Durham 178-7 beat Notts 112 by 66 runs
Paul Collingwood proved the match-winner for Durham in the NatWest T20 Blast tie against Nottinghamshire at chilly Chester-le-Street.
Going in at 111 for 6 in the 15th over, the 40-year-old former England T20 captain hit an unbeaten 44 off 22 balls to post a competitive 178 for 7. He then helped to ensure that the visiting big guns failed to fire as his skilful variations of pace earned him 1 for 22 in four overs in a 66-run win.
The similar bowling of Keaton Jennings saw him also get through four overs for 1 for 15, reducing Nottinghamshire to desperation. Needing 101 off the last seven overs, they threw wickets away in being dismissed for 112, Barry McCarthy and Paul Coughlin finishing with three wickets each.
Durham's total was far more than looked likely when Samit Patel's left-arm spin stifled the middle of their innings. He took 3 for 14, but Collingwood's seventh-wicket stand of 37 with Coughlin provided real impetus.
Durham took 58 off the last four overs, helped by Harry Gurney bowling three of his four wides in the 17th. He also bowled two no-balls. Two overs later Collingwood lifted the left-armer for the only two sixes of the innings in front of midwicket.
Jake Ball's only success was with his first ball, which Phil Mustard edged behind, and he went on to concede 41 in four overs. It was also not a good night for Australia international Dan Christian, whose one over cost 15 and who scored only 9 before driving a Jennings full toss straight to long-on.
Riki Wessels, who made 97 in the equivalent game last season and an unbeaten 159 in the Championship against Durham this week, top-scored with 38.
At 61 for 2 after ten overs it was down to Wessels and Christian to provide the acceleration, but after lifting McCarthy for six over long-on Wessels holed out going for repeat. When Christian swiftly followed it was as good as over.
Essex 143-3 beat Glamorgan 140-6 by 7 wickets
South African paceman Dale Steyn's debut for Glamorgan ended in defeat as New Zealand's Jesse Ryder hit 42 to help Essex on the road to victory.
Essex cruised to their modest target of 141 in the 17th over.
Glamorgan managed 140-6 after a poor start, with teenager Aneurin Donald hitting 51 off 38 balls in their only significant innings.
The experienced Ravi Bopara and David Masters conceded just 18 runs each in their four-over spells.
Donald's half-century was his first in the competition, sharing a 56-run stand for the third wicket with Colin Ingram (26).
But Glamorgan lost momentum as they lost wickets regularly, with only Chris Cooke (23 not out) adding late runs.
Steyn saw Bopara dropped off his first ball but then conceded a volley of boundaries to Ryder in his second over.
When Ryder was caught off Dean Cosker, Tom Westley took over the initiative with 41 off 29 balls and Essex were comfortable victors.
Glamorgan now face Hampshire on Friday 3 June, with Essex away to Somerset on the same night.
Sussex 222-3 beat Somerset 174 by 48 runs
Chris Gayle's return to the NatWest T20 Blast was overshadowed by a superb hundred from Chris Nash as Sussex beat Somerset in a one-sided contest at Hove to make it two wins from two in the South Group.
Nash made 112 not out from 64 balls, his first T20 century, to help his side to 222 for 3 then Gayle found the explosive pace of left-armer Tymal Mills - who had previously set out his stall to target Somerset's big-name overseas signing - too hot to handle and was yorked for 5 by a delivery timed at 93mph.
Roelof van der Merwe made a defiant 59 and Mahela Jayawardene a classy 51 but Somerset were never in contention and were bowled out in the last over for 174 to lose by 48 runs.
Nash and captain Luke Wright laid the platform for Sussex's second 200-plus total of their Blast campaign with a stand of 156 in 14 overs for the first wicket with Nash making the most of two fielding lapses. He was dropped on nought off the second ball of the match by James Hildreth at backward point and again in the fifth over by Jayawardene, having scored 17.
Wright did not hit the first six of the innings until in the seventh over but it signalled an onslaught by the Sussex batsmen, who plundered 90 off the next eight overs. Nash was first to his half-century but he was soon overtaken by his partner, who eventually found his timing in his first game of the season after recovering from back and wrist injuries.
Wright's 83 came from just 39 balls and included five sixes and eight fours as he harnessed a strong wind and targeted the Sea End boundary. It was a surprise when he played on to the legspinner Max Waller and Sussex lost Ross Taylor in the next over, caught at long-on off a mistimed drive.
But Nash pressed on and Matt Machan gave him excellent support in a third-wicket stand of 51 from 28 balls. He reached his hundred in the 19th over by hitting Jamie Overton over long-on for six before gliding the next ball to the backward point rope. He finished with 13 boundaries and three sixes from 64 balls faced. Overton took 2 for 45 but the Somerset attack were guilty of bowling too short.
An asking rate of more than 11 runs an over was always going to test Somerset and they suffered an immediate blow when Ajmal Shahzad bowled Jim Allenby for a duck with the first legitimate delivery of the innings.
But the big moment came in the next over when Mills, with the strong wind at his back, began to bowl consistently at more than 90mph. Gayle top-edged his second ball over the slips for four but when he stepped away trying to hit the next delivery through the off side he was bowled, much to the delight of a 5,500 crowd.
Sussex's other seamers complemented Mills' raw pace. South African David Wiese picked up 4 for 38 on his debut and Shahzad ended Somerset's faint hopes when he had Jayawardene caught at long on for 51 from 39 balls in the 11th over.
2nd June
Middlesex 159/9 (20/20 ov)
Gloucestershire 163/6 (19.5/20 ov)
Gloucestershire won by 4 wickets (with 1 ball remaining)
When Colin Graves drew opprobrium in the shires for describing the T20 Blast as 'mediocre', this is surely the T20 Blast he had in mind.
In some ways, Graves was just oh so depressingly right. As hard as Middlesex toiled to make this fixture work, the weather was so cold that umpire Neil Mallender wore gloves, the light so terrible that it seemed a miracle that the game was completed and, consequently, a crowd of a tick over 2,100 - in the circumstances, a success - showed up.
As with this competition as a whole, just too much was left to the chance of a sunny evening to be an adequate spectator experience. And, given not a soul was able to watch on TV (the broadcasters' sole contribution was sending a single camera), the spectator experience is all that matters. When a sluggish pitch and a Neil Shipperley-paced outfield were thrown in, as pretty and quaint as all this was, it did not really feel like T20 cricket at all; one senses that this is not quite what Stuart Robertson had in mind when he founded the format 13 years ago. The Big Bash was not looking north green-eyed.
Such are the perils of a 135-game season. Yet take a look at the talent on display, particularly in Middlesex's top order but also in Gloucestershire's workmanlike side, and it is clear how much the Blast had going for it. Brendon McCullum, making his debut for the club, Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan all failed, yet - having, inevitably, given the light, elected to bat - still cobbled together a score good enough to take the game to the penultimate ball thanks to half-centuries from Paul Stirling and Adam Voges.
The hardy folk who came to see McCullum bat got five balls worth of value. He nudged the first two - with the crowd utterly silent - into the offside, defended the third, then smashed the fourth against a strong wind over cow for six; just as the party had started, though, he toed into the legside - losing his bat in the process - and Graeme van Buuren ran round to take a return catch. Three balls later, Michael Klinger, back-peddling from slip, took a fine diving catch to dismiss Malan.
Stirling immediately found his flow, pulling Andrew Tye's first ball for six and cutting powerfully, but Morgan was more watchful. After a series of hard-run singles, Morgan hoicked Tom Smith for six, but tamely clothed the excellent Benny Howell to long-off next ball. Stirling and Voges got to work, with the former hitting van Buuren for a straight six, then cover driving Howell. He became the third Middlesex batsman to get out a ball after clearing the ropes, skying Howell to the wicketkeeper.
Voges, who finished unbeaten on 52, manned a rather chaotic ending, joined briefly by some lusty slogger Toby Roland-Jones, who was twice dropped at cover by Klinger, before becoming Tye's second victim, caught at third man. The next two balls, the last of the innings, saw James Fuller and Harry Podmore run out. As Stirling said after, 159 seemed par, but nothing more.
Roland-Jones ensured Middlesex's defence got off to the perfect start, bowling Klinger in his first over and having Hamish Marshall caught at point in his second. Iain Cockbain and Chris Dent settled in, however, to share 65 and appeared to be breezing home. Cockbain was strong through midwicket, particularly to Ravi Patel's spin, while Dent twice turned the seamers through square leg for four.
When Cockbain sent Franklin straight down long-on's throat, Dent charged on in the sprightly company of Howell, before being brilliantly stumped by John Simpson off Stirling. From there, with Howell skying to Patel off his own bowling and Jack Taylor superbly worked by the rather wild and ragged Fuller, who let a beamer slip, fell in consecutive overs to keep Middlesex, whose fielding had become ragged, interested.
So to the final over, with barely any light remaining, and nine required. Podmore found three perfect deliveries, but Gareth Roderick then sliced past a diving point and clipped sweetly to leg for a handsome six to seal Gloucestershire's eighth consecutive T20 win over Middlesex. The finish, for those who could see it through the gloom, was not so mediocre at all.
Yorkshire 173/6 (20/20 ov)
Worcestershire 174/3 (19.1/20 ov)
Worcestershire won by 7 wickets (with 5 balls remaining)
Worcestershire extended their 100% start to the NatWest T20 Blast campaign, registering a third straight victory when overcoming Yorkshire by seven wickets in front of 4,000 spectators at New Road.
Yorkshire's poor form in the competition continued despite a late blitz in which Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan took 61 from the last 17 balls to raise a total of 173 for 6. Plunkett smashed 34 not out from 10 deliveries and followed that by dismissing Worcestershire's openers but in a well-paced reply, Alexei Kervezee made 52 not out in 37 balls as the Rapids reached their target at the start of the last over.
Daryl Mitchell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit the right note from the outset, and although pegged back by wickets in successive overs from Plunkett, Worcestershire were given new momentum by Joe Clarke's 34 from 23 balls until the England Lions batsman drove Adil Rashid to long-off.
When Kervezee was joined by Brett D'Oliveira in the 12th over, the total was already beyond 100 and with barely a sign of trouble, they saw their team home. With D'Oliveira 34 not out from 20 balls, the matchwinning partnership produced 66 from 7.2 overs.
Until Plunkett's fireworks at the end, Yorkshire's batting was mostly workaday on a slow surface which enabled the seamers to pick off wickets on a regular basis. The barrel-chested Joe Leach took wickets in three consecutive overs, signing off with 3 for 33, but a straight six by Bresnan three balls from the end of his spell opened the floodgates.
The next over from Ed Barnard cost 30 runs as Plunkett embarked on a sequence of 6-4-6-6-4 from five deliveries, one of which was a no-ball. Bresnan then waded into Matt Henry in the final over, striking 14 off three balls as Yorkshire completely transformed the match. From looking at a total in the region of 140, they were in a position to put little more pressure on Worcestershire's batsmen.
The top of the order had been held together by Alex Lees, Yorkshire's one-day captain going about his business with a minimum of fuss. He never seemed to be in a hurry but with skilful placement and good timing he was able to make 46 from 36 balls.
David Wiilley's return from injury was short-lived when he chopped on a ball from Barnard in the fifth over and Rashid was quickly run out from Kervezee's slick pick-up and return from deep midwicket. When Lees went in the 11th over, his leg stump knocked sideways in a good containing spell by Mitchell, Jack Leaning and Gary Ballance made 24 apiece and both drove the recalled Chris Russell for six until the intervention by Leach.
Leaning was caught behind attempting to pull a bouncer that gripped in the pitch and Ballance was bowled middle stump. In between these wickets, Will Rhodes emulated Wiilley's dismissal by dragging on.
Hampshire 158/8 (20/20 ov)
Kent 149 (19.3/20 ov)
Hampshire won by 9 runs
Nerveless bowling from Shahid Afridi kick-started Hampshire's hopes of a seventh successive Natwest T20 Blast Finals Day. Afridi's of 3 for 33, including the key wicket of Daniel Bell-Drummond, and a rapid 21 helped his new county to a nine-run victory over Kent.
After being put in by Kent captain Sam Northeast, Michael Carberry got Hampshire going with a firm cut to the boundary before hooking Matt Coles fine for another four.
Skipper James Vince, released by England to play in both this game and against Glamorgan on Friday, beautifully drove former academy pal David Griffiths to the point ropes. But the fast bowler had the last laugh as Vince tamely cut to Blake at cover.
Jimmy Adams carted the first Ageas Bowl maximum of the season, pinged way over midwicket. Carberry joined the six hitting party with a huge slog sweep as the hosts reached 47 for 1 at the end of the Powerplay, and Griffiths boasting impressive two over figures of 1 for 5.
The end of the fielding restrictions slowed Hampshire up, as Adams was caught on the deep-square leg boundary by Fabian Cowdrey - only 11 more runs coming before the halfway point.
After being on the receiving end of a Coles beamer, Adam Wheater was caught at third man - a full 180 degrees from where he aimed the shot. The wicket gave the Ageas Bowl fans their first viewing of Afridi, and he did not disappoint as he carved a four through the off side before skipping down the track to boom one to the fence.
The Pakistan allrounder upped the run rate to reignite hopes of setting a defendable score, putting on 40 with Carberry before being bowled by Cowdrey swinging wildly. Carberry had gone about his work quietly reaching a solid fifty from 49 balls - but the glue of the innings departed after firing to the long-on boundary.
Sean Ervine scooped behind first ball before Darren Sammy, on his first appearance since captaining the West Indies to the World T20, skewed a six off his legs. Sammy and Liam Dawson accelerated Hampshire to 158 for 8, although both found fielders in the final over.
Bell-Drummond rode his luck in the early stages of the chase: firstly Gareth Andrew thought he had him caught behind but the umpire adjust the leg-side ball to have flicked the hip. Then Ervine dropped a chance running in from the rope, before Bell-Drummond survived a close run out chance.
But that only encouraged Bell-Drummond as he confidently took himself to a half-century from 43 deliveries - which included a sumptuous straight drive off Tino Best.
Around him, Dawson bowled Denly for 31 just before the 10-over point, and then Afridi stood arms and legs stretched as he knocked over Northeast.
Sam Billings, on his IPL return, was lbw to Gareth Berg but Darren Stevens entered the fray and slogged Dawson for a six and then a four. Sammy got his first scalp of the campaign having the veteran Stevens leg before, before Alex Blake chipped a slower ball back to him next ball.
Bell-Drummond, who had done an identical role to Carberry, was finally stumped by a sharp piece of keeping by Wheater as Afridi came alive; the next ball Coles slogged straight into the hands of Dawson.
Andrew had Cowdrey pinned down lbw and Best knocked over James Tredwell's middle stump. Griffith smashed a six but Berg had the last laugh as he forced an edge and a stunning catch behind the stumps made sure Hampshire were the victors.
3rd June
Gloucestershire 146-3 beat Kent 144-7 by 7 wickets
In rapidly deteriorating light, the departure of Hamish Marshall for 56 suddenly made this game very interesting, leaving Gloucestershire needing six off the last over, delivered by Darren Stevens.
But any lingering doubts in the away dressing room were quickly dispelled when Chris Dent flayed a straight six over the sightscreen from the second ball of the over.
One blow in the end was all that was needed.
That's a third win in a week in all competitions for Gloucestershire - and well deserved it was too.
Somerset 181-3 beat Essex 178-7 by 7 wickets
Somerset have completed a routine win over Essex with 13 balls to spare.
Chris Gayle did the damage early on in the pursuit of 179. The Jamaican fell one short of a half-century in his 23-ball knock.
But, once he'd hit 26 off five consecutive balls in one David Masters over, the game was over as a contest.
Captain Jim Allenby and Lewis Gregory both finished unbeaten on 37 to get the hosts their first win in this year's competition.
That's a stunning performance from Glamorgan who have well and truly beaten Hampshire with 23 balls to spare.
The highlights of the night has to be the bowling performances of Michael Hogan (4-28) and Dale Steyn (3-22) to restrict Hampshire to 141 as well as the fine 55 from Aneurin Donald when Glamorgan went out to bat.
It all looked so promising for Hampshire when James Vince and Michael Carberry enjoyed a 30-run first-wicket stand, but not even a middle order appearance from Shahid 'Boom Boom' Afridi could stop the rot.
The hosts win their second T20 Blast match in three matches as they go into the One Day Cup full of steam.
Lancashire 204-7 beat Yorkshire 178-7 by 26 runs
It's been a bit of a procession for some time now, but Lancashire have done it! Joe Root can't get the ball away in George Edwards' final over and finishes unbeaten on 92.
Edwards has figures of 3-33. Yorkshire have been thoroughly outgunned by their biggest rivals. It's been a bit of a procession for some time now, but Lancashire have done it! Joe Root can't get the ball away in George Edwards' final over and finishes unbeaten on 92.
Edwards has figures of 3-33. Yorkshire have been thoroughly outgunned by their biggest rivals.
Northants 147-3 beat Worcestershire 144-6 by 7 wickets
Northants complete a comprehensive victory over Worcestershire with 21 balls to spare. Josh Cobb hammers a four and then a six to win it off Joe Leach. Cobb finishes unbeaten on 56 from just 45 balls.
Only Worcestershire skipper Daryl Mitchell (44 not out) could post a respectable score with the bat earlier as the Rapids struggled to get going.
Derbyshire 123-6 beat Leicestershire 120 by 4 wickets
A cameo from Shiv Thakor is enough to help Derbyshire home with 12 balls to spare.
The former Leicestershire man punishes his old side with three fours in four Kevin O'Brien deliveries to seal the visitors' fate.
Thakor ends on 14 not out, while James Neesham is unbeaten on 29.
Derbyshire travel to Notts next and they will be full of confidence after this victory.
Surrey 205-4 beat Sussex 182-5 by 23 runs
David Wiese has a bit of a swing in the final over hitting Dwayne Bravo for a six and a four, but it's too little too late for Sussex.
An entertaining game at Hove, but the home crowd go away disappointed.
Birmingham 155-1 beat Durham 154-9 by 9 wickets
Varun Chopra finishes unbeaten on 97 as Birmingham complete a very comprehensive victory over Durham at Edgbaston.
Chopra, making his first T20 appearance of the season, shared an opening stand of 94 with captain Ian Bell.
He couldn't quite reach three figures though before the end as he and William Porterfield failed to engineer the strike for him.
4th June
Lancashire 184/4 (20/20 ov)
Nottinghamshire 185/8 (19.4/20 ov)
Nottinghamshire won by 2 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)
Despite rapid half-centuries from Riki Wessels and Michael Lumb, Nottinghamshire needed the help of six penalty runs before scraping over the line to defeat Lancashire by two wickets in their NatWest T20 encounter at Trent Bridge.
Wessels made 58 and Lumb scored 53 but the home side then collapsed in pursuit of a victory target of 185, before a dramatic intervention from the rule book. Needing 15 runs from the last over, Notts were awarded those six penalty runs as the defending champions hadn't been in a position to begin their last over before the allotted cut-off time.
A Sam Wood maximum, heaved high over the leg-side boundary, either side of a couple of scrambled singles, left Luke Fletcher to clip Arron Lilley away for the winning run, with two deliveries remaining.
After Jos Buttler's unbeaten 56 had helped Lancashire to 184 for 4, Notts had been sent on their way by their openers, with Wessels scoring his runs from 31 balls, with seven fours and three sixes, while Lumb registered his first fifty in domestic T20 cricket since July 2013.
The chase got off to an explosive start, with 72 runs coming from the six Powerplay overs. The opening partnership had been extended to 100, a county T20 record against the Red Rose, by the time Lumb hit Stephen Parry to deep midwicket. Wessels was then bowled by Jordan Clark, who also removed Samit Patel for nought, before George Edwards grabbed 3 for 38, as Notts slumped from 143 for 2 to 168 for 8.
Earlier, Buttler's 27-ball 50 ensured the visitors finished their innings on a positive note. Martin Guptill and Alviro Petersen had put 40 on for the first wicket, before Harry Gurney had the New Zealand international caught in the deep for 28. Petersen followed for 21, trapped lbw by Patel, one delivery after lofting the spinner back over his head for six.
Patel also removed the dangerous Liam Livingstone, who edged behind to Wessels. The wicketkeeper then handed over the gloves to Brendan Taylor, with the former Zimbabwe captain remaining behind the sticks for the second half of the innings.
Karl Brown followed up his Roses' half century on Friday evening with another handy contribution, although he should have fallen on 39 when he received a grateful gift from a close friend - Steven Mullaney, Brown's pal from their days together in the Lancashire academy, put down the simplest of caught-and-bowled chances.
Wessels, out on the ropes this time, took his second catch of the innings to remove Brown but that only enabled Buttler to take centre stage for some belligerent hitting, late in the innings. Three sixes in four balls, two of them from consecutive Gurney deliveries, helped take Buttler to his half-century and onwards to an unbroken 59-run partnership with Steven Croft.
After two defeats, Notts now have their first victory in this season's competition, while Lancashire's record now stands at one win and three losses.
Durham 120/9 (20/20 ov)
Leicestershire 123/4 (16.3/20 ov)
Leicestershire won by 6 wickets (with 21 balls remaining)
Leicestershire's bowlers were at their best as the Foxes completed their second T20 victory of the season, beating Durham by six wickets.
Asked to bat after losing the toss, Durham made a bad start when the in-form Phil Mustard edged Clint McKay's first delivery to wicketkeeper Niall O'Brien, the ball leaving the left-hander off the pitch.
In the next over Mark Stoneman missed a full toss from Ben Raine and was bowled, and Durham did not help themselves when Michael Richardson played a McKay delivery straight to Raine at short extra cover and called Graham Clark for an unlikely single. Raine's direct hit left the unfortunate Clark well short of his ground.
Richardson's short innings came to an end when he lifted Kevin O'Brien gently to Leicestershire captain Mark Pettini at mid-off, and when Ryan Pringle was bowled by Raine, missing an airy drive at a delivery which went on to hit the off stump, the Jets were 26 for 5.
In the circumstances Keaton Jennings and Callum MacLeod could not afford to take risks as they looked to rebuild the innings, and though they added 58 runs for the sixth wicket, they did not increase the run rate to more than six an over.
MacLeod, feeling the pressure, tried to switch hit the medium pace of Neil Dexter and top edged an easy catch to McKay at short fine leg, and Kevin O'Brien calmly held two catches on the boundary to see the end of Scott Borthwick and Barry McCarthy, in between those two dismissals running out Jennings with a direct hit as the batsman tried to regain his ground after being sent back.
Required to defend a total of just 120, Durham needed early wickets, and Chris Rushworth picked up two to give them hope, first ripping out Mark Cosworth's off stump with the ball of the match, and then squaring up Pettini and inducing the opener to offer a simple caught-and-bowled opportunity.
Kevin O'Brien pulled a short ball from Borthwick high to Richardson on the midwicket boundary, the delivery staying a little low, and when the left-handed Raine pulled another Borthwick short ball straight to MacLeod at short midwicket, the visitors were still in the game.
The pitch was essentially good, however, and without the pressure of needing to score quickly, Umar Akmal (26 not out) and Niall O'Brien (33 not out) calmly steered their side to victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment