Sri Lankan Major League Tournament Update

 It’s been a month since my last update and Colombo still impress in Group A. They are now undefeated across 10 games. This included a huge innings and 254 run victory over 7^th placed Sebastianites that kick started their month.

 

Their success is largely built on their bowling. 4 bowlers have joined the 8-fer crew over the last month but the most impressive was Colombo’s Ashan Priyanjan who got his in 21 overs and leaking just 51 runs. Even more impressively it means that the four best bowling figures in an innings all belong to three different Colombo players. Overall, however, the most devastating bowler continues to be the Sri Lankan Army's Kaumal Nanayakkara who has got a further 12 wickets in October, taking his total to 66 @ 14.6

In terms of other stand out performances, Ahan Wickramasinghe scorched a 289 ball 234* in a draw between Nondescripts and Saracens to claim the third highest total of the tournament. Score all the double tonnes you want. Nobody is going to get anywhere near this tournament’s outstanding batter this season. Ragama’s Nishan Maduskha has now got 1161 @ 105.54 across his 9 matches. He has 327 more runs than anyone else.

 

WBBL Mini Round Up

 

Another WBBL round up the day of a huge victory. This time it was hardly a shock as top of the table Sydney Sixers got the better of bottom of the table Melbourne Renegades, Sydney Sixers' total of 188 was largely built on Alyssa Healy's 78 from 54 balls and Melbourne never looked in the hunt. They eventually fell short by 37 runs - the third largest deficit in the tournament so far. 

Brisbane's Georgia Redmayne is going through a lean spell at the moment having scored just 9 runs off the last two games - however she still leads out the run scorers. Her 225 runs is 22 better than anyone else. 

Other notable achievements over the long weekend saw Sophie Day get the tournament's 6th best figures of 4-19 in the Melbourne derby on Thursday night. The Stars absolutely abominated the Renegades as Day contributed to the bottom placed team being all out for 91 in what is proving to be an abysmal season. Jess Jonassen's 3-fer in today's game sees her onto 13 wickets for the tournament and continue her reign of terror at the top of the wicket takers column. 

WBBL Round Up

 

The last time we touched base with the WBBL was after its largest margin of victory by runs; today was the second largest as Adelaide pulled off a surprise win against top of the table Brisbane. Brisbane were all out for 109 chasing Adelaide’s 140. It marks a real turnaround in Adelaide’s form.  They lost both of their opening games but have now won three on the bounce.

 

The tournament didn’t have any fivefers before game 14 and has now got 2 in 3 games. Amanda-Jade Wellington’s 3.5-0-8-5’s will be hard to beat as Adelaide humiliated Melbourne Renegades on Monday – getting them all out for 101. Jess Jonassen is now the tournament’s highest wicket taker with 10 @ 15.7.

 

Tammy Beaumont stood out for the English contingent in another shock last week when 6^th placed Sydney Thunder beat second place Perth. Tammy Beaumont got 77* - the third highest score of the tournament so far. Georgia Redmayne is still the tournament’s premier run scorer with 220 @ 44. 

Zimbabwe's Pro 50 Tournament Update

 Today’s most interesting game, lamentably, did not reach a natural conclusion – however there is still a lot to right about.

 

Second to bottom placed Mid West Rhinos, won the toss and inserted second to top place Mashonaland.

As has been the case for the majority of the season, Tadiwanashe Marumani was the main man for Mashonaland whilst, as had been the case for the majority of the season, Brandon Mavuta has caused headaches for batters. Whilst Marumani’s 79 off 62 balls may have been impressive, it does not hold a candle to Mavuta’s 7-41. All-in-all Mashonaland’s total of 211 seemed a little underbaked, however the Mid West were under the pump. After a first wicket partnership of 39, the Rhinos lost a wicket in overs 12 and 13 and were soon 67-4 and then 86-5. When rain struck Kwekwe, the Rhinos were 95-5 and well behind the required total. Despite the victory, Mashonaland do not move places in the table at all thanks to Mountaineers victory over Southern Rocks.

 

The two stars of the day top the run scoring and wicket taking tables respectively. Marumani has overtaken Rocks’ Cephas Zhuwao to top spot for runs with 345 @ 57.50. Mavuta was already leading the wicket taking tally and now has 7 wickets between him and his nearest rival.

 

 

Zimbabwe's Pro 50 Tournament Update

 As their international brethren are doing their country proud, the domestic season trundles on and it's proving to be a confusing one with every team having something to crow about. 

Matabeleland were running away with it after the first 4 fixtures but have subsequently lost the last two. They currently hold top spot but are only two points off Mid West Rhinos in seconds. They also boast the finest individual performance with the willow, Irishman Shane Getkate's 120 against winless Southern Rocks is the highest score and one of only two hundreds so far. When you look at the overall highest run scorers it is the rock bottom Southern Rocks who possess the highest run score. Cephos Zhuwao has 315 @45. 

One place above the Rocks is Mashonaland who registered the tournament's most comprehensive victory against the whipping boys the Southern Rocks. Set a decent total of 215, Mashonaland chased it down in just 34.5 overs for only their second win in 6. 

To complete the full house of the team's - Tanaka Chivanga got tournament best figures for Mashonaland in nail biter against Mid West Rhinos today. His 6-31 was not enough for the Eagles to claim the win but he will be pleased with the second sixfer of the tournament. The Rhinos have the best bowler with Brandon Mavuta's 16 @ 18.15 leading the way. 

Pakistan Junior League Round Up

 

The Pakistan Junior League has put a few names on our radar.

It was a truly international event, however dominated by Pakistan players.

By some distance the stand out player was Basit Ali who blew the tournament away. First off he scored the most runs (379) at the highest average (63.16). He also had the Two highest scores in the tournament (102 and 91) at the second highest average Strike Rate (150.2). So....yeah....bit good.

Mohammad Zeeshan also stood out...in many ways. The 6 foot 8 inch 16 year old right armer got 14 wickets at an economy of 7.25. The only bowler to get a fivefer was also a Pakistan player - Saad Masood.



The future looks bright for Pakistan cricket. 

WBBL Mini Round Up

 

Three fixtures have played out since the last update – all with something notable to share. First off Perth’s Taneale Peschel contributed 3 wickets in yesterday’s game. Her economical figures of 3-13 will probably be the most economical three-fer the competition will see and helped restrict Hobart to 109 – a total chased down in just 14 overs.

 

Georgia Redmayne impressed in this morning’s match with the highest score of the tournament so far. Her 98* came off 67 balls and contributed to Brisbane’s 180-1 against Melbourne Renegades. Brisbane now have the top two highest scores in the tournament at 179 & 180. This bumper haul of runs puts her atop the run-scoring table with 180.

 

Hobart’s second win of the tournament in the evening game was a most convincing one as they bowled Sydney Thunder out for a mere 95 – their first innings total of 145, therefore handing them a win by 49 tuns. The largest total so far in the tournament.

 

Perth’s win puts them I second place with 2 wins from 2 whilst Hobart are now in second with 2 wins and a loss. Sydney Thunder are in dire straits with three successive losses after their humbling by Hobart today.

 

WBBL Mini-Round-Up

 

Loath as I am to write about the WBBL in a blog called ‘Cricket That maybe Only I Care About’, coverage of it has been so hard to access in the UK that I feel obliged to offer a bit of a round-up.

 

Sydney Sixers have played three times in this year’s tournament, a match more than 4 teams and 2 matches more than 3 others – however that sense of fatigue may well be diminished by the fact they’ve won them all.

 

The data is, of course, skewed by the fact that they have played more games than anyone else but the Sixers women are also clean-sweeping all categories of success. Susie Bates has got the tournament’s highest score – 82* in yesterday’s game – and Elyse Perry is the tournament’s overall top scorer with 141…because of course she is.

In terms of bowling, two players have got fourfers so far with the Sixers’ Sophie Ecclestone being the most economical with 4-17 yesterday whilst Molly Brown has 7 wickets overall making her the leading wicket-taker. 

Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-Day Tournament

 The early rounds of the Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-Day Tournament have seen all 4 games play out to a result. Thus far it is Band-e-Amir who lead the way with 2 wins from two with Speen Ghar having the most to do having lost both their opening games.

 

Bane-e-Amir are leading the way in terms of running making too with the two highest scores of the tournament so far being players that turn out for the Dragons. Karim Janat is the leading batter so far having registered no score less than 50 in his opening 3 innings. His total of 216 lead the way on the overall run scoring table.

 

For a team in the doldrums it a surprising that the best individual bowling figures come from a Speen Ghar player, but it is Noor Ahmed whose figures of 6-105 reflect the best return from a bowler – disappointingly that came against Amo who also managed to accrue the highest total of the tournament so far in the self-same innings. When you turn your eye to overall most wickets you find a Band-e-Amir player once more. Amir Hamza’s 13 wickets @ 8.53 is the best so far – however he does have that advantage of playing twice that 3 other teams have not had.

 

The tournament continues throughout October with the final on the 7^th November.

 

 

Legends League Cricket Mini Round-Up

 

This tournament ended how it started; with the newly retired players excelling. India Capitals beat Bhilwara in the final courtesy of a 41 ball 82 from Ross Taylor – who had previously scored a 39 ball 84 against the same team in the qualifier on Sunday.

Irish eyes were smiling in the tournament from first to last as Kevin O’Brien’s opening night 106 set the tone for the batters and was not beaten throughout the rest of the series. Oddly enough the only two centuries scored in the whole tournament were in that game. The overall highest run scorer was fellow Irishmen William Porterfield who scored 267 across his 7 innings

 

Nobody really wowed with the ball throughout the tournament  - potentially because the bowlers were of an older vintage than their willow-wielding brothers. Pravin Tambe nicked it t the end with 2-19 in the final to see him end with 11 wickets – 1 more than anyone else. Much like with the batters a high bar was set early in the tournament which wasn’t broken. Fidel Edwards 4-30 in the second match of the tournament could only be matched by Pune veteran Rahul Sharma in the final.

 

A fun little tournament that probably will be back next year. 

Zimbabwe's Pro 50 Tournament Update

 Two rounds of the Pro50 championship have been played in Zimbabwe with 4 of the 5 teams playing twice – whilst Mountaineers (weirdly) have not played at all.

 

Matabeleland have hit the ground running with two wins from two games with Southern Rocks in second courtesy of one massive win against the Mid West Rhinos where they chased down 276 with 27 balls remaining and 4 wickets in hand. The Southern Rocks also boast the tournament’s highest run scorer at this early stage.  Cephas Zhuwao has been the tournament’s nearly man – first falling one short of his century and then, today, falling two short of a half century. His 147 is 13 more runs than Mashonaland’s Tadiwanashe Marumani who scored a century today in his sides losing effort to Matabeleland.

 

The tournament’s best bowler is Sheunopa Musekwa whose 7 wickets for Matabeleland puts him two clear of a group of four bowlers with five wickets. The best match tally so far is Tapiwa Mufudza who got 4-26 in Mashonaland’s first round loss to Matabeleland.

 

Matches continue on Friday.

 

 

 

 

Road Safety World Series Mini-Round-Up

 Took my eyes off the prize a bit with this one but India ran out winners in the final against Sri Lanka yesterday and it was their players that dominated throughout the series also.

 

Naman Ojha scored the highest individual score of the tournament with 108* in the final and moved into first place in terms of most runs scored overall with 266 across his 6 games. Whilst India excelled with the bat it was the Sri Lankan bowlers who most caught the eye. By some distance the most effective bowler was Nuwan Kulasekara whose 13 wickets was 6 more than anyone else. On top of this, only four bowlers scored more than 3 wickets in an innings and two of them were Sri Lankans. One was Kulasekara and the other was Sanath Jayasuriya whose figures of 4-2-3-4 were the best in the tournament.

 

 

 

 

New Zealand Women's Tour of the West Indies

 Two fifths of the way through New Zealand Women's Tour of the West Indies and it is one game apiece - but I would say New Zealand have the slight edge.

After falling to a one run loss off the last ball of the first T20, New Zealand looked a little more comfortable in chasing down 107 in the second match today. Despite the fact that the run rate slowed considerably in the middle overs, it never really looked like the White Fearns were ever in danger of throwing it away. The pick of the New Zealand bowlers was Hayley Jensen who got 3-24 and limited the Windies Women to 107. The overall best bowler is also a New Zelander with Amelia Kerr's three wickets coming for the fewest runs of the three other bowlers with the same amount of scalps. The stand out performer for the West Indies is Aaliyah Alleyne whose 49 and 13 make her the highest runscorer.

The third match is tomorrow.