Story Oceania Premier League:***End of Story!***

[riz7khan12]

oh no, stupid napier why couldn't he hit a six in the 2 balls he faced. Ryder just scored way too fast and after a innings like that any sort of slow period would lose you the game.

 

[just_cricket]

Northern Eagles v South Australia Spiders

Oceania Premier League
Eagles knock out Spiders with 92 run win

Umar Akmal combined with Sachin Tendulkar for another big opening partnership

The final eight teams to progress to the Super 8 are now decided with two pool games to go - the final two games will only determine placings in the pools rather than who does and doesn't progress.

This is after the Northern Eagles have given a crunching performance to overcome the SACA Spiders in what was a must win game for them. Umar Akmal was promoted to open the innings and rewarded his captain with an audacious innings, combining with the pure mastery of Tendulkar for the third consecutive 150+ run opening partnership in the OPL. After they saw the Eagles to 173, Tait grabbed two wickets at the death to keep the Northerners to a round 200, but it would prove far too much for the Spiders anyway.

The Spiders never got out of first gear, as the Eagles' first four bowlers all boasted economy rates of under 6 - Kemar Roach the pick of the bowlers with two victims, while Vettori (who also snared two wickets), Anderson and Williamson played large roles in taking down the Spiders. Manou made the highest score but struggled to score at a fast enough rate to threaten the Eagles - as Afridi failed once more, their innings petered out to a meagre 108 from their 20 overs - embarassingly behind the rate, and consequently out of the tournament.

Northern Eagles won by 92 runs​

 

[AkshayS]

That was total demolition, brilliant opening partnership from Tendulkar and Akmal.
Since Wasps are losing, I think I should start supporting Eagles now.

 

[Roofrom50]

Get on the Tendulkar train haha, brilliant innings from him at the top of the order. Ended up being a huge win there for the Eagles

 

[Gaurav_7]

Yeah, Go Eagles! Fantastic stuff by the openers and the bowling was brilliant, Roach!

 

[just_cricket]

Game 11, Pool C: Southern Stallions v Pacific Lions

Oceania Premier League
Morgan stars as Stallions top Pool C

Eoin Morgan was the key man in the Stallions' innings

After the elation following their victory over the NSW Stingers, the Pacific Lions have been brought back down to earth with an 80 run defeat at the hands, or should we say hooves, of the Southern Stallions.

The OPL continues to be a high scoring tournament - in particular from opening pairs - with Eoin Morgan and Brendon McCullum blitzing their way to another partnership of over 150. McCullum set the wheels in motion early and was leading the scoring but was bowled around his legs by Noema-Barnett when he seemed to be in reach of a hundred. It was the Irishman, Eoin Morgan, who would end up making the milestone - through another innings full of improvisation and calculated risk taking. Although being hit for 50 from his four overs, Simpson Obed could at least claim Morgan's scalp, dismissing Morgan off the penultimate ball of the innings.

The Lions' reply was off to a shaky start as Wagner and Bond showed their pace and skill once more. Harbhajan also captured two middle order victims, and although Kieron Pollard added to his first match fifty with a counter attacking 49, Neil Wagner owned the innings with an impressive bag of four wickets. The Stallions were rewarded for their attacking cricket by being able to bowl out their opposition within the small allotment of 20 overs.

Southern Stallions won by 80 runs​

 

[Dragon Fire]

There have been a lot of stores springing up in my absence, and this is the best of them. If I was to start another story, this is the standard I would try to match up to. Bloody brilliant.

 

[just_cricket]

Tasmania Diablos v Queensland Thunder

Oceania Premier League
Thunder make it two from two after final pool match

Steven Finn blew the top off the Diablos' innings with 3 top order victims

Despite captain and star player Matthew Hayden failing at the top of the order for the second time, the Queensland Thunder have managed to pull through and make it to the top of Pool D.

They made their way through the innings with small sub-50 contributions which would add up in the end. Kamran Akmal top scored with a dominant 46 before being smartly run out by Broad, while Symonds and Carseldine also made entertaining cameos - Carseldine at one stage hitting four consecutive boundaries. Pakistani pace bowling pair Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer both went at under 5 an over, with Aamer taking the first two wickets to fall.

Steven Finn would end up earning the man of the match award for his three early wickets which put the Diablos into a position from where they could never really recover. Ponting and Paine were key failures - Paine falling to the extra bounce Finn managed to extract, and Ponting caught playing around his front pad. De Villiers once again looked as good as anyone in the tournament, with a chanceless 50, but despite Bailey and Broad making a good go of the chase at the end, the Diablos ended up 26 runs too few, although they will still qualify for the Super 8 stage.

Queensland Thunder won by 26 runs​

 

[just_cricket]

Oceania Premier League
Fixtures: How the Super 8 works

At the conclusion of the pool stages, 4 teams will now exit the Oceania Premier League - their campgain was short, and unsuccessful. They will have to wait until next year to stake their claim.

For the remaining eight, the dream stays alive - for some teams, only by the tiniest of margins. But a further 4 will bow out after the Super 8 stage - now every single game is crucial, every result important.

The points tables for each pool were:

Pool A:

The Capital Pulse surprising, but clear winners, as they won both of their games to finish with six points. The Western Waccas also qualify with three points, after a convincing win over the Victoria Wasps and a close encounter with the Pulse.

Pool B:

Net run rate decided Pool B, after every team won a game each, all finishing on three points. The South Australia Spiders were the team to miss out, suffering for their heavy defeat against the Northern Eagles, who consequently finished top of the pool. The UT Gators also sneak in thanks to a good win over the Eagles.

Pool C:

The Southern Stallions were the clearest of winners of all the teams, with the full six points and easily the highest net run rate. The Pacific Lions also qualify after an emphatic victory over the NSW Stingers, which simultaneously knocked them out, after being pre-tournament favourites.

Pool D:

The Queensland Thunder top Pool D with 6 points, following good victories over the Tasmania Diablos and Central Makos. Despite a line-up of celebrity overseas players, the Makos are the ones to exit, after two disappointing losses.

The Super 8

The 8 teams who qualified for the Super 8 will be split up into two groups of four, with each group comprising two teams who came top of their pool, and two teams who came second.

Group A
A1: Capital Pulse
B1: Northern Eagles
C2: Pacific Lions
D2: Tasmania Diablos

Group B
C1: Southern Stallions
D1: Queensland Thunder
A2: Western Waccas
B2: United Territories Gators

From there the top two teams from each group will progress to the semi final stages. As is customary in Trans-Tasman events (The netball and soccer competitions follow similar formats), the playoffs will run as major and minor semifinals, as outlined here:

​

Stay tuned at oplt20.com for the latest updates​

 

[Dipak]

This story is just magnificent. Jus following this since a day or two and it looks amazing. KIU

 

[CG123]

Great update there.

Good to see only one New Zealand team eliminated in the first round, so now that makes it a 4 - 4 split if you count the Pacific team as a New Zealand team.

Most of the teams seem pretty well balanced, so I don't see any clear favourite from here.

 

[just_cricket]

Super 8, Game 1: Pulse v Lions

Oceania Premier League
Pulse make strong start to Super 8 Stage

Ryder smashed the Pulse to victory

The Capital Pulse will be full of confidence after a convincing win over the Pacific Lions in the first match of the Super 8 stage.

It was a clinical performance which exposed several of the Lions' weaknesses, and very few of the Pulse's. Ross Taylor provided some fireworks upfront but they would have needed to last much longer for the Lions to post a competitive score. Suresh Raina looked classy at the crease once more but his wicket was wasted with a run out - it wasn't what one would call suicide but certainly unnecessarily risky for that stage of the innings.

Kieron Pollard was uncharacteristically restrained - almost over patient, as this innings was the first of his T20 career of over 20 runs which was scored at below a run a ball. He seemed to get out just as he was getting going, and from there the Lions slipped dramatically downward. Key middle order players Morkel and McGlashan had the ability to continue and finish the innings with style but their failures sparked a collapse from where the Pacific franchise could never recover. The local players were bundled out, although there was some fun at the end with the previously clueless Josefa Dabea pulling out a blazing cover drive, before Steyn was run out, leaving the Lions with a meagre 124 to defend.

The Pulse made light work of the chase, or to be more exact, Ryder made light work of it. Steyn gave it everything and swept aside left handers Lumb and Fleming for single figure scores but could gain no support from his fellow bowlers, as Ryder blasted his way to 84. Yuvraj, no slouch in terms of big hitting himself, could only watch and support as the Wellingtonian hit out ball after ball, rocketing to his fifty from just 29 balls. He had a slight lull - "only" scoring 33 runs from the further 20 balls, but it was always going to be easily enough, his side making a cakewalk of the whole affair and sealing it within fifteen overs.

Capital Pulse won by 8 wickets​

 

[just_cricket]

Super 8, Game 2: Stallions vs Waccas

Oceania Premier League
Waccas notch up win as Stallions crumble in chase

Mitchell Johnson bagged three wickets

The Southern Stallions lost their first game of the league today, at the hands of the Western Australia Waccas, and a heavy loss it was, too.

After winning the toss and electing to bat Adam Gilchrist would have been pleased with the start he made, hitting 29 at a strike rate of over 200 before he fell to a trap and was caught at point by Neil Broom off Bond. Gayle was then out in similar fashion to Neil Wagner, but from there the Waccas consolidated and got themselves into a winning position. Shaun Marsh batted intelligently with Adrian Barath to put on 91 for the third wicket. The left hander showed glimpses of how he had topped the run scoring charts in the first Indian Premier League, while the right hander continued to impress down under, forging a name for himself as the next really big thing. They were both dismissed in fairly quick succession but Michael Hussey and Mitchell Marsh made sure the innings was finished off with a flourish, the Waccas ending up posting 154, meaning the Stallions would need just over 7 an over to win the match.

They never looked like doing it. Johnson had McCullum in all sorts of trouble before he skied one to deep square leg, and after a brief partnership between Jayawardene and Morgan, the Stallions were skittled. One expensive over from Ajmal to Morgan notwithstanding, the Southern franchise managed to get themselves out in an array of soft dismissals, and it was no surprise when they were finally all out for 102, a heavy 52 run first defeat for them to endure.

Western Australia Waccas won by 52 runs​

 

[Dragon Fire]

Very nice. Excellent story.

 

[Aditya]

Nice photoshop skills on that Johnson pic. Even I tried that in one of my previous stories but surely your result is better than mine. Keep it up, JC!