Match,Tour & Competition Experiences

[tfish555]

Just finished up the West Indies 2015-2016 Tour of Australia. I was playing on Pro difficulty using the lower skill level sliders. Unfortunately my PS3 went black screen of death after I had finished the series, but when fixing the issue by running the PS3 reset, the Tour data was lost. It really was enjoyable series to play, however, and with the new patch, it was great cricket.

I started the Tour with the West Indies playing Australian XI in a warm-up Four Day match. Though I don't remember specifics of the match, I do recall Australia XI winning by something like 3 wickets.

Next up was the first Test Match. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, posting a total north of 520. Steve Smith was key in the Australian innings, scoring 199 before being caught out trying to slog a 6 off of Bishoo. They then were able to bowl out the West Indians for a cheap 250, forcing the follow on. In their second innings, the West Indies post a total requiring 17 from the hosts, which was knocked off quite easily (though Joe Burns was out early... He had an awful series posting an average of right around 20 as an opening batsman). MOTM went to Steve Smith for his great batting performance.

I then played the second warm up match West Indies versus Western Australia in a Two Day match. This was by far the most enjoyable match of the series, as it came down to the wire. WA batted first and were bowled out for right around 300. The West Indies seemed to be going well, looking to chase down the total easily. They had a partnership of 150 runs at one point, but once Western Australia got to the tail, wickets fell dramatically. Lots of edges behind, which led to the West Indies requiring around 10 runs with only 2 wickets in hand, 15 overs left in the day. Another edge behind led to 9 required runs from the last wicket and 10 overs remaining. The West Indian batsman ends up winning the match off of a 4 that edged just out of the man at gully's reach. Great match!

The Second Test was an embarrassing one for Australia. After dominating in the first Test, the hosts were put in to bat by the West Indies who won the toss, and bowled out for a cheap 250. The West Indies put up 350 in response, giving them a comfortable 100 run lead. The Aussies batted cautiously in their second innings, bringing up a slow 450, with Steve Smith putting up a ridiculous 250*. The West Indies then required 350 runs from the last 135 overs of the match. At this point, seemed like the match could go either way, though 350 is a tough total to chase down on the final days of a Test match. After the middle order batting well for the West Indies (one partnership of 200 or 250 runs), the wickets began to fall. There were a few missed catches (edges behind), and a missed LBW shout that the Aussies thought had gone bat-pad, only to realize afterwards that the batsman would have been given out. West Indies go on to win the match in the final session of Day 5 by 2 wickets.

The Aussies were seeking revenge in the Third Test, which would decide the outcome of the series. West Indies again won the toss and put the Australians in to bat, the third time Australia batted first in the Test series. A quick 480 runs were scored, with Mitchell Marsh leading the way. The Aussies only took 110 overs to reach this total. The West Indies were then bowled out for 205, after the middle order struggled to score runs. Nathan Llyon took 6 wickets in the inning, his second 5 for of the series. Australia put the visitors in via the follow on, where they were able to muster up 300 runs, even though a scorching hot Nathan Llyon took 5 more wickets (3rd 5 for of the series and 11 in the match!!!). Mitchel Starc also bowled well, taking 4 wickets in the inning. The hosts were required to make 26 runs to win the match, which they did quickly and easily on Day 4 to win the match and the series. MOTM was Nathan Llyon.

The player of the series must have been Nathan Llyon due to his stunning performance in the Third test. Steve Smith also was in consideration, averaging well over 150. The difference here, however, was that in the series deciding match, Nathan Llyon took 11 wickets and Steve Smith was out for a golden duck in his only appearance with the bat.

The series was a ton of fun to play. I must say the skill-lowering teams are very rewarding to play with. Lots of edges, which is nice to see. I apologize for not being able to put up screenshots due to my PS3 issue, but on to the Indian Tour of Australia! I will post updates when that tour is finished.

 

[Rooiwillie]

Played a game on 'Veteran' recently and batted for both teams. Had to share the result! Just hope new patch on PS4 improves the AI match awareness and running between the wickets.

 

[tfish555]

Just finished India's Tour of Australia (2016) playing on Pro as India with the reduced skills teams. India went on to win both the ODI and T20 competitions as you will see below:

The 1st warm-up match between India and Western Australia XI was in the T20 format. WAXI batted first and were only able to post a total of 116 before being bowled all out in the 19th over. India chased down the total in 17 overs, winning by 4 wickets with MOTM going to Pandey who scored 21 not out off 17 deliveries and taking 1 wicket.

The 2nd warm-up match between India and Western Australia XI was an ODI, with India batting first. Pandey proved to be a lot for WAXI to handle once again, scoring 113 runs off of 101 deliveries, with Kohli adding 92 off of 103. India posted a total of 309, which could not be chased down. India ended up winning by 17 runs and the MOTM went to Kohli (shockingly, probably should have been Pandey).

The 1st ODI was an absolute embarrassment from the Indian team, who were bowled out for 92 in 25 overs. Australia knocked off the total easily in 20 overs, winning by 5 wickets. The Indian middle order and tail end for India was absolutely destroyed, with Shikar Dhawan scoring a team high 29 off 38 balls. Hazlewood and Paris each picked up 3 wickets in the effort. Australia was to follow and David Warner took MOTM with his 26 off 30 balls.

The 2nd ODI was much more competitive with India winning by a mere 10 runs, as Australia were not able to chase their 282 run total. Rahane and Pandey added over 70 runs each to push India's total well past 250. Two bad run outs for the Australians kept them from chasing down the total, as their tail struggled to control the loss of wickets (Richardson and Hastings went for ducks). Faulkner and Paris worked hard to see the team to victory, but it was not enough in the end. MOTM went to Maxwell who scored 71 runs off of 70 balls before being run out along with taking 5 wickets. A truly pure all-round performance.

The 3rd ODI was all India, as the won the match by 25 runs as Australia was unable to chase down their 335 run total. The match was really Rohit Sharma's "coming out party", as he went on to score 120 runs off of 105 balls before being run out. Kohli also added 89 runs, and the batting performance from the Indians was extraoridnary. Although Australia couldn't chase down the total, MOTM went to Mitchell Marsh, who scored a century and took 2 wickets. Another great all-rounder performance from Australia, but they were unable to win the match.

The 4th ODI went easily to the Australians, as India batted first once again in the match and could only make 114 runs on a tough batting pitch. They were bowled out in 36 overs. Dhawan was the only Indian who did any damage, scoring a half century. Finch was the only Australian who made it to the 50 run mark, but Mitchell Marsh was once again MOTM after scoring 43 runs and taking 4 wickets. The all-rounders made a significant impact on the series. Australia won by 7 wickets, chasing down the total in 30 overs.

In the rubber match ODI, India won convincingly after Australia could not chase down their total of 274 (India opened the batting in each match!!!). India went on to win by 153 runs after the Indians tore through the middle order and tail, with David Warner posting an Australian high 34 runs. MOTM was Rohit Sharma, who made 93 off of 91 balls, though Faulkner did take 6 wickets in the match.

This was a really fun, competitive competition to play as I only won the series 3-2. There were a good amount of edges by the AI (especially in the 5th match). MOTS had to by Rohit Sharma who scored 240 runs in the ODIs (over 60 more than the next best, Kohli) at an average of 48. No bowlers really stood out with three of them taking 8 wickets throughout the 5 matches. The one thing I will say is that the AI (even after the patch) has a hard time chasing down totals when they lose late wickets. It seems like only set batsman even stand a chance to chase down at the end of the match, because new batsmen bat far too conservatively at the end of the match, even if the team has wickets to give. Only the set batsman will play aggresively.

Next up was the T20s, which India won 3-0 in a whitewash. I was pretty disappointed with how the AI played and I will explain why below:

The 1st T20 should have been won by Australia. They ended up losing by 6 runs due to poor AI run chasing towards the end of the match. India posted only 129 runs before being bowled out in 19 overs with Dhawan scoring a match-high 44 runs. Boyce took 4 wickets in his 4 overs and conceded only 21 runs. Australia's reply was weak, with their middle order being completely shut down (Smith and Watson both went for ducks). Faulkner and Boyce rallied the score, scoring 28 and 25 respectively, but couldn't score quickly enough to win the match. Their collective SR was barely over 100 and they did not look to score all that quickly in the final over. Nehra won MOTM for taking 5 wickets for the Indians. There were quite a few edges in this match.

The 2nd T20 was also poor for the Australians, who batted first and only posted 136 runs. Finch played extraordinarily well for Australia, scoring 62 off 35 balls. Once again, the Australian middle order was unable to do much, but they did not look to score quickly towards the end of the innings. Wade made 23 but took 26 balls to get there (and ended not out). They could have really pulled away at the end but were unable to do so. India's reply was spearheaded by Rohit Sharma who made 73 not out off of 58 balls. Dhawan also added 29 off 23, and India chased down the total in 18 overs winning by 6 wickets. MOTM obviously went to Sharma ffor his performance.

The 3rd T20 was another Australian AI mishap. India batted first posting a total of 145 on a pitch that easily could have conceded 180. No Indians really got the ball running, with no one scoring more than 30 runs. Australia's response seemed to be going well, but they ended up losing by 4 runs due to some poor management. Shane Watson made 51 off 42 balls and Glenn Maxwell, who was MOTM, made 39 off 37 as well as taking 4 wickets. The unfortunate thing was that Australia needed 10 runs to win off the final over, and took singles on every single run in the over. They only tried to hit a 6 twice, one of which fell short of the boundary and was cut off before making 4 by an Indian fielder. The last ball of the over required 5 runs for the win, and the batsman tried to play a lofted reverse sweep, which did not work out in his favor. It was mistimed and only gave them 1 run. Kind of disappointing, as they had 5 wickets in hand at the end of the match.

The MOTS must have been, once again Rohit Sharma, who scored 98 runs with a high score of 73 not out, averaging 49. It was a fun series to play, but the AI in T20s is not much fun. Perhaps it was because I was playing with reduced skill teams, but the mindset of the batsmen, not the ability, is what the problem was. I will continue to play T20s to see if similar results occur. Please let me know if you all are seeing similar results or not.

 

[tfish555]

Just finished up the Sri Lanka T20 Tour of India playing as India on Pro with reduced skill teams. I was much happier with the way the AI played in these T20s compared to the last, playing much more aggressively and posting some decent scores.

1st T20: India was put in to bat first by the Sri Lankans on a green pitch that seemed like it would be the day for the bowlers. India posted an impressive 168, however with Yuvraj Singh leading the way. He scored 74 not out on only 38 balls, pushing the total to a place where the visitors simply could not chase down on the pitch. In reply, Sri Lanka put up 145, falling 23 runs short of the total. The AI really seemed to do well chasing but lost wickets late. Shanka scored an impressive 50 not out from 40 balls, and Jadeja took 3 wickets for just 25 runs. Singh was MOTM for his batting performance.

2nd T20: India saw that there was rain in the forecast for this match and thought they may be able to get there batting innings in before it began to fell. They won the toss, electing to bat first, but were mistaken in the forecast as it rained early in their innings. This reduced their innings to 12 and D/L gave them a score of 95. I felt that this was a bit low, not sure how D/L works in the game, but I had 80 odd runs for 4 wickets after my 12 overs and didn't feel I was properly awarded runs. Rahane scored 44 in the innings. To follow, Sri Lanka needed 96 from 12 overs and chased it down easily, winning by 7 wickets with Dinesh Chandimal taking MOTM for scoring 44 not out off only 22 balls.

3rd T20: India won the toss and seeing that there was some moisture underneath the dusty surface of the pitch, they put Sri Lanka in to bat. Their assessment of the conditions was spot on, and Sri Lanka was edging the ball all over with the swing and variation in bounce that the pitch produced. Sri Lanka finished with a total of 142 with Dilshan scoring 43 runs. They started their innings really quickly, scoring at around 9 an over for the first 8 or so, but wickets fell late and India were able to slow down the run rate. India ended up winning by 3 wickets, while Rahane and Raina put on a massive partnership to see them over the top. Rahane scored 55 from 42 balls and Raina added 46 from 39. MOTM went to Siriwardana for taking 4 wickets for just 18 runs, but he was the only Sri Lankan bowler to offer much resistance. India was able to take 17 runs off the first over, which gave them momentum throughout their innings.

The AI batted much more aggressively in this series which was fun to see and it was the first time I have lost a T20 match in some time. I ended up winning the series 2-1, but it was extremely enjoyable. I am currently playing the Australia Tour of New Zealand and will post the results when I finish!

Added note: The AI slip fielders drop almost everything. Not sure if this is due to the patch, has anyone else seen this problem?

 

[sohail]

Wow you had some great matches could you possibly upload your reduced skills for Sri Lanka and India please?

 

[tfish555]

The teams have been uploaded in the Academy under username thomaskfisher. I uploaded New Zealand, India, Australia, West Indies, and Sri Lanka as these are the teams I have completed up to this point.

 

[tfish555]

Just finished Australia's Tour of New Zealand playing as NZ on Pro difficulty with reduced skill teams. Pretty competitive series, although the Aussies were bad in the ODIs and came storming back to take a decisive victory in the second test.

1st ODI: New Zealand won the toss and batted first on a hard pitch. They managed to score 312 runs in their 50 overs with a 100 (100) from McCullum and a 95 (81) from Ronchi. Australia were horrendous in reply, getting bowled out for 140 in just over 25 overs. Trent Boult took 4 wickets off his 8 overs, but McCullum was MOTM for his century.

2nd ODI: Slightly more competitive effort from the Aussies in this match. New Zealand elected once again to bat first on a batting pitch and scored a mammoth 335 runs before being all out in the 50th over. It was really a great all around batting effort from the Kiwis, as three players scored half centuries including Ronchi's second of the series and Matt Henry, a tail end batsman. Hastings was able to take 4 wickets, but simply could not contain the run rate. In reply, Australia started hot with half centuries from Warner, Smith, and Mitchell Marsh. However, their tail fell quickly with ducks from Hastings and Zampa. They managed to score 279 runs from 46 overs, not nearly enough to chase down the tough total. MOTM was Henry for his impressive half century and taking 4 wickets.

3rd ODI: This time the wicket was green, and New Zealand won the toss for a third time, putting Australia in to bat. They could only manage 199 before being bowled out in the 50th over, with George Bailey the high scorer 81 (95). New Zealand was easily able to chase down the total in under 25 overs, winning by 8 wickets with Martin Guptill scoring 104 not out on 80 balls. Corey Anderson, however, was MOTM for his 5 wicket bag. New Zealand won the ODI series 3-0, with little resistance from the Aussies.

MOTS was Corey Anderson for his 10 wickets in the series, conceding only 112 runs with an economy of 4.69 runs per over.

1st Test: On a hard pitch, New Zealand elected to bat first, posting a huge total of 554 from just 112 overs. Doug Bracewell made a surprising century (the first of his career), and Latham, Nicholls, Anderson, and Watling all made half centuries. Australia then posted a total of 440 in 117 overs with Khawaja, Smith, Boland, and Hazlewood posting half centuries. Boult took 3 wickets. In New Zealand's second innings, they managed 314 from just under 70 overs with Williamson, Anderson, and Watling posting half centuries. Boland and Bird took 4 wickets each. Australia would need to manage somewhere around 430 runs to win the match, but were only able to get to 312 from 90 overs as Burns and Voges scored half centuries. The match ended on Day 5 with Doug Bracewell taking an amazing 7 wickets in the innings which earned him MOTM.

2nd Test: The second test was a big mistake from New Zealand. They saw some moisture in the pitch and sent Australia in to bat. This proved to be the wrong decision, as Australia put up 513 runs in their first innings from 138 overs. David Warner scored 156 (251) and Smith, March, and Hazlewood added half centuries. Corey Anderson did take 5 wickets in the innings, but the Aussies had a clear lead part way through Day 2. In reply, New Zealand only managed 249 runs from 80 overs as the tail crumbled after half centuries from Guptill, Williamson, and Nicholls. Pattinson took 5 wickets in the innings. Australia enforced the follow on, where New Zealand fought hard to get back into the game, scoring 498 runs from 117 overs. They were hoping to force a draw, but needed to extend their innings further in order to make this happen. McCullum and Anderson had a 200 run parternship that really helped the Kiwis. McCullum ended with 146 (167) and Anderson scored 150 (209). Bird took 4 wickets in the innings. Australia needed only 250 runs from the last 130 overs in the match to secure the victory. Warner had an impressive 111 not out from 198 balls and Khawaja added 57 (96) to win by 8 wickets, scoring 238 runs in 64 overs. This won the match in the second session of the 5th Day. MOTM was David Warner who scored 267 runs in the match with one not out.

MOTS was David Warner for his performance in the second test. He averaged 111 in the test series.

These matches really showed that the AI is much more competitive in the long format of the game. It was a fun series to play. I am now going to try to update the Asia World Cup teams and play that tournament. I'll update you when I have completed it!

 

[Cloud Starkman]

Just finished up the Sri Lanka T20 Tour of India playing as India on Pro with reduced skill teams. I was much happier with the way the AI played in these T20s compared to the last, playing much more aggressively and posting some decent scores.

1st T20: India was put in to bat first by the Sri Lankans on a green pitch that seemed like it would be the day for the bowlers. India posted an impressive 168, however with Yuvraj Singh leading the way. He scored 74 not out on only 38 balls, pushing the total to a place where the visitors simply could not chase down on the pitch. In reply, Sri Lanka put up 145, falling 23 runs short of the total. The AI really seemed to do well chasing but lost wickets late. Shanka scored an impressive 50 not out from 40 balls, and Jadeja took 3 wickets for just 25 runs. Singh was MOTM for his batting performance.

2nd T20: India saw that there was rain in the forecast for this match and thought they may be able to get there batting innings in before it began to fell. They won the toss, electing to bat first, but were mistaken in the forecast as it rained early in their innings. This reduced their innings to 12 and D/L gave them a score of 95. I felt that this was a bit low, not sure how D/L works in the game, but I had 80 odd runs for 4 wickets after my 12 overs and didn't feel I was properly awarded runs. Rahane scored 44 in the innings. To follow, Sri Lanka needed 96 from 12 overs and chased it down easily, winning by 7 wickets with Dinesh Chandimal taking MOTM for scoring 44 not out off only 22 balls.

3rd T20: India won the toss and seeing that there was some moisture underneath the dusty surface of the pitch, they put Sri Lanka in to bat. Their assessment of the conditions was spot on, and Sri Lanka was edging the ball all over with the swing and variation in bounce that the pitch produced. Sri Lanka finished with a total of 142 with Dilshan scoring 43 runs. They started their innings really quickly, scoring at around 9 an over for the first 8 or so, but wickets fell late and India were able to slow down the run rate. India ended up winning by 3 wickets, while Rahane and Raina put on a massive partnership to see them over the top. Rahane scored 55 from 42 balls and Raina added 46 from 39. MOTM went to Siriwardana for taking 4 wickets for just 18 runs, but he was the only Sri Lankan bowler to offer much resistance. India was able to take 17 runs off the first over, which gave them momentum throughout their innings.

The AI batted much more aggressively in this series which was fun to see and it was the first time I have lost a T20 match in some time. I ended up winning the series 2-1, but it was extremely enjoyable. I am currently playing the Australia Tour of New Zealand and will post the results when I finish!

Added note: The AI slip fielders drop almost everything. Not sure if this is due to the patch, has anyone else seen this problem?

Hi tfish what format are you playing on I play on Ps4 and I have played about 40 tests and about 35 one day games and never had rain when I played on ps3 I had rain in one match when DBC first came out but game didnt go long enough for the rain to effect it

 

[tfish555]

Hi tfish what format are you playing on I play on Ps4 and I have played about 40 tests and about 35 one day games and never had rain when I played on ps3 I had rain in one match when DBC first came out but game didnt go long enough for the rain to effect it

I've had quite a few games affected by rain since the last patch on PS3. Actually what I've noticed is that it seems that rain is more likely in ODIs and T20s than Tests, which is frustrating because there are a few Tests which I could have gotten to a draw if there had been some rain delay but lost instead.

 

[graham]

Since patch on ps4 I had rain only in a T20 match during career mode , which is one and only time ️

 

[Ash1973]

My first game on ps4 since the patch, one off test between west indies and bangladesh.

 

[tfish555]

Just finished up the Asia Cup playing as India with reduced skill teams on Pro. Finally felt like T20 cricket was well polished in this game, had some really exciting matches!

1st Round:
Pakistan had the bye, India played Bangladesh and won by 4 wickets. After Bangladesh were bowled out for 110 in the 19th over, Shikar Dhawan scored 47 (35) to lead India to a comfortable victory in the 16th over. Dhawan was MOTM.
Sri Lanka played UAE in the first round and won by 5 wickets. Jayawardene scored 55 not out off of 35 balls, but Malinga won MOTM for taking 4 wickets. UAE managed 126 from their 20 overs, but it was chased down easily by Sri Lanka in the 17th over.

2nd Round:
India had the bye, Sri Lanka played Pakistan who won convincingly by 9 wickets. Thirimanne put up 61 (50) to push Sri Lanka's total to 156, but there was no resistance from the Sri Lankan bowling attack as Shehzad scored 91 not out from 57 balls and Akmal scored 41 not out from 24 balls. MOTM however went to Irfan who took 4 wickets.
UAE was able to beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets after chasing down the Bangladesh total of 139. Asif scored 74 not out off of 48 balls and was MOTM although Asadullah took 4 wickets for only 23 runs.

3rd Round:
Sri Lanka had the bye, India played UAE and won by 16 runs, the first time in the tournament the chasing team did not win the match. India did not manage their innings very well, being bowled out in the 19th over for 135 runs, although Yuvraj Singh scored 51 (48) and was MOTM. Bumrah took 5 wickets in the match.
Pakistan went on to beat Bangladesh after Hafeez scored 60 (32) and Shehzad scored 50 not out from 42 deliveries. Bangladesh managed 127 from their 20 overs but it was chased down in the 15th over as Pakistan won by 9 wickets.

4th Round:
UAE had the bye, Sri Lanka played Bangladesh and batted first. They managed 169 only losing 1 wicket with Thirimanne scored 87 not out from 59 balls and Sangakkara scoring 82 not out from 60 balls, but this was chased down somewhat easily by an impressive batting performance from Bangladesh. They ended up winning in the 19th over by 4 wickets as Iqbal scored a team high 49 (23). Thirimanne however won MOTM for his impressive batting performance.
India played Pakistan and batted first, posting a total of 173 from their 20 overs. I felt that Pakistan could have chased this total down, but they did not bat aggressively enough at the end of their innings and lost by 11 runs. Ahmed scored 56 not out from 29 balls and Wasim scored 40 not out from 34 balls. MOTM was Ahmed for his batting performance.

5th Round:
Bangladesh had the bye, UAE played Pakistan and were only able to post a total of 110 which was chased down easily by Pakistan, winning by 7 wickets in the 16th over. MOTM was Hafeez for taking 4 wickets for only 5 runs. India played Sri Lanka and elected to bat first, posting a total of 163. They were on pace to score 200 plus, but lost a lot of wickets late and were bowled out in the 16th over. Regardless, they were able to restrict Sri Lanka, winning by 11 runs and bowling them out in the 20th over. MOTM was Yuvraj Singh who scored 33 (18) and took 3 wickets.

After the Round Robin, the standings were as follows:
India- 8 pts (NRR: 0.97)
Pakistan- 6 pts (NRR: 1.36)
Sri Lanka- 2 pts (NRR: -0.09)
UAE- 2 pts (NRR: -0.73)
Bangladesh- 2 pts (NRR: -1.56)

Final: India vs Pakistan. Perhaps the most fun T20 match I have ever played in the game. It was an extraordinarily green pitch and the winner of the toss would play a huge role in the outcome of the match as the evening was cloudy, but the sky was expected to clear up as the game went on. Pakistan won the toss and put India in to bat. Yuvraj Singh scored 75 (44), but India were bowled out in the 20th over for a competitive total of 160. Afridi was exceptional, taking 5 wickets for just 24 runs. Pakistan batted sensibly in reply, dispatching the bad balls for boundaries without taking too many risks. Khan scored 49 (43) to lead Pakistan to a 6 wicket victory where they needed only 1 run from the final over. MOTM was Afridi for his 5 wicket haul, and Pakistan won the Asia Cup in a great final match. I was extremely happy to see the AI chase this total down even though I lost, and showed that there really are glimpses of beauty in the T20s in DBC.

Man of the Tournament was Shehzad who played in only 3 matches, but posted 177 runs with 2 not outs for an average of 177. Simply incredible in the T20 format of the game.

I am going to spend some time updating the rosters for the World Cup and post the teams when I have them finished.

 

[tfish555]

World Cup teams have been uploaded under the username thomaskfisher. The rosters for these teams only include players in the squads for the tournament, so if you plan on playing with them other than for the tournament, you may need to add some players.

 

[blockerdave]

A quality match in a custom format: 2 innings of 40 4-ball overs. (I'm playing a 16 team knockout cup of this, of which this is the first game)

1970 South Africa (AI) v 1984 West Indies (Me)

I got off to a poor start with a great spell from Peter Pollock, and ended up dismissed for just 125 a little over halfway through the innings. South Africa then smashed their way to 231-5 with Eddie Barlow clubbing 84* off 44 balls. South Africa with a huge 106 run 1st innings lead.

I batted much better in the second innings, although kept losing wickets at inopportune moments. Despite losing Greenidge first ball, Haynes and Gomes managed to score at a great pace and brought up a 50 partnership in no time. Viv Richards 80 off 26 and Malcolm Marshall's lower order 70 off 35 got me up to 284 all out, a lead of 178.

179 was a target I felt I could defend - more than a run a ball though of course South Africa had comfortably exceeded that in the first innings. Goddard and Richards got off to a flying start, Goddard particularly and I needed to think up some better tactics. I put a ring field from cover point through deep mid-off and bowled full and wide of off-stump. it worked, slowing them down and Goddard perished trying to force the ball to leg but getting a leading edge that popped up and was taken at slip.

There were several catches taken in the cover area as they mistimed shots over the in-field and began to fall behind the run-rate. Also a great dismissal of Richards off Marshall, driving at a wide-one and edging to Dujon behind the stumps.

Irvine hit out and at one point threatened to take South Africa to victory, but the part time medium pacers of captain Clive Lloyd, who bought himself into the attack when Harper's spin proved expensive, dried up the runs and helped secure a comfortable enough 34 run victory - an amazing turn around in the second innings. South Africa finishing their 40 overs on 144-7

Marshall got man of the match having scored over 90 runs and taken 4 wickets in the match.

 

[Dutch]

Have gone down the Blocker road and have created a forty-over 4 ball an over 16 team World League with me playing as Vanuatu against such world powers as France, Japan, Hong Kong and the mighty Italy. Great fun and the four ball over makes it very doable as it were.......