The CPL Final was held at Basseterre, as was every other game, and it was a thriller. St. Kitts and Nevis, the home team, battled Saint Lucia Kings right down to the last ball and won it on a Dominic Drakes single immediately after he had hit a huge four to tie the scores. Drakes was Player of the Match for his 48* and Roston Chase of Kings was Player of the Tournament. This marks the first ever CPL championship by Patriots, who were appearing in their first final.
The US lost to Nepal by 5 wickets and Oman by 4 wickets and look to be heading home disappointed from the Cricket World Cup League 2 matches in Muscat. They need to start winning some matches to retain ODI status.
Whatever I had heard about the County Championship was all wrong. Par for the course. There is another round of games. Hampshire now leads the table and will face 3rd place Lancashire while 2nd place Warwickshire gets a gimme against my going-all-to-hell last place Somerset and 4th place Nottinghamshire will play Yorkshire. Any of the top four teams could win the Championship and any two of four could play for the Bob Willis Trophy.
Pakistan were to host New Zealand for a tour that would have included 3 ODIs followed by 5 T20Is. starting today, but the entire tour was canceled due to a security threat to the New Zealand team. Really disappointing.
The South African women continued their tour of the West Indies yesterday with a 35-run ODI win led by Mignon du Preez’s 65*, and won two ODIs in the last week by 9 wickets and 8 wickets. Laura Woolvardt had 71* in the 2nd ODI and Lizelle Lee scored 78* in the 3rd ODI. The fifth and final ODI is on Sunday in Antigua.
The England women started a 5 ODI series with New Zealand yesterday in Bristol. England posted 241 in their innings and New Zealand were bowled out 30 runs short. Heather Knight’s 89 led all batters. The next match is at County Ground in Worcester on Sunday.
The Minor League Cricket playoff scenarios in the Atlantic Conference Eastern division are more complicated than a physics textbook. Four teams (New Jersey Stallions, Manhattan Yorkers, Empire State Titans, The Philadelphians) could theoretically win the division or not make the playoffs. Atlanta Fire have won the Atlantic Southern division, and Morrisville Cardinals and Atlanta Param Veers are alive for the 2nd spot. Fire play Param Veers twice this weekend, and Morrisville has completed their regular season, so the Fire has Morrisville’s fate in their hands and Cardinals can only sit and wait. In the Pacific Conference, Austin Athletics have qualified in the Central division and Golden State Grizzlies have earned a spot in the Western division playoffs. There are four other teams with a shot (Houston Hurricanes, Michigan Cricket Stars, East Bay Blazers, Silicon Valley Strikers). The Western division top three play each other in a round robin this weekend to sort it out.
T20 Blast Finals Day tomorrow!!!! Are you watching?
