.
"Fuck, finally. What a relief."
Jimmy wanted to rush to the dressing room and lie under the conditioner but fortune didn't favour him. As soon as the match was over, he firstly had to shake hands with 30 other people before being able to cross the crease and after crossing the crease and successfully avoid coach Hartshorn who would otherwise give him a 5 minute lecture, fans from every direction started chanting his name over and over again. He could not help but give his fans some attention. He took out his jersey and threw it at the crowd. On turning around, he was greeted by the media, something which he always hated and before he could avoid it, a reporter asked: "How do you feel about today's match ?"
"It's obvious enough that I am happy although my looks doesn't tell that at the the moment. It is really good to play in front of your home audience and a positive start to the world cup was always something we aimed for."
"What was at the back of your mind throughout the game ?"
"As I said, the main objective was to win but we always wanted to restrict them to a low score as we were the fielding side so I guess we did pretty well. The Gardens has always been my home and the pitch loves me."
"Will we win against Eastfield Lodge ?"
"I mean if I knew the answer, I would've told ya'll long ago but we don't know what lies ahead of us. Eastfield Lodge is a well experienced team in the sport and has a rank way higher than us. The fact that their experience would aid them can't be denied but again we have the support of our people. Eastfield has a match coming up against Uncertainty and that would give us a more lucid idea on the team. Enough for today, now I gotta leave."

Cyborg Holland Batting
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
O Haak             c Kishibe b Montgomery        34  49   4   0   69.39
J Romedahl         lbw b Montgomery              16  17   1   0   94.12
K Jorgensen        c&b Shade                     90 109   8   2   82.57
J Smithe           c Mari b Makavilitogia         9  21   0   0   42.86
L de Beer          lbw b Robbie                  12  18   1   0   66.67
A Pietersen        c Winter b Robbie              7   7   1   0  100
G Vossen           b Montgomery                  37  43   4   1   86.05
K Daube            c Brankovic b Winter          27  33   1   1   81.82
P de Vries         b Winter                       1   1   0   0  100
M Sørensen         c Brankovic b Robbie           0   1   0   0    
T de Bruyn         not out                        0   1   0   0    
       EXTRAS      (5 wd, 2 nb)                   7
       TOTAL       all out                      240   (49.4 ov; 4.83 RPO)
                 

Brookstation Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
J Montgomery          10   2  38  3    3.8  
ND Winter             10   0  51  2    5.1  (1 wd, 1 nb)
H Robbie             9.4   1  58  3      6  (2 wd)
R Makavilitogia       10   0  43  1    4.3  (2 wd)
S Shade               10   1  50  1      5  

Brookstation Batting   (Target: 241)
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
B Doublesday       lbw b Jorgensen               34  23   8   0  147.83
A Mari             c Romedahl b Jorgensen        84  96   8   2   87.5
T Sinclair         lbw b Sørensen                36  44   2   0   81.82
R Kishibe          c Daube b de Beer             12  18   0   0   66.67
D Brankovic        run out (de Vries)            30  35   2   0   85.71
V Ghosh            c Pietersen b de Bruyn         0   1   0   0    
S Shade            st. Pietersen b Jorgensen     12  17   1   0   70.59
H Robbie           not out                       19  20   2   0   95
R Makavilitogia    b de Vries                     2   4   0   0   50
ND Winter          b de Beer                      1   2   0   0   50
J Montgomery       not out                        5   8   0   0   62.5
       EXTRAS      (3 lb, 2 wd, 1 nb)             6
       TOTAL       for 9 wickets                241   (44.3 ov; 5.42 RPO)
                 

Cyborg Holland Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
T de Bruyn            10   2  54  1    5.4  (1 lb, 1 nb)
L de Beer              8   0  48  2      6  
M Sørensen             8   1  41  1   5.13  (1 wd)
P de Vries           7.3   0  32  1   4.27  (2 lb)
J Smithe               2   0  14  0      7  
K Jorgensen            9   0  52  3   5.78  (1 wd)

Venue: Venus Gardens, Scroton, Brookstation
Match number: Match 9
Toss: Cyborg Holland won the toss and chose to bat
Season/Tournament: GCF ODI World Trophy III
Matchdays: Matchday One
Player of the Match: Jimmy Montgomery (BRO) 
Debut: 
Umpires: unknown
TV Umpire: unknown
Reserve Umpire: unknown
Match Referee: unknown
Match Result: Brookstation win by one wicket with 33 balls remaining

[Eastfield Lodge]

The Imperial Commonwealth Cricket Board presents

The Eastfield Lodge team for the 3rd GCF ODI World Trophy

Batsmen
Name			Age	M/F	Order	Bat	Club
Wesam Baier-Gaillard	29  VC	 M	 1-2	Right	Paranormal
Uthman Darryn-Pelletier	23	 M	 1-3	Right	Dictionary
Arjun Abdul Ghani	25	 M	 3-5	Left	Bluinshire
Katryn Lunt		27	 F	 2-4	Right	Grateville
Fateen Tilbrooke	31	 M	 1-2	Left	Micronia
Luis Navarro		28	 M	 3-6	Right	Dictionary

Bowlers
Name			Age	M/F	Bowling		Order	Club
Elly Fernandez		21	 F	Rt Fast		9-11	Steel River Valley
Amelie Lie		26	 F	Rt Fast-Medium	7-10	Paranormal
Sydney Bukhari		32  Cpt	 F	Rt Leg-Spin	8-10	Bluinshire
Almira Procter		25	 F	Lt Orthodox	9-11	Bliketia
Kalah Strachan		30	 F	Rt Fast		9-11	Dictionary
Matic Latif		28	 M	Lt Fast		7-9	Paranormal

All-Rounders
Name			Age	M/F	Bowling		Order	Club
Neva Sheasby		32	 F	Lt Fast-Medium	 4-7	Bluinshire
Badr al Din		26	 M	Rt Medium	 6-8	Paranormal
Hannah Mill-Rassi	23	 F	Rt Fast-Medium	 5-8	Bliketia

Wicket Keepers
Name			Age	M/F	Bat	Order	Club
Malita Gracelyn		33  VC	 F	Right	 3-5	Jam Town
Uzziel Paris		20	 M	Right	 3-5	Bliketia
Seven Abdul Wahaab	26	 M	Right	 5-7	Dictionary

Best XI (in batting order): Baier-Gallard, Darryn-Pelletier, Abdul Ghani, Lunt, Gracelyn (wk), Sheasby, al Din, Lie, Bukhari, Strachan, Fernandez

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Godmod match events: Y
RP injuries to my players: Y
Godmod injuries to my players: Y
Godmod how my players were dismissed: Y
Create a full scorecard for my team: Y

[Ko-oren]

MATCHDAY 2-BROOKSTATION HALF

GROUP C
Brookstation 263/9 (44.3 overs)
Eastfield Lodge 260/9 (50 overs)

Quebec and Shingoryeo 177 (36.5 overs)
Corridor of Uncertainty 181/9 (30 overs)

Darmen 368/9 (50 overs)
Sylestone 305/8 (50 overs)

Cyborg Holland 265 (48.5 overs)
Rundel 267/2 (42.4 overs)

* Group C                    Pld   W  D  L  Pts   NRR
1 Darmen                       2   2  0  0    4  1,000
2 Brookstation                 2   2  0  0    4  0,663
3 Corridor of Uncertainty      2   1  0  1    2  1,065
4 Rundel                       2   1  0  1    2  0,048
5 Eastfield Lodge              2   1  0  1    2 -0,209
6 Sylestone                    2   1  0  1    2 -0,267
7 Cyborg Holland               2   0  0  2    0 -0,778
8 Quebec and Shingoryeo        2   0  0  2    0 -1,708

1) points (2 for a win, 1 for a draw), 2) wins, 3) NRR, 4) H2H.

GROUP D
TJUN-ia 313/9 (45.5 overs)
Sarzonia 312/7 (50 overs)

The Sarian 254/7 (40.5 overs)
Lisander 252 (48.1 overs)

Samrif 269/6 (50 overs)
Gruenberg 334/9 (50 overs)

Godchouzetsu 239/3 (50 overs)
StrayaRoos 240/9 (36 overs)

* Group D                    Pld   W  D  L  Pts   NRR
1 TJUN-ia                      2   2  0  0    4  2,524
2 Gruenberg                    2   2  0  0    4  1,000
3 StrayaRoos                   2   2  0  0    4  1,734
4 The Sarian                   2   1  0  1    2  0,229
5 Sarzonia                     2   1  0  1    2  0,042
6 Lisander                     2   0  0  2    0 -0,870
7 Samrif                       2   0  0  2    0 -1,480
8 Godchouzetsu                 2   0  0  2    0 -3,257

1) points (2 for a win, 1 for a draw), 2) wins, 3) NRR, 4) H2H.

[StrayaRoos]

Godchouzetsu Batting
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
A                 LBW.Greene                     27  32   2   0   84.38
B                 C.Healy B.Greene               56  65   3   1   86.15
C                 Not Out                        42  59   2   0   71.19
D                 B.Anderson                    112 131   4   2   85.5
E                 Not Out                         1  13   0   0    7.69
      EXTRAS      (1 wd)                          1
       TOTAL      for 3 wickets                 239   (50 ov; 4.78 RPO)
Did not bat:    F, G, H, I, J, K

FOW: 1-56 (A, 14.4 overs); 2-114 (B, 24.5 overs); 3-212 (D, 31.4 overs)

StrayaRoos Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C Greene             10   0  82  2    8.2  
L Livingstone        10   0  51  0    5.1  (1 wd)
J Jonassen           10   0  38  0    3.8  
S Molineux           10   0  34  0    3.4  
J Anderson            4   2  13  1   3.25  
D Bradman             3   0  11  0   3.67  
Tui                   3   0  10  0   3.33  

StrayaRoos Batting   (Target: 240)
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
J Phillipe (c)    Bowled. K                      72  70   5   2  102.86
A Jones           Bowled. K                      61  67   3   3   91.04
A Jun             LBW. J                         27  23   1   0  117.39
Tui               LBW. K                          0   1   0   0    
D Bradman         Not Out                        47  30   2   1  156.67
I Healy (+)       Bowled. J                       0   1   0   0    
C Greene          Stumped.C Bowled. K             3   7   0   0   42.86
J Jonassen        Bowled. K                       0   4   0   0    
S Molineux        Bowled. K                      14   8   0   0  175
J Anderson        Bowled. I                      15   4   2   1  375
L Livingstone     Not Out                         1   1   0   0  100
      EXTRAS      none                            0
       TOTAL      for 9 wickets                 240   (36 ov; 6.67 RPO)
                

FOW: 1-133 (J Phillipe (c), 23.3 overs); 2-134 (A Jones, 23.5 overs); 3-134 (Tui, 24 overs); 
     4-162 (A Jun, 26.4 overs); 5-162 (I Healy (+), 26.5 overs); 6-210 (C Greene, 28.3 overs); 
     7-210 (J Jonassen, 29.4 overs); 8-224 (S Molineux, 31.1 overs); 9-239 (J Anderson, 35.5 overs)

Godchouzetsu Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
K                     8   0  26  6   3.25  
J                     8   0  52  2    6.5  
I                     8   0  67  1   8.38  
H                     6   0  42  0      7  
G                     6   0  53  0   8.83  

Venue: Goolsea Riverside Ground
Match number: 32
Toss: StrayaRoos elected to Bowl
Season: GCF ODI Trophy 3
Matchdays: 2
Player of the Match: D Bradman (StrayaRoos)
Series result: 
Test debut: 
Umpires: Unknown
TV Umpire: Unknown
Reserve Umpire: Unknown
Match Referee: Unknown
Match Result: StrayaRoos Win By 1 Wicket

[Kimi-Suomi]

Hei, ja tervetuloa Kriketti-ajatuksia! This is the show where we try to highlight cricket in Kimi-Suomi to a nation that may not be exactly familiar with the sport, while also highlighting how our Karhut does in GCF competitions. The Summerkind Oval was certainly kind to us last time out as Karhut managed a convincing 125-run win on debut to move to the top of the table for now. Of course, nobody expected Lorcán Ua Tuathail's side to stay there over the next 6 games, but everyone did hope that Mika Linnankoski's team would try to do their best no matter what. And with that in mind, it's time for your 2nd lesson.

THE ART OF THE TOSS/TOSSIN TAIDE
No matter what format of cricket you play, either in reduced overs or List-A, the order of play is always determined by the toss of a coin. The visiting captain makes the call and whoever wins the toss gets to determine whether their side bats first or second. More likely than not, just about, the team who wins the toss is more likely to win the match than not, as it is perceived as having the initial tactical advantage.
Why would you bat first? - Batting first can be an option if the pitch conditions are a bit unsure or if you feel that your opponent's bowlers are stronger and want to get them out of the way first. Sometimes, batting first can be simply put down to wanting to play it safe or for tactical reasons, as batting first puts down the marker that your foes must chase down and puts the pressure on them to get there.
Why would you bat second? - Opting to bat second, therefore bowling first, is a decision usually made if a captain feels that their side can chase down any target that is produced by the opposing batsmen. Batting 2nd means you certainly play a different game, one where you try and limit the target score as much as possible before going out there with the bat and trying to chase that target down.

As you can see, the mentality of how a game is played can always be influenced by the result of the coin toss. Many felt that the toss would be important to how our game went today at Dawsend Oval in Idyllwild. The opponents were Liventinen, Liventia to the international audience, a team whose name strikes fear into the hearts of many cricket teams across the GCF. Matthew Geach's team were ranked 10th in the ODI rankings for a reason and everyone knew that in this contest, the main aim would be to try and be respectable - to try and get as close to them as possible without being blown out of the entire county. DHJ Edwards would win the toss and, as expected, they opted to bat first.

Out came Edwards and his fellow opener, PD Finch, to start off procedures and the aim was now to try and limit this Top 10 team in any way we could. That was never going to be easy at all but to be fair to us as debutants, we certainly gave it a good crack. Signe Hyppia was certainly a demon for the Liventain batters today, her tally of 2-45 the best of anyone in our defence today. Of course, their batters were certainly good - Edwards managed 67 while YM Lemoine ended up with 41 - but for a debuting nation that didn't really have an ingrained cricket culture, we did alright. If you would've told anyone that after the first innings, Liventia would end up on 257/7 I think many would certainly take that. A target of 258 was right about where ODI targets usually are - meaning this run chase wasn't deemed impossible at all.

So out came Albert Aaltonen and Wäinö Tykkä to try and get as close to the sun as possible. This was obviously very tough going and the opposing bowers were certainly finding their way through, with RPT de Cerci ending up with 4-39 at the end of this long day, but our batters weren't exactly useless either. Lasse Pöysti was the highest scorer out of the initial 30 overs with 36 as fell to 104/7 with 20 to play. And then entered Åke Lindman, who was quickly turning into a key player of this inexperienced side. He managed to help drag this team's score up with 77 but once he left, that would certainly be that. The lower order continued to try and get as close as possible but with wicket #9 falling, the play became more and more conservative until we ran out of balls. We ended up on 248/9, very respectable all things considered but still only 9 runs short. Ei vain tarpeeksi, mutta pelasimme ylpeänä.

The obvious test was certainly a learning experience, but the fight we put up was certainly inspiring to say the least. We showed fight, we showed potential and everyone was happy. Next up will be #15 Laukkumaa, or Baggieland, where we hope to show that same fight again. NOSTA KUIN KARHUT!

---

SCHEDULE/AJOITTAA (Group A - Ko-oren)
MD1: vs Delaclava (UR) - Summerkind Oval, Willowbourne W by 125 runs/V 125 juoksulla (1st)
MD2: vs Liventinen [Liventia] (10) - Dawsend Oval, Idyllwild L by 9 runs/T 9 juoksulla (2nd)
MD3: vs Laukkumaa [Baggieland] (15) - Accord Oval, Oceanside
MD4: vs Goram (UR) - Goledon Oval, Bruncester
MD5: vs Kriegiersien (24) - Bwdellafon Parc, Mawrystwyth
MD6: vs Kryteninen [Krytenia] (1) - Southbight Ground, Ansonville
MD7: vs Milchama (UR) - Ocean Crest Oval, Penstead

[Rundel]

The Annasholm Sentinel
Rundel's tricky bowling styles have paid dividends; in the field for the first innings at Ogre Street, they dismissed the Cyborg Holland side with seven deliveries to spare. On the chase, they were almost as impressive, only losing two wickets--Fipkin Gorig and Patskie Tallung had the run of the place, and Gorig's four against Guy Vossen gave Rundel the edge after 42.4 overs. They finished with 92 and 68 runs respectively, far outstripping Rundel's high-water marks in Twenty20 (recorded by Kenna Muirk in defeat to Hebitaka). Such was the openers' prowess that substitute wicket-keeper Loren Dellus, giving Zhobie Bostwa a day off, never even got to come to bat; the experienced Bostwa usually hits in the third position, but Dellus, slated to bat sixth, was more than happy to watch the chase from the bench.

Even those achievements, however, are likely to be overshadowed by the performance of the bowlers. With Ogre Street tending to favor pace bowlers, vice-captain Flark Balgula needed to step up and lead the way for his spinnier compatriots--and did he ever, taking the wickets of Klaus Jorgenson, Johan Smithe, and Adam Pietersen. "The Cyborg Holland team were very committed to their attack, but we weren't thinking about all-out when we started," said Balgula. "You know what they say, take it one over at a time. Unless things are going poorly, then you take it one ball at a time. Or the weather's bad in which case it depends."

Rundel will next face the hosts, Brookstation, and the crowd at Venus Gardens--the smallest stadium used in this half--will no doubt be strongly behind the home side. Fans, you'll need to work hard to make sure the team hears you and knows you're behind them, so you know what to do--climb up into your towers, grip your sallies firmly, and ring out some bells.

[Sylestone]

DARMENI REVENGE!



Matchday Two:
Sylestone vs Darmen @ Ogre Street Cricket Ground, Ogre Street, Brookstation

OGRE STREET, BROOKSTATION - Everyone remembers that game, four years ago in Gruenberg, where the Hawthorns demolished the Darmeni in what is still their greatest-ever 50-over victory. Batting first, Sylestone crumbled to 5-104 inside the first half of their innings before a sublime, 169-run partnership between Liam Afosha and debutant Chloe Anderson resurrected it. From there, the rest is history. A lower-order rally helped the Hawthorns to 9-351 before Sean Polen and company cut a swathe through the Darmeni outfit, the top score Winston van der Zee’s 48 as Darmen were bundled out for 180 in just 31 overs. The final margin of victory - a whopping 171 runs - is one that has only been beaten twice in World Trophy history - once by Baggieland and the other by Garbelia.

Four years onwards, that result will certainly be in the backs of the minds of the 22 players to take the field at Brookstation’s Ogre Street Cricket Ground, and particularly those of the fifteen that took part in that very match. Eerily, the group situation was very similar to what it was back then, Darmen and Sylestone taking out the top two spots in the group after one match, albeit in the opposite order to last time. But even so, this was still a different match, at a different venue and at a completely different time. Unless both sides decided to take a trip down memory lane - rather unlikely considering the result kind of hampered Darmen - the result of this game was going to be very, very different.

And that was assured at the toss when, for the second time in two games, Luke Tiati called incorrectly. Without hesitating, Darmeni skipper Sigmund Winter elected to take the first dig, giving the Hawthorns first go with the ball in hand on a traditionally seaming deck. The conditions appeared to be similar today, with a green tinge coating a rather flat surface. With nothing present to assist the spinners, it seemed that the likes of Broughton Hall, Liam Afosha and Ilia Snelling could be in for a long day.

Many a time when a surface appears as though it would favour one art, it does the complete opposite as players are left to work with conditions opposite to what they were originally selected to play in. This, though, did not appear to be one of those occasions. Although Norbert Pistecial seemed to, for once, be struggling with the new ball, Josh Vilesti at the other end got straight into his work, ripping through Máel Brice with an absolute cherry, Daniel Fomleya accepting the edge at second slip. Four overs later, Vilesti had his second when the Darmeni captain skied a short one to Broughton Hall at mid-wicket who, despite a juggle, safely took the catch. At 2-25 in the sixth over, Winter’s dismissal brought the dynamic duo of Theudofrid Milligan and Winston van der Zee to the middle - a partnership that had the potential to make or break Darmen’s hopes of going two from two. If Sylestone could rip out both of them in a short period of time, dismissing the Darmeni for a below-par total was a likelihood.

And they did get the key wicket of van der Zee, caught on the boundary by Caitlyn Elliott attempting to hoick Samuel Asaskia all the way back to Scott City. But his wicket did not fall before he had made an 89-ball blitzkrieg worth 110 runs; an innings that included nine fours and six sixes. The partnership, worth 206 runs in 172 balls, had sent Sylestone right back down to Rushmore following their excellent start and with sixteen overs still remaining, things were only going to get worse. At the other end, Milligan had reached his century in the preceding over and if his dismissal did not come soon, either, a 350-plus target beckoned.

Although Bud Bachmann’s wicket in the 41st over catalysed a lower-order collapse as the Darmeni batters tried to go big, Milligan hung around, pulverising any ball in his arc without mercy. Before Samuel Scron finally broke through his defence in the final over with a perfect yorker, he had whacked another 70-odd runs, finishing with a career-best score of 168 from 153 balls. Around him, batters had crumbled as they pursued quick runs, but despite that, Darmen were still able to reach a rather ridiculous total of 9-368 as Sylestone’s bowlers suffered for the second match in a row. Against Quebec and Shingoryeo, they had conceded 303 runs and although they were able to bowl them out inside 48 overs, conceding over six runs an over is never a good sign. Now, here, against an experienced Darmen outfit, they allowed well over seven runs an over. Only young star Samuel Scron impressed, returning figures of 4-55 from his ten overs, while Samuel Asaskia also deserved credit for his 1-57 from ten overs, the duo the only two Sylestonean bowlers to complete their ten overs. Around them, Norbert Pistecial, Josh Vilesti and Broughton Hall had all conceded around eight runs an over, their experience giving them nothing as the Darmeni batters tore them apart. If Sylestone wanted to be a side contending for the World Trophy, their bowlers had to do better.

A few days ago, the Hawthorn batters had chased down Quebec and Shingoryeo’s 303 in 44.5 overs for the loss of only six wickets, but now, chasing 368 on a pitch which was only getting livelier and against some of the most experienced bowlers in the multiverse, making it two wins from two was going to require one of the greatest-ever run chases in cricketing history. There was no doubt that Sylestone were capable of pulling it off, but it would rely upon each and every one of their batters to fire.

So when captain Luke Tiati and vice-captain Daniel Fomleya found themselves back in the dressing room by the end of the fourth over, many would have expected the Hawthorns to simply crease trying and just get to 300, playing it safe and ensuring that their net run rate would not take too much of a hit. But that was not in their culture. No, they would keep on fighting, right until the end and never, ever give up. So Caitlyn Elliott, who had already scored the bulk of the runs, continued to blast away, reaching 50 from only 35 balls but just as she and Lachlan Cocrine were beginning to cause concern amongst the Darmeni fielders, Snelling came to the rescue with a peach of a delivery that Elliott could only lob to Bud Bachmann at short cover. Moments later, Cocrine found himself taking the long walk back after his on-drive only found the hands of Kenny O’Callaghan at mid-on. At 4-89 at the end of the 14th, the Hawthorns’ never-say-die attitude had seemingly dug them into a deep, deep hole and if they were not careful, a loss the size of the one that had dished out to this very team at Gruenberg four years back was a possibility.

Not even Liam Afosha, chasemaster supreme, could do much about this situation. After calmly getting himself to 20 from only 16 balls, Snelling lured him out of his crease with a top-spinner and despite getting his foot back quickly, it was not quick enough for Justin Beckett, who took the bails off in one efficient, smooth movement, breaking an ominous partnership of 53 runs in just 41 balls. But second-gamer Asaskia was still at the crease and with increasing assurance, began to lift the tempo of the innings with new partner Ashton Stealom. On the verge of a second half-century in two matches, though, another Snelling peach sent him on his way, the 26-year-old only getting a thin tickle through to Beckett’s safe gloves. 6-165 then became 7-178 in the 28th over when Sylestone’s final hope was vanquished, Bud Bachmann knocking back Ashton Stealom’s off-stump to leave the Hawthorns at 7-178, 190 runs in arrears. With only bowling all-rounder Norbert Pistecial and the Sylestonean tail remaining, an utter trouncing appeared certain. Darmen was going to enact revenge in its starkest form; it was only inevitable.

But Pistecial and new batter Broughton Hall had other ideas. Despite neither having the technical fluency or class of the likes of Luke Tiati, Daniel Fomleya or Liam Afosha, they frustrated the Darmeni bowlers with their utter refusal to be dismissed. Pistecial in particular played a gem of an innings, recording his maiden half-century in the format from 52 balls, bringing it up with arguably the shot of the day - a classy cover-drive to the boundary off an expensive Bachmann. However, his elation was to be short-lived as the reintroduction of Corwin McAlister to the attack signalled the end of his innings as he attempted to increase the tempo, his sights still firmly set on chasing 101 runs in eight overs to pull off an unimaginable heist. His wicket brought an end to the most prolific partnership of the innings - worth 89 runs in 87 balls and bringing Samuel Scron to face the music.

The same Samuel Scron who, two years back, barely knew how to hold a bat.

But fortunately for him and his nation, he had learnt since then. With Broughton Hall, who had now also recorded his highest-ever ODI score, beating his unbeaten 28 against Gruenberg, Scron proceeded to bat out the remainder of the Hawthorn innings with an unbeaten, 37-run partnership to take his nation beyond the 300-mark, gaining some respectability. Hall finished unbeaten on 48, agonisingly short of fifty, while Scron made a respectable 18 from 23 balls. Despite their efforts at the back-end of the innings, though, the final margin of 63 runs was still an ultra-convincing victory for the Darmeni as they climbed atop the Group C table, while the Hawthorns dropped to sixth due to their abysmal run rate. Only the two winless sides in the group - Cyborg Holland and Quebec and Shingoryeo - lay beneath them.

“To be perfectly honest, I think that this result is a bit of a learning curve for our group,” responded Luke Tiati when asked about the loss. “I think a few of us - including myself - were guilty of being a bit egotistical about our chances within the group and our loss today has proven that our opponents may be far stronger than we had previously believed.”

But when asked about whether he still rated his team's chances to finish top two, Tiati remained confident. “Although mathematically, our fate may not exactly be in our own hands from now on, our squad still has the ability to challenge the title from here. We’re fourth-ranked for a reason, y’know. This loss is only going to improve us, as some finer details we may have been neglecting in training will be raised and improved upon for we return to the Venus Gardens. Fix those, and we have the ability to win our next five games and finish inside the top two. We’ve done it before - remember four years ago, how we lost our opening match to Garbelia but then didn’t lose until we’d already qualified for the semifinals? There’s no reason why we can’t do that again. We are not out of this yet, not by a long shot.”

---

Darmen Batting
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
S Winter (c)       c Hall b Vilesti              13  14   2   0   92.86
M Brice            c Fomleya b Vilesti            1   5   0   0   20
T Milligan         b Scron                      168 153  16   4  109.8
W van der Zee      c Elliott b Asaskia          110  89   9   6  123.6
B Bachmann         c Pistecial b Elliott         26  15   1   3  173.33
K O'Callaghan      c Tiati (+) b Scron            7   8   0   0   87.5
J Beckett          run out (Vilesti)              5   6   1   0   83.33
C McAlister        c Asaskia b Scron              4   2   1   0  200
K Rosenfeld        not out                       10   5   0   1  200
A Dickenson        lbw b Scron                    7   3   1   0  233.33
I Snelling         not out                        0   0                
       EXTRAS      (2 b, 3 lb, 12 wd)            17
       TOTAL       for 9 wickets                368   (50 ov; 7.36 RPO)
                 

FOW: 1-6 (M Brice, 1.3 overs); 2-25 (S Winter (c), 5.3 overs); 3-231 (W van der Zee, 34.1 overs); 
     4-279 (B Bachmann, 40.2 overs); 5-301 (K O'Callaghan, 43.5 overs); 6-327 (J Beckett, 46.3 overs); 
     7-335 (C McAlister, 47.2 overs); 8-359 (T Milligan, 49.1 overs); 9-368 (A Dickenson, 49.6 overs)

Sylestone Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
N Pistecial            6   0  51  0    8.5  (6 wd)
J Vilesti              7   0  55  2   7.86  (2 wd)
S Scron               10   0  55  4    5.5  (1 wd)
S Asaskia             10   1  57  1    5.7  (2 wd)
B Hall                 8   0  65  0   8.13  (1 wd)
L Afosha               2   0  27  0   13.5  
C Elliott              4   0  30  1    7.5  
D Fomleya              3   0  23  0   7.67  (1 wd)

Sylestone Batting   (Target: 369)
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
L Tiati (c) (+)    c Rosenfeld b McAlister        5   8   0   0   62.5
C Elliott          c Bachmann b Snelling         56  40   6   3  140
D Fomleya          b Rosenfeld                    0   3   0   0    
L Cocrine          c O'Callaghan b Dickenson     24  29   2   0   82.76
S Asaskia          c Beckett (+) b Snelling      45  35   6   1  128.57
L Afosha           st Beckett (+) b Snelling     20  17   2   0  117.65
A Stealom          b Bachmann                    18  27   1   0   66.67
N Pistecial        c Winter b McAlister          57  57   9   0  100
B Hall             not out                       48  63   3   1   76.19
S Scron            not out                       18  23   2   0   78.26
       EXTRAS      (1 b, 4 lb, 7 wd, 2 nb)       14
       TOTAL       for 8 wickets                305   (50 ov; 6.1 RPO)
Did not bat:     J Vilesti

FOW: 1-19 (L Tiati (c) (+), 2.4 overs); 2-20 (D Fomleya, 3.3 overs); 3-85 (C Elliott, 12.5 overs); 
     4-89 (L Cocrine, 13.6 overs); 5-142 (L Afosha, 20.5 overs); 6-165 (S Asaskia, 24.2 overs); 
     7-178 (A Stealom, 27.4 overs); 8-267 (N Pistecial, 42.1 overs)

Darmen Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C McAlister            7   1  42  2      6  (2 wd)
K Rosenfeld           10   0  68  1    6.8  (1 wd)
A Dickenson           10   0  53  1    5.3  (1 nb, 1 wd)
I Snelling            10   1  52  3    5.2  
B Bachmann            10   0  71  1    7.1  (1 nb, 3 wd)
S Winter (c)           3   0  14  0   4.67  

Venue: Ogre Street Cricket Ground, Ogre Street, Brookstation
Match number: Match 27
Toss: Darmen won the toss and elected to bat
Season/Tournament: GCF ODI World Trophy III
Matchdays: Matchday Two
Player of the Match: Theudofrid Milligan
Debut: none
Umpires: unknown
TV Umpire: unknown
Reserve Umpire: unknown
Match Referee: unknown
Match Result: Darmen win by 63 runs

---

MD3 Playing XI vs Cyborg Holland @ Venus Gardens, Scroton, Brookstation

1. Luke Tiati (c) (+)
2. Caitlyn Elliott
3. Daniel Fomleya
4. Lachlan Cocrine
5. Samuel Asaskia
6. Liam Afosha
7. Ashton Stealom
8. Norbert Pistecial
9. Broughton Hall
10. Samuel Scron
11. Talvin Mankira

[West Barack and East Obama]

BBC OFFICIAL REPORT: Obamen Secure First Competitive Victory in Close Match Against Indusse

By Cricket Correspondent David B.O. Chase

Greencaster, Ko-oren - West Barack and East Obama were only four balls away from another defeat, but a spectacular performance from captain Trent Vobama in both innings grabbed the victory from the jaws of defeat against former group-toppers Indusse.

Following a convincing thrashing of debutants Bollonich by over a hundred runs, 47th-ranked Indusse were on a high. Meanwhile, the Obamen had been soundly defeated by sloppy mistakes against Gortolekua. The Obamen needed a quick correction in tactics, as well as greater focus, in order to avoid a second successive defeat in the competition. Luckily, reports that the cocky Indusseans skipped training to celebrate their victory gave the Obamen a much needed confidence boost.

Luck was not on the Obamen’s side during the match however as Vobama lost his third coin toss in a row. Indussean skipper Singh Satidar chose to bat, and off they went. The Obamen bowlers were much more sharp today, delivering some tricky balls to the opening batsmen Sisodia and Bauman. In particular, Sisodia was out in just the fifth over when Jenny Barracki caught a Kate Obammus ball. Stanley Obama threw a fast spinning ball that knocked down Bauman’s wicket not long after. However, by this time Indussean star Singh Satidar had stepped up to bat.

Singh Satidar’s strong, confident batting showed off how his team could defeat Bollonich by such a wide margin. The balls went flying to the stands as Satidar quickly racked up 6s, scoring a total of four of them in the match. Mark Hobama’s bowls sent the other batters Farzhjan and Pyarilal on their way, but Singh Satidar stayed strong as he made his way to a century. At this point Head Coach William Obama-Hempstead had a desperate look in his eyes, fearing the consequences of his team being defeated again.

After achieving an impressive 103 runs, Singh Satidar was finally bamboozled by a sublime Obammus throw, catching him well short of his ground. By this time, most of Indusse’s best batters had been used up, and it became easy pickings for the Obamen bowlers. Vobama showed off the reason he was made captain with his deft skill, knocking down two more wickets from Maxmuller and Behrouz. However, this was not enough, as Tyler and Bakhtyar carried their team to complete the 50 overs, finishing with a score of 7-249. If the Obamen batspeople could improve on their performance as much as the bowlers did, there was a chance they could grab a victory.

Rachel Obama-Paris and Barack Morris provided an inauspicious start for the Obamen, with the pair losing their wickets in the first 5 overs. Wong Ba Ma proved to be much more competent, hitting a half-century before losing his wicket to a spectacular catch from wicketkeeper Singh Satidar. Barracki also scored some impressive runs, bringing the score up to 4-108 by the time she was knocked out. After she left the oval, it was Vobama’s turn to shine.

By this time, it should be no surprise that Vobama was the strongest batter on the team. He continued his form by immediately knocking the ball all the way to the stands in his first ball, with the Indussean fielders being very afraid at this point. Vobama and Aiden Obama had a strong partnership, but the spotlight was on Vobama, who managed to score 92 runs by the time Aiden Obama was out. But time, or in this case balls, was running out for the Obamen, with only a few overs left to secure a much needed victory.

Stanley Obama left the oval as quickly as he entered, with a very spinny ball stunning him, much to the chagrin of Obama-Hempstead. Bowler supreme Kate Obammus stepped up and did a decent job, scoring a four and closing the gap. After 49 overs, the score was 6-245. Kate Obammus hit another four, bringing the score to a tie. The sweat drops forming on the skin of the Indusseans was very much visible. They needed to ensure not a single run was scored, or they would be out. But they were no match against Vobama, with the skipper striking the ball as hard as he could, eluding the Indussean catchers as it bounced its way past the “Lozho Premium Huts and Shacks Inc.” advertisements. They did it! The Obamen had stolen the victory from right under the Indussean noses with an inspiring and exciting chase, especially from 37 year old Vobama’s century.

Despite being in sixth place, things are looking up for the Obamen. Despite a challenging match against Sajnur, the Obamen's confidence has improved drastically following the win, and will hope to capitalise on their future opponent's two losses to move into the knockout round qualification spots.

[The Sarian]

DeSaari leads The Sarian to victory over Lisander

Essidise, Brookstation - The Sarian has rebounded from an ODI World Trophy opening day loss to Gruenberg with a three wicket victory over Lisander.

The Sarian, who come into the tournament as defending champions, showed all the ruthlessness and calm under pressure which elevated them to such lofty heights two years ago.

Lisander, having won the toss, chose to bat and went on to score 252 all out following masterful bowling by the Saari bowlers. A largely anonymous Lisander batting line-up readily fell victim to an attack featuring seven frontline bowlers, with all-rounder Euwan Telmijn replacing Robin Rejna in the playing eleven.

The pick of the bunch was Martine Kloeten, continuing her promising start to the tournament, who took three wickets for forty-three runs. Among them was the crucial final wicket, after the Lisander final pair appeared to be able to shift some momentum away from The Sarians with a final wicket stand of forty-seven.

Perhaps the only cause for concern for The Sarian was the continued questions over the ageing Oli Abaal's fitness. Abaal, who was expected to retire from international cricket some years ago, looked long past his threatening best and was fortunate for his only wicket after the Lisander opener feathered an unthreatening ball into the waiting gloves of Marscha DeSaari.

Responding to the Lisander total initially looked like a walk in the park for The Sarian. The opening pair of Lucie Snaijer and DeSaari were unfortunate not to put on one-hundred for the first wicket.

Snaijer looked back at her best following an awful innings against Gruenberg. Scoring five boundaries on way to a respectable fifty-nine, she led the way facing almost double the number of balls of her partner. In the end, a slower ball succeeded in deceiving her: meekly playing her shot into the waiting hands of midwicket.

Saari nerves could be forgiven for being slightly frayed when captain Anders Ruitdekker - the stalwart of many successful Saari wicket chases - was heading back into the Spike Spiegel pavillion just one ball later. Ruitdekker reviewed immediately, and may consider himself unlucky as the high-appearing ball was judged to be umpire's call by the slimmest of margins.

The seventeenth over had more excitement yet. Grajs Vioolspeler, coming off the back of making the team of the tournament in the last ODI World Trophy, could have been out with all three deliveries she faced. With the first ball, Vioolspeler was narrowly able to avoid being caught out with a bottom edge failing to carry to the Lisander wicketkeeper. More luck would come with the second: the all-rounder ran several yards down the pitch before turning back after it was clear there was no run, only for the wicketkeeper to fumble an easy run-out opportunity. The fortune would not continue. Opting to leave a wide-looking final ball of the over, Vioolspeler turned to see that the ball had turned magnificently into her off-stump.

Telmijn, on debut, looked busy for a twenty-three - at a run rate of a little over a run a ball - but was half a yard short when coming back for a second run. DeBruut, after serving up a masterclass in attacking intent against Gruenberg, passed without making an impact before Zwarte departed for an entertaining fourteen.

It was from here that DeSaari, largely a spectator to this point - albeit with a half century made largely of singles - began to step up.

In the seventh wicket stand with Karl Proeseur, DeSaari faced a massive twenty-six of the thirty-two balls - hitting three boundaries, including a magnificent six from a reverse scoop over deep fine leg.

DeSaari would continue the intent with Oli Abaal at the crease, making fifty-four with ease including a raft of magnificent boundaries which exposed the cracks in the Lisander fielding. Ending on 135 not out, it was the Saari opener's second highest score in One Day Internationals.

Line-up versus Sarzonia (MD3)

O: LM Snaijer
O: MM DeSaari (wk)
3: ADJ Ruitdekker (c)
4: EE Telmijn
5: GA Vioolspeler
6: RA Rejna
7: JQM DeBruut
8: WH Hendriks
9: KB Proeseur
10: MK Kloeten
11: FA Stormdoop

[Baggieland]

Cricket Blog

By Vinny Roberts

Baggieland 191/6 – Milchama 194/5

This lack of alcohol must be playing tricks on my mind. Hang on, let me take another gulp from the bathtub. Ugh… that is not my best batch of home-brew! Let me check the result again. Okay, it's true, we've just lost our second game of the tournament. Whilst the first one was against the world's number one, and therefore forgivable… to some extent, this time we just lost to the hitherto unknown Milchama. And they easily beat us too.

For once, Baggieland won the toss and did the sensible thing by electing to bat first. Just as in the first game against Krytenia we got off to an agonisingly slow start. The opening pace attack of Woods and Pehrson kept the scoring to a minimum as well as causing a plethora of problems for the Throstles opening batsmen. The disciplined bowling paid off when Richards was clean bowled by Woods for just 12. Mead then came to the crease and for a while it looked like a promising partnership between him and Marshall, that was until the latter edged a delivery straight into the hands of Mahbet.

After Smith barely troubled the scorers, the Baggieland faithful were finally treated to a decent batting partnership between Mead and Greenidge, who put on a half century between them, but when Mead also edged to the keeper, that left Greenidge with the all-rounders. Greenidge did his best to keep the strike and keep the scoreboard ticking over, but perhaps mindful of how he got out in the previous game, he didn't push for anything that wasn't a certainty. Greenidge would remain not out, but the Throstles only managed 191 from their 50 overs. A very gettable target for our opponents.

The Milchama innings got off to the best possible start from a Baggielandian perspective when their opener Ross was out for a golden duck, edging the first delivery of the innings straight into the gloves of Parks. Cochran saw out the second over from Shackleton when Greenidge decided to switch to spin after just two overs of pace bowling. It seemed an inspired decision by the captain as March, Carney and Carpenter all departed cheaply. With four wickets down, it looked like Baggieland would eke out a victory in a low scoring match. However, they seemed to have forgotten about Cochran, who was quietly and quickly adding runs to the scoreboard. When he was joined by Komar, these two started to smash the ball around as they chased down the Throstles' total at an alarming rate. Komar would eventually fall to a fine catch by Smith in the gully, but by then the game was over as Milchama reached their target with 111 deliveries to spare.

Baggieland Innings
Billy Richards: b Woods 12
Reg Marshall: c Mahbet b Pehrson 26
Peter Mead: c Mahbet b Carpenter 61
Richard Smith: b Carpenter 2
Garry Greenidge: not out 55
Brian Parks: c Ross b Pehrson 6
Sam Udal: lbw b Woods 14
Steve Warne: not out 4
Michael Marshall: DNB
David Shackleton: DNB
Paul Sainsbury: DNB
Extras: 11

Davy Carpenter: 2/42
Lieb Levrovich: 0/38
Kesem Prentice: 0/54
Tanya Pehrson: 2/30
Bonnie Woods: 2/27

Milchama Innings
Daniel Ross: c Parks b Marshall 0
Greg Cochran: not out 114
Hayden March: c & b Udal 17
Jerome Carney: b Udal 14
Davy Carpenter: b Warne 5
Yash Komar: c Smith b Warne 32
Lieb Levrovich: not out 2
Efes Mahbet: DNB
Kesem Prentice: DNB
Tanya Pehrson: DNB
Bonnie Woods: DNB
Extras: 10

Sam Udal: 2/35
Steve Warne: 2/37
Michael Marshall: 1/29
David Shackleton: 0/42
Paul Sainsbury: 0/51

Rub your eyes as you read the group A table. All the unranked teams sit in the top half of the table, while all the ranked teams are in the bottom half. This Ko-oren alcohol ban is clearly having adverse effects on the entire cricketing world. Let me take another gulp from the bathtub. Ugh!

Finally, congratulations to our Friends from Gnejs who have pulled off a huge upset by beating 6th ranked Ko-oren on their home turf. It seems that the Gnejs cricket fact-finding mission to Baggieland was ultimately successful.

Next up is a match against Kimi-Suomi, who affectionately refer to us as "Laukkumaa" – a land of bags – but we are not a land of bags, we are a land of Baggies, and there is nothing more dangerous than a wounded and hurting Baggie.

C'mon you Throstles!

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

OGRE STREET (UPA)—A thrilling, chaotic, and bizarre game at the OSCG saw 19 wickets fall in less than 67 overs. As Quebec piled on 76 without loss in the powerplay, a run-fest seemed to beckon, but a dramatic collapse followed by a wild chase saw a very different game play out. Both teams entered with a loss to their name; for Uncertainty, there was one change, with Wasim Mohammad coming in for the wasteful Farooq Hasan. Miller lost the toss and Quebec chose to bat.

Hannah Kayondo-Kirkley and Jean-Marc Woodley raced to bring up the 50 run opening partnership off just 29 balls, helped by 12 wides. It was the introduction of Jannie Wessel that turned the tide, sprawling to take an athletic return catch as Woodley's loose flick across the line caught a leading edge. Kayondo-Kirkley progressed to her second successive half-century of the tournament off 60 balls but the run rate began to slow as Naseem Latif held down an end with a tight line, while at the other end Wasim Mohammad recovered from his opening horror show of 0-34 off 3 overs to return with a fiery spell and spear a rapid in-dipper through Wanda Hosaka's defences after she and Kayondo-Kirkley had added 58 for the 2nd wicket. A smart bit of captaincy from Miller brought in Jack Harper as slip to Thilakaratne Silva, and he snagged the key wicket of Kayondo-Kirkley, scooping a low edge. Another effort ball from Wasim Mohammad squared up Dhinawan-Karl Asperup to edge behind, some yes-no-sorry calling and a swooping Pranav Joshi in the covers accounted for Hannah-Anne Tatti, and after their excellent start Quebec had collapsed from 78-0 to 144-5. Hamish McCarron and George Finch attempted to rebuild but the run rate slowed to a crawl against the spinners, including a rare maiden for Naseem Latif. Justin Arnold was brought back and accounted for three wickets in the space of ten balls: he speared a yorker to remove Finch's leg stump, followed up getting Bohng Dae-Doo to edge behind for a three-ball duck, and from short fine leg ran out McCarron, helped by a good take from Shahbaz Bahawalanzai, to effectively end any chance of Quebec mounting a decent total as they sunk to 168-8. Two deserved wickets for Latif wrapped things up. It had been an astonishing collapse from a promising start, losing 10 wickets for 99 runs. Silva's modest figures of 1-27 off 9 overs belied the impact he had had stifling the batters in the middle overs; Wasim Mohammad went at 7 an over but took two crucial wickets. 22 wides, though, represented unfortunate profligacy.

Hector de Vries struck with the first ball of the second over, a yorker that clipped Ariana Cooper's off stump. Jack Harper attempted to slog himself back into form with a brisk 17 off 12 that included hitting his first ball for six, but he edged behind to de Vries. But it was only when Shahbaz Bahawalanzai top-edged a loopy pull off Donheil-Stormhawk O'Neill to Dhinawan-Karl Asperup at deep square leg, who took a good running catch, that Uncertainty began to consider they were in trouble. Things were compounded with the introduction of Clemenence-Odette Chinenyeze, who struck with her first ball, which was also Miller's first ball, popping a straightforward return catch. One uncharacteristically ugly prod from Joshi later and his stumps -- and the Uncertainty chase -- were in disarray at 45-5. It took all-rounders Jacques Van Jaarsveld and Naseem Latif to rebuild, adding 74 for the 6th wicket. Just as they began to look comfortable, Latif recklessly slashed to inside edge onto his own stumps and give Chinenyeze their third wicket. Van Jaarsveld continued, bringing up a battling 59-ball half-century with a not entirely convincing premeditated reverse sweep off McCarron, but was bowled missing a slow-footed prod to Woodley. When Jannie Wessel slashed his first ball straight to Bae-Doo on the cover boundary, Uncertainty were still 21 runs short of their target. O'Neill was brought back and yorked Arnold, leaving just certified rabbit Wasim Mohammad to partner Silva, who went on the offensive. Two boundaries off Chinenyeze gave hope, and with three needed, he audaciously pulled O'Neill for six to seal a heart-pounding win, finishing unbeaten on 40.

Quebec and Shingoryeo 177 all out (36.5 overs) (Kayondo-Kirkley 54; Latif 2-16)
Uncertainty 181-9 (30 overs) (Van Jaarsveld 56; Chinenyeze 3-32)
Uncertainty win by 1 wicket

[Gruenberg]

(Provisional) match details as posted on the GruenCric website.

Gruenberg 334-9 (50 overs)
                                                  R    B   4/6
NQX Honk              c Asklepios+  b Nandi      68  (75)  8/1
ZVEU Hengtridan Jr.             lbw b Bibek      69  (61)  9/2
EME Broimbles*        st Asklepios+ b Bibek       1   (6)  -/-
RFMCCLOG Thchthaarheq               b Bibek       3   (9)  -/-
!                               lbw b Partha     22   (7)  2/2
VW Chuffles+                    lbw b Ryuji      56  (66)  4/1
HAYW Tumcoweiss                 c & b R. Vijay   29  (31)  1/1
BPGV Grovan           NOT OUT                    51  (33)  4/2
TIMTAM Renkauer       run out (Aysenur)          17   (9)  -/1
QD Skejjibox          c Aysenur     b R. Vijay    0   (1)  -/-
NEM Syzygyswallower   NOT OUT                     3   (2)  -/-
EXTRAS (5lb, 10wb)                               15

FoW: 1: 123 (Hengtridan Jr., 18.6 overs); 2: 137 (Broimbles, 22.2 overs); 3: 148 (Thchthaarheq, 24.6 overs); 4: 148 (Honk, 25.1 overs); 5: 175 (!, 27.3 overs); 6: 240 (Tumcoweiss, 37.6 overs); 7: 284 (Chuffles, 45.5 overs); 8: 308 (Renkauer, 48.2 overs); 9: 308 (Skejjibox, 48.3 overs)

           O    M    R    W
R. Vijay  10    1   61    2
Ryuji     10    0   74    1
Nandi      9    0   76    1
Partha     7    0   35    1
Bibek      8    0   52    3
Gadisa     6    0   31    0

Samrif 269-6 (50 overs)
                                            R    B   4/6
S Aysenur       st Chuffles+ b Tumcoweiss  34  (53)  4/-
J Maximilianus           lbw b Skejjibox   34  (36)  4/-
R Vijay         st Chuffles+ b Skejjibox   62  (67)  6/-
H Asklepios+             c & b Skejjibox    9  (19)  -/-
S Bhattacharjee c !          b Grovan      73  (86)  8/1
V Gadisa        c Chuffles+  b Grovan      28  (32)  1/1
M Partha*       NOT OUT                    23   (7)  1/2
S Nandi         NOT OUT                     1   (1)  -/-
Did not bat: S Vijay, E Bibek, Y Ryuji
EXTRAS (3lb, 1wb, 1nb)                      5

FoW: 1: 61 (Maximilianus, 12.6 overs); 2: 84 (Aysenur, 15.5 overs); 3: 103 (Asklepios, 20.6 overs); 4: 196 (R Vijay, 39.2 overs); 5: 242 (Bhattacharjee, 47.2 overs); 6: 268 (Gadisa, 49.5 overs)

                  O    M    R    W
Grovan           10    1   62    2
Syzygyswallower   7    0   31    0
Renkauer         10    0   71    0
Skejjibox         9    0   39    3
Tumcoweiss       10    0   36    1
Thchthaarheq      4    0   27    0

Gruenberg innings
1st wicket: 50 in 53 balls (Honk 27, Hengtridan Jr. 20)
Powerplay: 61-0 (Honk 31, Hengtridan Jr. 29)
ZVEU Hengtridan Jr.: 50 in 45 balls, 8x4 1x6 (Gruenberg 95-0)
1st wicket: 100 in 94 balls (Hengtridan Jr. 53, Honk 42)
NQX Honk: 50 in 58 balls, 7x4 1x6 (Gruenberg 124-1)
6th wicket: 50 in 40 balls (Chuffles 30, Tumcoweiss 23)
VW Chuffles: 50 in 54 balls, 4x4 1x6 (Gruenberg 259-6)
BPGV Grovan: 50 in 32 balls, 4x4 2x6 (Gruenberg 333-9)

Samrif innings
Powerplay: 49-0 (Maximilianus 30, Aysenur 18)
1st wicket: 50 in 62 balls (Maximilianus 31, Aysenur 18)
4th wicket: 50 in 78 balls (Bhattacharjee 27, R Vijay 26)
R Vijay: 50 in 56 balls, 4x4 (Samrif 160-3)
S Bhattacharjee: 50 in 60 balls, 7x4 (Samrif 193-3)

Match result: Gruenberg win by 65 runs
Match award: BPGV Grovan

[TJUN-ia]

After a wacky game on a wacky pitch delivered a wacky win in Goolsea, the Bowlin' Jags of TJUN-ia were certainly in an interesting spot after a game that produced bo a tight result and a high as hell NRR. Virat Indushapa did not know what to think about a game like that, one where anything and everything looked possible even with the small target to chase down, but he did know that allowing 8 wickets to fall when chasing down a target of 180 didn't look good at all. Sure, we still won, but we needed to be better at defending our wickets if we wanted any chance of trying to do something in this competition. Joseph Gregorson knew that too and he hoped that in the 6 matches to come, that could be improved come what may.

It was time for the 2nd of this opening trio against unranked nations and Spike Spiegel Stadium in Essidise would host our matchup against Sarzonia, where the message was simple - we don't care about that game anymore, we just wanted to kick their asses in particular. They won the toss and elected to bat first, so out came Harlan Taylor and Candee Edgerton looking to deliver some damage for the Stars. This game was certainly more of a respectable affair than the one against Godchouzetsu and in these innings, the Stars managed to motor along at a nice pace and keep their run rate up high for most of their inning. Eric Watson managed 89, Pete Trottenberg got to 56 and our bowlers were certainly trying, all the same, to get as low of a score as possible from the opposing bats. Esteban Soto managed the best bowling numbers, ending up with 3-56, but that only goes to show just how well Sarzonia did in these innings. They would end up at 312/7, meaning 313 would be what we needed for the win.

So out came Jason Walkins and Logan McGarra to begin the chase and thus chase was certainly a bit more tactical than the last one. This target was going to take time to try and chase and the wickets falling certainly did not help at all. Chase Helton ended up as our MVP of the game with 121 while everyone around him was just getting caught out by Meir Colvin and David Russ, with Russ ending up with 4-65. Things were looking a bit tight towards the end, with 300/7 becoming 310/9 in a flash but in the end, Zawar Ahmed and Ahmed Ali would bring home the 1-wicket win. Another game that was certainly not convincing at all, but a win all the same.

We certainly have issues we need to address, but winning games are never going to be shut down at all. 2-0 will always be seen as a positive even with the nailbiting results, so many will be hoping for more of the same next time - back at Goolsea against StrayaRoos, who've surprisingly started 2-0 as a UR side. Certainly a trap match, let's hope we can remember that. GO BOWLIN' JAGS!

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SCHEDULE (Group D, Brookstation)
MD1: vs Godchouzetsu (UR) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea W by 2 Wickets (1st)
MD2: vs Sarzonia (UR) - Spike Spiegel Stadium, Essidise W by 1 Wicket (1st)
MD3: vs StrayaRoos (UR) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea
MD4: vs The Sarian (2) - Spike Spiegel Stadium, Essidise
MD5: vs Gruenberg (5) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea
MD6: vs Samrif (UR) - Spike Spiegel Stadium, Essidise
MD7: vs Lisander (19) - Goolsea Riverside Ground, Goolsea