Oceania Premier League Fixtures: How the Tournament will Run
The 12 teams competing in the Oceania Premier League will be split up into four pools, each with three teams. Each team will play the two other teams in its pool, and the top two teams from each pool progress to the Super 8. (Basically, one team from each pool gets knocked out).
The Super 8 will be divided into two groups of 4, and once again each team will play all the other teams in its group. The top two teams from each group progress to the semifinals and play offs.
At this stage only the fixtures for pool play have been released, with details of matches in the Super 8 to come out when all the pool games have been completed.
Pool A
Central Pulse
Western Australia Waccas
Victoria Wasps
Pool B
Northern Eagles
United Territories Gators
South Australia Spiders
Pool C
Pacific Lions
Souther Stallions
New South Wales Stingers
Pool D
Tasmania Diablos
Central Makos
Queensland Thunder
gayle does it for me, the WACA Waccas are clearly the best. we've seen how Ajmal has troubled the Australians and the local batting needs no second thought. Although the VIC Wasps are looking strong too, hopefully the WACAS can get over them.
Oceania Premier League Pulse clinch Super Over Thriller to open tournament
Englishman Michael Lumb posted the first 50 off the OPL
The Capital Pulse have taken first blood in the inaugural Oceania Premier League, with a tight win in a match which had nearly everything.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat, Stephen Fleming would have been more than pleased with the way things were going as left handers Lumb and Jesse Ryder got the Pulse off to a flier as Wasps' bowlers Nannes, and particularly Siddle and McKay, failed to hit their lines and lengths early on.
However the captain would have been far less pleased when Ryder holed out to Shakib Al-Hasan off Nannes in the 5th over, and at absolutely dismayed when he was trapped lbw by the left arm paceman for a golden duck.
Brief partnerships ensued between Yuvraj, and then Grant Elliott, with Lumb, but on a fairly slow Wellington pitch the Pulse struggled to force the pace as Shakib Al-Hasan, and even part-timers David Hussey, Cameron White, and Tillakaratne Dilshan, gave little away and made use of the pitch, which was really not coming on nicely at all. The Pulse lost 4 quick wickets at the end, limiting them to 139/8 which was about par, given the pitch.
The Wasps' fortunes were always largely going to depend on their overseas players in the top 3, and although Dilshan failed to make it to double figures, Smith set the wheels in motion with a brief but fiery cameo, before Kevin Pietersen and Brad Hodge steered the game towards the Wasps with intelligent cricket - hitting the ball into gaps, running hard, and keeping above the required run rate even without too many boundaries.
However Ryder struck twice to remove Hodge and then Cameron White for a first baller, and when Grant Elliott outfoxed Pietersen with a slower ball, the Pulse held the advantage. The Wasps also lost quick wickets but didn't waste time and needed 9 runs from the last over, with 3 wickets in tact. Matthew Wade pushed the strike to Nannes who responded by smashing a six to level the scores, but in a tense last few balls the Dutchman played and missed, and then hit the final ball tamely to Franklin at mid off to tie the game.
In the resulting Super Over Eliminator, the Wasps batted first with Pietersen, Dilshan and Smith. Umar Gul was chosen to bowl the over but appeared to miss his mark and the Wasps capitalised, hitting two boundaries to register 11 runs from the over, only losing a wicket from a run out off the last ball.
Ryder, Lumb and Yuvraj were down as the three batsmen for the Pulse, but they would need all three of them - Ryder hit one boundary over third man but was then caught behind off Nannes. Yuvraj could only squirt away a single from his delivery but Lumb sealed his potential MOTM award with two successive sixes over mid wicket to steal the match off the last ball.
Reminds me of a Twenty20 I had with Sri Lanka in CC11. We managed just 227 and they chased every single on of them down, but only went for a safe double on the last ball instead of the risky triple. We tied.
Good to get one over the Aussie's early on, in a great opening match.
The part-timers Ryder and White were both devastating with the ball, and lol at Fleming's comeback.
Nice stuff as usual JC.
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