The Grand Finale

So another tournament comes to a close and with quite a bang. India and Pakistan in the finals!! I am sure those two countries didn't get much work done today! India batted first and started with Gambhir getting 75 runs!! They went on to put up 157 for Pakistan to chase. And chase they did. Palistan fought hard and it cam down to a very dramitic finish. 13 runs were required in the last over and it was whittled down to 12 from 5 balls when Misbah-ul-Haq hit a whopper of a 6! 6 from 4 now and Joginder Sharma to Misbah-ul-Haq, OUT, India! It's all over here! Full and on the stumps. Misbah goes for the scoop shot over short fine-leg. That is a risky shot to play with only 6 needed from 4 balls. Straight up in the air and Sreesanth takes the catch. India have won by 5 runs in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20! What a game, wish I coulda seen it.

As for our humble competition, let the victors and the vanquished congratulate each other on a game well played. Thank you all for playing and making this such a fun competition. I know Anna expressed the feeling that she wished we could see some matches here in the states now that she knows what's going on - I think we have a convert. The worm says it all about the final standings:


Paul went from top to bottom, Arvinder went fom bottom to near the top, The dreamless team continues to snore, Sandi made a good show of it, Team Jimminy wished upon a star and beat 4 Robinsons, Moira has redeemed herself from the Sweaty Teddy Award, Gandolf Guys need to get some cricket help from Joseph, Mishal had Missy talking to herself, Henry champions the middle, Daniels mongoose took out Samsoms horse, Catherine broke 600 while Michael took 6th place, The All Stars were playing baseball while the 711's made huge late game gains. Finally, while MIssy tried her best - even making her last minute strategy secret - she couldn't quite beat her daughter!!

Its been fantasy, and its been fun, but for now it all is done!

The Home Stretch

Well here we are with the Semi Finals done and only one game to go. Seems Pakistan had no trouble making into the Final as they handily beat New Zealand by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining. Must have been some excitment there. We watched (actually we read the play by play) as India put up a formidable 188 runs with Singh putting up 70 himself. Then we bit our finger nails as Australia tried to claw their way back. It looked OK for awhile with Hayden and Gilchrist starting to put some numbers up, but then could never quite get that ball smacking over the boundry. Michael was elated, and I was sad as India knocked out Australia by 15 runs. So now the big questions are, "how many trades do you have for the final match up?" and "can you get a full team of 11 that will play in the last match?" Me? Not quite. But I still have a strategy and am hoping to fend off the last minute attacks. After careful analysis of the moods of the players in America, here is my take: Anna is gunning to beat a Robinson (anyone will do and currently Paul is taking the fall), Michael is hoping to be better than average, Bob doesn't want anyone to know he has no Pakistanis nor Indians and no trades, Missy is doing her best to dethrone her daughter (I though parents were suppose to support their kids?), and I am just hoping to hang on. What are your hopes and dreams?
Here's the worm to help clarify your goals:

Good Luck on Monday Everyone! Katy

Brag Blog

So far I have been an unbiased blog administrator, but since there is no cricket to blog about tonight, I'm going to brag. I am kicking your collect butts!! I am on fire, you people have no chance at catching me. Just try, go ahead. My team right now ROCKS!! My husband is jealous(and proud)and wishes that he hadn't done such a good job at teaching me the game. My Mom,is jealous(and proud) and wishes she didn't raise such a competitive daughter. My Dad has been stunned into silence. BRING IT ON PEOPLE, BRING IT ON!

The Final 4

Well, India evicted South Africa by 37 runs. It didn't seem like SA was ever able to put anything together as one after another of their batsmen went out. Then Pakistan predictably beat Bangladesh but if anyone had the foresight to have the Bangladeshi, Siddique, they could have racked up some major points with his 71 run streak. Then Australia beat Sri Lanka by an amazing 10 wickets!! Sri Lanka only put up 101 runs which Australia's opening batsmen, Gilchrist and Hayden, handled easily knocking Sri Lanka out of the tourney.



As you can tell from the worm, competition in the middle of the pack is getting fierce. With the final game approaching, those of you with lots of trades could really do some damage - so watch out everyone! It is time to cut your proteas and cage your lions as the final four are: New Zealand, India, Pakistan, and Australia. Both Semi Final matches are on Saturday with NZ v. Ind, and Pk v. Aus. We're being denied hacked internet access to the game so we may have to settle for reading the play by play online.....or we could fly to England for the weekend........tough call.

Have a nice day off tomorrow and be ready for the action on Saturday!

Michael sitting in for Katy tonight

Coming to you live from Robinson Cricket headquarters here in sunny Northern California it's Michael "Can't pick worth a damn" Robinson. Katy is out for parents evening at the school and has asked me to fill you all in on the happenings.

Well England is out after 2 losses. The 6 sixes from Singh did them in. India are lloking like the India of old and there should be plenty of smiling faces at work tomorrow.

My captain (Smith) scored 2 but South Africa came back to win against New Zealand in the last over. Gibbs is back in the side so maybe you want to choose him again.

Katy is looking close to unstoppable, so someone better figure out a few picks that will change things around a bit.

Here is the worm.



Tomorrows games are a must win between Sri Lanka and Australia, Bangladesh vs Pakistan and South Africa vs India, which should be interesting.

The Semis are shaping up

So, Sri lanka beat Bangladesh - no surprise. What was a surprise (or not after yesterday) is that Jayasuriya went out for a duck. Pakistan beat Australia with some wicked mid order batting. Misbah-ul-Haq scored 66 runs! Anyone have him? cause he's doing well! Then, Catherine I know this hurts, New Zealand beat England by 5 runs. We won't go into the gory details but the highlight for England was Maddy batting a 1/2 century. Anyone have him? The other up side for England is that their womens soccer team is going through to the quarter finals of the Womens World Cup!! So it looks like Pakistan and New Zealand are pretty much guaranteed to go through to the semis. England has to beat India and then hope that South Africa loses their next two games and even then they would need a better run rate than India and South Africa. So.........here's the worm:

Not much change, some jostling in the midfield and a move by Arvinder to get into the midfield.

Tomorrow SA v. NZ & E v. I

Be Vigilant!

Not much cricket today as the only game played was Pakistan V. Sri Lanka. It was a significant game none the less as Pakistan won by 33 runs. I have to say that I was surprised. I was thinking that Sri Lanka was on an unstoppable T20 run that would take them all the way to the top - and they may still get there but the Pakistanis proved to be a bump in the road. Pakistan batted first and put up 189 for 6. Jayasuriya may be an A batsman but I think he might be a G bowler as he let in 64 runs and had an economy rating of 16.00. Sorry for all you who placed your hopes in his ability but he earned -5 points for that dismal performance. Then when Sri Lanka took their turn at the bat, Jayasuriya was bowled out after only 5 runs (he made up 1 of the 5 points for you there). His opening partner went out for a duck leaving the middle of the batting order to do all the damage control. In the end Sri Lanka just could not come up with quite enough runs to overtake Pakistan. With their defeat the field is still wide open. Each team in the super 8 has played one game for this round. In tomorrows match ups: Pakistan will play Australia and the winner of the match will most likely make it through to the Semi Finals. Bangladesh and England will need to win their games against Sri Lanka and New Zealand respectively if they want to keep their hopes alive.

As for our little competition: things are starting to spread out and there is beginning to be 3 groups - those battling for the lead, those battling to be the best of the middle, and those hoping to avoid the embarrassment of last place. BUT, nothing is settled yet- DON"T GET COMPLACENT! You must continue to be vigilant in your scouring of the stats, make wise trades, and heckle your neighbor incessantly! I still hold the lead but every time Pakistan plays Mishal threatens to take it from me. Missy, Sandy, Catherine, Karan, and Michael are all right there ready to pounce. Moira and Bob seemed to be firmly entrenched in the middle - but I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled their feet out of the mud. Sandeep needs to wake up his dreamless team and the Gandalf Guys need a good pep talk. So get to it people, bring it on!