[Everything] T20 World Championship XV

[Milchama]

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T20, oh dear

Test cricket has been the driver of Milchama's cricket popularity. As a population of people who love idling around while watching something or other a slow, methodical, tactically complex game has fascinated large segments of the Milchamian public. It's the reason why Milchama has become a cricket nation, even if the cricket playing population is a small one in comparison to the two most popular sports of baseball and soccer.

Or, in other words, of course a baseball loving population would love a game like test cricket because it's very similar to baseball but just different enough that you get something new out of it even if a lot of the charms are similar. So, a bastardized, super fast version of the game that's basically baseball light is not the one that attracts Milchamians. If you go to a T20 game that's basically saying you're either at a low level amateur game, a quick pick up game, or some young school boy version of the game before the children get serious about sports. T20 is the version of cricket you play in adult leagues once a week that don't take them seriously and the drinking is just as important as the playing. This makes the T20 national team a bit tricky to come up with as there are very few opportunities for grown adults, particularly high level grown adults to play T20 cricket.

Manager Tomasz Rostik then had some very tough choices. Do you take the established veteran presences of Hayden Marsh, Tanya Pehrson, Bonnie Woods etc. because they are the best Milchamian cricketers even with limited T20 experience or do you take more specialist players who might know the format better but maybe aren't as good as cricketers. Rostik, and the other selectors, looks like have split the difference taking some new names, some young prospects, and the normal "crew" so that there will be some international experience. Rostik named the following team to Milchama's first T20 World Championship:

T20 Starting Lineup:
Golda Melst RHB Opening Batter
Arielle Colanta LHB Opening Batter
Hayden Marsh RHB Part time off spin
Greg Cochrane LHB Batter
Shmuli Steinmitz LHB All rounder leg spin
Eliana Rosen RHB Batter
Kyle Keelan RHB Bowling all around fast
Molly Isabelle RHB WK
Eli Barrows RHB Fast bowler
Tanya Pehrson RHB Opening fast bowler. Throws left
Bonnie Woods RHB Opening fast bowler Throws right

Rest of the squad:
Daniel Ross RHB Opening Batter
Lieb Levrovich LHB All Rounder. Bowls wrist spin.
Jerome Carney RHB Middle Order Batter
Neta Zanton RHB Off spin bowler
Molly Isabelle RHB WK
Dalia Cortez LHB Fast bowler
Manny Comar RHB Fast bowler

RP Permissions:
Do whatever. If you do a scorecard please do one for me as well.

[StrayaRoos]

"Quebec & Shingoryeo Batting
Batter                                           R   B  4s  6s   SR
Tatti              lbw. Livingstone             18  14   3   0  128.57
Finch              b.Greene                      9  11   2   0   81.82
Jang               c.Phillipe B.Livingstone     82  47   8   3  174.47
Hosaka             Not out                      78  35   9   3  222.86
Kayondo-Kirkley    b.Jonassen                    8   9   0   1   88.89
Chinenyeze         not out                       9   4   2   0  225
       EXTRAS      none                          0
       TOTAL       for 4 wickets               204   (20 ov; 10.2 RPO)
Did not bat:     Barnes, De Vries, McDonnel , o'Neill, Woo-Barnes

FOW: 1-25 (Tatti, 3.5 overs); 2-30 (Finch, 4.3 overs); 3-183 (Jang, 17.3 overs); 
     4-191 (Kayondo-Kirkley, 18.2 overs)

StrayaRoos Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
Livingstone            4   0  28  2      7  
Greene                 4   0  34  1    8.5  
Molineux               4   0  53  0  13.25  
Anderson               4   0  36  0      9  
Jonassen               3   0  36  1     12  
Bradman                1   0  17  0     17  

StrayaRoos Batting   (Target: 205)
Batter                                           R   B  4s  6s   SR
Phillipe           lbw.McDonnel                 68  42   4   2  161.9
Jones              b.o'Neill                    35  22   3   0  159.09
Jun                b.Woo-Barnes                  1   3   0   0   33.33
Tui                b.De Vries                    6   4   1   0  150
Bradman            b.Woo-Barnes                  8   4   2   0  200
Healy              Not out                      13  18   2   0   72.22
Greene             lbw.McDonnel                 10  21   1   1   47.62
Jonassen           b.Barnes                      3   5   0   0   60
Anderson           Not Out                       0   1   0   0    
       EXTRAS      none                          0
       TOTAL       for 7 wickets               144   (20 ov; 7.2 RPO)
Did not bat:     Molineux, Livingstone

FOW: 1-93 (Jones, 9.5 overs); 2-104 (Phillipe, 10.5 overs); 3-104 (Jun, 11.2 overs); 
     4-112 (Bradman, 12 overs); 5-118 (Tui, 12.4 overs); 6-135 (Greene, 17.5 overs); 
     7-144 (Jonassen, 19.5 overs)

Quebec & Shingoryeo Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
Woo-Barnes             4   0  31  2   7.75  
o'Neill                4   0  28  1      7  
McDonnel               4   0  38  2    9.5  
De Vries               4   0  24  1      6  
Barnes                 4   0  23  1   5.75  

Venue: Holstat Buitenground
Match number: 16
Toss: StrayaRoos elected to bat
Season: GCF T20 Championship XV
Matchdays: 1
Player of the Match: Jang (QUE)
Series result: 
Test debut: Everyone (STR)
Umpires: Unknown
TV Umpire: Unknown
Reserve Umpire: Unknown
Match Referee: Unknown
Match Result: Quebec & Shingoreyo win by 55 runs"

[Gruenberg]

Gruenberger match officials nominated for World T20

Match referee: Breghellin Xurpinor

Umpires: Onomas Suuuudjeffypi, Hettypong Zevenzizzizoo, Nolezhit Fayytwummurkimops

Anyone may RP my umpires for their game. Please avoid them being woefully incompetent or diabolically biased, except for Hettypong who is pretty much a budget Steve Bucknor.

[Milchama]

Milchamian umpires for T20 World Championship XV:

Taylor Domico
Nathan Harain
Muriel Blanem

Use them however you would like and in whatever position you would like. No clear bias but feel free to call them biased as much as you want.

[Gruenberg]

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

Gruenberg 130-6 (20 overs)
                                                           R    B   4/6
NQX Honk                       c Lindman+  b Linnankoski  24  (24)  2/-
ZVEU Hengtridan Jr.            c Lindman+  b Eskola        5  (10)  -/-
EME Broimbles*                 run out (Pöysti)           13  (17)  1/-
!                              NOT OUT                    35  (37)  1/1
PWSTL Tttttttttwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeelllllllllppppppppp c Aaltonen  b Lehtovaara   13   (7)  1/1
HAYW Tumcoweiss                c Järnefelt b Linnankoski  16  (11)  1/1
YQB Contemnible+               st Lindman  b Tykkä         9   (9)  -/-
BPGV Grovan                    NOT OUT                    11   (5)  -/1
Did not bat: TIMTAM Renkauer, QD Skejjibox, NEM Syzygyswallower
EXTRAS (4wb)                                               4

FoW: 1: 8 (Hengtridan Jr., 2.6 overs); 2: 41 (Honk, 8.1 overs); 3: 49 (Broimbles, 9.4 overs); 4: 75 (Tttttttttwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeelllllllllppppppppp, 12.2 overs); 5: 99 (Tumcoweiss, 15.3 overs); 6: 118 (Contemnible, 19.0 overs)

             O    M    R    W
Eskola       4    0   19    1
Hyppia       4    0   18    0
Lehtovaara   4    0   21    1
Linnankoski  4    0   31    2
Pöysti       2    0   13    0
Tykkä        2    0   28    1

Kimi-suomi 133-5 (18.4 overs)
                                              R    B   4/6
A Aaltonen    c ! b Grovan                    0   (4)  -/-
W Tykkä*      run out (Tumcoweiss)           23  (13)  3/1
A Järnefelt   lbw b Renkauer                 11  (13)  1/1
L Pöysti      lbw b Skejjibox                13  (13)  -/1
J Paarma      run out (Tumcoweiss/Renkauer)  35  (39)  1/2
M Linnankoski NOT OUT                        38  (27)  5/-
A Ackté       NOT OUT                         5   (5)  1/-
Did not bat: L Lehtovaara, Å Lindman+, S Hyppia, S Eskola
EXTRAS (1lb, 5wb, 2nb)                        8

FoW: 1: 1 (Aaltonen, 0.3 overs); 2: 33 (Järnefelt, 4.1 overs); 3: 39 (Tykkä, 5.0 overs); 4: 63 (Pöysti, 8.4 overs); 5: 123 (Paarma, 17.3 overs)

                 O    M    R    W
Grovan           3.4  0   32    1
Syzygyswallower  2    0   12    0
Renkauer         4    0   29    1
Tttttttttwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeelllllllllppppppppp  1    0   16    0
Tumcoweiss       4    0   24    0
Skejjibox        4    0   19    1

Gruenberg innings
Powerplay: 30-1 (Honk 18, Broimbles 7)

Kimi-suomi innings
Powerplay: 54-3 (Pöysti 9, Paarma 4)
5th wicket: 50 in 45 balls (Linnankoski 24, Paarma 22)

Match result: Kimi-suomi win by 5 wickets

[Eastfield Lodge]

The Imperial Commonwealth Cricket Board presents

The Eastfield Lodge team for the 15th T20 World Championship

Batsmen
Name			Age	M/F	Order	Bat	Club
Wesam Baier-Gaillard	31  VC	 M	 1-2	Right	Paranormal
Uthman Darryn-Pelletier	25	 M	 1-3	Right	Dictionary
Arjun Abdul Ghani	27	 M	 3-5	Left	Bluinshire
Katryn Lunt		29	 F	 2-4	Right	Revisionism City
Jeannine Bokanga	20	 F 	 1-2	Left	New Lodger City

Bowlers
Name			Age	M/F	Bowling		Order	Club
Amelie Lie		28	 F	Rt Fast-Medium	7-10	Paranormal
Almira Procter		27	 F	Lt Off-Spin	9-11	Bliketia
Kalah Strachan		32  VC	 F	Rt Fast		9-11	Micronia
Elly Fernandez		23	 F	Rt Fast		9-11	Revisionism City
Léonard Lorenzo		24	 M 	Rt Leg-Spin	8-10	Likina

All-Rounders
Name			Age	M/F	Bowling		Order	Club
Badr al Din		28	 M	Rt Medium-Fast	 6-8	Paranormal
Franklin Saeed		31	 M	Rt Off-Spin	 4-7	Mainpass
Rasmus Mushtaq		26	 M	Lt Fast		 5-8	New Lodger City

Wicket Keepers
Name			Age	M/F	Bat	Order	Club
Malita Gracelyn		35  Cpt	 F	Right	 3-5	Jam Town
Uzziel Paris		22	 M	Right	 3-5	Bliketia

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

Umpires: Shaheera Beydoun, Fayyaad Chaudhury, Timeo Zoroak

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Godmod Scoring Events: Y
Adjust wickets: Y (sensibly)
RP/Godmod injuries to my players: Y (max 1 minor injury unless cleared with me)
Godmod how my players were dismissed: Y
Create a full scorecard for my team: Y

[Alice Bay]

Lisander and Alice Bay Team material goes missing on the trip and the team loses against Delaclava wearing yellow!
Problems in transportation caused the team's material to end up in Neomaris.

PYMTUON CRICKET CLUB LENDS UNIFORMS:
The multinational team relied on the kindness
of the local team, who provided uniforms and
bats for the visitors. Playing in the colors of
the local team, however, they could not get
a good result.

It was a curious scene to say the least, and turned out to be even more curious due to the buzz generated on social media. If many Aliceans didn't want to see the team playing teal, they ended up not seeing it at all. But as we said, not for the expected reason. The "Lisanlicean" team (as they decided to call themselves, ouch...) arrived at the Pymtuon Oval this afternoon to find that their material had not arrived. With the game on the eve of starting, what would they do?

Fortunately, the hosts came to the aid of the visitors, and within a few minutes, enough Pymtuon Cricket Club match jerseys had appeared to allow all the players to take the field. The team wears the local town colors of yellow and black. According to a Pymtuonian who answered us, "the town is traditionally been a hotbed of political radicalism", which explains the strong, contrasting colors.

However, it seems that the borrowed colors did not bring much luck to Bruce Millington's team. Despite starting bowling and sending home all the batters by 15.3 of 20 overs, Lisanliceans (damn, is this a name? really?) failed to reach the Delaclavans' 175 runs, stopping at 161 at the end of 20 innings. At the end of the day, it is hard to even point blame for the defeat, after all, the numbers were not the same as the team originally uses. There were 28, 66, 51, 74, 83... but no jersey was named.

Victory Sports, the company responsible for developing and manufacturing the uniforms, raised the suspicion that the material had been mixed up at the time of shipment. The company only realized when it realized that the boxes, which were being tracked electronically, were in different places than where they were supposed to be. "When we noticed a batch of Cricket uniforms at Neomaris Airport and a batch of Cycling singlets about to land at The Sarian, we immediately contacted Alkyon, our carrier and aviation partner." said Marin Mikhaladze, the company's public relations director.

Alkyon, the airline responsible for the team's travel, says that there was a problem with the shipment of materials, which was mistakenly sent to Neomaris. "According to our research, two packages from Victory Sports, the company that produces the team's uniforms, were shipped on the same day, and were most probably exchanged at the moment of weighing and tagging, at the Bay City Airport. This is a process performed by outsourced employees, airport employees, under the guidance of Alkyon employees. Even if we are unable to understand exactly how and when it occurred, as well as to detail whether the person responsible for the mix-up was an Alkyon employee or an airport employee, we apologize on behalf of our entire team in Bay City. We also would like to inform that we're already taking the necessary steps to correct the mistake and deliver both packages to their correct destinations."

Hopefully, for the second match, against Jabal Akhdar, some teal will show up and some names can be held accountable, either for a good or a bad result.

[Sylestone]

THIRD TIME LUCKY AS HALL, SONNEL DESTROY LOZHOAN BATTING

TUCANVIUL, THE SARIAN - Broughton Hall’s second T20I four-wicket haul has led his nation to a one-sided demolishment of Lozho, the Hawthorns finally clicking together in the two nation’s third clash of the year to restrict the Lozhoan batting before going all-out against their bowlers. After Lozho chased down Sylestone’s 6-171 on the opening day of the EspoT20 with twenty balls remaining before racking up a mammoth 5-239 in the semifinal to knock the Hawthorns out of the competition, many were concerned that this Sylestonean team was not quite where it needed to be heading into the tournament and most importantly, this very game. But with Lachlan Cocrine, Broughton Hall and Liam Afosha all returning to the XI after being rested to give fringe players a chance at securing their spot in the squad during that home EspoT20, Lozho could find no answer. On a dry track favouring the Sylestonean tweakers, Broughton Hall’s 4-16 from four overs tore the heart out of the Lozhoans, with Kate Sonnel’s 2-23 also proving decisive as Lozho stumbled to a final total of 9-107 - less than half of what they got in that EspoT20 semifinal.

Chasing 108 was never, ever going to be an issue for the Sylestonean batters, especially against a team reliant on their batting ability to win games. Thanks to some hitting from Luke Tiati, Lachlan Cocrine and Nicholas Lovia, the run rate was never in doubt, while Brianna Eastwood’s anchor knock of 47 meant that the risk of being bowled out was eliminated as Sylestone chased down the required runs with seven overs to spare, kicking their campaign off to a flying start with a dominant victory.

Earlier in the day, for it was still morning when Liventian umpire DC Donaldson called “play” for the first time, Lozhoan skipper Andrezh Drezhen won the toss and did not hesitate to bat first on a pitch that seemed destined to break up as the game progressed. However, his call backfired almost immediately, with Tim Crawford - a hard-hitting right-hander who made his name in that EspoT20 semifinal at the CCG with a 46-ball 98 - playing all around a peach of a delivery from Samuel Scron second ball, dislodging his off bail to send him packing. With the fielding restrictions only allowing two players outside of the thirty-yard circle, this was the time for Rick Zrumhammer and Zhill Zohnzohn to put the foot on the accelerator and do what they do best - take the game to the bowlers and force them into making costly mistakes. However, the two Samuel’s - Scron and Asaskia - as well as spinners Liam Afosha and Kate Sonnel did not give the pair anything to work with, bowling tight lines and lengths, often drawing edges that fell despairingly short of the fielder’s hands. Although Zrumhammer was able to top-edge Asaskia for a six in the fourth over of the innings, nothing else really stood out as the Hawthorns left Lozho hanging on by a thread at 1-30 as Broughton Hall took the ball from Luke Tiati and handed his cap to Donaldson at the Bay End.

It only took the 25-year-old three balls to leave his first of many impacts on the match. Zohnzohn, having made just five runs from eleven balls leading into the over as Zrumhammer took most of the strike, finally lost his patience on Hall’s third delivery, charging down the wicket in an attempt to belt it back the way it came, into the sightscreen. However, he failed to spot the carrom ball, playing all around the delivery as Luke Tiati completed a simple stumping. But Hall wasn’t done yet, with Drezhen wasting Lozho’s only review out of sheer hope that Donaldson had made a rare mistake as the Lozhoan captain attempted a reverse-sweep from one of Hall’s deceptive sliders. And then, in the eleventh over of the innings, Hall captured the biggest blow yet. With Zrumhammer still struggling to find his timing but still doing enough to inch along to 34 - making up two-thirds of his nation’s abysmal total - the left-hander went for a wild hoick across the line in an endeavour for the second six of his innings, only to chip it out to the fielder in the deep, who took a simple catch to reduce the Esportivan champions to 4-51 with only nine overs remaining.

As wickets continued to tumble from one end, Zumphrey Zaddam proved that the pitch was not as bad as the Lozhoan top-order made it appear to be, comfortably dealing with Kate Sonnel and Samuel Cross to build towards a slightly defendable total above 120. But Broughton Hall, returning for his fourth over in the seventeenth of the innings, had other ideas. After being swept for four, the mystery spinner bounced back right away, tempting Zaddam into another swipe but instead, tricking him with a well-disguised leg-break. As the ball crashed into his middle stump, Zaddam’s head dropped in frustration and now, 120 seemed lightyears away. Hell, at 7-97, a total under 100 seemed a possibility.

But despite some excellent death bowling from the third Samuel in the Sylestonean XI - Samuel Cross - and Scron, the Hawthorns had to wait until the 120th ball of the innings before they could walk off the field, Lozho finishing at 9-107, with a last-ball wicket thanks to an accurate throw from Luke Tiati as Gorzon Hozhe and Gordon Hinckley attempted to scamper a bye to make Sylestone’s job that much harder. Ultimately, though, despite the wearing nature of the Tucanviul pitch, to choke chasing 108 against a weak bowling attack would be unforgivable at best. But Lozho were undefeated in T20I’s following their perfect EspoT20 campaign and if there was any team capable of pulling such a feat out of the bag, it was them.

But thankfully for the western Esportivan island nation, at no point during the chase did Lozho appear to threaten the victory. Right from the outset, Luke Tiati signalled his intentions by charging at Moz - Lozho’s best bowler - pummelling them over mid-wicket for a one bounce four. And then, on the final ball of the over, the decorated Hawthorn skipper shuffled across his stumps and in a physics defying feat, launched a good length ball over fine leg’s head for a maximum. With twelve runs coming off the first over, it was clear that Tiati was not going to waste time completing the chase.

Although Hinckley picked up Tiati with a full toss in the next over, Lachlan Cocrine picked up right where the Hawthorn skipper left off, taking the Lozhoan bowling on as he set about chasing down the runs in quick time, sending a dire warning to all opponents. At the other end, Brianna Eastwood ticked the scoreboard over, racking up boundaries off the poorer deliveries the Lozhoans threw at her, while respecting the better ones and looking to run hard between the wickets. By the time Drezhen finally introduced trump card Zatri Qaraq into the attack for the eighth over of the innings, Cocrine and Eastwood were chewing away at the runs as it were a ham and pineapple pizza, with emphasis on the pineapple as it’s one of the nation’s most prominent exports and yes, in Sylestone, pineapple does belong on pizza. With only 45 more runs needed for victory, the Lozhoan skipper had stuffed up - there was no doubt about it. Why have a trump card in your team if you only introduce them once the game is done and dusted?

Two balls later, Drezhen looked like an even bigger idiot. On the first ball of Qaraq’s spell, the left-arm leg-spinner tricked Cocrine with a devilish wrong’un, catching a thick outside edge to right to Tim Crawford at backward point. But as Lozhoans breathed a sigh of relief, their opening bat’s poor day compounded, the ball slamming into his wrist and tumbling to the ground as Qaraq stood, hands on hips, staring at the fielder. Thankfully for Crawford and Qaraq, though, the former’s mistake would cost them nothing, with Zohnzohn holding onto a slog right on the deep mid-wicket boundary the very next ball, sending the star Sylestonean on his way for 22. Finally, something had gone Lozho’s way.

It would not last, though. While Nicholas Lovia also departed to Qaraq’s deadly spinners two overs later, those twelve balls provided enough time for he and Eastwood to add another 18 runs to the Hawthorn total as the required rate dropped well beneath threes - easily doable, even if the match was in five-day form. Although the dry pitch was beginning to crack up a little more than it had done earlier in the match, turning it into a bit of a spinners’ paradise, Liam Afosha and Eastwood dealt with the spin of Qaraq and Gorzon Hozhe without issue, the 23-year-old opener gradually approaching a thoroughly deserved half-century as the match neared completion - causing a bit of a race as she strived for the personal milestone. However, with only two runs required and Eastwood on 47, she could only top-edge a slower ball from Freze Horzhonzille high into the midday sky and down into the safe gloves of Yap Dumfries, failing to finish the match off in style and leaving the ground red-faced in embarrassment. Samuel Cross, though, went about getting those two runs without issue, flicking the final ball of the over through mid-wicket for a couple to seal a six-wicket triumph after just thirteen overs. From the disappointment of fourth place in the EspoT20, Sylestone had redeemed themselves where it really mattered - at the World T20 Championship - with a dominant bowling performance that signalled that they were no longer a team to relax against, if they ever were. The Hawthorns were thirteenth in the multiverse in T20s and if they continued to perform similarly, top ten would be well within reach by the end of the tournament. However, as almost everyone knows, rank is just a number that indicates where some random people think your team is amongst the rest. Despite what some conspiracy theorists will say to you - how every cricket game actually does use official GCF ranks in a specialised weighted random number generator that can be influenced by offerings in the form of the national currency, rubber chickens, to the national animal, the Margaret - everyone who is sane knows that’s utter bullshit. Right?

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Lionsroar are up next and despite following through with expectations and playing a “mystery” squad, they will be keen to bounce back from a disappointing three-wicket loss at the hands of New Gelderland. And who better to do it against than a squad that may be slightly cocky after completing a demolition job of a fellow unranked nation?

---

Lozho Batting
Batter                                                R   B  4s  6s   SR
T Crawford         b Scron                            0   2   0   0    
Z Zohnzohn         st Tiati (+) b Hall                5  14   0   0   35.71
R Zrumhammer       c Asaskia b Hall                  34  39   2   1   87.18
A Drezhen (c)      lbw b Hall                         3   6   0   0   50
Z Zaddam           b Hall                            25  19   1   2  131.58
F Horzhonzille     c Eastwood b Sonnel                9   9   1   0  100
Y Dumfries (+)     c&b Sonnel                        13  10   1   1  130
G Hozhe            run out (Tiati (+))                7  13   0   0   53.85
Z Qaraq            b Cross                            3   5   0   0   60
G Hinckley         not out                            3   3   0   0  100
Moz                not out                            0   0   0   0        
       EXTRAS      (1 b, 1 lb, 3 wd)                  5
       TOTAL       for 9 wickets                    107   (20 ov; 5.35 RPO)
                 

FOW: 1-0 (T Crawford, 0.2 overs); 2-30 (Z Zohnzohn, 6.3 overs); 3-36 (A Drezhen (c), 8.5 overs); 
     4-51 (R Zrumhammer, 10.6 overs); 5-72 (F Horzhonzille, 13.6 overs); 6-92 (Y Dumfries (+), 15.6 overs); 
     7-97 (Z Zaddam, 16.5 overs); 8-103 (Z Qaraq, 19.1 overs); 9-107 (G Hozhe, 19.6 overs)

Sylestone Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
S Scron                4   1  23  1   5.75  
S Asaskia              4   0  26  0    6.5  (1 wd)
L Afosha               1   0   3  0      3  
K Sonnel               4   0  23  2   5.75  (1 wd)
B Hall                 4   0  16  4      4  
S Cross                3   0  14  1   4.67  (1 wd)

Sylestone Batting   (Target: 108)
Batter                                                R   B  4s  6s   SR
L Tiati (c) (+)    c Moz b Hinckley                  13   7   1   1  185.71
B Eastwood         c Dumfries (+) b Horzhonzille     47  38   7   0  123.68
L Cocrine          c Zohnzohn b Qaraq                22  14   2   1  157.14
N Lovia            b Qaraq                           10   7   0   1  142.86
L Afosha           not out                           11  10   1   0  110
S Cross            not out                            2   2   0   0  100
       EXTRAS      (1 lb, 2 wd)                       3
       TOTAL       for 4 wickets                    108   (13 ov; 8.31 RPO)
Did not bat:     A Stealom, S Asaskia, B Hall, S Scron, K Sonnel

FOW: 1-15 (L Tiati (c) (+), 1.5 overs); 2-63 (L Cocrine, 7.2 overs); 3-81 (N Lovia, 9.2 overs); 
     4-106 (B Eastwood, 12.4 overs)

Lozho Bowling
Bowler                Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
Moz                    2   0  19  0    9.5  
G Hinckley             3   0  30  1     10  (2 wd)
F Horzhonzille         3   0  19  1   6.33  
Z Qaraq                3   0  22  2   7.33  
G Hozhe                2   0  17  0    8.5  

Venue: Brijtbai Parc, Tucanviul
Match number: Match 9
Toss: Lozho won the toss and elected to bat
Season/Tournament: GCF World T20 Championship XV
Matchdays: Matchday One
Player of the Match: Broughton Hall (SYL)
Debut: none
Umpires: Guru Beth Rati Pumba , DC Donaldson 
TV Umpire: Nate Shumer Singh 
Match Result: Sylestone win by six wickets with 42 balls remaining

---

MD2 XI vs Lionsroar @ Sint Chad's, Stoomtuon, The Sarian

1. Luke Tiati (c) (+)
2. Brianna Eastwood
3. Lachlan Cocrine
4. Nicholas Lovia
5. Samuel Cross
6. Liam Afosha
7. Jack Martin
8. Ashton Stealom
9. Broughton Hall
10. Samuel Scron
11. Kate Sonnel

[Baggieland]

[TJUN-ia]

After a fruitful return to ODI, it's time to try and repeat that success with the shortest of formats. The Bowlin' Jaguars of TJUN-ia were in The Sarian's West looking to try and make their 2nd T20 World Championships way better than their first. That was a simple aim, alongside trying to make the knockouts, and it will be those simple targets that will occupy the mind of Virat Indushapa for the next few weeks. He certainly wants to build upon the successes of the ODI World Trophy and with Roger Ntini leading the charge, the possibilities were certainly out there.

Four of our 7 games in Group C will be at the absolutely stunning Klifzijde in Oud Saarum, flanked on one side by a massive cliff and filled with beauty both natural and aesthetic. Our first opponents were a tough one right off the bat, #5 Darmen, who won the toss and opted to bowl first. That meant Jason Walkins and Logan McGarra would start off this contest and from there...things were consistent. We didn't exactly set the world on fire, our highest score was 44 (Chase Helton) and our lowest was just 5 (Peter Kylasov, not out), but if anything, we were consistent in our Run Rate and in the way we produced those runs, focusing more on the ground game before firing a boundary or two before being halted by a wicket off some great Darmeni fielding. We only made it through 19.1 of the 20 overs, but a score of 180 showed that we put that time to good use with the bats.

And so, 181 was the target for Darmen to chase...and it would certainly get close towards the end. Darmen, as the #5 team, certainly knew what they were doing and their batters certainly tried to make the most out of every inning they faced. But we had weapons of our own and our bowlers would take 6 wickets for themselves - three from Ahmed Ali and 1 each from Peter Kylasov, Esteban Soto and even Captain Ntini. The final wicket came in the final over, as Darmen pushed to try and cross the finishing line and win this contest, and that would help in making sure they were 5 runs short, meaning a 4-run win for us over a Top 5 team. Talk about a good start and we will certainly take this win to the bank.

The dry pitch of Brijtbai Parc in Tucanviul will host our 2nd game against a debutant by the name of New Gelderland, who beat a fellow debutant in order to claim their first-ever GCF win in any format. Now, we must try to give them their first GCF defeat. Let's hope for no surprises. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group C)
MD1: vs Darmen (5) - Klifzijde, Oud Saarum W by 4 runs
MD2: vs New Gelderland (UR) - Brijtbai Parc, Tucanviul
MD3: vs Sylestone (13) - Klifzijde, Oud Saarum
MD4: vs Lionsroar (UR) - Klifzijde, Oud Saarum
MD5: vs Lozho (UR) - Klifzijde, Oud Saarum
MD6: vs Greaterburg (UR) - Beestjebeek, Chypenberg
MD7: vs Liventia (2) - Brijtbai Parc, Tucanviul

[Kimi-Suomi]

Well then...toisen debyyttimme aika. The Karhut is back and this time, in the T20 format - which is shorter, punchier and likes to produce more chaos than the 50-over counterpart we are all familiar with. This format is the one new nations like to start off with, as games are only the length of movies and the action is a great way to get your fanbase hooked on this sport, but since we already earned our stripes at the ODI level, our team was already experienced (somewhat) and Lorcán Ua Tuathail certainly knew a lot about how we played the game (somewhat). Entering this tournament, we already knew a bit about ourselves...the question is, what could Wäinö Tykkä do with this team in his debut as T20 Captain? What can this team do here?

Turfmarktstraat in Lyntveld would host our first game with Gruenburg, the team ranked #7, who would end up winning the toss and opting to bat first. That sounded like a good decision, with the small boundaries here at this quaint ground, but once the match got underway, things would take a bit of a turn. Do you want to know the best score a Gruenberg player managed in their inning? 35* from ! (no joke, his name is literally "!"). Our bowling attack simply kept gnawing at their bats and we ended up with 6 wickets because if it - 2 from Mika Linnankoski, a run-out via Lasse Pöysti and one wicket each for Saima Eskola, Lina Lehtovaara and even Captain Tykkä himself. In the end, the #7 team in the world could only manage 130-6 against a team playing in their first-ever T20 International. Our bowlers basically dragged us halfway to victory...but not all the way of course.

Now, Captain Tykkä and Albert Aaltonen would have to go out there and chase down 131 runs. Aaltonen didn't get us off to the best of starts, getting bested by Brigveger Grovan after only 4 balls (0.3 due to a wide), but once Alina Järnefelt entered the game things slowly went in our favour. Both Järnefelt and Lasse Pöysti went out via lbw, with the Captain being run out by Hraffinthroquadilamjamhampamsamtamrambamattawakkipurrheliomansthophthanes Tumcoweiss (what the fuck is that name), and that would leave us at 63-4 when Jukka Paarma was joined by Linnankoski. These two would then proceed to effectively win the game by themselves, dragging themselves to a 50-run partnership and dragging us toward the magic line. By the time Paarma was finally run out, it was 123-5 and this game was practically over, with Aino Ackté not really needing to do much as Linnankoski scored the final boundary to win the game by 5 wickets with 8 balls to spare. We did that to #7. In our first T20 of all time. Ehkä olemme parempia kuin luulimme tässä urheilussa.

Up next is a fellow debutant by the name of Susijoukot, but you might prefer to call them Wolfstruppen. They only managed 96/9 in their first GCF game and while we should be able to deal with them, a battle between two debutants always leads to chaos...so we must be careful. We got off to a brilliant start. Jatketaan samaan malliin. NOSTA KUIN KARHUT!

---

SCHEDULE/AJOITTAA (Group A)
MD1: vs Gruenberg (7) - Turfmarktstraat, Lyntveld W by 5 wickets/V 5 portit
MD2: vs Susijoukot [Wolfstruppen] (UR) - Pingstrand Cricketgrond, Wilaamstad
MD3: vs Sarian [The Sarian] (12) - De OvalNationaal, Bondstad
MD4: vs Länsi-Barack ja Itä-Obama [West Barack and East Obama] (UR) - Turfmarktstraat, Lyntveld
MD5: vs Indusse (38) - Turfmarktstraat, Lyntveld
MD6: vs Ylä-Nasa [Uppen Nasa] (UR) - Statparc, Oostelund
MD7: vs Laukkumaa [Baggieland] (14) - Pingstrand Cricketgrond, Wilaamstad

[Darmen]

Darmeni National Cricket Team
presented by the
Darmeni Cricket Board

The Selection Committee of the Darmeni Cricket Board has announced the fifteen player squad that will contest the fifthteenth edition of the GCF World Twenty20 Championship to be held in the Sarian. The statistics shown below are the combined totals of the 12th through 14th WT20 championships.

Batsmen
Máel Sechlainn Brice - Right-handed Batsman - 29 years old - Vogler City CC
6 matches; 190 runs @ avg. of 38.00, 27 x 4's, 5 x 6's, 1 x 50's, HS of 70*
Brice has played in just six matches, but he's Darmen's fifth leading run scorer over the past three WT20 championships. And he wasn't even named in the fifteen for the 13th edition! Expect him to get off to quick starts, but don't expect him to still be out in the middle when the innings comes to a close.

Sigmund Winter (Captain) - Right-handed Batsman - 35 years old - Bloomer CC
26 matches; 703 runs @ avg. of 29.29, 84 x 4's, 24 x 6's, 5 x 50's, HS of 75*
Aside from the bowlers, Winter is the weakest batter on the team. His position in the squad is down to his leadership and his intellect and certainly has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the selection committee just doesn't have the stones to take the captaincy away from him.

Winston van der Zee - Right-handed Batsman - 30 years old - Hendricks City CC
26 matches; 989 runs @ avg. of 47.10, 104 x 4's, 56 x 6's, 8 x 50's, 1 x 100's, HS of 105*
The Jeremy Clarkson of T20 cricket. Love him or hate him, he's incredibly popular and skilled at his trade. Occasionally he gets over confident and ends up doing something rather stupid. Will either light up the park with boundaries left and right, or trudge back to the dressing room having faced only a handful of deliveries. SPEED! POWER!

Theudofrid Milligan - Right-handed Batsman - 31 years old - Romanopolis CC
26 matches; 857 runs @ avg. of 45.11, 104 x 4's, 23 x 6's, 5 x 50's, HS of 87
The pace of T20 isn't something that Milligan is naturally suited for. He's not afraid to play defensive shots and settle for singles and almost never gives away his wicket cheaply. More than capable of hitting it to the boundary however.

Kenny O’Callaghan - Right-handed Batsman - 26 years old - Bloomer CC
11 matches; 134 runs @ avg. of 33.50, 17 x 4's, 5 x 6's, HS of 48*
The twenty-five year old is the most adept runner between the wickets for Darmen, which either means he scores an extra run gets scored when you might not expect it, or his batting partner gets sold down the river. If the latter, you'll see it coming.

All-rounders
Bud Bachmann (Vice-Captain) - Right-handed All-rounder - Bowls right fast - 27 years old - Johnho CC
14 matches; 168 runs @ avg. of 42.00, 25 x 4's, 4 x 6's, HS of 33*; 50.0 overs bowled, 7 wickets @ avg. of 63.71
Darmenis expect their all-rounders to score runs and take wickets. Unfortunately for Bachmann, he isn't doing the latter. Taking a wicket every 43 deliveries does not cut it. It's been suggested in the past that Bachmann simply needs time to develop, but at 27 years old, time for that is running out.

Eli English - Right-handed All-rounder - Bowls right off spin - 24 years old - Springfield CC
Yet to make T20I debut
Rahkeem Cornwall, but shorter and lighter. Instrumental in Springfield's 2046 domestic T20 championship, he's a power hitter who takes wickets on the regular when bowling. His fielding ability leaves something to be desired.

Wicket-keepers
Justin Beckett - Left-handed Wicket-keeper - 27 years old - Romanopolis CC
11 matches; 75 runs @ avg. of 25.00, 8 x 4's, 2 x 6's, HS of 23*
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.

Caerwyn Rodgers - Right-handed Wicket-keeper - 26 years old - Starburg CC
Yet to make T20I debut
When he isn't running water bottles or bringing out gloves and bats, he's praying for Beckett to get injured.

Bowlers
Corwin McAlister - Right-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls right fast - 31 years old - Bloomer CC
26 matches; 100.0 overs bowled, 35 wickets @ avg. of 22.97; 65 runs @ avg. of 8.13, 9 x 4's, 1 x 6's, HS of 26
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. But he is still without a doubt Darmen's best bowler.

Alf Dickenson - Left-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls left fast-medium - 30 years old - Brham CC
24 matches; 85.2 overs bowled, 17 wickets @ avg. of 44.41, 1 maiden; 7 runs @ avg. of 1.75, HS of 3
Questions about the safety of Dickenson's spot in the team have followed him throughout his career. He doesn't quite have the pace of fellow left-handed pacer Bean, but he produces far more swing than the younger bowler.

Edmund Fairclough - Right-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls right fast - 27 years old - Hendricks City CC
4 matches; 16.0 overs bowled, 5 wickets @ avg. of 30.00
Hendricks City's recent success domestically can't be entirely attributed to van der Zee's batting; Fairclough has been a bowling sensation in the domestic competition. He's without a doubt the fastest bowler on the team, but he hasn't been immune from criticism; at least two opposing batsmen domestically have accused him of having an illegal delivery.

Ilia Snelling - Left-handed Spin Bowler - Bowls slow left-arm unorthodox - 31 years old - Romanopolis CC
Yet to make T20I debut
Now Darmen's first choice spin bowler following the retirement of Dorian Myers. How Snelling adapts to the shorter form of the game at the international level remains to be seen, but he has been the leading wicket taker among spin bowlers domestically for the past three years.

Gregor Bean - Left-handed Pace Bowler - Bowls left fast - 25 years old - Menomonie CC
Yet to make T20I 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 spin - 24 years old - Cosmopolitan CC
Yet to make T20I 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.

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!

[Lozho]

"No, no, no NO!!! LOD DAMN IT!"

It was just five minutes to the most important meeting in Raj Zhaozhamhra's life so far. Sure, negotiating contracts to build a hut or a shack somewhere were pretty stressful, but this was a whole new level. Meeting the glorious, majestic Head of the Obamen himself (via video link) at the West Barack and East Obama embassy in Ghezhan was a whole new level. Raj was already sweating profusely, but his palms became completely drenched as he read the latest sports headlines:

PELICANS SPANKED BY ARCHRIVALS

SHAMBOLIC BATTING LEADS TO FIRST COMPETITIVE LOSS FOR LOZHOANS

TOP 5 LETTUCES BETTER THAN TIM CRAWFORD AT CRICKET

Raj wasn't an expert on cricket, but even he knew this was bad. Hopefully whoever was in the room with him were unaware about the recent result.

"SEE? Now I'm 2000 Lozhons richer! I told you we were going to fumble the bag. Fat lot of good that optimism did huh?" sneered Jerry.

"Look, it's all an elaborate strategy. We won the EspoT20 due to being underestimated. By throwing it against Sylestone, we once again create the illusion that we're a bunch of noobs stepping onto an oval for the first time!" retorted Bartholozew.

"Miss me with that bullcrap. You're just salty that you-" began Jerry before Raj cut them off.

"Can you two save it for afterwards? We're meeting the Loddamn President of the United States in a few minutes, and you two need to act like my 'cricket consultants', NOT a pair of hooligans I picked up at a bar. And please keep your voices down. When we're in the meeting, ONLY whisper to me when I've made a mistake with my cricket terminology or something. You got it?" Raj chided. Jerry and Bartholozew nodded along, but Raj wasn't sure that they totally understood.

A man, presumably the physical representative for His Eminence, opened the door and told the trio that they could take a seat in the conference room. Raj took a deep breath and walked inside. He scanned the room and saw that there were just five people witnessing this. The Minister of Recreation for Lozho, the Lozho Cricket Federation (LCF) and Lozho Football Association (LFA) Presidents, the actual President of the United States via video call, and his physical representative. Most of them were pretty old and likely not up to date about the latest cricket scores, so this shouldn't be too difficult.

"Good afternoon everyone, especially the most wonderful President Obama. I'm Raj Zhaozhamhra, the Chief Executive Officer of Lozho's Premium Huts and Shacks Incorporated. I've had a long history of-" Raj was going to begin the presentation with a little bit of personal history, but he saw his audience's brows furrow a little. They were losing interest quick, so Raj started sweating more.

"Uh... anyways, I have a proposal for you all today. Due to President Obama, the One and Only, and his expectedly wise decision to allow national sports teams in football and cricket, their popularity has exploded not just in the United States but also in Lozho. In honour of this great work, I propose that we-" Raj tried to continue his presentation, but he felt a tug on his suit jacket. He turned around and saw that Jerry was pulling his sleeve.

Raj excused himself and quickly sat down. "What the hell are you doing?" Raj whispered to Jerry. "This better be important."

"Yeah... you're giving way too much credit for the team's successes to that guy! Our wins are what put us at the top!" Jerry whispered back. Raj rolled his eyes and stood up to continue.

"Sorry about that. Yes, I propose that the first annual Lozho's Premium Huts and Shacks Inc. Presents: The President's Birthday Cup!" Raj announced. Jerry and Bartholozew start clapping, before an angry stare gets them to shut up.

"A birthday what? I'm confused." asked the LCF President.

"Yeah, and why? This just seems like more unimportant rubbish to me, not fit for the attention of our dear lord." scoffed the physical representative.

Raj's suit was drenched in his sweat at this point. He could swear that someone turned the air conditioning off just to humiliate him further. "What I'm trying to say is... er... we hold cricket and football friendly matches between Lozho and West Barack and East Obama right here.With special emphasis on pre-game military parades and special VIP lounge for the President. Maybe a carnival or two outside for tourism revenue. That combined with broadcasting rights would earn all of us a fortune, plus the world gets to honour the Man himself! Um, I mean the manliest of all men and king of the worlds Obama."

Raj paused to catch his breath. Dead silence and little reaction from everyone in the room, even the usually talkative Jerry and Bartholozew were pensive. The silence was eventually broken by the one man outside the room, who started applauding.

"Let me be clear, I LOVE the idea! Brilliant! I mean, as long as the usual President's Military Parade is observed, I'm down for anything!" exclaimed President Obama. Raj let out a deep sigh of relief.

"One thing though, how can we even host such a thing?" inquired the Minister of Recreation. "Our stadiums can barely host a normal footba-"

"...without the toilets flooding! Yeah, the stadiums suck. So, the next part of our presentation will be our plans for a brand new stadium just for the games!" interjected Bartholozew. He and Jerry stood up, much to Raj's horror.

[to be continued]

[Sajnur]

Sajnur National Cricket Team

(Sorry for the late roster, y'all)

Roster

Starting XI
Name                Age  Bat  Role

Tariq Abraham       20   L    Bat
Gabriela Fiume (c)  35   R    Bat
Tomas Piqa (vc)     37   R    Bat, Right leg spin
Solomon Tawas       33   L    Bat
Toljo Jorse         37   R    All-rounder, Right off spin
Marwan Adonai       19   L    Bat
Andre Berrisk       30   L    Wicketkeeper
Alan Tijer          36   R    All-rounder, Right fast
Elsa Cazla          28   L    Left unorthodox
Julia Harrison      24   R    Right fast medium
Sirua               30   R    Right fast medium

Reserves
Name                Age  Bat  Role

Karim Haton         35   L    Left orthodox
Olivia Dove         19   R    Bat, Left fast
Harry Kotte         37   R    Bat
Tara Petrov         31   R    Wicketkeeper

Manager: Doir Somaz (55)

RP Permissions:

No tournament ending injuries
No particularly stupid dismissals
Number of wickets may be changed except when bowled out

[West Barack and East Obama]

BBC OFFICIAL REPORT: Obamen Demolish Fellow Unranked Team In Style

By Cricket Correspondent David B.O. Chase

Oostelund, The Sarian - On a particularly hot evening, with the pitch as dry as a sun-dried tomato, the Obaman National Cricket Team won the opening game (and their first since the last GCF competition) against Wolfstruppen by thirty runs, with a good performance indicating of good things to come.

It was a new era for the Obamen. The team was under the new management of restauranteurs Zobama and Scabama, Trent Vobama and Jenny Barracki were now hardened veterans on the international sports scene with a wealth of experience, and the team was now playing a much faster paced T20 format. It was novel, and a clean start from the sluggish and frankly dismal performances at the ODI World Trophy. It was time to show the world who the best amateur cricket team is.

The opponents today were mysterious. This was also Wolfstruppen's debut at the T20 World Championship, but they made very little waves on the news. Perhaps they were dark horses? Or secret tactics protected by PDAs and mafiosos? Or maybe they were just obscure minnows. Whatever it was, the Obamen had to be prepared to face anything put there.

Trent Vobama won the toss and the Obamen decided to bat first. Rachel Obama-Paris, the venerable bin lady, was up first and she looked rather rejuvenated today. Perhaps the sun was unleashing some kind of beast in her today, because she was knocking it out of the park today, mostly metaphorically. Barack Morris was more quiet and made a quick exit two overs in after losing a wicket, but this proved to be the undoing of the Wolfstruppens as Wong Ba Ma stepped onto the oval. The strong-armed weedwhacker salesman and table tennis player was too powerful for the Wolfstruppen fielders to handle, with the hapless opponents collapsing on to of each other to prevent the ball from bouncing all the way to the edge of the oval. Wong and Obama-Paris' batting partnership helped to build a sizeable lead for the Obama Carers.

Obama-Paris was eventually dismissed after a weak bat landed straight into the gloves of the Wolfstruppen wicketkeeper, but by then she had racked up 40 runs from exactly 8 overs, with the Obamen having a score of 77-2 at this point and showing no signs of stopping. The problem though was of course that they did end up stopping, especially when just two balls after Obama-Paris left the oval Wong was run out. From then on, lacklustre batting from Jenny Barracki, Aiden Obama and Stanley Obama took up the rest of the innings, with their mediocrity on the offence only rivalled by their opponent's ability at defence. The first innings ended 126-5 to the Obamen. Not too bad, but complacency could easily cause us to slip up. Also if Wolfstruppen's secret weapon the whole time was a batter kept in the shadows, then we were seriously screwed.

Luckily, that didn't happen. Wolfstruppen had an even worse time at batting, with balls flying all over the place but not quite far enough to grab those elusive fours and sixes. A few managed to achieve some decent runs, but Barracki's quick sprinting denied many ambitious attempts. Mark Hobama's bowling was also on form today, with the veteran showing off how good we could be if we didn't ban sports. Uh, pretend I didn't say that. Cut that bit from the official article.

A gaffe on the Obaman's part aside, which involved skipper Trent Vobama accidentally slapping the ball away instead of catching it, a good defensive performance denied Wolfstrupped a chance to even score a century, and were just one wicket away from the game ending early from all of them. To conclude: a resounding comeback victory for the Obamen. With Lozhoan cricket also on the up, perhaps the two allies could dominate international cricket for years to come.

[Liventia]

XV World Twenty20 Championship — Group Stage Group C
Played at Sint Chad's, Stoomtuon, The Sarian (20-over match; T20I)
Greaterburg v Liventia
Greaterburg won the toss and elected to field first
Liventia won by 23 runs
Man of the match: RL Quentin (Liventia)

Liventia innings (20 overs maximum)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
PD Finch		c Unknown b Unknown		 11  16   1   0   68.75
DHJ Edwards*		b Unknown			  3   7   0   0   42.85
Hasegawa DLMT		not out				 72  46   6   3  156.52
RL Quentin		c Unknown b Unknown		 74  39   3   7  189.74
PJ Trouvé		c Unknown b Unknown		 11   4   1   1  275.00
YM Lemoine		run out (Unknown)		  2   7   0   0   28.57
BAR du Pont†		not out				  1   1   0   0  100.00
  EXTRAS		(3lb, 5wd)			  8
  TOTAL			for 5 wickets			182 (20.0 ov; 9.10 rpo)

Did not bat RJ MacMaster, MEP Goudreau, RPT de Cerci, GJD Huws
FoW 1/17 Edwards 3.3, 2/18 Finch 3.6, 3/153 Quentin 16.2, 4/168 Trouvé 17.3,
5/180 Lemoine 19.4

Greaterburg bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
Unknown			 4.0  0  32   1   8.00  (4wd)
Unknown			 4.0  0  24   1   6.00
Unknown			 4.0  0  25   2   6.25
Unknown			 2.0  0  21   0  10.50
Unknown			 3.0  0  25   0   8.33
Unknown			 2.0  0  33   0  16.50  (1wd)
Unknown			 1.0  0  19   0  19.00
Greaterburg innings (target 183 from maximum 20 overs)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
Unknown			b MacMaster			 30  20   5   0  150.00
Unknown			c Finch b Quentin		 68  47   8   2  144.68
Unknown			b Quentin			  8  18   0   0   44.44
Unknown			c Finch b Quentin		  7   6   0   0  116.66
Unknown			c †du Pont b Quentin		  0   2   0   0    0.00
Unknown			c †du Pont b Quentin		  0   1   0   0    0.00
Unknown			c Edwards b Lemoine		  6   8   1   0   75.00
Unknown			not out				 29  15   2   2  193.33
Unknown			c & b MacMaster			  0   1   0   0    0.00
Unknown			not out				  3   4   0   0   75.00
  EXTRAS		(2lb, 6wd)			  8
  TOTAL			for 8 wickets			159 (20.0 ov; 7.95 rpo)

Did not bat Unknown
FoW 1/50 Unknown 4.6, 2/95 Unknown 11.3, 3/106 Unknown 13.1, 4/107 Unknown 13.3,
5/107 Unknown 13.4, 6/117 Unknown 15.4, 7/141 Unknown 17.4, 8/149 Unknown 18.3

Liventia bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
GJD Huws		 3.0  0  25   0   8.33  (2wd)
RJ MacMaster		 4.0  0  21   2   5.25
RPT de Cerci		 4.0  0  34   0   8.50  (1wd)
YM Lemoine		 4.0  0  33   1   8.25
RL Quentin		 4.0  0  25   5   6.25  (1wd)
MEP Goudreau		 1.0  0  20   0  20.00  (2wd)

Notes
T20I debut: Hasegawa DLMT (Liventia)
Hasegawa DLMT 50 off 31 balls, 5x4 2x6
RL Quentin 50 off 32 balls, 3x4 4x6
Unknown 50 off 29 balls, 7x4 2x6
Umpires: Thomas Moore (Sylestone) and Aatif Masood (The Sarian)
TV umpire: Muriel Blanem (Milchama)
Match referee: Breghellin Xurpinor (Gruenberg)

Quentin puts on all-round clinic as Liventia off to flyer
Don't tell Rhys Quentin he's just a bit-part medium-pacer.

The 23-year-old took control of Liventia's opening Twenty20 World Championship match at the notoriously medium-pace-friendly Sint Chad's ground in The Sarian to smack a quickfire 74 and take a 5/25 haul, leading the Red-and-Gold to a 23-run win.

Quentin, who is known as a capable batting all-rounder who can send down a few overs of medium pace, wreaked havoc against a Greaterburg side featuring 11 unknown, unnamed players, who seemingly did not know how to deal with the Dover native's hard hitting and 75-mile-an-hour dobblers.

His stunning all-round performance outshone a brilliant debut from Hasegawa Daiki, the first man of Japanese descent to represent the Liventian cricket team. The 23-year-old Hasegawa, batting at number three, took control of the first innings after a slow start from openers Peter Finch and Dave Edwards, who had only put 18 runs on the board in the opening four overs.

Hasegawa and Quentin combined for a 135-run partnership that lasted until the latter was caught in the 17th over. But Quentin's work wasn't done as he tore through the Greaterburg middle order, narrowly missing a hat-trick in the 14th over of the reply as the chasers fell 23 runs short.

Liventia next head to Oud Saarum's Klifzijde ground to face newcomers Lozho.

[Brookstation]

RISING FROM THE CADAVERS
THE ANARCHY IN GOOLSEA STORY

Every good story needs a villain and who would be a more appropriate subject of the cricket wrath than a team that crushed its competition thanks to the state's backing ? Winning the league title for a period of five consecutive years is in itself an achievement but things get way more sinister when the fact that political parties were heavily involved in this entire business. That's exactly what happened in Brookstation in the 1960s, one of the most tumultuous decades in the nation's history which gave rise to perhaps the biggest sporting controversy in the nation. This is the story of Anarchy in Goolsea.

PART-I
FORMATION

If one is questioned on the legitimacy of Anarchy in Goolsea as a strong cricketing side, they would be compelled to reply with a positive answer. The formation of Anarchy is one of the most interesting subjects when it comes to studying Brook sporting history. While there are a handful of theories, some way sinister than the others, the theory which is more widely accepted involves a heavy political background. The Western part of Brookstation has always been termed as one of the worst regions of the country thanks to the series of notorious events that occured in the region during the early decades of the nation's development. In fact such is the effect of the harshness of the region that even today, 4 decades later, the region is the most sparsely visited region in the nation.

Vito Falcano came in power in Goolsea in 1957 almost immediately after the 'Partito Nazionale' started their totalitarian rule in the West. A man with a robust, charismatic character, Falcano had proclaimed himself as the sole ruler of Goolsea. Proclamations banning any sort of hatred towards the Italian party or any refusal to comply with the Party's wishes were issued and the effects of violating the rules were more severe. Almost every day, one dead body could be found in the streets of Goolsea and women's safety was duly compromised. It was a reign of chaos but there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Falcano was probably the most hated man in the enitre nation and quite obviously had a large number of rivals including the very Police who had named him as the most wanted man but none of his rivals could take him down. Lawyers and government officials were bribed in large amounts and thus none of the cases stood against Falcano and his men and subsequently narcotic smuggling became one of the city's main proffession. At the same time, smaller criminal groups acknowledged Falcano's lordship and kept rising into power.

As time progressed, the opposition against Falcano kept growing stronger and soon enough it became a difficult task for Falcano to continue his regime. Protests against the mafia were carried out in plenty and setting up party offices in fire became a common practice. It was during this disastrous period, Anarchy in Goolsea was established as a club. The word "Anarchy" quite definitely implemented the troublesome state the nation was in. The political scenario was indeed anarchaic and thus the nomenclature was thus justified.

Coincidentally, cricket had also made an appearance during that time and was rising above the ranks of other sports. Guess what ? The game's biggest fan was none other the Lorenzo Orlando, Vito Falcano's close cousin. One thing that Falcano didn't interefere with throughout his regime was sports. Having a deep respect for sports, Falcano believed that sport tournaments should continue the way it did and thus football flourished in the west with teams like FC Hacienda and Shkotan FC becoming the best in the game. Coming back to Orlando, Orlando was the minister of Security and through the two decades of his regime, Orlando would have gallons of blood in his hand. He was quite literally involved in the Durmen murders, a political killing of Brook police officers carried by the Party. In the upcoming years, Orlando cleared almost all opposition in disgusting ways and often police officers hanged themselves to avoid a similar fate. Lorenzo unsurprisingly shared a similar love for sports like his cousin and it was under his leadership that Anarchy in Goolsea was founded.

The foundations were built in 1964 with the formation of the Goolsea Sports Club Anarchy, an organisation that was initially made for the members of the party and its subordinates but opened up shortly to elite athletes of the nation with a variety of sports from swimming to basketball. The facilites of the Club were as good as it could get which attracted more and more athletes. In 1965, Anarchy in Goolsea was finally founded as a formal cricket team and the club immediately enrolled itself in the debut edition of the Brook League. This was how bizarre the formation of Anarchy was but things would just go onto become more frenzy and to know the story of the most controversial sports club in Brookstation, follow our upcoming issues.

[The Sarian]

Matchday Two

Group A

Indusse 162/9 (20 overs)
Baggieland 130/9 (20 overs)
Indusse win by thirty-two runs

Uppen Nasa 105 (13.3 overs)
Gruenberg 108/5 (14.4 overs)
Gruenberg win by five wickets

Kimi-Suomi 179/7 (20 overs)
Wolfstruppen 170/5 (20 overs)
Kimi-Suomi win by nine runs

The Sarian 180/6 (20 overs)
West Barack and East Obama 151/7 (20 overs)
The Sarian win by twenty-nine runs

....Group A                     Pld   W  D  L  Pts NRR
1 The Sarian                      2   2  0  0    4 0.928
2 Kimi-Suomi                      2   2  0  0    4 0.569
3 Gruenberg                       2   1  0  1    2 0.710
4 Indusse                         2   1  0  1    2 0.623
5 Baggieland                      2   1  0  1    2 -0.627
6 West Barack and East Obama      2   1  0  1    2 0.025
7 Wolfstruppen                    2   0  0  2    0 -0.975
8 Uppen Nasa                      2   0  0  2    0 -1.307

Group B

Ko-oren 184/6 (20 overs)
Krytenia 59 (13 overs)
Ko-oren win by one-hundred and twenty-five runs

Samrif 152 (19.4 overs)
Sajnur 142/3 (20 overs)
Samrif win by ten runs

Milchama 159/2 (20 overs)
Delaclava 116/7 (20 overs)
Milchama win by forty-three runs

Lisander and Alice Bay 175/7 (20 overs)
Jabal Akhdar 162/7 (20 overs)
Lisander and Alice Bay win by thirteen runs

..Group B                       Pld   W  D  L  Pts NRR
1 Ko-oren                         2   2  0  0    4 4.975
2 Krytenia                        2   1  0  1    2 -3.075
3 Samrif                          2   1  0  1    2 0.200
4 Sajnur                          2   1  0  1    2 0.800
5 Milchama                        2   1  0  1    2 0.025
6 Delaclava                       2   1  0  1    2 -0.725
7 Lisander and Alice Bay          2   1  0  1    2 -0.025
8 Jabal Akhdar                    2   0  0  2    0 -2.119

Group C

Lozho 111 (15.5 overs)
Liventia 113/7 (12.5 overs)
Liventia win by three wickets

Greaterburg 177/5 (20 overs)
Darmen 150/5 (20 overs)
Greaterburg win by twenty-seven runs

New Gelderland 149 (18 overs)
TJUN-ia 127/8 (20 overs)
New Gelderland win by twenty-two runs

Sylestone 225/2 (20 overs)
Lionsroar 162/5 (20 overs)
Sylestone win by sixty-three runs

..Group C                       Pld   W  D  L  Pts NRR
1 Sylestone                       2   2  0  0    4 3.366
2 Liventia                        2   2  0  0    4 2.235
3 New Gelderland                  2   2  0  0    4 0.979
4 Greaterburg                     2   1  0  1    2 0.100
5 TJUN-ia                         2   1  0  1    2 -0.450
6 Darmen                          2   0  0  2    0 -0.775
7 Lionsroar                       2   0  0  2    0 -2.087
8 Lozho                           2   0  0  2    0 -3.105

Group D

Quebec and Shingoryeo 166/7 (20 overs)
Arjunnagar 108/7 (20 overs)
Quebec and Shingoryeo win by fifty-eight runs

Eastfield Lodge 221/4 (20 overs)
StrayaRoos 199/9 (20 overs)
Eastfield Lodge win by twenty-two runs

Ethane 173/6 (20 overs)
Depivik 176/9 (17.4 overs)
Depivik win by one wicket

Brookstation 198/4 (20 overs)
The Plough Islands 202/3 (18.5 overs)
The Plough Islands win by seven wickets

..Group D                       Pld   W  D  L  Pts NRR
1 Quebec and Shingoryeo           2   2  0  0    4 2.825
2 The Plough Islands              2   2  0  0    4 1.011
3 Eastfield Lodge                 2   2  0  0    4 1.050
4 Brookstation                    2   1  0  1    2 2.310
5 Depivik                         2   1  0  1    2 0.231
6 Ethane                          2   0  0  2    0 -1.302
7 StrayaRoos                      2   0  0  2    0 -1.925
8 Arjunnagar                      2   0  0  2    0 -3.825

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

OOC note: Accidentally overwrote my MD for said MD with MD4 RP. No way to retrieve it either. RIP.

.

[Liventia]

(OOC note: I have changed 7 wickets lost in the chase to 2)

XV World Twenty20 Championship — Group Stage Group C
Played at Klifzijde, Oud Saarum, The Sarian (20-over match; T20I)
Liventia v Lozho
Liventia won the toss and elected to field first
Liventia won by eight wickets
Man of the match: DHJ Edwards (Liventia)

Lozho innings (20 overs maximum)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
T Crawford		c Hasegawa b MacMaster		  2   4   0   0   50.00
Z Zohnzohn		c de Cerci b Huws		  0   2   0   0    0.00
R Zrumhammer		c Edwards b Huws		 13   6   3   0  216.66
A Drezhen*		c Huws b Goudreau		 25  16   2   2  156.25
Z Zaddam		c †du Pont b Lemoine		 23  21   2   0  109.52
F Horzhonozille		c Trouvé b Quentin		 23  15   2   1  153.33
Y Dumfries†		c MacMaster b Lemoine		 15  16   1   0   93.75
G Hozhe			c †du Pont b Lemoine		  2   3   0   0   66.66
Z Qaraq			run out (Finch)			  2   4   0   0   50.00
G Hinckley		b MacMaster			  1   9   0   0   11.11
Moz			not out				  0   0   0   0    –
  EXTRAS		(4wd, 1nb)			  5
  TOTAL			all out				111 (15.1 ov; 7.31 rpo)

FoW 1/1 Zohnzohn 0.3, 2/3 Crawford 1.1, 3/19 Zrumhammer 2.4, 4/61 Drezhen 7.2,
5/72 Zaddam 8.3, 6/102 Horzhonozille 12.1, 7/108 Hozhe 13.3, 8/109 Dumfries 13.5,
9/111 Qaraq 14.6, 10/111 Hinckley 15.5

Liventia bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
GJD Huws		 2.0  0   8   2   4.00
RJ MacMaster		 3.5  0  35   2   9.13  (1wd)
RPT de Cerci		 2.0  0  19   0   9.50  (2wd)
YM Lemoine		 2.0  0  10   1   5.00  (1wd)
MEP Goudreau		 3.0  0  28   3   9.33  (1nb)
RL Quentin		 3.0  0  11   1   3.66
Liventia innings (target 112 from maximum 20 overs)
Batsman							  R   B  4s  6s   SR
PD Finch		c †Dumfries b Hinckley		  7   8   1   0   87.50
DHJ Edwards*		not out				 68  40  11   1  170.00
Hasegawa DLMT		c Crawford b Moz		  4   8   1   0   50.00
RL Quentin		not out				 30  21   4   1  142.85
  EXTRAS		(2lb, 2wd)			  4
  TOTAL			for 2 wickets			113 (12.5 ov; 8.80 rpo)

Did not bat PJ Trouvé, YM Lemoine, BAR du Pont†, RJ MacMaster, MEP Goudreau,
RPT de Cerci, GJD Huws
FoW 1/13 Finch 1.6, 2/24 Hasegawa 4.5

Lozho bowling
Bowler			Ov    M   R   W   Econ  Ext
Moz			 3.0  0  14   1   4.66
G Hinckley		 3.0  1  24   1   8.00  (2wd)
F Horzhonozille		 3.0  0  15   0   5.00
G Hozhe			 2.0  0  23   0  11.50
Z Qaraq			 1.5  0  35   0  19.09
Notes
DHJ Edwards 50 off 35 balls, 8x4
Umpires: Taylor Domico (Milchama) and Umpire Molly (Baggieland)
TV umpire: Agnieszka Pikulicka (The Sarian)
Match referee: Breghellin Xurpinor (Gruenberg)

Further Liventian umpires if needed:
Emilien Rolland
Tristan Clark
Matthieu Desjardins
Andrew Barnett
Liam Halliday
Match referee: Adrian Gilbert-Smith

[Ko-oren]

v Jabal Akhdar (UR) Noorstad Cricketgrond
v Krytenia (10) Ovaal De Haj
v Lisander and Alice Bay (20) Cricketgrond Timon Broer
v Sajnur (29) Noorstad Cricketgrond
v Milchama (UR) Ovaal De Haj
v Delaclava (UR) Ovaal De Haj
v Samrif (UR) Stadgrond Pymtuon

The overconfident Dragonfly fan might see the schedule as a warm-up match, those fucking Kryties, two good opponents, and three rounds of batting practice and then cruising into the Super 12. Swapping the rose tinted glasses for more pragmatic safety goggles, correcting for the natural unpredictability of the T20 format, we still have a schedule that should see us into the Super 12 but with the necessary dents and bruises along the way. Will our bowling attack hold up - sacrifices in handedness and pace versus spin, as well as only selecting three bowlers into the 'starting' XI? Will the batting click? In a short time, T20 has become our national format: in ODIs we go far but inevitably slip up in the middle overs, usually versus Krytenia and then crash out, and in Tests we're competitive in every match but we're not the most capable decisionmakers when it comes to the long-term strategies. Not to do a disservice to Herschel Marsden and his leadership, of course.

Individually there aren't too many question marks. Individually every single selected player has earned their spot through great play in the domestic tournament which has been one of the better ones in the international club T20 competitions. Firembee is no longer the shaky 19-year old. Lafaille is a fantastic find who would have gone into baseball if he was born a decade earlier. The way that Teakton has found a way into the starting XI over some bigger names speaks volumes about how performance means you're getting selected, not fame. And all that without sacrificing a stable core at the heart of the team: Firembee and Shapter have been here for a while now, yRheighewn is the anchor, while all three in the middle (two all-rounders and a wicketkeeper) are long term team members. The extras also complement the team, with Hooligan and Tilcott as experienced versions of their more explosive younger counterparts.

And as it turned out in the first match, we shouldn't have too many questions about the bowling. Teakton took three - as a first time captain, too - to break through Jabal Akhdar's top order and ruin their night a little later too. Chapman threatened to bowl multiple maidens, all at some point broken up by singles, but his run-limiting efforts stand nonetheless, and he ravaged the lower order as well. The meat of the overs came from ySarthylhar and a combo of yChirnall and Taylor. You know the deal with bowling all-rounders: either you get all the good things or none, and today we got the good stuff. Taylor took three wickets fairly casually, deceiving by varying up his delivery speed. He stuck the landing and clustered most of his deliveries around the same place, but the bounce and speed were too different. Knowing where the ball would land just didn't help. With two overs to go, the opponents went into panic mode, suffering a run out and - for the first time in Ko-orenite cricket history - a mankad. ySarthylhar knocked down the ninth wicket after a nod from Teakton, knowing that it would land the new captain a whole lot of trouble. Confirming with the umpire that yes, they were going to claim the non-striker run out, and the finger went up and ySarthylhar took the tenth wicket two balls later - clean bowled.

The chase was a heroic effort by Firembee and Shapter, very Twaddle-esque, not even scoring that quickly but picking up at least a boundary per over - often two - between the demoralised fielding. It also went completely against the promises for the Noorstad Cricketgrond. 45 (37*) for Firembee, 47 (32) for Shapter, and the remainder divvied up between extras and yAraidd, who scored the winning runs after Shapter tried to play the hero and getting caught on a lofted drive. With the necessary confidence, the Ko-orenites played Krytenia at Ovaal De Haj, the de facto home ground given we're playing three of our seven matches here. It's not the biggest, but it's very reminiscent of, say, the picturesque grounds in central Surbourneshire: pace has a competitive edge but it's mostly just a nice place to hang out for about three hours. It's also like Burnet, as in that the field's on an island.

The Krytenia match was one for the ages. "How many Kryties does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 59" was the first, and probably the worst, attempt at humour over the scoreline. Tattoos were spotted mere hours later, with parts of scorecards, names, numbers, anything. After a bunch of disappointing ODIs against the cyan team, it's nice to win one. Lafaille came through for us in the first innings, with his opportunity to get his World Cup underway in the first match thwarted by good bowling and even better openers, he came on in the sixth over and had to continue the run rate past the powerplay. Firembee didn't have a happy start, recording dots through the first two overs before getting LBWd, but yAraidd picked up the pace a bit. Lafaille's 82 (60*) goes in a list of all-time T20 appearances - but he's not the only one.

Ko-oren bowling
Bowler       O   R  W  Econ
Teakton      4  17  6  4.25
ySarthylhar  3   9  2  3.00
Chapman      3  16  1  5.25 
yChirnall    1   8  0  8.00
Taylor       2   5  1  2.50

Teakton took 6 while ySarthylhar recorded a maiden. yChirnall surrendered a boundary and it tanked his stats in comparison to the rest. The fielding was immaculate - it's a mystery how the Krytenians held out until the 13th over with the awful batting.

We even saw this, barely an hour after the match ended. Get it now from junk.kor

Krytenia vs Ko-oren: A history
While our traditional rivalries are with Darmen (especially in the Atlantian Oceania days) and the Plough Islands, both of those are of the friendly category. In recent years, there's no team we want to absolutely decimate as much as the Kryties. They cut short our stay in ODI World Trophy II, by 66 runs, where the team in cyan went on to finish 2nd. We finished fifth in the Super 8 because of the loss and missed the semifinals. In ODI World Trophy III they beat us by 30 runs in the first knockout round, which caused us to go into the losers' bracket - but we went on to lose the final that time. In the Anaian One Day competition, they beat us in the semifinal by 39 runs - we'd finish fourth, they'd finish second. Our only key win came in the second AODICC: we topped our group while Krytenia fell to third, splitting the series 1-1 between us. We'd go on to win that tournament, though. So in important matches they're 3-1 over us. We've got something in our trophy case, though. We're 2-0 over them in recent T20 World Cups, both group stage matches, both coming down to the last over, and that's excluding today's legendary match. It's not difficult to see why we're trending towards T20s.

[Gruenberg]

(Provisional) match details as posted on the GruenCric website. Because no roster was provided, which makes for a really thrilling RP experience for all concerned, I used the roster from the last Anaian ODI tournament for Uppen Nasa, but it can be assumed this is an error on the part of Gruenberger commentators.

Uppen Nasa 105 all out (13.3 overs)
                                              R    B   4/6
H Mac Conmara  c Contemnible+  b Grovan       0   (1)  -/-
B Ó Maoil Eoin run out (Broimbles)            2   (3)  -/-
E Ó Loingsigh  run out (Contemnible+)        19  (19)  1/-
D Burke+       c Honk          b Tumcoweiss  12  (11)  -/1
F Ahearn       st Contemnible+ b Skejjibox   29  (16)  4/-
É Casey                        b Skejjibox    0   (1)  -/-
D McGee                    lbw b Skejjibox    9   (7)  1/-
D Molloy       c Broimbles     b Tumcoweiss   4   (6)  -/-
M Ó Cnáimhín               c & b Tumcoweiss   9  (12)  1/-
I Ó Tuathail   NOT OUT                        1   (1)  -/-
K Killough                     b Skejjibox   11   (4)  1/1
EXTRAS (6lb, 3wb)                             9

FoW: 1: 0 (Mac Conmara, 0.1 overs); 2: 15 (Ó Maoil Eoin, 2.4 overs); 3: 27 (Ó Loingsigh, 4.2 overs); 4: 60 (Burke, 6.6 overs); 5: 61 (Casey, 7.2 overs), 6: 78 (McGee, 9.1 overs); 7: 81 (Ahearn, 9.6 overs); 8: 93 (Molloy, 12.3 overs); 9: 94 (Ó Cnáimhín, 12.5 overs); 10: 105 (Killough, 13.3 overs)

                 O    M    R    W
Grovan           2    0   23    1
Syzygyswallower  2    0   12    0
Renkauer         2    0   13    0
Tumcoweiss       4    0   30    3
Skejjibox        3.3  1   21    4

Gruenberg 108-5 (14.4 overs)
                                                  R    B   4/6
NQX Honk            c Ahearn       b Ó Cnáimhín  13  (15)  -/1
ZVEU Hengtridan Jr. c Burke+       b Ahearn       7   (6)  1/-
!                   NOT OUT                      44  (39)  4/1
EME Broimbles*      c Ahearn       b McGee       15  (11)  -/1      
SL Jshkhrrrlllclx   c Ó Maoil Eoin b Killough     9   (8)  -/1
YQB Contemnible+    c Ó Loingsigh  b Ahearn       9   (7)  1/-
HAYW Tumcoweiss     NOT OUT                       3   (2)  -/-
Did not bat: BPGV Grovan, TIMTAM Renkauer, QD Skejjibox, NEM Syzygyswallower
EXTRAS (1b, 7wb)                                  8

FoW: 1: 11 (Hengtridan Jr., 2.4 overs); 2: 29 (Honk, 5.3 overs); 3: 54 (Broimbles, 8.4 overs); 4: 74 (Jshkhrrrlllclx, 11.2 overs); 5: 97 (Contemnible, 13.5 overs)

             O    M    R    W
Ahearn       4    0   25    2
Casey        1    0    8    0
Ó Cnáimhín   2.4  0   22    1
McGee        2    0    9    1
Ó Tuathail   2    0   22    0
Killough     2    0   10    1
Molloy       1    0   11    0

Uppen Nasa innings
Powerplay: 52-3 (Ahearn 14, Burke 10)

Gruenberg innings
Powerplay: 38-2 (! 9, Broimbles 9)

Match result: Gruenberg win by 5 wickets
Match award: QD Skejjibox

[The Sarian]

Opinion: Small venues and poor crowds take away from World T20 spectacle
Flynn Pembeurton, former Saari Wicketkeeper

BONDSTAD - The T20 World Championships mark the return of major international sporting events to The Sarian, but organisers have rightly come under fire after fans across the multiverse have posted pictures of half-empty stadiums have gone viral on Twit.tur.

The tournament sees thirty-two teams competing in venues ranging from the iconic OvaalNationaal in Bondstad to the tiny Cricketgrond Timon Broer in Noord-Lajklanden, which boasts permanent seating for under one-hundred spectators. Whilst organisers have invested in temporary stands and creative seating arrangements to boost the capacity of smaller outgrounds, it is still a surreal to see major cricketing nations facing off at small, club cricket venues.

Nothing can demonstrate this better than the recent Ko-oren versus Krytenia game. In a group stage starved of big contests, it was immediately picked out by neutrals as one of the must-watch games of the first round. Organisers chose to mark the occasion by placing it in Ovaal De Haj - an island off of The Sarian more famous for its soft cheeses and throat-burning apple-pear liqueur than its cricket. To be fair, the local Ovaal is a stunning venue in a beautiful town, surrounded by beautiful countryside and pristine beaches (even if the water is a little chilly). It might have been appropriate to showcase for an unexciting dead rubber between two unseeded team. It certainly wasn't for Ko-oren and Krytenia.

To add insult to injury, the temporary stands were half empty. And who could be surprised? A fan from Ko-oren wishing to visit De Haj would have to fly into Bondstad, take the train to Pymtuon, change train to Yvesberg and then take the ferry to Lesaj. Local, neutral fans are making up the bulk of the audience in these far-flung games - and with seven matches to pick from, this is always going to end up in small venues with even smaller crowds.

Indeed, what incentive do people have to watch? The drawn-out tournament - designed as much to make money as to showcase quality cricket - sees a one-hundred-and-twelve game group stage. From this, three out of the eight teams in each group will qualify. Given only four teams in each group were seeded, this leaves a lack of jeopardy for many of the larger teams and their fans, and far too many games which are dead-rubbers in all but name. The Sarian has already elected to experiment with team line-ups in the opening group stage, and other teams are sure to follow.

To be fair, the tournament should pick up once we reach the best-against-best Super Twelve stage - similar stages of GCF tournaments always do - but a global tournament shouldn't rob top-quality players of eyeballs and atmosphere in the format's premier world event. Fans of Liventia should be allowed to watch their team play meaningful cricket at an easy to reach, major venue. Instead, they're providing free publicity to the Saari Tourist Board while playing at no venue with more than 12,300 spectators.

Ultimately, the World Championship seem to be doing a good job of flaunting affluent Saari market towns. But in terms of building the atmosphere required of a major global tournament, we've sadly fallen short.

Starting XI for MD3 versus Kimi-Suomi
O: MM DeSaari (wk, capt)
O: LM Snaijer
3: FH Zeunier
4: JE Zwarte
5: JQM DeBruut
6: EE Telmijn
7: S Paar
8: L Kindvanjodi
9: WH Smit
10: MK Kloeten
11: P Dave

[Baggieland]

[Alice Bay]

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Shooting Stars defeat Lisander in Netball International Series
The event is happening in Saint Ianina, and last night was marked by strong criticism to LCB



"Unlike men, putting their financial interests before the love of the practice, we women dedicate ourselves to a sport out of love, no matter how undervalued it is. We don't need to absorb or be absorbed by anyone. We can compete and support our friends from other countries without needing to sell ourselves. The girls from Lisander, the LINA staff, all of the other nations, they know they have our full support. We are here to raise the level of Netball as a whole."

The strong words by Alicia Glen, Shooting Stars player and Netball AB board member were clearly pointing at Alice Bay Cricket ecosystem and its project of "multinational coexistence". Just like in cricket, here is no secret that Alicean Netball is way superior than the rest of the Imperan League Nations, but these women are eager to make their sport popular in all nations of their world.

Yet, as the state of the sport in pretty much everywhere is amateur, is hard to establish levels, so occasions like that are very valuable to see the evolution of the other sides.

The landslide victory, Alice Bay 78-30 Lisander, showed the difference between the level of the two countries in the ball and net sport . And yet, at the end of four quarters, the atmosphere was far friendlier than LCB has ever been in all these years.

More on SPORT:
LCB team wins against unranked side
Southland Rugby prepares tour to Lisander, with a stop in Heemstra
Association Football: Tournament every weekend? Money prizes? Alicean Football Federation plans a "beach soccer tour".