Club Performances Of The Week
Junior Performance of the Week
Syn-Pro by SISIS Cricket Groundcare Machinery
by ECB & Cricket World Friday 17 June 2022
Leicestershire vs Worcestershire, North Group Grace Road, Leicester
Leicestershire Foxes at last gave their supporters something to cheer as an eight-wicket win over bottom-of-the-table Worcestershire Rapids ended a run of four consecutive home defeats in the Vitality Blast North Group. Ben Mike (3-20), Naveen ul-Haq (3-22) and Callum Parkinson (3-28) shared the wickets as the Rapids were restricted to a paltry 116 for nine after electing to bat first, Kashif Ali’s 24 in his fourth appearance a modest top score. It was a total the Rapids, without Moeen Ali and with Ben Cox ruled out by illness, were never likely to be able to defend and the Foxes cruised home with almost eight overs to spare with Arron Lilley smashing 12 fours and a six in an unbeaten 68 from 39 balls. His unbroken third-wicket stand of 101 with Nick Welch (41) came off just 59 balls. The night had begun with what Rapids fans hoped was a show of intent as Brett D’Oliveira slog-swept and cut Parkinson for six and four in the opening over but that was as good as it got in a dire batting show. The left-arm spinner pushed one through to bowl the Rapids skipper next ball, before Naveen ul-Haq had Ed Pollock brilliantly caught at short third man off a thick edge with his first ball. Jack Haynes heaved Wiaan Mulder over midwicket for six but he holed out to mid-off, the third casualty of a powerplay that saw them 44 for three. Two more wickets for Parkinson, who bowled Colin Munro and had Ed Barnard stumped off a wide delivery, added to the visitors’ woes and when Gareth Roderick found the fielder at wide long-on the Rapids were 61 for six in the 11th. Bravo and Kashif stopped the procession of wickets, but while they added 40 for the seventh wicket it took them 38 balls - a snail’s pace in this format. Bravo clumped one six over midwicket off Rehan Ahmed but when he lofted ul-Haq over the long-off boundary the Afghan bowler gained revenge next ball with his 19th wicket of the campaign, finding the edge as the former West Indies captain drove. Kashif fell victim to a fine, diving catch by Swindells behind the stumps off Mike, whose two overs at the death cost only eight runs and earned him a third wicket when Josh Baker chopped on. Mitchell Stanley, a 21-year-old fast bowler making his debut, yorked Harry Swindells to claim a wicket with his first ball in senior cricket and Rishi Patel swung ambitiously at a ball from Pat Brown that bowled him as the Foxes lost two wickets in the first 14 balls of the powerplay. But Welch - making his first appearance of the season as one of two changes in the Foxes’ line-up - and Lilley made short work of the target, reaching 49 without further loss in the powerplay before getting after a disheartened Rapids attack with a flurry of boundaries, Lilley lofting Bravo over the straight boundary, taking three fours in one over off Stanley, whose evening ended with Lilley cracking the winning boundary over extra cover.
Nottinghamshire vs Warwickshire, North Group Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Matching the barnstorming batting of the Test Match at the same Trent Bridge venue three days earlier, Birmingham Bears posted the highest total, 261 for two, ever made in English domestic T20 cricket, claiming a Vitality Blast victory over Nottinghamshire Outlaws by 55 runs.
Just seven better scores have ever been made in all world T20 cricket and one of those was by the Czech Republic over Turkey. The Bears’ unbeaten stand of 174 in a mere 70 balls from Sam Hain, with a maiden, unbeaten hundred at this level, and Adam Hose, with an undefeated 88, was the best for the third wicket in this country, beating Hose’s own 171 with Ian Bell four years ago.
Joe Clarke made a withering 86 from 45 balls in riposte to take the Outlaws to 150 for two, with 112 needed at 14.6 per over but he fell at long-off and the rest crashed in 36 balls. Short boundaries and a rock-hard pitch had almost turned the match into a licensed exhibition of free hitting but the rate could not ultimately be sustained under pressure.
Carlos Brathwaite, the Bear’s burly Bajan captain, removed Clarke and Danny Briggs held his nerve to have bothv Tom Moores for 46 and Steven Mullaney, first ball, in the deep two overs later as the decline set in.
It seemed that only by taking early wickets would the Bears stop the Outlaws responding but they managed just the removal of Alex Hales, beautifully taken at cover off Ollie Stone by Hain running back for four, and Ben Duckett, who miscued a swipe at Brathwaite to short third man for 26, in the reply’s six power-play overs.
Though the Bears, put in earlier, lost Alex Davies for five, driving spinner Matt Carter to extra cover, Carter’s second over was hammered for 22 and the last three of the six power-play overs were taken for 41 as Yates raced past his previous T20 best of 37.
It took the veteran container Samit Patel to impose a measure of temporary control at one end, undoing Yates for 53 when he just failed to clear long off in the ninth but it was clear by now that high scoring was certain. And while Mullaney, a seventh bowler, allowed only six from the twelfth, the Bears, on 121 for two, had the platform for an onslaught.
Hain reached his fifty from 29 balls, three more than had Yates, but Hose actually outscored both in slamming his 88 from just 35, ten of them dispatched for six and another three for four. No bowler escaped brutal mistreatment but, in retrospect, Luke Fletcher with ‘only’ 35 off his four overs was positively miserly.
Not quite so effective as the Bears own men would prove later in forcing the Outlaws sudden decline. As the asking rate soared, Patel smashed to wide mid wicket to be caught for two and Calvin Harrison went for the dsame score, bowled off stump by Stone. Dan Christian, caught cutting, was ninth out for 33 but the game had long gone.
Northamptonshire vs Lancashire, North Group County Ground, Northampton
Josh Cobb led from the front as Northamptonshire made light of missing Chris Lynn through injury to thrash group leaders Lancashire by seven wickets at Wantage Road.
Lynn was ruled with a calf strain, but Cobb, dropped on nought, filled the void with plenty of cricketing pyrotechnics, his 57 off 32 balls including three sixes as the hosts chased down a target of 154 with 22 balls to spare.
Ben Curran provided great support with 50 of his own against a Lancashire side without their own big-hitting talisman Liam Livingstone away on England duty.
The visitors clearly missed him as despite skipper Dane Villas’s 38 and an explosive 31(10 balls) from Tim David they could only muster 153-7. Graeme White and Ben Sanderson both returned two for 28, while Tom Taylor (one for 21) was even more frugal.
Lancashire opted to bat, but on a slightly two-paced pitch they struggled for fluency, losing openers Josh Bohannon and Keaton Jennings inside five overs, the latter caught at mid-on off Taylor.
Villas provided much needed momentum, sweeping White for six before hitting Freddie Heldreich back over his head for another maximum as he dominated a 50-stand with Steven Croft
White extracted revenge when he forced Villas to hole out at mid-on, but that brought Lancashire leading run scorer in the competition David to the crease.
The Singalese all-rounder quickly made his mark hitting Heldreich for four successive sixes, the first two endangering the commentary box before he twice hit inside out over cover, the young spinner gaining recompense for the bruising when Croft lofted him to White in the deep from the final ball of the over.
David was then dropped at deep square by Saif Zaib, only to be caught next ball, the impressive White the successful bowler, and after he departed Lancashire mustered just two boundaries in the remainder of their innings.
Emilio Gay (30), making his first appearance at the top of the order in T20, took two early fours off Croft, before evading a beamer from Richard Gleeson for which the seamer was warned. By the time the left-hander drilled Danny Lamb to David at mid-on, the Steelbacks were already ahead of the rate.
Curran took up the mantle with three fours off another Gleeson over, before David’s eventful night continued as he reprieved Cobb on nought, failing to lay a hand on a mishit which to add insult to injury went for four.
Cobb set about making the most of the let off, belting Luke Wells into the crowd before clattering a short one from Gleeson onto the top of the burger stall beneath the main scoreboard as the 100 came up inside 10 overs.
Cobb was missed again on 40, Tom Hartley grassing the chance at backward point, and he made the errant fielder pay, slapping him for a flat, straight six. He moved to 50 soon afterwards from 28 balls before being caught in the deep off Matt Parkinson.
Curran’s own 50 came from 13 balls more and though he fell on the brink of victory, the Steelbacks coasted home for a statement win.
Somerset vs Gloucestershire, South Group Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton
Rapid half-centuries from Rilee Rossouw and Lewis Gregory paved the way for Somerset to clinch a Vitality Blast double over arch-rivals Gloucestershire with a seven-run win at a packed Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.
On a sweltering evening, the hosts recovered from a slow start to run up 184 for six, Rossouw smacking 54 off 45 balls, with 3 sixes and 5 fours, while Gregory hammered 60 from 36 deliveries, clearing the ropes five times.
Mohammad Amir (two for 25) and Benny Howell (two for 31) were the pick of bowlers for Gloucestershire, who made a promising start in reply, but were eventually restricted to 177 for eight.
Ryan Higgins hit 43 and Benny Howell 42, but the visitors lost their way in mid-innings. Peter Siddle claimed three for 30 and Roelof van der Merwe one for 31
All the talk before the game was about 200 being a par score on a white looking pitch. But it gripped slightly to give the bowlers on both sides hope.
Somerset soon found that to their cost as Will Smeed swung at the first two deliveries of the game from Amir without making contact and edged the third to slip.
The Pakistan left-arm seamer went on to complete a wicket-maiden and far from making a fast start, the home side were becalmed on four for one at the end of the third over.
Tom Banton and Rossouw than upped the pace, only for Banton to fall for 23 in the sixth over, bowled by Glenn Phillips, which ended with Somerset 43 for two.
Tom Abell offered a tame caught and bowled to Howell, who bowled with typically clever variation of pace, line and length.
Tom Lammonby fell to an ugly shot off Zak Chappell and at the halfway point of their innings his side had posted only 69 for four.
Rossouw cut loose with 2 sixes and a four off Ryan Higgins in going to a 33-ball fifty. But when he fell to Howell in the 13th over, Somerset needed a hero.
They found one in Gregory, fresh from a confidence-boosting LV= Insurance County Championship century against Surrey. The all-rounder cleared the ropes off Tom Smith, Chappell, Howell and Matt Taylor, whose 19th over cost 23, to boost what was looking a below-par score.
The highlight of Gloucestershire’s fielding was stunning one-handed boundary catch by Miles Hammond to dismiss Ben Green.
Hammond soon signalled his side’s intentions with the bat, hoisting the first ball of their reply from Siddle over mid-wicket for six.
Somerset appeared to have learned little about the left-handed opener’s relish for scoring in that area from the reverse fixture eight day earlier and soon he was finding it again for another maximum off Gregory.
Ultimately, it proved Hammond’s downfall as, on 19, he miscued a catch to wicketkeeper Banton off Jack Brooks. But by then Gloucestershire had raced to 33 off 3.1 overs.
At the end of the six-over powerplay, the visitors had 51 for one on the board and looked well-placed.
But Somerset then applied the sort of mid-innings squeeze their opponents have been so effective at over the years, spinners van der Merwe and Goldsworthy sharing six overs for just 42 runs.
James Bracey (30), Glenn Phillips, Ian Cockbain and Jack Taylor all fell between the eighth and 13th over, the last of them to a one-handed boundary catch by Rossouw at long-on that rivalled Hammond’s.
Higgins and Howell briefly raised Gloucestershire hopes, the latter hitting sixes off successive balls from Green, before Siddle’s experience saw him effectively close out the match by taking three wickets in the 19th over.
Surrey vs Middlesex, South Group Kia Oval, London
Sunil Narine showcased his world-class all-round short form skills as a 30,000 full house at the Kia Oval saw Surrey overwhelm Middlesex by seven wickets to maintain their unbeaten record at the top of the Vitality Blast’s South Group.
West Indies star Narine included four sixes his 29-ball 51 not out as Surrey made it seven wins from eight Blast matches, plus a no result against Glamorgan. For Middlesex it was an unwanted sixth successive defeat.
Ollie Pope finished unbeaten on 37 as Surrey cruised to 158 for 3 in 15.1 overs in reply to Middlesex’s 155 for 8, in which Luke Hollman’s modest 31 was the top score and both Narine and Surrey captain Chris Jordan took 2 for 27 from their four-over allocations.
Will Jacks’s explosive 43 from 20 balls gave Surrey the perfect start to their chase, the gifted 23-year-old driving and upper-cutting two remarkable sixes over cover off suffering paceman Tom Helm in a fourth over costing 18 runs.
Jacks then flicked another effortless six behind square leg as 17 more came from the next over, Jason Behrendorff’s third, a tally that included a beautiful extra cover four from Pope.
It was fast left-armer Behrendorff who had dismissed Jamie Smith for 15, caught at deep mid wicket after taking three fours in the previous over from off spinner Chris Green.
Jacks mishit Hollman’s leg spin to long off in the seventh over and Laurie Evans was also caught there for 5 as he tried to hit Thilan Walallawita’s left-arm for six.
But that only brought in Narine, who warmed to his task by hitting Hollman straight for six before taking two sixes from the next over, bowled by Helm. Narine then ended the game by thumping Behrendorff for another six, taking his unbroken fourth wicket stand with Pope to 73 off 7.3 overs.
It did not help Middlesex’s cause, in such a one-sided London derby, that their captain Stephen Eskinazi was sent back and run out for 25 off 19 balls after looking in good touch.
Middlesex were 51 for 2 after the six-over powerplay, 84 for 3 at halfway and 121 for 5 after 15 overs. At no stage did they threaten to overpower Surrey’s seven-strong bowling attack, and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Max Holden’s first attempt at a big shot, in the second over, merely ended up as a horribly skewed mishit off Jacks’ off spin to backward point and the left-handed opener departed for 3.
Joe Cracknell did loft his second ball high over mid off for six, off Jacks, and also thumped Dan Worrall’s first ball, at the start of the fourth over, over long off for another maximum.
But Cracknell, having edged a rapid Worrall bouncer fortuitously over the keeper for four, was then deceived by a slower ball later in the Australian paceman’s opening over and held at deep mid wicket for 19.
Eskinazi, guiding Jacks just to the left of Pope at backward point from the last ball of the eighth over, was furious with his partner John Simpson when refused a sharp single and run out by Pope’s throw to keeper Smith.
Jack Davies began with two fours in mystery spinner Narine’s first over, with reverse and orthodox sweeps, but lost Simpson for 25 in the 11th when the Middlesex keeper skied Jordan to extra cover after battling through 22 balls in a vain effort to give the innings some momentum.
Davies (17) then reverse slapped Narine weakly to short third man and Green (14) hit a full Atkinson delivery to mid off. Martin Andersson, down the pitch and swishing desperately at Narine, was stumped for 6 and Hollman’s 28-ball innings ended from the last ball when he clubbed Jordan to long on.
Durham vs Yorkshire, North Group Emirates Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
An onslaught from Adam Lyth was decisive in guiding Yorkshire Vikings to a comfortable 65-run victory over Durham in their Vitality Blast clash at Seat Unique Riverside. The left-hander blasted 81 from 46 balls to set the tone for the Vikings at the top of the order, dominating the Durham bowlers. Lyth was supported by Finn Allen and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who finished 48 not out in their innings of 201 for five. Scott Borthwick limited the damage with figures of three for 34, but the chase was always going to be an uphill challenge. Durham were unable to time the ball off the square in the same manner as the visitors amid tight bowling. Michael Jones and Ollie Robinson were the only players to find their range without threatening to chase down the total. Jack Shutt enjoyed another successful outing at Chester-le-Street with figures of four for 35, having claimed five for 11 on his previous T20 visit, which allowed the visitors to canter towards their fifth victory of the campaign. After opting to bat, Lyth quickly found his range against the Durham attack, dispatching Paul Coughlin for three-straight fours, including a sublime strike over cover. Allen responded to keep the pressure on the home side with three boundaries of his own from Liam Trevaskis' first over. The Yorkshire openers raced to their fifty partnership from 21 balls, capitalising on mediocre bowling. Lyth ended the powerplay by drilling a boundary just past the diving Ashton Turner to propel Yorkshire to 79 without loss. The left-hander notched his second fifty against Durham of the campaign in a blistering 24 deliveries, sweeping Nathan Sowter to the fence to secure the milestone. Borthwick made the breakthrough by bowling Allen for 48, but only after the Vikings cruised by the 100-run mark after eight overs. They maintained their intensity, scoring at 10 runs per over through the middle stages as Kohler-Cadmore provided ample support for Lyth, crashing Borthwick for a maximum into the County Durham Stand. However, Durham staged a fightback as the visitors lost four wickets in 13 balls. Borthwick bounced back from being struck for a six by removing Lyth for 81 and then Harry Brook for a first-ball duck as Jonathan Bushnell claimed two catches in the deep. Shadab Khan and Will Fraine then fell cheaply, reducing the Vikings from 164 for one to 170 for five. Late striking from Kohler-Cadmore and Jordan Thompson propelled Yorkshire above 200, but the home side gave themselves a glimmer of hope after limiting the damage. In their chase Durham failed to get going from the off, and lost Graham Clark early when he was clean bowled by Dom Leech for seven. The hosts could not muster the same timing as the Yorkshire top order, scoring only 42 from the powerplay as the required run rate leaped to over 11. Shutt cranked up the pressure by dismissing Michael Jones for 34 and skipper Turner on his return from a shoulder injury for three to reduce Durham to 66 for three at the halfway stage. Robinson offered resistance with a decent knock of 44 from 34 balls, including back-to-back sixes into the leg-side off Shutt. However, the off-spinner had his revenge from the following delivery to notch his third wicket and effectively end the contest, although he added another scalp by dismissing Trevaskis to cap a fine road performance.
Hampshire vs Kent, North Group Ageas Rose Bowl, Southampton
James Vince demolished Kent Spitfires with an obscene Vitality Blast century as Hampshire Hawks romped to a fifth straight victory.
Hawks skipper Vince recorded his third T20 century with exactly 100 in 54 balls as he combined with Tom Prest – who impressed with his second format fifty – for a 128 stand for the second wicket.
With Ross Whiteley’s six-ball 23, the hosts bashed their third-highest T20 score of 221 – something Spitfires never looked like chasing, eventually falling 54 runs short, in front of the largest Ageas Bowl crowd of the season.
After four straight losses to start the Blast, Hampshire have got on a roll and moved into the top four for the first time. Holders Kent remain rooted to the bottom of the South Group with two wins from nine.
Having been stuck in, Hampshire were only 32 for one – Ben McDermott skied Grant Stewart – at the end of the powerplay, and 12 of those came in the sixth over. That inauspicious start ramped up as Prest and Vince found their gears quickly.
They started by using the expansive Ageas Bowl outfield to milk ones and twos, before accelerating into boundaries. The turning point from normal accumulation to intergalactic striking was Stewart’s third over which went for 25 runs. Prest started with a slog-swept six before Vince rounded it out with six, six, four.
From then on, the Hawks flew. Only one over in the second half of the innings went for fewer than nine runs. Both Prest and Vince reached half-centuries in 34 balls as they became the first Hampshire duo to put on 100 together in a T20 versus Kent.
After Vince had taken George Linde for 17, including a huge maximum over the leg side, Qais Ahmad ended the partnership on 128. Prest’s slog sweep only went up as he departed for a season-best 52.
If Vince had noticed his partner had morphed into Joe Weatherley or not his steely demeanour and crisp ball-striking wasn’t affected. His second fifty came in 19 balls – 53 balls in total – and was coloured by three towering sixes into the leg side and five fours.
He fell a ball later, which only brought Whiteley to the crease. He and Weatherley put on 40 in 10 balls to take Hawks miles past 200 – with 30 coming off the final over.
The ginormous score, albeit the third-highest around the country on Friday night, was only beaten in Hampshire's record books by 249 at Derbyshire in 2017 and 225 vs Middlesex at home in 2006.
Kent’s reply couldn’t have started worse as Daniel Bell-Drummond and Jordan Cox were both caught in the ring before the end of the third over. Sam Billings was bowled by James Fuller not long after, but Joe Denly and Alex Blake added 54 to momentarily fight back.
Denly drilled to long off, Alex Blake to long-on, Linde to a sprawling mid-off, Jack Leaning was cleaned up and Qais was caught and bowled as Kent ended up on 167 for eight and Hampshire cruised to the two points.
Essex vs Sussex, South Group County Ground, Chelmsford
Australian all-rounder Daniel Sams thrashed his maiden Vitality Blast half-century against Sussex Sharks to guide Essex Eagles to their highest-ever total in the tournament and a third win in four games.
Sams hammered 71 from just 24 deliveries, including six sixes and as many fours, as Essex racked up 244 for seven at Chelmsford after being put in to bat.
Mohammad Rizwan blazed 66 from 32 to keep the Sharks’ hopes alive before former Essex star Ravi Bopara bludgeoned a valiant 51 from 26.
But it was not enough as he perished to Sams in the final over and Sussex fell just short on 233 for six – the match aggregate of 477 setting a Blast record.
Adam Rossington got the Eagles’ innings off to a brisk start, paddling the wayward Henry Crocombe for two boundaries and dispatching his former Middlesex team-mate Steven Finn back over his head for successive sixes.
The second of those blows raised the 50 partnership with Feroze Khushi (34) inside the fifth over – only for Rossington (35) to hole out to deep square leg on the very next delivery.
Michael Pepper took up the baton with a bustling 36, finding the fence regularly and sweeping Rashid Khan for six as the Afghanistan spinner’s first over in this year’s Blast disappeared for 17.
Rashid recovered to pick up the wicket of Paul Walter, who swung at a straight one and missed – but that heralded the arrival of Sams, who immediately proceeded to savage the Sussex bowling.
The Australian’s clean hitting ensured that one of Tymal Mills’ death overs cost 29 and he and Matt Critchley (34) put together a partnership of 51 from just 18 balls, with the last four overs of the innings yielding 76.
The visitors’ chances of overhauling Essex’s enormous total largely rested on a lightning start by Rizwan – and the Pakistan star, returning to the side after international duty, did his best to oblige.
Although Luke Wright departed early, pulling Ben Allison to midwicket, Rizwan and Ali Orr (38) accumulated a stand of 87 from 31, with the latter slamming Allison for a trio of sixes in one over.
Rizwan registered five maximums of his own, including a ruthless swat off Sams that flew out of the ground and, despite pulling up in pain just short of his half-century and limping from then on, he kept Sussex up with the required rate.
Aron Nijjar claimed the prized scalp of Rizwan with his second ball, deceiving him with the flight to win a leg-before appeal – but Tom Alsop (45) and Bopara maintained the chase with a partnership of 69 from 31.
However, once Critchley had Alsop and Rashid caught on the boundary in successive balls, even Bopara’s heroics were not quite enough to prevent Sussex’s fourth straight defeat.