Senior NAT Discussion

A place for players in the West Indies to communicate.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:59 pm

West Indies NAT Twenty20 World Cup Summaries
West Indies vs Bangladesh
Daren Browne made his captaincy debut for the West Indies today, and he guessed heads correctly to put Bangladesh into bat. It was a flat track and West Indies were chasing in this Twenty20 match...........

Bangladesh started their innings off with the intent to knock West Indies out ball one. A 51-run powerplay, barely losing one wicket, and hitting the most experienced, and probably amongst the best West Indian seamers Wilfred Austin for 30 against his strengths of bowling with the new ball. Aaron Munilall got the second opener out soon after, but Bangladesh did not hit the brakes after the fall of these wickets. Instead, they upped the ante. Captain Ashish Sharma and Enamul Mubalik got into a 92-run partnership, as their constant boundaries seemed to threaten a 200-run possibility at one stage. A few good overs from Aaron Munilall, Wilfred Austin, and Jason Hislop, especially the one where Hislop ran through Sharma's defence were few positives for West Indies. Bangladesh cruised through the innings mostly, reaching 186, barely losing 3 lads.

Chasing a mammoth total, Audrey Anthony edged an away-swinger to the keeper in the second over. Quite like every game, West Indies lost an early wicket, but Winston Nunes and Vivalyn Hector decided to not let that affect the scoring rate. A 70-run stand, including a fifty for Nunes and a 150 strike-rate 45 for Hector put West Indies at 79/2 after 10, needing 108 off the remaining ten. Melford Griffith and Winston Nunes got 57 runs off the next six overs, albeit losing both of their wickets. This left Hemraj Walsh and Floyd Doctrove on the crease, required to chase 51 off the next 4 overs.

The seventeenth over, the first of the remaining four, saw Floyd Doctrove smash two boundaries off the medium-pacer, and the pair ran 8 off the other 4 balls to bring the equation down to 35 off 3 overs. The next over was the wristy Khanolkar's and the Doctrove-Walsh pair could barely get six runs off that over, not getting any boundaries. Fastie Rune Christaens bowled the penultimate over. A two, a two and a maximum, brought the equation to 19 runs off 9 balls, as Doctrove tilted the game back to West Indies' side. Five more of the nineteenth over meant Floyd Doctrove faced Saeed Das, needing 14 runs off six deliveries. An open field with all fielders glued to the boundary line allowed him to sneak 2 twos before hitting a scoop over short fine leg for a boundary. Six off the next three were needed, and the pair ran three doubles to close down a very exciting chase, with Doctrove hitting 39 runs at a strike rate marginally above 200.

Other Results in Group 2
India beat Ireland by 63 runs.
Bermuda beat Netherlands by 2 wickets.

Fixture on June 3: Ireland
West Indies next face the winless Irish side on a dry track, and there is certain humidity expected on the ground. With a mammoth win for India against the Irish, they're probably a win from qualifying, and the Irish are mostly all but out of the race for the semi-finals. The top two, India and Netherlands face each other, whilst Bangladesh and Bermuda are the third encounter in the group, with the loser in that game most likely having to bow out of the tournament. The scenarios will become much clearer after tomorrow's fixtures.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Thu Jun 03, 2021 6:08 pm

West Indies NAT Twenty20 World Cup Summaries
West Indies vs Ireland
A dry surface and dewy humid weather were on display for the round 4 fixture of Group 2 between West Indies and Ireland. Ireland captain Dion King signalled his openers to pad up as they were about to bat first. Wilfred Austin and Sydney Cox opened the bowling and did not receive any help from the surface. The bowl wasn't getting much pace and the movement was minimal, forcing both bowlers to stick to defensive lines, and even those were hit for a mammoth six. Sydney Cox went for an absolutely surprising yorker in the powerplay that yielded him his first scalp. After the first six overs, the West Indian camps were happy leaking 33 for 1 wicket in exchange.

The two batsmen on crease went big after the powerplay with Griffin leaking 14 in his first over, albeit getting captain King out in the process. Hislop went for 16 runs in the eighth over of the innings, before Griffin turned the tides with a double-wicket over to leave Ireland languishing at 71/4 after 10. John Molony, Bernard Banim and Matthew Plunkett all got a few runs for the Irish to get them to 143 whilst Peter Griffin got his fourth scalp in the process and Troy Joseph as well finished with the impressive figures of 4-0-16-0.

Chasing 144, Troy Joseph failed to get some quick boundaries, being bowled in the second over. Audrey Anthony and Colin Eugene knew the target wasn't tough to get, and used their bundles of experience to make sure they weren't messing the chase up. Anthony's 29, and Colin Eugene's 43 that consisted three maximums saw their involvement in a 69-run stand, that at one stage made it seem that the two batters would get the chase done with time to spare. Unfortunately, the two lost their wickets in consecutive overs, and two new batsmen Alfonso Van Spooge and Melford Griffith struggled to continue the scoring rate against the Irish spin twins. A 55 run stand off barely less than 50 balls slowed the scoring rate down considerably, but never let the West Indies out of the game.

At Van Spooge's dismissal, one of last night's running heroes Hemraj Walsh walked out to the middle, with the hunt for 12 runs off 11 balls. He hadn't forgotten last night and ran 7 runs off the next 4 balls. Needing five off the final over, the two batsmen showed a sensible approach, running five easy singles in the rather large ground, where fielders could catch most stuff in the deep. A win with one ball to spare as West Indies were in control of the chase at almost all times, and gratefully did not mess it up.

Other Results in Group 2
Bermuda beat Bangladesh by 16 runs.
India beat Netherlands by 38 runs.

Fixture on June 4: India
The undefeated, already qualified for the semis Indians face West Indies in the final fixture of the league stage. The pitch prepared is sticky, and humid weather is expected yet again.

Scenarios
A win or tie sees West Indies get to 7 or eight points and sees the Windies qualify for the semifinals.

A loss means West Indies are stuck at six points, and our fates will rely on other results. Losses for Bermuda against Ireland and the Dutch against Bangladesh would leave them at 4 points and put us in the semis alongside India. Wins for either of them would tie them with West Indies at six points and net run rate would come into play.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Fri Jun 04, 2021 6:39 pm

West Indies NAT Twenty20 World Cup Summaries
West Indies vs India
The final fixture of the league stages saw West Indies face the undefeated Indians on a sticky track, and under humid weather. Losing the toss, the Indian side elected to bat first, and the West Indians took the field. Carl Beresford opened with the new ball and leaked 5 from his first over. Thornton Ishmael took the other end, and sent both openers packing within the very first over. Ishmael cleaned the defences of another Indian batsman in the next over, and the Indians were pinned at 26/3 after a poor powerplay. A hesitant shot to Peter Griffin's quicker one saw Mihir Bardoliya edge a catch to the keeper. The tenth over saw Aaron Munilall sandwich a wicket between being hit for two sixes to leave India reeling at 50/5.

Indian batsmen were forced into a defensive and timid mode by this outburst, and Thornton Ishmael, got a couple more wickets to finish his five wicket haul and end with 4-0-14-5, with India's tail hanging with it's final 3 wickets. Quicks Daren Browne and Aaron Munilall made sure the tail did not hang long and India were bowled out by 81. Whilst a low score on paper, the Indians sported a very strong bowling attack, and on a surface lending as much support as this one, the chase could go wrong at every step.

Openers Vivalyn Hector and Alfonso Van Spooge batted with a sense of relief and grit, as being defensive was a safe option to a low requisite run scoring rate. A quiet 23-run powerplay, without losing any wicket kept West Indies safe of losing quick wickets, and be dealing with the pressure of that. A 28 run stand saw no boundaries being hit before Alfonso Van Spooge nicked one off of quick Pravand Murugan. Winston Nunes came out to bat, and saw the first shot reach the advertisement ropes from a delivery that deflected off his leg. Vivalyn Hector made sure to up the ante, and keep India under pressure by hitting three fours in two consecutive overs by the two finger-spinners. After the span of 82 legitimate balls, the scoreboard read 71/1, West Indies needed 11 off of 38 balls, and then it seemed as if the match changed scripts. The next four balls were inexplicable, and were a true testament to the sheer randomness of the sport. Ball one saw Vivalyn Hector lazily waft at a Pravand Murugan away-swinger to lend the keeper an easy catch. Ball 2 was 13.6, and saw Melford Griffith fail at backing away from a 150 kmph bouncer from Murugan and give short fine leg a dolly. Ball 3 was Rohit Mahadevan catching Winston Nunes leg before, and Ball 4, 14.2, saw Hemraj Walsh give the keeper a catch off an everyday delivery. After those 4 wickets in 4 balls, Floyd Doctrove hit the ball outside the stadium as if nothing had happened and West Indies chased the total down with 22 balls to spare.

Other Results in Group 2
Ireland beat Bermuda by 41 runs.
Bangladesh beat Netherlands by 6 wickets.

Implications of the Results
A win for West Indies saw West Indies qualify for the semis, and with India having qualified the day before, the other 2 games were rendered as dead rubbers from a qualification point-of-view. Funnily enough, West Indies had Bermuda and Netherlands fighting itself for the semi final spot, and losses for both of them meant that West Indies would have qualified even if Game 5 went sideways. India topped the table, and West Indies ended second in Group 2.

Fixture on June 5: England
The semi-finals see West Indies competing against Group 1 table-toppers England. England have had an unbeaten run in the group stages, and will be facing us on an uneven deck, with the weather expected to be sunny. Group 2 table-toppers India face United States of America in the second semi-final, on a similar deck, at a venue not afar from where the first match takes place.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by Maiden50 » Sat Jun 05, 2021 3:15 pm

Another final! There's been some great match reports from quirkily that are all worth a read! A successful tournament whatever happens tomorrow, but hopefully we can make the Windies fans proud and celebrate another T20 World Cup trophy!
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Sat Jun 05, 2021 7:12 pm

West Indies NAT Twenty20 World Cup Summaries
West Indies vs England
The stage was set for the two semi-finals. Whilst India battled United States of America, West Indies were up against the unbeaten English side at Lord's. The atmosphere was berserk, as the stadium had glimpses of the West Indian posse in the midst of the very loud and very much present Barmy Army. West Indian captain Troy Joseph put the English into bat, and the English openers, captain David Guthrie and Sammy Honeybone were cheered on very loudly, and so was Carl Beresford as he held the new ball. It was as if the fans had another battle going on.

As Carl Beresford ran in, the crowds grew silent, before cheering on Guthrie's magnificent cover-punch for 3, and Aaron Munilall's fantastic effort at deep covers of not letting it be a four. Eight runs off the first over was a fantastic start for England, but last night's hero, Thornton Ishmael started out with yet another early wicket. The powerplay remained a battle between the batsmen and the bowlers, as to who outwitted the other but ended with Thornton Ishmael grabbing a second wicket, getting Tanwir McInness off of a quality bouncer. Troy Joseph got Sammy Honeybone out after the powerplay, and a partnership began to develop. Over number 15 saw Carl Beresford striking the dismissal of the struggling Francis Stimpson, and the experienced Michael Horne followed with a duck.

The score was 83, and on strike were Christian Schloss, a number 7 that was a pure batsman, and the best batter in the game, Gideon Wettenhall. Now, Wettenhall, whilst a star at the club level, has often enraged English managers over his NAT performance, but I truly believe, that while he struggles against 16 international sides, West Indies is the only international side he loves enough, that he showcases them a true glimpse of his talent. He hit an absolutely marvellous and memorable 51* with 3 fours and a six, ably supported by Schloss who batted on an uneven track the way I imagine our bats would on flat. An unbeaten 64-run stand meant that West Indies were chasing 135 runs for a spot in the finals of the Twenty-20 World Cup.

Over 1 was Thorpe Bradstreet, and here's a little backstory about this guy, he had a 5-fer, in which he got 4 Kiwis out in one over. He also had a 4-fer against the Kenyans in this very World Cup. With 9 wickets in the tournament already, Bradstreet got Anthony to mistime a drive to mid-off ball one. Whilst Floyd Doctrove struck a mammoth six the next delivery, he and Eugene both were out, unable to predict the swing, and going back LBW. A four from Winston Nunes, the other opener, meant that the first over was 13 runs for 3 wickets. Who won that over? England did, because I felt unwell watching the entire game from thereon. Unnecessary information, but just thought I should share.

Winston Nunes, and the still pretty young after a fruitful season, Melford Griffith, did not let that collapse get down the West Indian line-up any further. 30 more runs off the next five overs, and a partnership brought back the sunken West Indian hopes in the fans, but Nunes edged an away-swinger off of Jude Cawse and they fell back like a wave. Len Thomas, the hero from a chase a couple games back, stated his authority upon arrival, smashing a six and 2 fours within the first nine balls of his stay. The halfway mark of the chase saw Mike Brodie get the better of Melford Griffith, and West Indies were languishing 68/5.

Needing 67 off the next ten, Aaron Munilall, another lad who has given us a few memorable performances this season, got into a sensible 49-run stand with Len Thomas. They saw through the aggressive bowling of Bradstreet and Brodie, and the tough-to-get-by Heath Patel. Needing 18 off 12 balls, Munilall spooned a return catch to Patel, having hit 27 off 28 balls. Needing 18 runs off eleven balls, Troy Joseph went for two doubles off of the next 2 balls, followed by a couple singles. The equation changed to 12 off 7 balls, and a slip of the finger on the slower ball for the final delivery saw a head-aimed full toss being pulled for a couple more runs. Nerves at a big stage always count, and Heath Patel seemed to break there. The equation turned to 9 off 7 balls, and Troy Joseph played a straight drive down the ground for a four, making the equation 5 off 6 balls. Jude Cawse's best yorker couldn't stop Thomas from easily flicking it for a single, and his failed attempt for a bouncer couldn't tempt more than a Joseph push for a single. Len Thomas ran the next three runs to make sure West Indies landed home safe, as his smartly batted 44*(38) ensured West Indies were in the best possible spot to defend their World Cup crown.

The Other Semi-Final
India beat United States of America by 51 runs.

Fixture on June 6: India
West Indies face India in the finals of the EOS 48 Twenty20 World Cup, on a slow deck and under windy weather. India, the side that lost the previous One Day World Cup Final to Netherlands, would look to erase that hurtful memory with a cup, whilst West Indies look to add another cup to the cabinet by defending the Twenty20 silverware.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by Maiden50 » Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:03 pm

A difficult loss against India yesterday, but the West Indies supporters can be proud of the performances the team provided through the tournament. We reached back to back T20 WC finals but sadly the back to back wins wasn't to be!

We'll be making lots of changes to the side over the next few weeks as we look at the side with a focus on the end of season OD World Cup and the OD and T20 tours to come.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Mon Jun 07, 2021 3:31 pm

West Indies NAT Twenty20 World Cup Summaries
West Indies vs India
ME Sharts: Edition 7283

Twas the finals of the cup, and the Windies had the Indians to face,
A slow track was all set, to accompany was windy weather.


As my title for the game's summary makes it clear, I'm not at all salty or negative about yesterday's loss. Captain Peter Griffin had called heads, and asked for brand new kookaburra for Wilfred Austin to have a bowl with. And so, it was Austin who started off the grand finals, and Ike Ironjaw who flicked him towards fine leg for 3. A golden duck for Godric Godhammer the next ball, and Ike Ironjaw getting out to Troy Joseph the sixth over, were the two good parts of a rather mediocre powerplay for West Indies as the Indians racked up 43 runs.

The next 27 balls, before Chaitanya Grover's dismissal to Troy Joseph, when he gave first slip a dolly saw 22 runs being added, before the dismissal made the score 65/3. The next 14 balls saw Joseph and Peter Griffin run through the Indian middle-order, as 65/3 soon enough became 76/6. The Indians had a long batting order, ably supported by a well-equipped tail, that wagged it's way through to 112 runs with Daren Browne, Wilfred Austin and Jason Hislop each grabbing a wicket. For the finals, the score wasn't a massive one, but was par enough to be challenging at the big stage, and with the surface being on the slowish side, you never know?

Quick Pravand Murugan bowled to the opening combination of Audrey Anthony and Troy Joseph, and whilst his 2 went for 22, his new-ball partner Akhilendra Gahlot, barely leaked 13 off his 3. The powerplay was a 44-run one, with Akhil Banerjee grabbing Anthony's wicket. Six runs were scored off the next 9 balls of the powerplay, as the score ticked off to 50/1. West Indies needed 63 runs off 75 balls to win their second consecutive Twenty-20 World Cup.

Sridhar Manchandani had the ball, and he got Vivalyn Hector to mishit a pull straight to the fielder, and that is where all went wrong. Colin Eugene, followed a stellar semi-final golden duck, with another golden duck for the finals. It was 50/3 after eight overs. Over 9 saw Saurav Sahar breach past Troy Joseph's defences, and the scoreboard read 52/4 after nine. Over 10 was Akhil Banerjee, India's star of the tournament, and Len Thomas smashed him for fours on Ball 1 and Ball 6. Balls 2 and 5 were singles, but the middle of the over saw Alfonso Van Spooge be given out LBW, and Hemraj Walsh run himself out in an attempt for a suicidal single. 62/6 after 10 overs. Might I remind you, it was 50/1 15 balls ago.

Pravand Murugan came back, and Wilfred Austin edged a quick one to the keeper. Thankfully, Jason Hislop was dropped by Dipesh Ogale the next ball, but still after the eleventh over, it was 64/7. Banerjee bowled a wicket maiden for his third over for the day, getting the final hope for the Windies, Len Thomas back to the dugout. 64/8 after 12 overs, and the World Cup defence was crumbled in 27 balls. Peter Griffin and Jason Hislop managed 12 runs off the next 2 overs, and ticked the scoreboard along to 76/8, but the hopes were dead already, and the dugout did not have one smiling face, and the cruel organisers put it next to the happy Indian tent, who brought back a game that seemed to be going away from them 45 balls into the chase.

Akhilendra Banerjee came to bowl his final over, and Peter Griffin hit him for a marvellous cover drive, taking the score to 80, before Banerjee got Griffin as his fourth scalp for the finals. The next ball bamboozled Daren Browne, as his bewildered body saw him hit the ball with his hand to be given out handled ball. Or he was just salty and wanted to deny Banerjee his 5-fer and I'm covering up as the writer, who knows?

Eitherways, the West Indian innings saw itself collapse from a comfortable 50/1 to, well, a lost 64/8, and finally, 80/10. But the World Cup performance, for the entire tournament, was much better than one we had come into the league stages expecting. Whilst the cup wasn't ours, the tournament saw us come from one loss behind to run through five opponents and lose to a very strong outfit in the Indians, who were able to change their painful memories of being runner-up last OD World Cup, to champions this time around. Congratulations India, well played!

The next fixtures of the Senior NAT side would begin in July, but we'll be playing a few friendlies along the way. You can always pop in and check our schedule here.

Instead of a tour summary, where I evaluate player performances, I wish to do one for the entire season, and that should be up in a few days time. Cheers:)

Editions 1-7282 of the ME Sharts franchise might never be released for the public to witness, as they include some very gruesome details.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by Maiden50 » Mon Jun 07, 2021 4:28 pm

quirkilyalive wrote:
Mon Jun 07, 2021 3:31 pm
West Indies NAT Twenty20 World Cup Summaries
West Indies vs India
ME Sharts: Edition 7283

Instead of a tour summary, where I evaluate player performances, I wish to do one for the entire season, and that should be up in a few days time. Cheers:)
As always, a brilliant summary from quirkily. I'm looking forward to your player performance evaluation from the whole season. Happy to pick a manager's player of the season, we could potentially do a poll for fan's player of the season?
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Tue Jun 08, 2021 9:05 pm

West Indies: Season 47 Review
Apologies beforehand that this review includes the most-recent Twenty-20 World Cup Statistics and not the One Day World Cup that happened before it, whereas the actual matches stored count that One Day World Cup in Season 47, and the Twenty-20 one in Season 48.

Twenty-20 Season Review
The Twenty-20 Season for West Indies began with a Division 1 trip to Netherlands, and it was an unfruitful one. Only beating the wooden-spoon holders United States of America, the young West Indian squad saw a demotion to Division 2 handed to them. The Division 2 Tour would occur this season, and whilst the fixtures for it are released, it is still a few weeks away, certainly an OD Tour away, that'd happen before that. This was followed by a much more happier time at the Twenty-20 World Cup in the previous week. A good run in the group stages, and a sneaky win against the English in the semi finals were some happy memories, before ofcourse, the unspeakable collapse.(btw, just knowing myself, I reckon there are going to be quite a few jokes related to the unspeakable collapse this following season.)

The top 3 players, in the writer's head, in the 12 Twenty-20 matches we played this season were:
Len Thomas Caribbean Pirates
Len Thomas ended the highest run-scorer for the West Indian side in the tour, and the World Cup, accumulating 230 runs across the 7 innings he got to bat. He consistently gave performances, adding beneficial runs to the team's cause, coming in under high-pressure circumstances on quite a few occasions. His 72* against Bermuda and 50* against United States of America are undoubtedly games wherein he took on the charge of getting the chase done. He played anchor in the former, and second fiddle to Vivalyn Hector in the latter. But, to add to that his 41, where he pulled the team out of 25/5 against England in our tour-opener, or the very smartly executed 44* in the semi-finals against the English again to get us to the finals were proof of his sheer smartness and execution.

Vivalyn Hector Al Khobar Falcons
The second-highest run scorer after Len Thomas on both tours, accumulating 217 runs, at a strike rate of 150+, until he had to face India twice in three days, which took his strike rate down to 126.90, Vivalyn Hector was a shining star for the West Indians this season. His 73* against United States of America, was the first exhibit of the power of his sheer aggression, and one saw that aggression continue in a blitzing 45 against Bangladesh in the World Cup. Amongst the most impressive knocks from Hector, was a careful and precise 34 in a chase of 82, wherein he tackled a poor pitch and some solid quick bowling to get two good partnerships that got West Indies comfortably over the line against India in the league stages of the World Cup.

Thornton Ishmael Mewtwo Strikes Back
The highest wicket taker on both Twenty-20 escapades for the Windies, Ishmael had a glorious debut season. 16 wickets over 7 matches, at an economy of 6.50, with a five-for that truly was a game where he pinned the unbeaten Indian side down in the league stages. An impressive 3-for in the Division 1 Tour against United States of America, added to the fact that he hasn't yet had a wicketless outing, defines his wicket-taking ability and the class of bowling at any stage of this short, explosive and dynamite format.

One Day Season Review
The One Day season was much more topsy-turvy. Hosting the first tour of the season, West Indies had a poor start to their campaign after a disappointing World Cup. Struggling to find wins in the tour, West Indies barely survived Division 2, by 6 runs to be exact, in one of the most thrilling matches I've witnessed thus far. The second tour took place in India, and saw West Indies master the art of chasing, with 4 wins in a row to grab promotion to Division 1. The Division 1 Tour for Season 48 will begin in a few weeks.

In the longer format, my method of judging the performances has been slightly different, as I've attempted to look at the effect they've had on the match, rather than the bulk of the performance.

Len Thomas Caribbean Pirates
Len Thomas had a fruitful Season 47, but in the larger format, despite having just a single fifty in the entire season, his performances were ones that brought West Indies back into the game. A 62* against United Arab Emirates to ensure a West Indian victory in the first tour, followed by a 42 against Canada, when the odds were stacked against the West Indian side. A 31* against Pakistan that got West Indies over the line when the chase was a little tumultuous and a 38 against India, that yet again, had similar Len Thomas innings qualities of batting against an ongoing collapse, when the bowlers have an edge over the batters. These innings, and the fact that all of them turned into wins due to more support, showed how well Len Thomas could change things in West Indies's favour.

Carl Beresford John Peters Espionage PLC
Carl Beresford was amongst the only reasons West Indies survived Division 2 in the first tour of Season 47. A 4-for against Australia went in vain, but Carl Beresford's true excellence came out against the Irish. In a relegation battle, his 5-for not only managed to break through the Irish top-order, but also got rid of the very sturdy middle that seemed to be going good to get the chase over with. Following it up with more economical performances next tour, and a fantastic 3-27 that choked the Aussie line-up were more matches that he could have in his highlight.

Aaron Munilall Gold Prospectors X1 & Golden Hacks CC
Another debutant that undoubtedly was amongst the players that became a definite for every tour was Aaron Munilall. A seam bowling all-rounder is a luxury, and with the kind of performances this lad kept on giving, he proved his worth more and more. Adding to him being almost consistently economical, and having the knack of getting the odd wicket here and there, the very impressive factor about Munilall was his ability to carry the team out of the drenches, and towards the finish line with his absolute batting prowess.
His 63*(55) pulled West Indies to 275 runs, when they were about to fold under 200, in a game where they survived Division 2 by six runs. A chase against the Aussies was almost messed up until Munilall's 36*(38) joined hands with Floyd Doctrove to get the job done. Another chase against the Indians that was in the wrinkles, and whilst the heroes of the chase were Colin Eugene and Sugrim Hughes' 18*, like Thomas above, Munilall gave an important hand of 45(47) to take West Indies close to the target.

These were the players I felt were the lads who consistently turned games into wins for us and were impressive on the field for us. Obviously, nothing to take away from the other lads who have consistently performed and have been an absolutely important part of the squad as well. Yet again, thank you for constantly training West Indian lads, and hopefully we get more quality come our way for the Senior side:)

An option to vote for the lad the readers and the fans of the West Indian side thought was the best one has been set by the fantastic manager Maiden50. Do vote, we'd love to have interaction with the community, and hopefully you've enjoyed the topsy-turvy West Indian tours thus far:)
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:12 am

FAN'S PLAYER OF THE SEASON
After a week of voting, the results for the Fan's Player of the Season had been declared this week. With a total of 15 votes being submitted, the winner won almost half of them, as the man who impressed everybody across all formats, Len Thomas won 7 votes to win the title. The next highest was Thornton Ishmael, whose consistent wicket-taking performances in the season got him 4 votes to his name. The all-rounder Aaron Munilall won 2 votes, whilst Carl Beresford and Vivalyn Hector got one vote in the bag each. A hearty congratulations to Len Thomas and a grateful appreciation towards all that voted and participated in the poll.

After a fantastic Season 47, hopes from these lads for even better performances continue for the next season, which has its first tour in Sri Lanka. The Lankan board has called for Crumbling, Slow and Uneven pitches to be prepared for the six-team Division 1 league. Aside from ourselves and hosts Sri Lanka, India, England, New Zealand and Kenya will be competing for the Division 1 champions title. The squad announcement for the same will be up in a few days. The tour can be checked out here.

The West Indian squad has consistently been playing friendlies in the off-season, with one against South Africa that just involved the younger players in the squad. The resident young person of the Windies squad for the last couple seasons, Melford Griffith played a meticulous and gritty knock, whilst Henry Harragin impressed with a quick blitzing fifty. The next few friendlies will be against:

West Indies vs South Africa West Indies beat South Africa by 4 wickets.

West Indies vs Netherlands June 26; 1200 FTP Time

West Indies vs England June 30; 0800 FTP Time

West Indies vs India July 3; 0800 FTP Time
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Sun Jun 27, 2021 9:23 pm

West Indies NAT One Day Tour 1- Division 1 Squad Announcement
The first tour of Season 48 begins next week, as West Indies face the mights of the English, the Kenyans, the Kiwis, the Indians, and the Lankans who are hosting the Division 1 League, at crumbling, slow and uneven pitches across the country's biggest grounds. The 18 players heading to Sri Lanka for the same have been announced.

Aaron Munilall Golden Hacks CC Right-arm Fast Medium/ Right-hand Bat

Alfonso Van Spooge The Sultans of Spooge Left-hand Keeper Bat

Archie O'Connor Antiguan Golden Cats Left-arm Fast

Audrey Anthony Nepali Gaints Left-hand Bat

Carl Beresford John Peters Espionage PLC Left-arm Fast

Colin Eugene Caribbean Pirates Right-hand Bat

Henry Harragin BgUINNES RAMs Right-hand Keeper Bat

Hubern King Mohito's Mohican XI Left-hand Bat

Jason Hislop Space Wolves Left-arm Wrist Spin

Len Thomas Caribbean Pirates Right-hand Bat

Melford Griffith Crni Zmajevi Cricket Club Right-hand Bat

Patrick McAuley Rangas United Left-arm Finger Spin/ Right-hand Bat

Peter Griffin Caribbean Pirates Right-arm Finger Spin

Reynold Nero Queens Park Cricket Club Left-hand Bat DEBUT

Satish Phillips ChePu 206 Right-arm Medium

Sugrim Hughes Queens Park Cricket Club Right-arm Fast

Troy Joseph Maiden Over CC Right-arm Finger Spin/Right-hand Bat

Vivalyn Hector Al Khobar Falcons Right-hand Bat

A senior international debut for Reynold Nero, and the presence of the young left quick Archie O'Connor headline the touring party news, alongside a comeback for Patrick McAuley after the Season 46 EOS One-Day World Cup. Legends like Wilfred Austin and Winston Nunes lose their spots to their younger counterparts for this squad with 2 keepers, 4 spinners and 5 seam-bowling options.

The tour begins July 5 here as we face England to start off the season.

July 5- West Indies vs England Uneven

July 6- West Indies vs New Zealand Slow

July 7- West Indies vs Sri Lanka Slow

July 8- West Indies vs Kenya Slow

July 9- West Indies vs India Slow
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Mon Jul 05, 2021 7:17 pm

West Indies NAT One Day Tour 1- Division 1 Summaries
West Indies vs England
The first game of the season, and West Indies play out yet another humdinger. The marvellous English, led by Karl Langley, amongst the most successful and most sought-after captain bats in recent history opted to bat first on the pitch that had more cracks than my dealer(my dealer who handles the return of cracked/damaged products for eBay, ofcourse). Sugrim Hughes started things off with a quite over, but it was Carl Beresford who got the ball to nip off the surface, sending back two batsmen in his first over. Beresford and Hughes got another wicket each, but still leaked a pretty expensive 45-run powerplay, with Beresford's 4 leaking 29 for 3 wickets. The next 15 overs to the drinks break, England not only recuperated from the wicket loss, but aggressively took the lead in the game. Halfway through the innings, the scoreboard read 115/4, with Christian Schloss and Andrew Flintoff both having scored 46*(61) thus far.

Archie O'Connor provided a break getting Flintoff and keeper Shaun Rose off consecutive balls. He followed it up with a magnificent diving catch at long-on to miscued Carey Lyon loft. The next 20 overs were a pure bliss to witness, as Christian Schloss strike-farmed his way to a century and England's way to an above par total of 229. Also praiseworthy was Troy Joseph's performance with the ball, although wicketless, figures of 10-0-27-0 showcased fantastic control with the ball on a pitch that didn't suit him as such.

As a very pleasant but scary surprise, West Indies did not have an absolute heartbreak of a start. We had an opening partnership that lasted a total of 39 balls before Melford Griffith pulled a slower one from Mike Brodie thinking it was a quicker one. Vivalyn Hector had a blazing time at the crease, smashing 2 sixes outside the stadium, before padding up to a straight ball onto the stumps, inciting fans to ask for him to be outside the stadium as well. Young Reynold Nero struggled to get going on his debut, and edged a straight ball to the keeper to get out. Struggles continued down the order for West Indies batsmen as Len Thomas and Henry Harragin also couldn't get going, getting 12 and 14 respectively. Through this absolute struggle, West Indies managed 149 on the board in 36 overs, with Audrey Anthony playing his career-best knock, reading 70*(115) at that stage. West Indies needed 81 off the next 14 overs. Audrey Anthony and Troy Joseph played absolutely cautiously, getting the situation to 27 runs required off 31 balls. And then Andrew Flintoff got Anthony out. Six balls later, Heath Patel got Aaron Munilall's scalp. Six balls later, Mike Brodie sent O'Connor packing. Six balls later, keeper Shaun Rose dropped Carl Beresford. After this periodically scary cycle, West Indies had brought the equation to 13 off 3 overs. Troy Joseph got 5 off the first five balls, and Beresford ran 2 off Brodie's last ball. 6 runs, 2 overs, 2 wickets, Troy Joseph on strike, West Indian fans have now forgiven Vivalyn Hector's poor shot earlier in the evening, what could go wrong? Well, for starters, Troy Joseph could give away his strike by running a three the first ball of the penultimate over. And then, Carl Beresford could follow it up with a very stupid runout the next ball. Which, as you'd expect, is followed by Sugrim Hughes' golden duck for West Indies to fall 2 runs short and end with a loss.

Other Results in Division 1
New Zealand beat India by 4 runs.
Sri Lanka beat Kenya by 26 runs.

Fixture on July 6: New Zealand
The absolute beasts in the Kiwis, who've won 10 of their previous 11 One Dayers challenge the West Indians next, on a slowish surface, with humidity expected in the weather for tomorrow.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Tue Jul 06, 2021 3:19 pm

West Indies NAT One Day Tour 1- Division 1 Summaries
West Indies vs New Zealand
Day 2 of the tourney saw West Indies face the Kiwis on a slow pitch and under humid weather. Kiwi skipper Morvin Maclean had his lads bat first. The two innings went very much similar in hindsight, struggles at the top of the order, one decent partnership in the middle, very much helped by a fantastic innings in the top order, ending with an utter collapse. The difference between the two innings however, was Kiwi batter Shayne Bulow, hitting a 79(94), helping the aforementioned decent partnership be much larger and in the collapse, he got more runs for each of his partner's mistakes. Fittingly, he ended the player of the fixture.

The Kiwi innings, it started off with a thunderbolt, a 52 run powerplay, despite Sugrim Hughes breaking one of the openers defences. Hubern King's fantastic runout of James McKew after the powerplay slowed things down for them though. A struggling Motu Jellick fell victim to a Satish Phillips masterpiece, reducing the Kiwis to a 74/3. And then, we got to part 2- The Partnership. The next 23.1 overs saw Kiwis add a 100 runs to the total with Jon Bone Jones and Shayne Bulow getting their fifties. 174/4 after 41 overs. Then cue, The Collapse. The next 7 overs saw the six remaining wickets fall, as Archie O'Connor and Satish Phillips ravaged through the lower middle order and the Kiwi tail. But here's the catch, Morvin Maclean and Shayne Bulow managed a 32 runs off 24 balls stand in the middle of the falling mess of the Kiwi innings, pushing the total to a gigantic 221.

The chase, it was going like a dream for a while, before it wasn't, and all that it was was a nightmarish hell. Keeping yesterday's traditions alive, the opening partnership lasted a total of 39 balls, for exactly 27 runs before Hubern King was caught at cow's corner. Vivalyn Hector played out a fantastic innings, given a hand by Melford Griffith and Alfonso Van Spooge to end 104/2 at drinks. Van Spooge edged one to the keeper right after drinks to make it 104/3. Vivalyn Hector got his innings to 79, getting another 40-run partnership with Colin Eugene, before it was 146/4 at the 34th over. The West Indian innings didn't really make much of their partnership phase, but the collapse phase, that's the stuff we excel at. The next over saw Colin Eugene get one run. The over after that, Monfries got rid of Reynold Nero and Patrick McAuley. Colin Eugene and Archie O'Connor looked to stop this fall of wickets, but soon enough Eugene fell into his own trap, failing to get a pressure-releasing boundary and giving out easy catches to the boundary guarders. Peter Griffin followed suit, getting bowled to his rival captain's googly. Sugrim Hughes was bowled to a Monfries cutter. Satish Phillips and Archie O'Connor tried to defend their way to a smaller loss deficit, but the innings ended at 179 runs. West Indies, now with two losses in a row, lost this one by 42 runs.

Other Results in Division 1
Sri Lanka beat India by 62 runs.
Kenya beat England by 26 runs.

Fixture on July 7: Sri Lanka
Hosts Sri Lanka, currently the table toppers play the fifth-placed West Indies, as West Indies continue their search for a win on another slow deck with clouds expected to have an appearance.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:13 am

West Indies NAT One Day Tour 1- Division 1 Summaries
West Indies vs Sri Lanka
West Indian skipper Troy Joseph put the Sri Lankans into bat on this slow pitch, and under cloudy weather. Carl Beresford stepped up to the leader's command, and pinned opener Indika Kumaratunga leg-before on the second ball. Sri Lanka excelled in the middle order phase before Satish Phillips caught a failed drive off of his own bowling to send Neomal Irfahan back to the stands. By the drinks break, Troy Joseph got another breakthrough, as the Sri Lankan outfit had 104 on the board after 25 overs. In the seven overs after the drinks break, 46 runs were scored at a brisk rate, before Satish Phillips quietened things with 2-run 2-wicket over. The Sri Lankan tail dragged on for another fifty runs before being cleaned up for 203, with Satish Phillips being the bowler of the day with his second 4-fer in two games.

The West Indian chase started off with Audrey Anthony playing a maiden off of Angelo Mathews. Fellow Lankan medium pacer Pina Ediriweera also bowled to absolute perfection. West Indies lost their first wicket in Audrey Anthony at the total of 10 runs in the fifth over. Len Thomas edged a away swinger to slip as he looked to get an awry drive towards covers. Henry Harragin and Alfonso Van Spooge calmed things down, and Van Spooge reached his fifty in the process of this pressure-absorbing partnership. West Indies had 107 on the board at drinks, needing another 97 at the requisite run rate of slightly below 4 with 8 wickets in hand. What followed was another marvellous collapse. The two medium pace buddies, Mathews and Ediriweera leaked 3 off the first three overs after drinks, changing the equation to 94 runs off 22 overs, with a requisite run rate becoming a quarter above four. 110/2 after 28 overs became a 110/4 after 29 as Pina Ediriweera's swing saw Harragin and Eugene give easy catches behind the stumps. 111/5 after 30, as Hubern King handed point a catch in Irfahan's mighty hands gifting Mathews his second scalp. 117/6 after 31 after Ediriweera got rid of Alfonso Van Spooge, and Aaron Munilall provided a relief in the dugout with a boundary. A 21-run stand between the two all-rounders, Joseph and Munilall was interrupted by Troy Joseph's blind loft, getting him stumped and followed by Arawinda Pitigala's double-wicket maiden, sending Munilall and Hislop to the pavilion as well. Aside from a mammoth Carl Beresford maximum for the final wicket partnership, the innings folded for a mere 158, as West Indies were handed their third loss of the tourney by 45 runs.

Other Results in Division 1
England beat New Zealand by 59 runs.
India beat Kenya by 3 wickets.

Fixture on July 8: Kenya
The bottom two teams on the ladder face each other in a riveting encounter on a slow track and with expected windy weather.

Scenarios
India successfully beating the odds by being the only team thus far to successfully chase in Division 1 has left them and Kenya at four points after three games. The winless West Indies are at the bottom of the table, and the undefeated hosts, Sri Lanka sit atop. Thus far, no team is safe from relegation, but some decent margins of victory have almost sealed Sri Lanka's spot in Division 1 for another tour. West Indies, on the other hand, can beat both India and Kenya and still relegate on net run rate. But, it is pretty much guaranteed that a win sees Sri Lanka safe, and another loss confirms West Indies trip back to Division 2. For India, Kenya, England and New Zealand, things might very well get muddled in the net run rate, as future results would make the scenarios much clearer.
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Re: Senior NAT Discussion

Post by MOD-quirkilyalive » Thu Jul 08, 2021 3:27 pm

West Indies NAT One Day Tour 1- Division 1 Summaries
West Indies vs Kenya
Day 4 of the tourney and the winless West Indians had the Kenyans to battle. Losing the toss, West Indies were out to field first for the fourth time this tour. The Kenyan batters entirely won the powerplay, hitting 57 runs without a wicket's loss, with a mammoth 17 run over off of Aaron Munilall. The opening partnership continued till Peter Griffin got Jomo Kibaki stumped off a doosra to reduce the Kenyans to 82/1. The Kenyan force did not stop after that, as despite Patrick McAuley sending the other opener to the pavilion, they still managed 129 before the drinks break. Jason Hislop befuddled Amin Kuria right after the drinks break, as they choked Nelson Ninelives and Jeremy Matiba. The two managed a 25 run stand off twice as many balls before pressure got to Ninelives and Patrick McAuley got his wicket. Jason Hislop got Matiba out soon after. The collapse had begun for the Kenyans, and their tail seemed toothless to the West Indian attack. Peter Griffin came in and got two batters stumped within 4 balls, and Len Thomas' fantastic direct hit caused the eighth wicket, and except for a massive hit into the stands, Patrick McAuley and Jason Hislop got the Kenyans all out for 193.

The chase for 194 saw Brian Nafukho, the eventual player of the match sap away the luck of the entire fielding unit. He couldn't bowl a wrong delivery, each of the balls causing a roar in the stands, but his fielders had butter fingers which also consistently caused an uproar in the stands, although of a much harsher note. The seamers couldn't find any support on this pitch allowing the West Indian batsmen to get a 59-run powerplay, without losing either openers. Hubern King and Melford Griffith began to struggle at the introduction of Ananaias Wako and, the man of the day, Brian Nafukho. 7 off Wako's 2 and 2 maidens for Nafukho saw West Indies get 70 by over 14. Then came, Drop 1, Hubern King was dropped by the keeper and given a second life. But Brian Nafukho came on from the other end and bowled a wicket maiden, getting rid of King. His figures read 3-3-0-1. He bowled 2 more overs before drinks, grabbing Vivalyn Hector's wicket as well, leaking barely 3 runs in the process. The West Indians were 114/3 at drinks with Hank de Ranger trapping Melford Griffith with a straighter one.

After drinks came Drop 2, Len Thomas granted a life, which he threw away in the very next over with a ludicrous attempt to step out of his crease. Brian Nafukho got rid of Henry Harragin the following over and Patrick McAuley in his over after that making his figures a magnificent 8-3-7-4, to make for one of the best spells the writer had witnessed off late. Young lad, Reynold Nero and the ever so impressive Aaron Munilall forged a 41-run stand to pull the team out of 125/6 mess and they were helped by Drops 3 and 4 from the Kenyan unit. They also successfully saw off Brian Nafukho whose final figures for the day read 10-3-14-4. A fantastic player of the match deserving performance.

Back to the West Indian batting effort, after Aaron Munilall and Reynold Nero plugged the collapse, and got the team to 166, 28 runs away from target, Hank de Ranger ran through Munilall's defence and Sugrim Hughes played all around the ball to hand third man inside the circle easy pickings. Hank de Ranger followed this act in his next over, by creating Drop 5 for the day, Reynold Nero's second stroke of luck, and getting Jason Hislop bowled. This ended over 44, the score being 176/9, the West Indians eighteen runs from the target, and all eyes on Reynold Nero who had just finished his first-ever fifty at the highest level.

Wako comes into the attack and bowls a fantastic over, which sees Nero get 5 runs off the first 5 balls, and Peter Griffin barely miss the sixth one for an edged-behind dismissal. 13 runs off 5 overs now. Saul Luseno starts with a wayward delivery that Nero leaves. Reynold Nero swivels and pulls the second ball for a four reducing the equation to nine runs needed, still 1 wicket left. Ball 4, Nero runs two, and Ball 5 he takes a single. Saul Luseno had his shot, the West Indians needed six runs and this was probably the last shot he'd have at getting Peter Griffin out. Luseno bowls a snorter, a ball that moved from middle stump to outside the fourth stump, grabbing a thick edge of Peter Griffin's bat in the process. And the ball seemed to float through the air at a glacial pace as keeper Simon wa Kamau dived to his right to catch the edge. The ball dropped inches ahead of him and he missed the catch for Drop 6. To make things worse for Kenya, Griffin and Nero ran two runs as well. West Indies needed 4 runs to win and Reynold Nero struck a crisp drive to get West Indies the first win of the tourney. The debutant truly played a match winning remarkable innings under considerable pressure.

Other Results in Division 1
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets.
England beat India by 11 runs.

Fixture on July 9: India
West Indies and India face each other in a knockout battle as the loser sees a demotion to Division 2 in their hands on a slow track and under windy weather tomorrow. And I don't intend to spook anybody, but the conditions are scarily similar to those we had for the World Cup Final. Ah, scary 7 wickets for 14 runs collapse memories come back to haunt me.

Scenarios
Division 1 currently sees Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England safe from relegation and looking to win the league in their final encounters, whilst the other end of the spectrum sees Kenya, India and West Indies fighting relegation. Whilst one relegate would be the loser of the West Indies and India fixture, a loss for Kenya against the Kiwis could see them going down. If Kenya win their fixture, the second relegate boils down to net run rate between the Kenyans and winners of West Indies-India fixture.
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