MI vs Yorkshire, Group B at Cape Town, , Oct 18 2012 - Ball by Ball Commentary

8.10pm With this game looking more and more like a washout, all teams in the group (except perhaps Sydney Sixers who will already have qualified) will be looking to the Lions v Yorkshire game on Saturday. If Lions win that, they too will be through and this group will be filled with dead games.

And here's confirmation. The match has been called off.

Mumbai and Yorkshire both get their first points of this stage, but both would have wanted to get two more than they did today. Now they are left hoping results in other matches go their way. IPL bashers will gleefully point out that an IPL team is yet to win against a non-IPL team, while Sydney Sixers fans will be thrilled their team's place in the semi-final is confirmed.

It's been fun chatting with you all. Thanks for the many, many mails. See you at tomorrow's games. G'night!

8.00pm The latest from our intrepid reporter Liam Brickhill. "The wind has died down a little, but that means the rain looks like it's here to stay. Yep, it's still coming down. The groundsman has told us he needs 40 minutes to get the outfield dry, which means it'll have to stop completely in the next couple of minutes in order for their to be any chance of a match. That really doesn't look like it's going to happen, so I think this match is a write-off."

Franklin seems to think he has figured out how to get his comment posted: "Ways to get your comment published:

1. Ask a highly statistical question

2. Or Ask a dumb question

3. Pretend to live near the ground when it rains

4. Have a girl friend who is so curious to have your name published

5. Copy my technique." Worked for him this time.

7.30pm Still a drizzle over the ground. Cut-off is 8.40pm.

Pollard at No. 3 and not a power-hitter down the order? Yes says mngc: "Pollard scores 7 in first 10 balls then 30 in next 10. He has always played better when he has an opportunity to get his eye in without pressure like today. This is crying out to bat at # 3."

Not sure whether this is just a tall tale to get his comment published, but here goes. Rohit: "Can you please cover me on commentary page. My girl friend (preeti) promised me to allow all further matches on TV and she wont touch remote if my name flashes on cricinfo commentary page."

Deepak: "whats the amount to be paid to post my comment?" Are people willing to pay? How much?

Jorge: "Just checked the weather for the next few days in Cape Town. Awful. Group A should begin to worry."

Andy F: "im from lancashire and i will bet yorkshire fans and players had the same thought as me....we will travel 1000s 0f miles to escape the rain .....and then it rains."

James:"I think the point Simon was making was not that T20 (or even CLT20) was bad. It was that this match has been a very poor exhibition of cricket (including T20) skills. If so, that's a fair point. These 2 sides do not deserve to progress."

7.25pm The unstoppable Liam Brickhill, who is pondering a career as a weatherman. "The rain is starting to ease. It's still coming down, but it's mizzle now rather than actual rain."

Hang on, a couple of minutes later he adds: "Lol, now it's getting heavier again!"

Praneet: "Liam Brickhill , really ? I thought he retired. Correct me if i am wrong. Anyways nice to see his name back on cricinfo." Liam's freelancing with us for this tournament but not back with us full-time (yet?).

Kumar: "@Srinivasan Janardhanam ... it looks like this picture was taken after he took the tendulkar wicket."

Priyashrav: "Give the Man-of-the-Match award to that Streaker,I say!" I agree.

Deepak P:"@Deepak, I understand corruption has engulfed India, but leave the holy cricinfo alone!"

Rashid Fahim: "Off the topic: World Eleven team reached pakistan. I am excited to see international cricket resume in my country." Here's what the captain of the Ineternational XI Sanath Jayasuriya had to say.

Simon: "@James Bang on. T20 at it's best is great. You get bowlers testing batsmen who are trying to score quickly and force them on the defensive. Fast singles to rotate the strike, fielders saving every run they can. Not people chucking pies at sloggers for a couple of hours."

7.20pm More from Liam: "It's really bucketing down. There are a few hardy souls seeking shelter beneath the trees behind the grass banks, but the ground has largely cleared of people. They've retreated to the bars, I suspect."

Even more from Liam: "We've just witnessed a streaker braving the freezing cold and rain to sprint around the outfield. He managed almost a full circuit before the security guards worked up the gumption to run out after him into the rain. They did eventually catch and tackle him to the ground, just before he escaped back to the grass banks. He's being escorted out now."

I'm not quite sure I agree with Sam, but he seems quite worked up here: "@Simon So what if garbage bowlers get wickets? Heck, isn't that the point of the shortened format. Score as many runs and in doing so give the bowlers a fair chance. Even underdogs have a fair chance against strong teams. This is how I like my cricket."

Swarnava Maitra: ". So many people complaining about so many things about the CLT20. Well, if you find it so bad, why are you watching it then? MIght as well go and catch some good movie on cable."

7.10pm Liam Brickhill, who is covering this game for us, has some bad weather news. "The rain is coming down in sheets. There are even more covers being brought out now. The whole square is being covered. Visibility is very poor, and unfortunately it looks like this rain is really setting in. Having said that, this is Cape Town, and with the wind here there's always a (small) chance that the rainclouds will blow over. Slim chance."

Srinivasan Janardhanam: "Talking of Profiles, I liked Phangiso's profile picture."

Pankaj: "How to post comment in live commentary." You just did.

6.55pm Rain stops play. Fickle English weather? Yorkshire will be calling their climate consistent compared to this.

Subbu: "So, Harbajan starts with 0, 6 and ends with 6,0?"

Grylls: "With all the attention on the points table, maybe someone can help me undertand the reason 4 & 2 points were chosen for win/nr instead of 2 & 1 - what difference does it make other than higher numbers?" Anyone?

Pete: "Well permutators, if these two get two points each for an N/R, Sydney IS through."

Anand Gautam: "Continuing yesterday's escapade boldly....if there is a washout, Lions would be the happiest, Chennai will be marginally happy, and Mumbai and Yorkshire devastated."

Ajay has some wise words: "both pollard and this rain are extremely unpredictable!!"

Simon: "This innings has summed up everything wrong with T20 cricket. Absolute garbage getting wickets, wild slogging getting runs, drops and misfields, bad calling..." Totally. I can't believe Rashid got two wickets with his half-trackers.

Nabhan Ahmad: "How much stats does one have to post to get there comment published?" Sometimes rhetorical questions are also enough.

Dude has a theory I'm not convinced by: "@Grylls: Psychology. People tend to like even numbers more than the odd. I do too."

Manak: "@Grylls: Its a 20-20 game..no room for ones and twos even in the points column." Good one.

More scenarios from Shuvam: "This equation is this simple- If this match ends in a No result, and if Lions beat Yorkshire on Saturday, then the entire group is dead. Lions and Sixers will make it through, and no one will have to break a sweat in watching the remaining matches of this group."

Krishna: "Well with the Bonus point I think it makes sense to have 4 and 2 instead of 2 & 1." It would, if this tournament had bonus points.

Shad: "Really? Does anyone really feel "devastated" in the CLT20? The quality of cricket seems sub-par after the World T20. The teams seem sleepy. The players look indifferent." Domestic/club sides who miss out on a chance to win US$2m or so will perhaps be devastated if they get knocked out.

6.51pm Play resumes

6.48pm Players going off, it's raining again. Mitchell Johnson was just marking his guard the showers started once more. It doesn't seem to be too heavy. Pollard is in no rush to go off, he's hanging around in the middle.

Sumith: "Only one word can encompass how i feel about this innings. BIZZARE!" Hasn't been the highest quality of cricket so far in this game.

Also, I missed this milestone which Arun and several others have pointed out: "Meanwhile Pollard completes 3000 Twenty20 runs."

6.47pm The covers are coming off, the umpires signal he players to come back on. Still some thick dark clouds around the stadium, so we might have more delays.

Alaithiran: "I don't understand why it's called a 'beanie'. When I was growing up, we called it a 'tea cosy'."

6.42pm Covers are on. Half an hour of time allowed for the rain delay before the overs start to get chopped off. Cut-off time is around 8.40pm. A steady drizzle now in Cape Town.

Mitchell Johnson in at No. 8, after batting No. 4 in the previous game

Ominous clouds around Cape Town

Some rain around but play continues