Quarter Finals - Voting

Right lads time for voting, if possible all votes in by Wednesday midnight please

Match 1: Middlesex Panthers vs Leicestershire Foxes

Pitch: A
batting paradise where the bowlers will be looking at damage limitation
rather than taking wickets. This match is likely to be one where both
sides score over 200.

- Middlesex Win Toss

Match 2: Worcestershire Royals vs Somerset CC

Pitch:
Hard and fast, this will suit pace bowlers throughout. In the second
innings the pitch might begin to spin a bit more. Batsmen who can chance
their arm might win the game here.

- Worcestershire Win Toss

Match 3: Hampshire Royals vs Yorkshire Carnegie

Pitch:
The baking heat has caused the Aegis Bowl to turn into the Dust Bowl!
Lots of spin throughout as well as a lightening quick outfield will turn
this into a titanic battle between batsmen and spin bowlers.

- Yorkshire Win Toss

Match 4: Nottinghamshire Outlaws vs Sussex Sharks

Pitch:
Although the humidity and temperature is high clouds have come over
Trent Bridge which should present some swing to the bowlers early on.
The clouds are however predicted to clear at some point which could give
a huge advantage to winning the toss if the side has bowlers who can
take advantage.

- Nottinghamshire Win Toss

Darn. Was relying on that toss

Will do this tomorrow, to give people a chance to get tactics in

Match 1: Middlesex Panthers vs Leicestershire Foxes - Middlesex default win.
Match 2: Worcestershire Royals vs Somerset CC - Somerset win by 6 wickets.
Match 3: Hampshire Royals vs Yorkshire Carnegie - Hants win
Match 4: Nottinghamshire Outlaws vs Sussex Sharks - Notts win by 4 wickets

Presumably we vote on the three matches other than our own, right?

Yeah we do. Twas a joke vote mine

Shall get my tactics in later.

Match 1: Middlesex vs Leics - Middlesex win
Match 2: Worcestershire Royals vs Somerset CC - Worcs win
Match 3: Hampshire Royals vs Yorkshire Carnegie - Hants win
Match 4: Nottinghamshire Outlaws vs Sussex Sharks - Sussex win

Middlesex Vs Leicestershire - Middlesex win
Hamphire Vs Yorkshire - Hampshire win
Nottinghamshire Vs Sussex - Nottinghamshire win

Middlesex vs Leicestershire-Leicestershire
Hampshire vs Yorkshire-Hampshire
Nottinghamshire vs Sussex-Notts

COME ON PEOPLE PLEASE GET VOTES IN BY THE END OF THE DAY

As it stands:

Middlesex 3 - Leics 1

Worcs 1 Somerset 1

Hants 3 - Yorks 0

Notts 3 - Sussex 1

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If people could pester other people to vote that would really help

Middlesex win - Ajmal bowls well, but the Middle's batting line up is too strong and get too many despite a determined Razzaq rearguard.

Worcs win - Worcs I feel are better suited to this pitch, with the Somerset's pace men struggling early on against a rampant KP who gets a blistering 100, but Somerset look good until some fantastic death bowling from Junaid keeps them short.

Hamps win - Hamps scrape their way to 120 thanks to Clarke, but their spin attack never lets Yorks get in and they strangle them and bowl them out for 110 in the last over.

Match 2: Worcestershire Royals vs Somerset CC

Pitch:
Hard and fast, this will suit pace bowlers throughout. In the second
innings the pitch might begin to spin a bit more. Batsmen who can chance
their arm might win the game here.

- Worcestershire Win Toss

Worcs post a decent score batting first, but Gayle slogs a quick 50 to put Somerset well above the rate, and they ease home. Win to Somerset.

Match 3: Hampshire Royals vs Yorkshire Carnegie

Pitch:
The baking heat has caused the Aegis Bowl to turn into the Dust Bowl!
Lots of spin throughout as well as a lightening quick outfield will turn
this into a titanic battle between batsmen and spin bowlers.

- Yorkshire Win Toss

A crucial toss here, Yorks get 1st use and post a decent score on the back of solid knocks from Sehwag and Dhoni. Then Warne, Rashid and Samuels take the game away. Win to Yorks.

Match 4: Nottinghamshire Outlaws vs Sussex Sharks

Pitch:
Although the humidity and temperature is high clouds have come over
Trent Bridge which should present some swing to the bowlers early on.
The clouds are however predicted to clear at some point which could give
a huge advantage to winning the toss if the side has bowlers who can
take advantage.

- Nottinghamshire Win Toss

Two very good seam attacks here, the toss is crucial as Notts make life very unpleasant early on, and Sussex struggle to bat through the overs. The clearing cloud and a low asking rate mean Notts have the whip hand in the chase, and get through despite being asked some severe questions by Steyn. Win to Notts.

As it stands now:

Middlesex 4 - Leics 1

Worcs 2 Somerset 2

Hants 4 - Yorks 1

Notts 4 - Sussex 1

Middlesex
Somerset
Sussex

Sorry for the lateness in the last few weeks, why did I think working in the holidays was a good idea?

Right, here we go. Sorry for my lateness this week - can only blame the Olympics!

Middlesex Panthers v Leicestershire Foxes

An interesting match played on a flat pitch between two sides who are better at batting than bowling. The first innings sees Middlesex go nuts, with only Ajmal pegging them back. There are no 100s but Guptill, Watson and Morgan all pass 50 and Foster contributes a useful 20 to score of 210.

Leics get off to a flyer in reply before a few wickets are carelessly lost to Brooks and Vettori. But O'Brien and Razzaq find themselves together and go absolutely ballistic in the last few overs to give Leics an absolutely stunning win! O'Brien makes 126*.

Leicestershire Foxes win by 6 wickets
Man of the Match: Kevin O'Brien

Worcestershire Royals v Somerset

Thomas causes problems early on, removing KP and Amla. But Lyth and Tharanga slowly build a total, and though Lyth is outfoxed by Murali, Solanki and Shakib guide Worcs to 170.

Gayle gets worked out by Meaker, but Trescothick plays a sublime innings to master tough conditions. The rest of the order struggle to get going against a strong Worcs attack, but Tresco is still there with 8 wickets down to hit the winning runs with 2 balls to go and complete a memorable hundred.

Somerset win by 2 wickets
Man of the Match: Marcus Trescothick

Hampshire Royals v Yorkshire Carnegie

Both teams want to bowl first on a dust bowl - interesting!

Yorks undoubtedly have the bowlers for these conditions. Warne is the master, Rashid the apprentice, Samuels useful and Bresnan will also appreciate a dusty pitch. Smith is a bit confused early on and plays an awful shot to Bresnan, before Adams is bowled by one which keeps low from the England seamer. By the time the spinners come in, Akmal has also gone and it becomes a game of two batsmen. Clarke plays cautiously but survives, while Warne and to a lesser extent Rashid bamboozle the others and take regular wickets. A final score of 123 is all to do with Clarke's 54*.

Sehwag has played against Zaheer plenty and likes the conditions. He gets Yorks off to the perfect start, though Zaheer does pick up Denly and Sharma falls to Doshi. This exposes the middle order, with the match quickly becoming tense. But Sehwag switches to sensible mode, and then profits from some lose bowling from Smith. Giving the keeping gloves to Umar Akmal proves crucial, as he struggles on this dust bowl and puts two catches down as well as missing a stumping. Sehwag and Azhar are at the crease when the target is reached.

Yorkshire win by 5 wickets
Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag

As it stands now:

Middlesex 5 - Leics 2

Worcs 2 Somerset 4

Hants 4 - Yorks 2

Notts 4 - Sussex 2

We'll call that results then:

Semi Final Draw:

Middlesex vs Somerset

Nottinghamshire vs Hampshire