The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Cec]

Thanks udosuk for the above cricket scores links which confirm the highest first-class innings was 1107 runs by Victoria in 1927-28 whilst the highest Test cricket innings was Sri Lanka's 6 wickets (declared ) for 952 runs in 1997.

Cec

[udosuk]

Hud, it must have made your day to see both the Mavs & the Spurs fall... But if the Nuggets can beat the Spurs easily, I'd tip them as the favourite to win it all...

They said Eva Longoria skipped shooting Desperate Housewives to watch her fiancee Tony Parker in game 1. Too bad for her it went sour... Perhaps too much distraction/pressure for Tony?

It must hurt you to see Barry Bonds belting HRs on the D-backs pitchers... Now he's 16 from breaking the record...

But the BoSox must have gave you some joy by sweeping your hated Yankees 3-0 on the weekend. Checked out the scores: 7-6, 7-5, 7-6... More like a tennis match... Dice-K gave up 6 runs but was rescued by the powerful batting, which included 4 solo HRs in a row in the 3rd (the second time we've talked about in this thread) and a 3-run shot in the 7th. Missing the playoffs now looks a serious prospective for the Yanks... I knew they'd be in trouble when I learned of Wang's injury...

[Hud]

Udosuk, you now know how my mind works and that's a scary thought
I don't believe the Nuggets are quite that strong but definitely are playing well. I think that Tim Duncan and Dirk will both have good games next time.

I do cringe whenever Barry Bonds homers, but I suppose I'll have to live with that fact. It's hard to count the Yankees out expecially the way they can score runs. When they get their starters back, they'll go on a tear. My daughter has tickets for an Oriole game here in June. I'm no longer an O's fan, but follow them from afar. I'll root for the D-backs in the game.

[udosuk]

Udosuk, you now know how my mind works and that's a scary thought

Hey, I think after a whole year of sports chatting I'm supposed to know how your sporting mind works like the back of my hand... Likewise you should also be familiar of how I think about certain teams or players, some of which I'd be free to talk about again in about 2 weeks time...

I'm sure the Mavs & the Spurs will bounce back... I actually think it's a good thing for the Suns if Kobe and the Lakers can extend the series a little, but you probably think otherwise... I keep thinking at the end of Phil Jackson's coaching career, would he regret coaching the Lakers again from 2006? Before that he won 9 championships, has never lost a game 7 and his teams always reached at least the 2nd round... But all that changed since last year which might have dented his "Zen master" status a little...

[Cec]

Cricket World Cup
Bad luck for New Zealand to be eliminated.... I thought they would reach the Final but Sri Lanka were too good on the day. New Zealand's three middle-order batsmen, McCullum, McMillan and Oram, who recently slaughtered Australia's bowlers in New Zealand, could only manage 28 runs between them whilst none of their batsmen reached 50 runs leaving them little hope of passing Sri Lanka's score of 289.

Tonite's other semi between Australia and Sth Africa starts 11pm (EST over here) and as I usually struggle to keep awake after about 2am then hopefully I'll dream of a close match with the "Aussies" winning by 1 run, then again, if the game's that close I'll probably wake up

Cec

[udosuk]

I feel for New Zealand a little, it seems they always reach the semi but stop right there. It was the great knock of their captain Jayawardene that won Sri Lanka the match. He was very patient early on with a turtle-like strike rate, which enabled him to stay thru the end for the explosion in the final overs. None of the NZ batsmen showed such patience, but then again it must have been the pressure of batting 2nd.

Don't be surprise if Australia loses to South Africa tonight. Anything can happen in a do-or-die match, and that's sport. Hopefully we'll have a good contest either way. Another tie would be nice too.

Hope you had a great ANZAC Day!

Hud, looks like it'll be a short series for the Suns after all...

[Hud]

Udosuk, I think you would have liked the style of play in last night's game although I didn't watch any of it. The Suns really had to avoid a letdown and having been outplayed in game 1 there wasn't much chance of that. Four and out would be nice except I don't like too long layoffs. Shawn Marion sounds like he wouldn't mind playing in LA next season. In the back of my mind I keep remembering what happened to the Suns in 93 (I believe). They had taken the first 2 games from Houston in Houston and split the games in Phoenix and went on to lose the series. It took them a long time to recover from that collapse.

[udosuk]

Hud, to feel better just remember last year the Lakers had split the first 2 games in Phoenix and then won 2 at home, and went on to lose the series. That should have evened out the pain...

They say Jermaine O'Neal is seriously considering moving to the Lakers next season too... A "Kobe-O'Neal" tag-team... Sounds pretty formidable...

Shawn Marion should only move to a team with a great assisting PG, and the Lakers team doesn't seem like a good idea... Perhaps the Clippers (to join Tim Thomas)?

Cec, looks like the Cricket semi would be a pretty short match... But it's too late to wake you up to watch it anyway... You also didn't give me your mobile number to call you up...

Added later:
So the match went longer than I expected... I originally thought it'd be over in 2 hrs but credits to the South Africans for surviving 43.5 overs in batting and then slowing down the Aussies batsmen enough to lose in 31.3 overs.

[Cec]

Udosuk.. I managed to stay up till about 2.30am with Sth Africa having lost 8wickets for about 110 runs. I was worried that the wicket may have been difficult to bat on but this did not seem the case with Australia losing only 3 wickets to win the game. The final will now be decided with a cut-throat game against Sri Lanka - I'm sure Australia will be hoping to dismiss Jayasuriya early as this batsman has a reputation of destroying bowlers if he gets his eye in early.

Cec

[udosuk]

From the news reports the South African team is blasted senselessly by their media for not making the final... I guess it's all due to the loss to Bangladesh... If they had won that match they would have finished #3 instead, where they would have played Sri Lanka in the semi... But then again against Australia they won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting pitch, but lost 5 early wickets recklessly...

Hud, so I suppose the series will go for 5 games instead of 4... After the 1st quarter I thought the Suns had the 3-0 lead wrapped up... But 2 "sidekick" Lakers (Kwame Brown & Lamar Odom) stepped up bravely...

[Hud]

It seems like everytime the Suns are annointed the next coming, they play a poor game. I didn't watch nor hear anything about the game til this morning. With these inconsistant performances, I wouldn't doubt if the series went to more than 5 games. I suppose losing by 6 to a strong efford by the Lakers is promising, but why don't I feel that way?

The D-backs won an improbable game on Wed after striking out 18 or 19 times. I turned the game on with 1 out in the ninth and saw Stephen Drew hit the 2 run homer with 2 down to win it. The best power hitter we have is Tony Clark, but the only time they play him is when Conor Jackson is hurt. Clark probably leads the team in homers in very few at bats.

[udosuk]

Yeah I had a look at that Padres-Diamondbacks game where Peavy got 16 Ks (I think) in 7 innings, I think he should have gone the distance... Today, the D-backs once again came from behind to beat the Giants & Zito... It seems their pitchers are determined not to give Bonds anything to hit at...

The Yankees are in a freefall now... It's not like I'm their fan or anything, but I just wish to see Wang (who's due to come back on Sunday) again in the postseason... Perhaps they should sign Clemens real quick... Dice-K's debut in the Yankees Stadium went well, and it's a good thing he got the BoSox batting lineup to support his pitching, which is prone to give up some runs... But as long as he keeps everything under control I suppose it's alright...

Both the Heat & the Mavs are in big trouble now, I'm thinking when's the last time the 2 Finals teams in the previous season both didn't reach the 2nd round... I suppose if the Warriors get through they'd be the hot favourite to win the 2nd round series too (no matter who the opponent is)...

The Cricket World Cup final is underway... Australia won the toss and will bat first... My gut feeling is batting 2nd might be a slightly better choice... We'll see... I think Sri Lanka is in for a real good chance...

[Cec]

World Cricket Cup
With rain preventing the start of play by more than two hours already after Australia had won the toss and electing to bat my gut feeling is this places Australia at a disadvantage as the opening two batsmen have to bide their time - a lot more nerve wracking in my opinion - than for the opposing team who will bowl. It's now 1.25am and I'm too tired and disappointed to wait up any longer. I feel sorry for the spectators but I hope the whole day is washed out so I can watch the match "live" tomorrow night and with such a postponement providing a fairer contest.

Cec

[udosuk]

It seemed the final ended in a farce, and Adam Gilchrist's great innings of 149 off 104 balls was the only thing notable in a forgettable final... It's also nice to see Glenn McGrath go out in a high...

In the NBA scene, it seems the big 3 in the Central division (Pistons, Cavs, Bulls) are unstoppable, much more so than their counter parts in the West...

[Cec]

Yes udosuk, a great win to Australia but not without some anxious moments for me when I woke up about 5am and watched Sri Lanka batting as they reached one wicket for 123 and scoring at a faster rate than Australia at that stage. The dismissal of Jayasuriya and our bowlers enjoying the deteriorating weather conditions helped turn the game in Australia's favour. What another fabulous innings by Adam Gichrist.

Cec