I leave my desk for one afternoon and look what happens? South Africa have turned the Women's WT20 on its head with a stunning victory over the White Ferns in the last of the Group A games and by doing so they have not only qualified for the semi-finals but they have prevented New Zealand making any further progress.
It will be Australia and South Africa, by dint of a better Net Run Rate than New Zealand, that progress in the competition. They will play either West Indies or England in the respective semi-finals - which one will not be decided until tomorrow afternoon when West Indies play India in the last of the Group B games. If the Windies win then they will play South Africa. If they lose then England will be South Africa's semi-final opponents.
Up until now it could have been argued that New Zealand looked like the best team in this competition. They were unbeaten, having beaten Australia by 7 runs; Ireland by 42 runs; and Pakistan by 59 runs, so for South Africa to come out and beat them is a magnificent effort. They restricted the White Ferns to just 114/8 in their 20 overs after they had got off to a decent start through Devine (40) and Bates (16). Wickets in the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th overs took the stuffing out of the Kiwi's batting and they fell 20/30 runs short of a decent total. But the runs still needed to be scored and skipper Mignon du Preez (51) stepped up. Two late wickets (Kapp 23 and du Preez) almost derailed the victory but the experienced Shandre Fritz struck her first ball for 4 when 9 were needed off 8 balls and Chloe Tryon then finished the game with another 4 in the last over.
scorecard at http://www.espncricinfo.com/womens-world-t20/engine/match/683001.html
MD
31/III/14
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Monday, 31 March 2014
Friday, 28 March 2014
WWT20 Catch Up after 12 games
You could be forgiven if you have no idea what is happening at the Women's World T20 out in Bangladesh at the moment, given that there is absolutely no radio or television coverage, and the 180 seconds of game highlights are hidden away and actually not worth finding once you get there.
So here is a quick recap of the state of play after 12 games have been played in the last 6 days.
Group A - Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa
New Zealand beat Australia in the first game of the tournament by 7 runs, and have gone on to demolish Ireland and Pakistan. They have South Africa to play on Monday, but are all but through to the semis.
Australia picked themselves up after their loss to NZ and brushed aside South Africa and then crushed Ireland (Meg Lanning scoring 126 in the process). They have Pakistan to play tomorrow (Sat) and a win will ensure their place in the semis if South Africa lose to Ireland.
South Africa have been doing pretty well. They beat Pakistan comfortably (Dane van Niekerk getting 90*) in their first match and then gave a decent account of themselves against the Aussies. They need to beat Ireland tomorrow (Sat) to keep their hopes of qualifying alive (preferably by a large margin), and then have the small task of beating New Zealand on Monday to end up on 6 points with New Zealand and, probably Australia. Net Run Rate would then determine the 2 finalists if this happened with Australia and NZ quite some way ahead at the moment.
Pakistan and Ireland have been a bit battered, but they have their "final" against each other on Monday.
It looks like New Zealand will win the Group and Australia will be the runners-up.
Group B - Bangladesh, England, India, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies
West Indies beat England by 9 runs in the first game thanks to 4 wickets from Deandra Dottin and have not really looked back since. They cruised past Bangladesh bowling them out for 79, and then pulverised Sri Lanka. They have India to play on Monday and look like winning 4 from 4 and topping the group.
England took the WI defeat on the chin and came back to beat India comfortably and then smash Bangladesh. They play Sri Lanka on Sunday and a victory will mean that they are in the semis with West Indies.
Sri Lanka looked OK when they beat India, but got bowled out by the West Indies for 84 today. If they lose to England on Sunday then they will have no chance of qualifying for the semis. Beat England and then go on to beat Bangladesh in their last game and they will be through.
India and Bangladesh are fighting it out for 4/5th in the group. Bangladesh can bowl but can't bat; India have already lost to Sri Lanka and England. Defeat to Bangladesh on Sunday might at least get the BCCI to acknowledge they exist.
It looks like West Indies (who have India to play) will finish top and England will finish second.
If so the semi-finals will be New Zealand v England and Australia v West Indies - pretty much the teams that you might have expected, but perhaps not in quite the order you would have expected.
Onwards and upwards.............
MD
28/III/14
So here is a quick recap of the state of play after 12 games have been played in the last 6 days.
Group A - Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa
New Zealand beat Australia in the first game of the tournament by 7 runs, and have gone on to demolish Ireland and Pakistan. They have South Africa to play on Monday, but are all but through to the semis.
Australia picked themselves up after their loss to NZ and brushed aside South Africa and then crushed Ireland (Meg Lanning scoring 126 in the process). They have Pakistan to play tomorrow (Sat) and a win will ensure their place in the semis if South Africa lose to Ireland.
South Africa have been doing pretty well. They beat Pakistan comfortably (Dane van Niekerk getting 90*) in their first match and then gave a decent account of themselves against the Aussies. They need to beat Ireland tomorrow (Sat) to keep their hopes of qualifying alive (preferably by a large margin), and then have the small task of beating New Zealand on Monday to end up on 6 points with New Zealand and, probably Australia. Net Run Rate would then determine the 2 finalists if this happened with Australia and NZ quite some way ahead at the moment.
Pakistan and Ireland have been a bit battered, but they have their "final" against each other on Monday.
It looks like New Zealand will win the Group and Australia will be the runners-up.
Group B - Bangladesh, England, India, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies
West Indies beat England by 9 runs in the first game thanks to 4 wickets from Deandra Dottin and have not really looked back since. They cruised past Bangladesh bowling them out for 79, and then pulverised Sri Lanka. They have India to play on Monday and look like winning 4 from 4 and topping the group.
England took the WI defeat on the chin and came back to beat India comfortably and then smash Bangladesh. They play Sri Lanka on Sunday and a victory will mean that they are in the semis with West Indies.
Sri Lanka looked OK when they beat India, but got bowled out by the West Indies for 84 today. If they lose to England on Sunday then they will have no chance of qualifying for the semis. Beat England and then go on to beat Bangladesh in their last game and they will be through.
India and Bangladesh are fighting it out for 4/5th in the group. Bangladesh can bowl but can't bat; India have already lost to Sri Lanka and England. Defeat to Bangladesh on Sunday might at least get the BCCI to acknowledge they exist.
It looks like West Indies (who have India to play) will finish top and England will finish second.
If so the semi-finals will be New Zealand v England and Australia v West Indies - pretty much the teams that you might have expected, but perhaps not in quite the order you would have expected.
Onwards and upwards.............
MD
28/III/14
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Top Fantasy Points Scorers update
Here, as promised, is a list of the the top point scoring players after 8 games in the tournament - still very early days, and below this list is the "perfect team". How many of these players do you have? Will they still be there at the end of this week, or at the end of the competition?
We reckon the "perfect team" (abiding by all the rules of the competition) would be :-
| Name | Team | Role | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anya Shrubsole | England | BOWL | 200 |
| Shaquana Quintyne | West Indies | BOWL | 180 |
| Dane van Niekerk | South Africa | AR | 142 |
| Jenny Gunn | England | AR | 127 |
| Alex Blackwell | Australia | BAT | 125 |
| Sarah Coyte | Australia | BOWL | 120 |
| Suzie Bates | New Zealand | AR | 118 |
| Mithali Raj | India | BAT | 118 |
| Lizelle Lee | South Africa | BAT | 117 |
| Tremayne Smartt | West Indies | BOWL | 105 |
| Frances Mackay | New Zealand | BOWL | 105 |
| Shakera Selman | West Indies | BOWL | 100 |
We reckon the "perfect team" (abiding by all the rules of the competition) would be :-
| Name | Team | Role | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anya Shrubsole | England | BOWL | 200 |
| Shaquana Quintyne | West Indies | BOWL | 180 |
| Dane van Niekerk | South Africa | AR | 142 |
| Jenny Gunn | England | AR | 127 |
| Alex Blackwell | Australia | BAT | 125 |
| Sarah Coyte | Australia | BOWL | 120 |
| Mithali Raj | India | BAT | 118 |
| Lizelle Lee | South Africa | BAT | 117 |
| Frances Mackay | New Zealand | BOWL | 105 |
| Sara McGlashan | New Zealand | BAT | 74 |
| Trisha Chetty | South Africa | WK | 55 |
| 1308 |
Monday, 24 March 2014
Fantasy League Top Picks
MONDAY 24th March
So the first round of games have been played. Just Ireland and Bangladesh are yet to play. We thought you might like to see the players who are currently top scorers in our fantasy league. It is not who you might have thought? It is very early days of course and lots of things can change. Will these players still be there in two weeks time? We shall have to wait and see
MD
24/III/14
So the first round of games have been played. Just Ireland and Bangladesh are yet to play. We thought you might like to see the players who are currently top scorers in our fantasy league. It is not who you might have thought? It is very early days of course and lots of things can change. Will these players still be there in two weeks time? We shall have to wait and see
| MatchCode | Name | Team | Role | Runs | Overs | RunsCnd | Wkts | RR | Catches/ROs | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game2SAvPa | Dane van Niekerk | South Africa | AR | 90 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 130 |
| Game2SAvPa | Lizelle Lee | South Africa | BAT | 67 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 117 |
| Game4IndvS | Udeshika Prabodhani | Sri Lanka | BOWL | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 2.25 | 0 | 90 |
| Game1NZvAu | Sarah Coyte | Australia | BOWL | 9 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2.66 | 0 | 90 |
| Game3EngvW | Stafanie Taylor | West Indies | AR | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81 |
| Game4IndvS | Inoka Ranaweera | Sri Lanka | BOWL | 2 | 4 | 18 | 2 | 4.5 | 1 | 75 |
| Game1NZvAu | Alex Blackwell | Australia | BAT | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 71 |
| Game3EngvW | Anya Shrubsole | England | BOWL | 10 | 4 | 25 | 2 | 6.25 | 2 | 70 |
| Game1NZvAu | Nicola Browne | New Zealand | AR | 29 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 5.5 | 1 | 59 |
| Game2SAvPa | Marizanne Kapp | South Africa | AR | 0 | 4 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 55 |
| Game3EngvW | Charlotte Edwards | England | BAT | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 |
| Game4IndvS | Eshani Lokusuriyage | Sri Lanka | AR | 34 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 54 |
| Game3EngvW | Kycia Knight | West Indies | BAT | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 |
| Game4IndvS | Chimari Atapattu | Sri Lanka | BAT | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 |
| Game4IndvS | Shikha Pandey | India | AR | 22 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 52 |
| Game3EngvW | Natalie Sciver | England | AR | 7 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 52 |
| Game1NZvAu | Alyssa Healy | Australia | WK | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 |
| Game3EngvW | Shaquana Quintyne | West Indies | BOWL | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2.33 | 0 | 50 |
| Game1NZvAu | Morna Neilsen | New Zealand | BOWL | 0 | 4 | 14 | 1 | 3.5 | 0 | 50 |
| Game1NZvAu | Katey Martin | New Zealand | BAT | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 45 |
24/III/14
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Fantasy League Tables
If you are looking for the Fantasy League Tables then check out the links above. These will always take you to the latest tables which will be updated at 6pm (18.00 GMT) after every day's play.
The teams who played today were Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan and the big scorers were :-
Dane van Niekerk - 130 points for her 90* for South Africa
Lizelle Lee - 117 points for her 67* for South Africa
Sarah Coyte - 90 points for her 2/8 in 3 overs - why didn't she get a fourth?
Behind these were :-
Alex Blackwell 71 points
Nicola Browne 59 points
Marizanne Kapp 59 points
Alyssa Healy 51 points
Favourite selections did not fair too well today :-
Sara McGlashan 30 points
Ellyse Perry 24 points
Suzie Bates 15 points
BTW we ought to advise you that we have changed the rules slightly. ALL catches by fielders and wicketkeepers will now be worth 15 points. This is because some designated keepers may play without actually having the gloves and some batsmen may also end up keeping, It just avoids any problems if this occurs and does not affect the overall game.
Tomorrow's games are:-
England v West Indies
India v Sri Lanka
Hope your team does well!!
MD
23/III/14
The teams who played today were Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan and the big scorers were :-
Dane van Niekerk - 130 points for her 90* for South Africa
Lizelle Lee - 117 points for her 67* for South Africa
Sarah Coyte - 90 points for her 2/8 in 3 overs - why didn't she get a fourth?
Behind these were :-
Alex Blackwell 71 points
Nicola Browne 59 points
Marizanne Kapp 59 points
Alyssa Healy 51 points
Favourite selections did not fair too well today :-
Sara McGlashan 30 points
Ellyse Perry 24 points
Suzie Bates 15 points
BTW we ought to advise you that we have changed the rules slightly. ALL catches by fielders and wicketkeepers will now be worth 15 points. This is because some designated keepers may play without actually having the gloves and some batsmen may also end up keeping, It just avoids any problems if this occurs and does not affect the overall game.
Tomorrow's games are:-
England v West Indies
India v Sri Lanka
Hope your team does well!!
MD
23/III/14
Saturday, 22 March 2014
Women's World T20 to get under way
Tomorrow sees the start of the Women's WT tournament with the first games in Group A - Australia v New Zealand and South Africa v Pakistan (Ireland can watch on). On Monday Group B kicks off with England v West Indies and India v Sri Lanka (hosts Bangladesh play their first game on Wednesday).
I have said before that I think this could be the closest WWT20 competition yet. I stand by that and given the wicket at Sylhet (the Dutch men scored 193 in 13.5 overs) it will be the batsmen that dominate. There looked to be very little in the wicket for seamers or spinners alike. Pace off the ball is likely to be the order of the day, meaning that batsmen will have to put the pace on the ball for themselves. The stylish Meg Lanning, Sarah Taylor and Poonam Raut could enjoy themselves if they can get in, and Deandra Dottin, Jess Cameron, and Suzie Bates could be very dangerous. There are generally not many 50s in women's T20 cricket, but that could change at this tournament.
The start of the tournament also means the start of our first-ever Fantasy Cricket game. We have had a great response with more than 150 teams entered to date [still just time to gate a team in http://tinyurl.com/fantasywwt20]. It will be fun to keep an eye on how your own team gets on and the players who are the top point scorers in the tournament. It should be fun and we hope it creates a bit more interest in the tournament and the players. Follow the links at the top of this blog for league updates and Fantasy Highlights.
What is very disappointing is the lack of television and radio coverage of the tournament. There is nothing until the semi-finals, not even online streaming. Let's hope that this is the last women's world tournament with such poor coverage (although I do fear for the next WWT20 in India in 2016). Sharing the stage with the men merely means that the women's game is relegated to a bit of a sideshow. It deserves more than that.
To try and keep people in the loop I will be twittering updates on a dedicated WWT20 twitter feed - @2014WWT20 - throughout all the group games. I'm not in Bangladesh but I'll use all the twitter feeds I can find, plus cricinfo to provide some kind of running commentary on games. Follow this twitter account if you want very regular updates. I have set up this account to prevent too many tweets on my usual @wmnscricketblog twitter feed, where there will just be match results and highlights. Both feeds will carry links to blog reports and Fantasy League updates.
I really can't wait for it all to get going. Who will win? You have to say that the Aussies are probably favourites, but I would not be surprised if they did not even make the final. At least half the sides in this tournament have a realistic chance of winning it. That is great for women's cricket.
MD
22/III/14
I have said before that I think this could be the closest WWT20 competition yet. I stand by that and given the wicket at Sylhet (the Dutch men scored 193 in 13.5 overs) it will be the batsmen that dominate. There looked to be very little in the wicket for seamers or spinners alike. Pace off the ball is likely to be the order of the day, meaning that batsmen will have to put the pace on the ball for themselves. The stylish Meg Lanning, Sarah Taylor and Poonam Raut could enjoy themselves if they can get in, and Deandra Dottin, Jess Cameron, and Suzie Bates could be very dangerous. There are generally not many 50s in women's T20 cricket, but that could change at this tournament.
The start of the tournament also means the start of our first-ever Fantasy Cricket game. We have had a great response with more than 150 teams entered to date [still just time to gate a team in http://tinyurl.com/fantasywwt20]. It will be fun to keep an eye on how your own team gets on and the players who are the top point scorers in the tournament. It should be fun and we hope it creates a bit more interest in the tournament and the players. Follow the links at the top of this blog for league updates and Fantasy Highlights.
What is very disappointing is the lack of television and radio coverage of the tournament. There is nothing until the semi-finals, not even online streaming. Let's hope that this is the last women's world tournament with such poor coverage (although I do fear for the next WWT20 in India in 2016). Sharing the stage with the men merely means that the women's game is relegated to a bit of a sideshow. It deserves more than that.
To try and keep people in the loop I will be twittering updates on a dedicated WWT20 twitter feed - @2014WWT20 - throughout all the group games. I'm not in Bangladesh but I'll use all the twitter feeds I can find, plus cricinfo to provide some kind of running commentary on games. Follow this twitter account if you want very regular updates. I have set up this account to prevent too many tweets on my usual @wmnscricketblog twitter feed, where there will just be match results and highlights. Both feeds will carry links to blog reports and Fantasy League updates.
I really can't wait for it all to get going. Who will win? You have to say that the Aussies are probably favourites, but I would not be surprised if they did not even make the final. At least half the sides in this tournament have a realistic chance of winning it. That is great for women's cricket.
MD
22/III/14
Monday, 17 March 2014
Are all-rounders the key to a Fantasy win?
We have had a fantastic response to our Fantasy Women's WT20 competition, with nearly 100 teams entered already, and the variety of players chosen has been huge. In all, so far, 104 of the 150 players in the tournament have been selected for at least one of the fantasy teams.
We have had a bit of stick for limiting people to just two players from any one country, but that was a deliberate move to make people think a bit harder about who might perform well for some of the smaller teams. It also means that you will watch for the results of the smaller teams with a bit more interest.
There has also been some discussion about who is or is not an all-rounder. For example we have India's Gouher Sultana as an all-rounder, but Jhulan Goswami as a bowler only. It is arguable that it should be the other way round, but we looked at recent selection, batting orders and performance to place them where they are now. It also means that team owners are free to choose Goswami as one of their bowlers, which many of them have done.
All-rounders, by the very fact that their batting and their bowling count towards points, may well be the key to success in this competition. We have tried to limit this slightly by restricting the points they earn for wickets taken to just 10 (half the bowler's score) and adjusting the bonus points scheme, and by reducing the batting bonus points they can earn. But if either of your all-rounders has a stellar day - say 50 runs and 4 wickets - they are going to score you a lot of points. It remains to be seen if any of the all-rounders can produce such a performance. So who can you choose from?
Erin Osborne (Aus), Ellyse Perry (Aus), Jahanara Alam (Ban), Salma Khatun (Ban), Jenny Gunn (Eng), Natalie Sciver (Eng), Gouher Sultana (Ind), Shikha Pandey (Ind), Isobel Joyce (Ire), Eimar Richardson (Ire), Elena Tice (Ire), Suzie Bates (NZ, Nicola Browne (NZ), Sophie Devine (NZ), Qanita Jalil (Pak), Sana Mir (Pak), Marizanne Kapp (SA), Dane van Niekerk (SA), Shashikala Siriwardene (SL), Eshani Lokusuriyage (SL), Shanel Daley (WI), Stafanie Taylor (WI).
These are all influential players and you can make a case for all of them to be in your team, but you are only allowed to include two of them. Who you choose could be crucial. Top picks so far are Suzie Bates, Ellyse Perry and Stafanie Taylor, but plenty of others have Nat Sciver, Shashikala Siriwardene and Marizanne Kapp in their 11. That's not to mention the up-and-coming Shikha Pandey and the reliable Nicola Browne (equal top wicket taker in the 2010 tournament!). It's tough isn't it!
To enter your team into the WCB Fantasy Women's T20 competition simply click here - http://www.fairgroundtown.co.uk/cricket/index.php, read the rules and submit your team. You MUST get your team in before midnight on Saturday 22nd March.
MD
17/III/14
We have had a bit of stick for limiting people to just two players from any one country, but that was a deliberate move to make people think a bit harder about who might perform well for some of the smaller teams. It also means that you will watch for the results of the smaller teams with a bit more interest.
There has also been some discussion about who is or is not an all-rounder. For example we have India's Gouher Sultana as an all-rounder, but Jhulan Goswami as a bowler only. It is arguable that it should be the other way round, but we looked at recent selection, batting orders and performance to place them where they are now. It also means that team owners are free to choose Goswami as one of their bowlers, which many of them have done.
All-rounders, by the very fact that their batting and their bowling count towards points, may well be the key to success in this competition. We have tried to limit this slightly by restricting the points they earn for wickets taken to just 10 (half the bowler's score) and adjusting the bonus points scheme, and by reducing the batting bonus points they can earn. But if either of your all-rounders has a stellar day - say 50 runs and 4 wickets - they are going to score you a lot of points. It remains to be seen if any of the all-rounders can produce such a performance. So who can you choose from?
Erin Osborne (Aus), Ellyse Perry (Aus), Jahanara Alam (Ban), Salma Khatun (Ban), Jenny Gunn (Eng), Natalie Sciver (Eng), Gouher Sultana (Ind), Shikha Pandey (Ind), Isobel Joyce (Ire), Eimar Richardson (Ire), Elena Tice (Ire), Suzie Bates (NZ, Nicola Browne (NZ), Sophie Devine (NZ), Qanita Jalil (Pak), Sana Mir (Pak), Marizanne Kapp (SA), Dane van Niekerk (SA), Shashikala Siriwardene (SL), Eshani Lokusuriyage (SL), Shanel Daley (WI), Stafanie Taylor (WI).
These are all influential players and you can make a case for all of them to be in your team, but you are only allowed to include two of them. Who you choose could be crucial. Top picks so far are Suzie Bates, Ellyse Perry and Stafanie Taylor, but plenty of others have Nat Sciver, Shashikala Siriwardene and Marizanne Kapp in their 11. That's not to mention the up-and-coming Shikha Pandey and the reliable Nicola Browne (equal top wicket taker in the 2010 tournament!). It's tough isn't it!
To enter your team into the WCB Fantasy Women's T20 competition simply click here - http://www.fairgroundtown.co.uk/cricket/index.php, read the rules and submit your team. You MUST get your team in before midnight on Saturday 22nd March.
MD
17/III/14
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