Story CSL: It's time for trades

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Cricket Super League, Round 1 Match 10
Northwestern Conference
Chicago Greens vs Detroit Kings
Chicago
Prematch Table Placings: All teams even

Toss: Detroit won and chose to bat



Not the innings Joe Root would have been hoping for as his team spluttered across the line to put up 6/143. Peter Handscomb's fifty was the only bright spot.



And after a stuttered start, a professional job is done. While the openers failed, the 3 and 4 did well. Kusal Perera was the fastest but Henry Nicholls saw Chicago home.

DET 6/143 (20)
CHI 4/146 (16.5)
MOTM: Kusal Perera (46)

Table update: Chicago to 1st on 2 points, Detroit remain on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 1 Match 11
Northwestern Conference
Milwaukee Lions vs Minnesota Vultures
Milwaukee
Prematch Table Placings: All teams even



Oh deary me. Well, you remember how I said about this being a two batsman town? When Vince and Azam were out, the innings fell like a house of cards. Chris Green was the biggest beneficiary, taking four wickets.



On a pitch with something for fastish spinners as proven by Mujeeb and Green's six wickets apiece, Beau Webster returned the truly ridiculous figures of 2/7 from his 4 overs. However it wasn't enough as some more expensive pace meant Milwaukee squaked home.

MIN 130 (20)
MIL 6/131 (19.4)
MOTM: Chris Green (4/23)

Table update: Milwaukee to 2nd on 2 points, Minnesota remain on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 1 Match 12
Northwestern Conference
Philadelphia Spartans vs Washington Blizzard
Philadelphia
Prematch Table Placings: All teams even

Toss: Philadelphia won and chose to bat



Well, that's the biggest total yet! Good efforts by the openers were backed up really well by Tom Latham who scored 59. A tough chase for Philly.



WHAT A FINISH! You wouldn't have thought Philly had a prayer but a lightning knock from David Warner, ably supported by Dan Hughes, put them right in with a shout, and Steve Smith kept that momentum up. But Andile came through clutch, dismissing Smith with three balls to go and ensuring Washington hung on.

WAS 5/189 (20)
PHI 5/186 (20)
MOTM: Tom Latham (59)

Table update: Washington to 3rd on 2 points, Philadelphia remain on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 1 Match 13
Western Conference
Atlanta Legend vs Boston Rams
Atlanta
Prematch Table Placings: All teams even

Toss: Atlanta won and chose to bowl



KL Rahul's decision would 100% have panned out if not for a super-innings from Shaun Marsh. Before falling to productive part timer Daryl Mitchell, a lot of punishment was dealt.



Only for KL Rahul to win it back himself! What an innings.

BOS 4/159 (20)
ATL 4/165 (18.4)
MOTM: KL Rahul (88)

Table update: Atlanta to 1st on 2 points, Boston remain on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 1 Match 14
Western Conference
Charlotte Giants vs Miami Titans
Charlotte
Prematch Table Placings: All teams even

Toss: Miami won and chose to bat



At 4/51, Charlotte looked good. But then MS Dhoni and Kieron Pollard got going and put on 100 runs. And despite 2/9 for Kane Richardson, 166 was a good total for Miami.



But the one thing I pointed out before is the incredibly weak bowling of Miami and, even with Charlotte's somewhat ragtag batting lineup, it showed. Everyone got a wicket, but nobody could stem the bleeding enough to prevent Charlotte (whose top score was by George Worker) from winning.

MIA 6/166 (20)
CHA 7/168 (17.3)
MOTM: Kane Richardson (2/9)

Table update: Charlotte to 1st on 2 points, Miami remain on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 1 Match 14
Western Conference
New York Queens vs Orlando Storm
New York
Prematch Table Placings: All teams even

Toss: Orlando won and chose to bat



Thanks to a slow powerplay and a stuttering middle order, Orlando found themselves at 4/100 from 15 overs. Cue Angelo Mathews- while his work wasn't headline-taking, it (along with a few partners) yielded 49 runs from the last five overs, including 15 from Rakheem Cornwall's only over. Game on.



That is, of course, until Tom Blundell went haywire. 70 runs at a SR of 200 all but gifted the game to New York.

ORL 6/149 (20)
NY 2/150 (17.1)
MOTM: Tom Blundell (70)

Table update: New York to 1st on 2 points, Orlando remain on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 1
Western Conference
Los Angeles Stallions vs Portland Vikings
Los Angeles
Prematch Table Placings: Portland 2nd on 2 points, LA 6th on 0 points

Toss: Portland won and chose to bowl



Oh dear. LA threw this away, losing 5/16 in 3 overs trying to hit the part timers. Kyle Mayers may have career best figures here, and a chance to cruise to a perfect 2-0 start.



And they did- when Josh Inglis was in. The keeper's dismissal led to pressure-building, cheap spells by the spinners, before Jason Holder picked up late wickets to secure the win for LA.

LA 8/140 (20)
POR 8/135 (20)
MOTM: Jason Holder (3/24)

Table update: Los Angeles to 4th on 2 points, Portland drop to 3rd on 2 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 2
Western Conference
San Diego Bolts vs San Francisco Dolphins
San Diego
Prematch Table Placings: SF 5th on 0 points, SD 6th on 0 points

Toss: SF won and chose to bat



That's what Chris Lynn can do! He belted 63 from 35 balls to put San Fran into a good position. A economical spell by Imad Wasim hurt but some late runs from the tail bumped the overall score to 160.



Another tight finish! Despite heroics from Shoaib Malik and Moises Henriques, slow batting by Markram and a brilliant spell by Hasaranga meant that San Fran clung on, consigning San Diego to the bottom of the West.

SF 6/160 (20)
SD 4/158 (20)
MOTM: Chris Lynn (63)

Table update: San Francisco to 5th on 2 points, San Diego remain 6th on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 3
Western Conference
Seattle Bulldogs vs Las Vegas Wizards
Seattle
Prematch Table Placings: Las Vegas 1st on 2 points, Seattle 2nd on 2 points

Toss: Seattle won and chose to bat



Continuing a trend seen through the rest of the West, outright fast bowlers suffered while closers and spinners didn't. The best of the bunch was Sam Curran as Seattle were restricted to 145 despite good starts from Shaw and Burns.



Thanks to 69 from Rishabh Pant, the other Western trend of teams setting and winning is broken. The difference was how he, Ishan Kishan and Ross Taylor handled the spinners.

SEA 8/145 (20)
LV 4/149 (18.1)
MOTM: Rishabh Pant (69)

Table update: Las Vegas remain 1st on 4 points, Seattle remain 2nd on 2 points

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 4
Southwestern Conference
Dallas Tumbleweeds vs Denver Prime
Dallas
Prematch Table Placings: Denver 2nd on 2 points, Dallas 4th on 0 points

Toss: Denver won and chose to bat



Not such a good outing for Denver having won the toss and chose to bat. Alzarri Joseph and Hardik Pandya proved rather destructive.



Dallas batted much better and got across the line easily, boosted by two similar innings from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Phil Salt.

DEN 124 (20)
DAL 2/128 (15.2)
MOTM: Alzarri Joseph (3/23)

Table update: Both teams remain in their prior places, however Dallas move to 2 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 5
Southwestern Conference
Houston Cheetahs vs Kansas City Sharks
Houston
Prematch Table Placings: Houston 5th on 0 points, Kansas City 6th on 0 points



Toby Roland Jones and Karn Sharma caused a collapse for Houston after a great start from Hafeez and Livingstone. An evenly balanced match now.



But a miserly bowling performance leads to a huge win! Keshav Maharaj , Chris Jordan and Scott Boland sent down 11 overs for 36. Add Bess and Zadran and that's 16 overs for 62.

HOU 9/161 (20)
KAN 7/112 (20)
MOTM: Mohammad Hafeez (51*)

Table update: Houston remain 5th on 2 points, Kansas remain 6th on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 5
Southwestern Conference
Phoenix Broncos vs Austin Thunderbirds
Phoenix
Prematch Table Placings: Austin 1st on 2 points, Phoenix 3rd on 2 points

Toss: Phoenix won and chose to bowl



Nick Larkin failed again, but the next three following him got Austin to a decent score. Priyam Garg was the only one not to make 50, but was also the most eye-catching by far.



Predictably for a side that couldn't hit a single six, Phoenix failed to run the target down. Colin Munro did his best in his 59, featuring ten fours, but got very little support.

AUS 3/163 (20)
PHO 2/145 (20)
MOTM: Priyam Garg (45)

Table update: Austin remain top on 4 points, Phoenix remain 3rd on 2 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 7
Southern Conference
Indianapolis Colts vs Memphis Stars
Indianapolis
Prematch Table Placings: Indy 6th on 0 points, Memphis 2nd on 2 points

Memphis won the toss and chose to bat



The man who's scored just one of the two hundreds in my experience of PCCS turned up again- Mohammad Rizwan was the driving force behind Memphis' 178.



After a great start from the openers, Thisara Perera and Luke Fletcher's late bowling ended up giving Memphis the win.

MEM 5/178 (20)
IND 7/152 (20)
MOTM: Mohammad Rizwan (74)

Table update: Memphis to 1st on 4 points, Indy remain bottom on 0 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 7
Southern Conference
Nashville Demons vs Oklahoma City Hounds
Nashville
Prematch Table Placings: Nashville 5th on 0 points, OKC 3rd on 2 points

OKC won the toss and chose to bowl



Who knows how crucial Michael Neser's 35 could be, without it Nashville would be at around 130.



Explain this PCCS... in all honesty, while the end means were weird, a middle order scoring 17, 0, 13, 6 and 15 doesn't deserve to win anything.

NAS 7/161 (20)
OKC 9/158 (20)
MOTM: Mayank Markande (4/20)

Table Update: Nashville to 4th on 2 points, OKC remain 3rd on 3 points.

 

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Cricket Super League, Round 2 Match 9
Southern Conference
St Louis Rockets vs Cincinatti Knights
St Louis
Prematch Table Placings: St Louis 4th on 0 points, Cincinnati 1st on 2 points

Cincinatti won the toss and chose to bat



Bowler slaughterhouse as Fabian Allen, Jason Roy, Cam Delport and Sam Heazlett run amok to break the 200 mark. Oddly, Riley Meredith (by far the most effective bowler) was only used for two overs.



This time it was Rashid who only bowled two overs. But Cincy didn't need him to win comfortably, as others such as Stuart Broad stepped up.

CIN 6/201 (20)
STL 9/153 (20)
MOTM: Jason Roy (53)

Table update: Cincinnati to 1st on 4 points, St Louis remain 5th on 0 points.