[Draft 2] The Playoffs -- Season Two

[foreignfield]

Wow, these matches are turning out to be thrilling nail-biters!

So, where would my team be facing your team? Nürnberg Cricket Club or Gangotri Glades, Mysore? Or are we sticking with the ZCF Sports Club?

No home advantages either way, a virtual cricket ground without any living being within the next several light-years seems the appropriate place in times like these.

[foreignfield]

Quarterfinal 1

Bairstow shines as grant makes the semi-finals

grant 266/7 beats Mueddie28 243 all out (38.3 overs) by 23 runs

Stattos’ champion grant, after a disappointing first season, made a better start to his second campaign by disposing of an indisposed Mueddie28 batting line-up. But the victory was not completed before James Faulkner had lived through a nightmare of his own with the ball.

Jonny Bairstow set the tone at the top of the order, smoking a century (104) off just 60 balls, but after him batsmen failed to convert their starts as Strauss (37), Kohli (15), Pooran (21), Buttler (15) and Faulkner (11) fell victim to some disciplined bowling by Mujeeb (2/33), Malinga (2/44) and Ashwin (2/46). Only Rassie van der Dussen reached 50, benefitting from a rather indifferent spell by the English duo of Root and Stokes who shared 13.4 overs for 94 runs and no wickets, Tendai Chatara also going for more than 6 runs an over for his 1/40 – Mueddie28’s bowlers conceding 257/7. Brett Lee (21*) made sure there were no further hiccups and left Rashid Khan contemplating the half century that never was on the balcony as grant closed his innings on 274, or a very competitive revised total of 266.

Where grant’s batsmen had floundered after a great start Mueddie28 never got going at all. Brett Lee (4/74) was expensive but knocked over Dhawan (2) and Zaman (12) early. Imam-ul-Haq looked good for his 45 before being run out by Root (27). Stokes (27) and de Kock (26) equally failed to convert their starts, and when Chris Gayle, obviously not best pleased to be batting down the order and earlier showing marked disinterest in the field and refusing to bowl, fell for five runs to the bowling of Harris (2/64), a massive win for grant loomed. Ashwin and Malinga made seven between them while Chatara swung with happy abandon for his 16, the side bowled out for 169 in the 39th over. But in simulation cricket the bowling side still had to complete its fifty overs, and this is where things all of a sudden turned ugly for grant. Swann (0/31) and Rashid (0/44) had kept things tight without taking further wickets, but grant’s decision to draft three wicket-keeper-batsmen and only five bowlers into his team now almost backfired. James Faulkner had been taken off after two expensive overs that went for 20 runs but Andrew Strauss had no other option than to bring him back and let him bowl his full quota and complete a bowler’s century for no wickets. All in all grant’s bowlers conceded a massive 317/6 – a record in this competition, propping up Mueddie’s woeful batting with a staggering 74 extras and taking him to 243, but still way short of grant’s total.

MOM
Jonny Bairstow

[grant]

Woah! Had it been any other team, I would've lost for sure I guess.

[grant]

Chris Gayle, obviously not best pleased to be batting down the order and earlier showing marked disinterest in the field and refusing to bowl

[CrimsonAvenger]

Looking at how it impacted grant, I think I should make Sehwag bowl some of his off-spinners once in a while, as the sixth bowling option...

[foreignfield]

Looking at how it impacted grant, I think I should make Sehwag bowl some of his off-spinners once in a while, as the sixth bowling option...

Definitely a better bet than grant's emergency bowling option Virat Kohli.

It really was an extraordinary bad day at the office for Faulkner if you consider that Australia's five other bowlers shared the wickets while bowling Pakistan out for 162. https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/115 ... es-2014-15

[foreignfield]

Quarterfinal 2

Crucial batting change seals a nail-biter

rusty 17 242/4 beats Eugene 240/3 by two runs

A fierce battle was fought today at ZFC Sports Club, both sides matching each other blow for blow, fortunes swinging first this way than the other on a slowish re-used pitch which made quick scoring difficult. Having won the toss and deciding to make first use of whatever life might be left in the wicket, rusty17 lost Tamim Iqbal (5) in the third over, but Shai Hope (108 off 131 balls) and KL Rahul (47 off 61) responded with a century stand for the second wicket which was brisk enough given the conditions. Ross Taylor (45 off 43) and David Miller (58 off 58), promoted to no. 5 for the season, then made excellent use of the platform as they plundered another hundred runs from the last 15-odd overs. How crucial the change to the batting order was, transpired when it became know that Mathews and ten Doeschate had been shadow batting in the dressing room for 31 runs off 48 balls. A batting score of 263 inspired some confidence in rusty17’s camp but Eugene’s bowlers have time and again managed to terrorized opposing managers with their wicket-taking ability. Simulation cricket cult figure Clint MacKay took 4/41, Mohammad Shami responded with 3/58, Boult and Ajmal lent them excellent support with figures of 2/40 and 2/45 respectively, but Andre Russell took some punishment for his two wickets (2/82). The 13 wicket-haul reduced the runs conceded to 221 and gave rusty17 a total of 242 and all to play for.

The lunch interval saw some heated discussions with some commentators quoting the playing regulations to the extent that Eugene’s bowling should have been penalized five runs for fielding a wicketkeeper who hadn’t kept in his match. However, the match referee confirmed that Eugene had successfully appealed to the ZCF High Court in Belfast against what he, not without justification deemed a “Lex Eugene” brought in belatedly to throw a spanner into his march to glory. Unfortunately, judge maehara was unavailable for comment.

Back on the field, mirroring events in the first innings, one of the openers fell cheaply, Martin Guptill out for five to Philander (4/34), while the other hit a measured ton, Dilshan scooping and wooping to 119 runs off 139 balls. KW joined Dilshan in the fourth over and settled in as if he had no other appointment for the next fortnight and seemed to be, albeit slowly, cruising towards another century when Angelo Mathews (1/8 off five overs), who made the lifeless pitch behave like an Egyptian mummy, snuck one past his defences and bowled him for 95 off 116 balls. Now was the time to go for broke since rusty17’s bowlers, with the exception of Vernon Philander, had lacked penetration throughout the innings. Morkel (0/43 off 8), Starc (1/53), Narine (1/57) and Tendo (0/38 off 7) all went at a dangerous run-rate between 5.28 and 5.7. On the balcony Eugene was yelling for Baba Azam (28 off 36) who had his eye on yet another big but too slow score, to hit out or get out. Behind him Eoin Morgan jumped around excitedly, knowing he had all the shots for a slightly quicker cameo. New gloves were sent out with instructions, and Dilshan responded with a number of free-air scoops. The innings closed at 247 and for a second no one knew what that meant. But Philander’s and Mathews’ economic spells had kept the runs conceded to 233/7, just good enough to stem Eugene’s push for victory and keep him to 240 runs.

The end result was confirmed only an hour after the last ball had been bowled. Apparently some mumblings from Eugene’s camp about demanding a recount sent the scorers back to their calculators and charts before everyone was satisfied that no errors had occurred.

MOM
rusty17's selection committee

[jaybro]

jaybro and kriterion are forum also-rans, hence the lack of interest in this "clash of the titans". The performance of Team Eugene will no doubt boast far greater interest.

You were saying????

DM your postal address so I can send that wooden spoon your way

[CrimsonAvenger]

These match reports are a great read!

And going by this, I think I should prepare myself for a pasting from the masters in FF's team...

[foreignfield]

These match reports are a great read!

And going by this, I think I should prepare myself for a pasting from the masters in FF's team...

Thanks. It's fun, but also a challenge not to repeat oneself over and over. I now understand why I at some stage stopped reading every ODI match report on cricinfo because they too often seemed so formulaic.

Let's see what numbers come out of the hat for our match. It's always fun to go through a players batting list and count the innings down to 122 for example, and the nearer I get to the match I need, the more aware do I become of the scores ... 127 (60/70ish and looking deceptibly good above), 126 (80ish), 125 (ton and more three figures above), 124 (ton; but the figures above shows signs of getting shorter), 123, yet another ton, but: 122, 4 from 9 balls.