Guyana win Stanford Twenty20
I’ve really enjoyed watching this series on Sky Sports recently. Twenty20 cricket is fun anyway, but there’s something about West Indian Twenty20 (or 20/20 as they seem to term it) which is even more enjoyable. It’s like a slightly village version of English Twenty20. Except for the prize pot - in England, you get a pat on the back, well done chaps, here’s a trophy - in the West Indies, the winning side netts $1m with some fairly hefty other prizes up for grabs too.
That’s because it’s all backed by American Kagillionaire Allen Stanford, with games played at the Stanford Cricket Ground in St John’s, Antigua. And if that’s not enough, the winners of a one-off a West Indian “super-star” team vs South Africa 20/20 will take away an incredible 5 million big ones.
The final was a top match, won dramatically by Guyana in the last over. The play is a little more rough around the edges - the bowling more wayward, more slingy and the batting less cultured, more sloggy. Batsmen frequently don’t wear helmets. My favourite moment was watching a certain West Indian batsmen get to his crease after the fall of a wicket. In English Twenty20, there’s a quasi-panic to get in before he’s timed out. No such panic in the West Indies. The man literally strolls, in a stereotypical Caribbean “no worries” - esque fashion. Gets to the crease, takes a guard and then goes for a moo*.
There was some incredible hitting - especially from Kieron Pollard in one of the semi-finals, with the biggest, cleanest, purest, most glorious 6 I’ve ever seen hit.
Incredible stuff.
* moo/mow - a shot/slog, normally across the line, intended for the maximum, that will likely end up in Cow Corner**
** an area of the field somewhere in the middle of a wide of Long On and Deep Mid-Wicket
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1 opinion for Guyana win Stanford Twenty20
SixandOut.net - an International Cricket blog » Big bucks beaten by big bang
Sep 6, 2006 at 12:17 pm
[…] No. OK. Fine. I’ll get on with the story. Cricket’s attempt at being more baseball has fallen flat on its arse today, after the Stanford Super 20/20 has officially been cancelled. The match, whcih would have carried a $5m jackpot for the winning side, was due to be played between the stars of the Stanford series, and an International XI. But due to the West Indies’ commitments to a series with Pakistan, it’s all gone titsup, and the match has been scrapped. The WICB and PCB couldn’t agree on a change in schedule to allow time for the match. […]
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