2013 is going to be a great year!!

[Gob]

Pakistan 177-6 (20 overs) bt New Zealand 164-9 (20 overs) by 13 runs


A classy fifty from Nasir Jamshed helped Pakistan open their World Twenty20 campaign with a riveting 13-run victory over New Zealand.

After a 47-run opening stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir, 22-year-old Jamshed struck four sixes in his 56 to propel Pakistan to 177-6.

Ross Taylor kept the game alive into the final over, but Saeed Ajmal (4-30) ensured the Kiwis fell short on 164-9.

Despite the loss, New Zealand progress to the Super Eights on net run rate.

Whatever the result of Tuesday's meeting between Pakistan and Bangladesh, New Zealand's score of +1.150 cannot be overhauled by both teams.

Pakistan will be certain of joining the Black Caps in the last eight with a victory over the Tigers, and on this evidence Hafeez's side have all the weapons required to recapture the trophy they won at Lord's in 2009.

[Sean]

The SF Giants took the NL West last nite!

I'm sure their mums are very proud!

[loCAtek]

Real baseball moms;

SAN FRANCISCO -- Angel Pagan referred to his mother, Gloria, as his first manager. Not a coach. Not a teacher. Manager.

The term fit. Besides being involved with Angel's first team, a T-ball squad he joined at age 6, Gloria met her son's every baseball-related need. The bond they shared, through athletics and otherwise, was unbreakable.

"She's a big part of my career," said Pagan, who played catch with Mom until three or four years ago. "It makes her feel really special."

To some extent, Gloria was being a practical parent.


Young Angel needed an athletic outlet. Once he learned to run, he didn't stop. The Pagans lived in a small apartment in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Besides his parents, Angel had a brother and sister, thus crowding the living space further. So he needed room to roam.

"I was a very, very energetic kid," said Pagan, now the Giants' center fielder. "She didn't know what to do with me. I was driving her crazy. So she put me on a baseball field so I could spend all the energy at the same time."

Angel also needed a constructive outlet, given the perils that Rio Piedras presented.

"She wanted us to take a different path," he said. "It was tough to come out of that place a good person. Selling drugs or something. It was a bad neighborhood. A lot of my friends couldn't survive that world. But she made me strong enough to forget about that path and go to the positive one."

Finally, Gloria simply wanted to bequeath her love of the game to Angel.

"She had baseball in her blood," Pagan said, citing his mother's desire to play so much that she joined a men's fast-pitch softball team and played first base.

You can imagine how tough Gloria had to be to compete alongside men.

"That's the same way she was when she was my manager," Angel said. "She wanted to teach me that no matter how hard things are, you can go ahead and survive."

Through baseball, she also taught Angel some basic lessons about life. Be responsible. Arrive on time. Better yet, arrive early. Stay dedicated to your task.

In this respect, she continues to serve as an example. Once or twice a season, Gloria, who still lives in Puerto Rico, visits Angel and his family to watch him play. Otherwise, she continues to work for the government.

"She likes to stay busy," Pagan said.

Angel also played basketball, and he developed an ardor for boxing which continues to this day.

"But there was something about baseball," he said. "I fell in love with the sport."

He has his mother to thank for that.

[oldr_n_wsr]

R.A Dickie got his 19th win the other day. He has one more game he's scheduled to pitch this season, hopefully he will get his 20th win. It's the only thinkg Met fans have left to root for (and have had since early July).

[Gob]

Ireland 129-6 (19 overs) v West Indies (match abandoned)



Ireland have been eliminated from the World Twenty20 and West Indies are through to the next stage after their Group B decider was ruined by rain.

Ireland posted 129-6 in their rain-reduced innings of 19 overs, but further showers saw the match called off before the Windies could bat.

Both sides lost to Australia in their first match, but West Indies advance because of a better net run rate.

"Ireland will be very disappointed. They played better in this game and it would have been nice to see how we would have bowled to West Indies."

West Indies will play England in their first Super Eights game on Thursday.

The omens looked poor for Ireland when skipper Will Porterfield was out to the very first ball, for the second successive match.

But Ireland battled back well, despite their innings being disrupted by a rain delay, and Niall O'Brien top-scored with 25 to help the associate nation to a competitive total.

The match was set up nicely, but a heavy downpour in the interval lasted long enough to see proceedings abandoned, meaning Ireland went out of the competition following a rain-ruined match for a second successive time - the same thing happening against England in 2010.

Hard lines the Micks, shitty way to exit the competition.

[Gob]

Oh bollocks!!

West Indies 179-5 beat England 164-4 by 15 runs



Eoin Morgan smashed 71 from 36 balls but England fell 15 runs short against West Indies in their opening Super Eights match of the World Twenty20.

Morgan and Alex Hales (68) put on 107 for the fourth wicket, but were left with too much to do after England slumped to 0-2 in their first over.

Johnson Charles smashed 84 and Chris Gayle 58 in the Windies's 179-5.

Defending champions England face New Zealand in Pallekele on Saturday in their second Super Eight match.

Morgan's innings, which included four fours and five sixes, was one of the great Twenty20 knocks, but he was let down by his team-mates earlier in the innings.

Ravi Rampaul removed both Craig Kieswetter and Luke Wright for ducks within the first three balls of England's reply - the dismissals as much to do with bad strokeplay as good bowling.

First, Kieswetter tried to pull a ball that was not short enough in length and top-edged a catch to Kieron Pollard at point.

Wright, who scored 99 not out in England's victory over Afghanistan in the group stages, fended another shortish delivery to Gayle at slip.

The tame manner of their dismissals evoked memories of England's 80 all out against India on Sunday, and it was left to Hales to repair the damage.

The Nottinghamshire man scored at more than a run a ball while his partner Jonny Bairstow battled hard for 18 off 29 balls.

However, by the time the Yorkshireman had departed to Pollard's stunning catch on the boundary, the required rate had rocketed and England were left wishing they had sent Morgan to the crease earlier than they did.

[dales]

The NFL refs are returning to their jobs.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!!!

[Sean]

I certainly am oldr! There's a big weekend of Premier League football ahead, culminating with Man Utd V Spurs on Sunday.

[MajGenl.Meade]

...which is great news for fans of the 0-3 Cleveland Browns, working to lock down last place by losing another 13 games. It was those high school refs I tell you!

[oldr_n_wsr]

...which is great news for fans of the 0-3 Cleveland Browns, working to lock down last place by losing another 13 games. It was those high school fired from teh lingerie league refs I tell you!

Fixed that for you.
and it's true

[Gob]

Aus 141-1 (14.5 overs) bt India 140-7 (20 overs) by 9 wickets


Shane Watson and David Warner both blazed fifties as Australia thrashed India by nine wickets in the World Twenty20 Super Eights in Colombo.

The openers hit 10 sixes and put on 133 for the first wicket as they took apart the spin attack that destroyed England.

Watson was out for 72 with eight balls left but Warner (63) saw them to their 141 target with 31 balls in hand.

Watson also took three wickets as Australia restricted India's power-packed batting line-up to 140-7.

Australia are ranked seventh in the the International Cricket Council's standings and were expected to struggle at the tournament.

But after overpowering Ireland and the West Indies in their group and humiliating India, they have established themselves firmly among the favourites.

Their opening partnership is the most destructive and prolific in the game - with a record 1,077 runs in the format - while Watson's all-round displays have earned him the man of the match award in all three games.

He has taken the most wickets in the tournament (eight), has hit more sixes (13) than any other player and is second only to New Zealand's Brendon McCullum in the run-scoring charts.

"The last couple of games have been pretty good, hopefully it can continue for a few more games," said Watson.

[Gob]

Pakistan 136-8 (19.4 overs) bt S Africa 133-6 (20 overs) by two wickets



Umar Gul blasted 32 off 17 balls as Pakistan fought back to sneak a two-wicket victory over South Africa in the Super Eights of the World Twenty20.

When he came to the wicket, Pakistan appeared doomed with 58 runs needed off 33 balls and three wickets in hand.

But Gul's cameo catapulted them back into the game and although he was out with one over left, Saeed Ajmal hit the winning runs with two balls to spare.

Pakistan's spinners had limited South Africa to 133-6 on a turning track.

It was a total which Pakistan would have expected to chase down with ease following dominant batting displays in their two group games.

But a gung-ho approach cost them dearly as they crumbled to 76-7 in the 15th over.

Gul, a number nine with a previous Twenty20 average of nine from 19 innings, started the rally by heaving Jacques Kallis high into the stands over deep square leg before launching the next ball over long-on for another six.

The next over, delivered by Albie Morkel, cost 20 runs, as Umar Akmal smacked the first ball for four before Gul plundered 12 off the last three.

[dales]

http://stats.sfgate.com/mlb/standings.asp

[MajGenl.Meade]

On the other hand...... in a real man's sport, Australia bites the big one in SA.... beaten, pounded, knocked senseless by the 'Boks. Ag, shame!

[Gob]

Sri Lanka 130-1 (15.2 overs) bt West Indies 129-5 (20 overs) by nine wickets


Sri Lanka are on the brink of the World Twenty20 semi-finals after thrashing West Indies by nine wickets to go top of their Super Eights group.

The Windies limped to 20-2 in the six over powerplay and only posted 129-5.

Spinner Ajantha Mendis was the pick of the home side's bowlers as he finished with figures of 2-16.

The run chase was turned into a procession by Mahela Jayawardene (65) and Kumar Sangakkara (39), who put on 108 to wrap up an easy victory.

The veteran duo were at their supreme best as they paced themselves through the innings and finished the job with 28 balls to spare in a flurry of fours.

After an off-colour display in a rain-shortened defeat by South Africa and a nerve-jangling 'super over' victory over New Zealand in their first Super Eights match, Sri Lanka appear to be peaking at the right time.

If they can avoid a heavy defeat by England on Monday, they will be through to the semi-finals as they seek to capture the title for the first time on home soil, but captain Jayawardene warned against complacency.

"You want to make sure you go with the right attitude and the right mentality and try to put pressure on the England boys," he said.

[The Hen]

Sri Lanka is one of my favourite teams.

Go the Lankans!

[dales]

I heard the Martians might be fielding a team, any truth to that?

[Gob]

http://www.martianscricket.com/

[MajGenl.Meade]

Yeah but their top score ever is 51