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Tuesday 31 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Yorkshire 187/5
Leicestershire 127/9
Yorkshire win by 60 runs




Surrey 194/4
Glamorgan 195/6
Glamorgan win by 4 wickets

Sunday 29 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Somerset beat Middlesex on a rain-hit day in the T20 Blast as Lewis Gregory hit 62 and then took four wickets.
Half-centuries from Peter Trego (60 from 31 balls) and Gregory (62 from 26) helped the hosts win by 38 runs (DLS).
Sunday's action was otherwise spoiled by wet weather, with three of the four scheduled fixtures being abandoned.
No balls were bowled at Sussex's match at home to Hampshire, Kent Spitfires' trip to Glamorgan or Lancashire Lightning's visit to Worcestershire

Saturday 28 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Derbyshire170/5
Yorkshire 166/8
Derbyshire won by 5 wickets.


Durham 136/3
Nottinghamshire 132/7
Durham won by 7 wickets

Friday 27 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Thursday's game

Middlesex 165-8 (20 overs): Stirling 60
Hampshire 143 (18.5 overs): Munro 58; Agar 3-17, Finn 3-21
Middlesex won by 22 runs

Middlesex recorded their second win in the T20 Blast as a great fightback with the ball helped them beat Hampshire by 22 runs.

The hosts posted 165-8, with Paul Stirling hitting 60 from 44 balls and Dwayne Bravo adding 20 off 11.

Hampshire were well set in the chase but Sam Northeast fell for 27 and Colin Munro 58 in quick succession as they slipped from 89-1 to 143 all out.

Australia spinner Ashton Agar took 3-17 and Steven Finn 3-21.

Middlesex's total looked a little short as Max Holden, John Simpson and Dwayne Bravo were all run out in Hampshire's slick fielding display.

Despite losing James Vince - caught and bowled to Finn - in the first over of their reply, Hampshire were cruising until left-arm spinner Ashton Agar turned the game.

Northeast was stumped and two overs later Munro and Rilee Russouw departed in consecutive balls as Agar recorded his best T20 figures.

Tom Helm dismissed Lewis McManus for a duck and former England seamer Finn struck twice in two balls.


Middlesex move up to seventh in the South Group, while Hampshire replace them at the bottom.

Wednesday 25 July 2018

County Championship Round 8

SPECSAVERS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP - DIVISION TWO 


Lancashire beat Yorkshire by 118 runs
———————————————————————————
3 results

Division One
Somerset (337 & 362-9d) beat Worcestershire (257 & 301) by 141 runs
Surrey beat Notts by an innings and 183 runs

Division Two
Middlesex 236 & 242 v Warwickshire 276 & 184 (Middlesex win by 18 runs)
Gloucestershire (362 & 252) beat Durham (275 & 298) by 41 runs
Derbyshire beat Northants by 39 runs

Tuesday 24 July 2018

2 Tests SL 2-0 SA

2nd Test

Day 4

Sri Lanka 338 (Dhananjaya 60, Gunathilaka 57, Maharaj 9-129) & 275 for 5 decl (Karunaratne 85, Mathews 71, Maharaj 3-154) beat South Africa 124 (du Plessis 48, Dananjaya 5-52, Dilruwan 4-40) & 290 (de Bruyn 101, Bavuma 63, Herath 6-98) by 199 runs


Theunis de Bruyn scored his first Test century, in his sixth match, to make Sri Lanka work for their series win. But he could not prevent the inevitable. The hosts wrapped up victory 40 minutes after lunch on the fourth day, to seal the series 2-0.
Sri Lanka's spinners took all 20 wickets in the match, and 37 of South Africa's 40 wickets in the series. Dilruwan Perera finished as the joint leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps, level with Keshav Maharaj, South Africa's other standout performer from the second Test. Rangana Herath, playing in his penultimate series most likely, took 12 wickets across the two matches, including a second-innings six-for in Colombo, his 12th five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of a match.
Herath accounted for both South Africa's main resistors on the fourth day - de Bruyn and Temba Bavuma. The pair shared South Africa's first century stand of the series, and became the only two players in their line-up to bring up fifties on the tour. Their 123-run stand is the highest by a South African pair in the fourth innings of a match in Asia. It took the Test into an 11th session, but South Africa still lost inside four days.
On the evidence of South Africa's previous three innings, Sri Lanka would have been justified in thinking they would take the remaining five wickets quickly on the fourth morning, but they were made to wait until 10 minutes before lunch for a breakthrough. De Bruyn and Bavuma were confident on the sweep shot and forced Sri Lanka to look further than their three main spinners, with Suranga Lakmal having his first bowl of the match in the 55th over, and Dhananjaya de Silva and Danushka Gunathilaka both turning their arms over.
De Bruyn showed, for the first time at international level, why he is much lauded in the domestic franchise game and may have made a strong case to be persisted with at No. 3 with a display of strong temperament and impressive strokeplay. Bavuma, who is often criticised for his slow scoring rate, took a much more positive approach and scored his 63 runs in 98 balls, a strike rate of almost 65.
Their morning was not without its nerves. Dilruwan reviewed for a catch at short leg when Bavuma was on 20 but Ultra Edge showed there was no contact between bat and ball, as the delivery turned down leg and Sri Lanka lost their first review. De Bruyn almost sent a Herath delivery into the hands of Angelo Mathews at slip but the next ball he faced, he punched through the covers to bring up his maiden Test fifty, in 118 balls.
Both batsmen grew in confidence as the session went on, despite the number of times Sri Lanka's bowlers seemed to have the better of them. Herath beat Bavuma on the front foot often but the batsman bisected square leg and fine leg to send a Herath delivery to the boundary; Herath also drew a leading edge from de Bruyn that fell safe but de Bruyn established authority with shots like the pull off Lakmal to square leg. Bavuma's half-century came off 69 balls, and he may have been eyeing a long-overdue second Test hundred but, with lunch looming, pushed forward to a Herath delivery and was caught behind.
Quinton de Kock opened his account with a reverse-sweep, which suggested his time in the middle could be fun, but it ended on the stroke of lunch. De Kock was given out lbw to a Herath delivery and the batsman reviewed. Replays showed "umpires call" on leg stump to end a disappointing tour for de Kock, who scored 53 runs in four innings.
De Bruyn may have been concerned about running out of partners as his hundred approached but Kagiso Rabada negotiated the second new ball well to stay with him for an eighth-wicket stand of 34. Rabada even showed off his own prowess, with a thunderous six over Herath's head. De Bruyn brought up his century off 228 balls with a paddle to fine leg and was dismised four balls later, leaving an arm ball, to give Herath his fifth.
Three balls later, Rabada edged Dilruwan to first slip and in the next over, Steyn smacked Herath for six and then tried to slog him over the top but only got the toe end of his bat and was caught at long-on. Herath's six-for was not enough to earn him the Man-of-the-Match award, which went to Dimuth Karunaratne, who was also named Man of the Series. Karunaratne scored 356 runs in the series, more than double his nearest competitor, opening partner Gunathilaka, who racked up 161. South Africa's top-scorer was fourth on the list - Faf du Plessis with 105 runs.

Day 1

SL 277/9

SA

Keshav Maharaj singlehandedly kept South Africa competing on a dry pitch in Colombo, where claiming the best figures by a visiting spinner on Sri Lankan soil. Maharaj was operating as the only specialist spinner in the XI, and his career-best 8 for 116 engineered mini-collapses in a Sri Lankan innings that could not sustain its strong start.

Danushka Gunathilaka and Dimuth Karunaratne, put on the first century stand for the opening pair since October 2016 , and the first at home since 2010. Both went on to score half-centuries. Dhananjaya de Silva joined them with the milestone but none of the three pushed on to three figures, and no-one in the middle-order made more than 22.

Sri Lanka lost 3 for 37 after their first-wicket stand and 5 for 41 later in the day, and may not get to 300. But with three spinners in their attack, they will believe their total is worth much more.

South Africa have armed themselves with an extra batsman to prepare for the challenge, leaving out the second specialist spinner, a selection which threatened to backfire on them when the seamers failed to make inroads.

Dale Steyn's wait to overtake Shaun Pollock as South Africa's leading wicket-taker continues. Steyn bowled 15 overs but caused few problems, fewer than Kagiso Rabada or Lungi Ngidi, who was selected ahead of Vernon Philander for this Test. Of the three, Rabada was the stand out, putting in the most work and enjoying some reward, when he claimed the only other wicket in the day.



Day 2

Sri Lanka 338 all out & 151/3 (34.0 overs)
South Africa 124 all out

Sri Lanka lead South Africa by 365 runs with 7 wickets remaining

Think Galle, and now think of how things could have become more galling for South Africa. That's what happened on the second day at the SSC, where Sri Lanka took significant strides towards a series win.

South Africa succumbed to their second-lowest total in Sri Lanka, a mere seven days after they had slumped to their lowest on the island, to concede a first-innings lead of 214 runs. Sri Lanka's spinners ripped through them for a third time, with Akila Dananjaya picking up his second five-wicket haul in his third Test. Akila had a day to remember, after also notching up a career-best undefeated 43 to help Sri Lanka swell their first-innings total to 338.

Already that seems like enough, but with three days left in the match, Sri Lanka will look to pile it on, having chosen not to enforce the follow-on, against a wearing attack. Dale Steyn remains a wicket away from overtaking Shaun Pollock as South Africa's leading Test bowler, but delivered four overs without success, bowling third change. Lungi Ngidi, who left the field in Sri Lanka's first innings after being pinged on the shin when he dropped a return catch offered by Akila in his follow-through, returned during the second innings but only bowled fourth change, forcing Faf du Plessis to use part-timers Aiden Markram and Theunis de Bruyn. Kagiso Rabada shared the new ball with Keshav Maharaj, the only bowler to make some incisions.

Maharaj's first innings nine-for surpassed Allan Donald's 8 for 71 in Harare in 1995 as the best figures by a South African bowler away from home and second-best figures by a South African in an innings, anywhere. He picked up two second-innings wickets, putting him just two behind Makhaya Ntini's 13 scalps, the most in a match by a South African, but his efforts are unlikely to save South Africa.

So far in this series, the visiting batsmen have lasted 54.3, 28.5 and 34.5 overs - a total of 118.1 overs - the equivalent of under four sessions in three innings. They have scored fewer runs in total, 323 in three innings, than Sri Lanka's top-scorer Dimuth Karunaratne, who is unbeaten on 59, with 329 runs in the series and counting.

South Africa's approach against spin continues to be muddled and they have failed to answer the most pressing questions about batting on the subcontinent. Should they play for the turn, or not? Should they sweep, or not? Should they defend, or not?

Some of them, clearly, cannot trust their defence. Like Dean Elgar. He blocked the first three balls he faced, from Dilruwan Perera, and then went forward to dead-bat a fourth but Akila got the ball to dip, spin away and take the edge. Dhananjaya de Silva took a good, low catch at second slip.

Others are unsure what the ball is doing out of the hand. Like Theunis de Bruyn, who was included as a seventh specialist batsman and moved to No.3. He played for turn to an Akila ball that went on straight and was caught behind. Or Aiden Markram. He was trapped lbw, also playing for turn against Rangana Herath.

Sri Lanka's veteran only took one wicket in South Africa's first innings, though he could have had two, Hashim Amla dropped off him when he drove to short cover only for Danushka Gunathilaka to fluff the chance. Instead, Amla became only the third South African to reach 9,000 Test runs. That number will receive its dues in years to come. For now, South Africa need him to play like a man with 9,000 runs to his name and that did not happen.

Amla showed some signs of regaining form in a 55-run stand with du Plessis which was also the second-highest partnership South Africa have posted all series, but it was du Plessis who looked in control. The captain showed intent immediately after lunch when he struck five boundaries in six balls, and needed support. Amla could not provide it when he inside-edged onto his pad to offer short leg a catch and start the procession.

Then the sweep came into play. Du Plessis prospered and perished by the shot, eventually bottom-edging a Dilruwan delivery that was confirmed to have made contact with the bat on review. Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock were both confident on the sweep, but by then, South Africa's troubles were too deep.

Bavuma chipped a catch to short leg, Maharaj top-edged a sweep to square leg and de Kock was pinned on the front pad to give Akila his fifth.


After all that, South Africa had to take the field again and looked as though they wanted to be anywhere but in Colombo. A flat first 18 overs allowed Sri Lanka's openers to race to 91 without loss, with Gunathilaka scoring a second half-century in the Test before holing out to deep midwicket. In his next over, Maharaj successfully reviewed an lbw appeal against de Silva and the only other wicket fell when Kusal Mendis was run out. Karunaratne remains in control and with Elgar extracting sharp turn in the final over of the day, it seems only one result can be achieved.


Day 3

SL 338 and 275/5d
SA 124 and 139/5
SA need another 351 runs to win

South Africa dragged the second Test into a fourth day with their best batting performance of the series against a sloppy and frustrated Sri Lankan attack. The hosts squandered four clear chances and had three unsuccessful reviews (all on umpire's call which allowed Sri Lanka to retain their reviews) which could have seen them well into South Africa's lower order. Instead, they gave the home crowd reason to return on Monday, when Sri Lanka will go in search of the remaining five wickets.
Theunis de Bruyn gave the best account of himself as a international cricketer in his short career and remained unbeaten on 45. He also featured in South Africa's highest partnership in the match, 57 runs for the second wicket with Dean Elgar, who made his top score of the series - a dogged 37.
Elgar's innings was incident-filled and he was let off three times, with Dilruwan Pereratainting his 36th birthday by being the culprit on each occasion. First, Dilruwan dropped a catch when Elgar top-edged a sweep off Rangana Herath in the third over. Dilruwan, running from square leg, settled under the ball but could not hold on to it. Then, Dilruwan overstepped after bowling Elgar on 6. Elgar had swept against the slider and missed. Dilruwan didn't get his front foot back and bowled two more no-balls, one in the third session which had Elgar caught behind on 23. Elgar had left the field but was called back and added 14 runs to his score before Dilruwan finally had him out lbw, going back to the arm ball.
In between, Mathews dropped Markram at slip, off Rangana Herath. Herath only had to wait until his next over to trap Markram lbw. The opener missed an attempted sweep and gave Sri Lanka their first inroad.
But Sri Lanka and Dilruwan had more to rue when two reviews didn't go their way, which could have dismissed de Bruyn before he settled. Though de Bruyn swept confidently from the start of his innings, his defences looked suspect. Dilruwan beat his outside edge and reviewed for lbw off two consecutive deliveries. Both times the deliveries pitched in line and struck de Bruyn on the back foot with the impact in line with the stumps but both times Umpire Rod Tucker's on-field decision was not out. Both times ball-tracking showed umpires call on off stump, giving de Bruyn second and third chances to make a name for himself. And he took them. He is only five runs away from his first Test fifty and he has showed the kind of patience his seniors have lacked.
Hashim Amla's lean year showed no signs of stopping. Sri Lanka reviewed an lbw appeal against him when Akila caught him on the pad as he looked to sweep but the batsman had shuffled across enough to get outside the line. He was on 4 at the time, and added only two runs before being bowled by Herath. Faf du Plessis became the only South African batsman to cross 100 runs in the series when he added seven runs to the 98 he had scored in his three previous innings. His innings, however, ended when was caught at slip off an Akila wrong'un.
With his next ball, Akila had nightwatchman Keshav Maharaj out lbw, also with a googly, but he could not complete the hat-trick. Temba Bavuma was unintimidated by a close-in field and a topspinner and went on to produce a sprightly knock that he will want to build on. That's all South Africa's middle and lower order can aim for, in the face of a mammoth target.
Earlier, Sri Lanka batted until an hour into the lunch session and declared with a lead of 489 runs. Dimuth Karunaratne took his personal tally in the two-Test series to 356 runs and fell 15 runs short of a second century. After hours of concentration, he chased a Lungi Ngidi length ball and edged it to Quinton de Kock. He shared a 63-run stand with Angelo Mathews, who returned to form with his first score over fifty since December 2017. Mathews also put on 64 with Roshen Silva to frustrate a wearing South African attack.

Day 4




1st Test

Sri Lanka 287 & 190
South Africa 126 & 73 (28.5 ov, target 352)
Sri Lanka won by 278 runs

Sri Lanka's spinners shot South Africa out for 73, their lowest total since readmission and lowest in Sri Lanka, just a day after their previous lowest in the country - 126 - to condemn them to one of their worst defeats in the subcontinent and leave them with no chance of a series win.

Offspinner Dilruwan Perera finished with his best match figures of 10 for 78 after taking 6 for 32 in the second innings while Rangana Herath leapt to ninth on the all-time wicket-takers' list with his 3 for 38.

Herath surpassed Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn in this match. Steyn has been chasing Pollock's record of 421 wickets to become South Africa's leading Test wicket-taker and drew level in this match. That will serve as scant consolation for South Africa, whose line-up has serious questions to answer about their shot selection and temperament.

South Africa have never faced fewer overs in Asia than they did in this innings. Only three of their batsmen got into double figures and only one, No. 7 Vernon Philander, scored more than 20. They lost wickets at intervals of between five and nine minutes between lunch and tea and lost the game inside eight sessions. Dimuth Karunaratne on his own scored more runs - 218 - than South Africa over both innings - 199.

Despite forcing a collapse that saw Sri Lanka lose 6 for 73 on the third morning, South Africa were facing a mammoth task after conceding a first-innings deficit of 161 runs. They were set 352 to win, which required them to pull off the joint third-highest successful chase on the island against an attack they have been unable to decipher.

Some tried to attack, like Dean Elgar, who ran down the track in an attempt to loft Dilruwan down the ground and was stumped, others to defend, like Hashim Amla, who was drawn forward and popped up a catch to leg gully, and Temba Bavuma, who inside-edged to leg gully to a Dilruwan delivery that ripped in sharply. Elgar's 50th Test only yielded 12 runs, Amla's second-innings duck was the 12th of his career and Bavuma has yet to show what he can do after being promoted to No.4.

Faf du Plessis was the only one of the top six who showed some staying power in the first innings but he became Herath's first second-innings' victim when he offered a catch to slip. Du Plessis was unable to get to the pitch of the ball, as was Aiden Markram, who jumped out of his crease to a Herath delivery that was dangled outside off, and was stumped. When Quinton de Kock missed his sweep and was given out lbw, South Africa had lost their top six for just 36 runs.

Dilruwan's five-for came when Keshav Maharaj swung and found deep midwicket. He went one better and took his sixth when he set Kagiso Rabada up with one that turned away sharply and followed up with one that went straight on, from around the wicket, to bowl him as he shouldered arms. Dale Steyn handed Herath a return catch and South Africa's misery ended when Lakshan Sandakan, who was only brought on in the 29th over, trapped Tabraiz Shamsi on the back pad.

Though the Galle surface offered turn and bounce and the Sri Lankan spinners were a handful with the new, hard ball, South Africa were also responsible for their own malaise. Their struggles in reading turn and flight, and their impatience, undid them and they will have five days to rethink their strategies ahead of a must-win second Test.

South Africa may even have to address team selection. Philander, for all his resistance with the bat, only bowled 11 overs in the match, and may have to make way for another batsman, Theunis de Bruyn, or a different style of fast bowler, Lungi Ngidi. The only positives for South Africa came from the rest of their attack. After a wicketless first innings, Maharaj took four in the second while Rabada's ability on pitches that offer very little to the quicks was impressive.

Rabada gave South Africa a chance to compete on the third day, first when he fortuitously deflected a ball onto the non-striker's stumps in his follow-through, to run out Roshen Silva, and then with two wickets in three balls, which also brought up 150 in Tests. Rabada is not the quickest to reach the landmark - Sydney Barnes did it in 24 matches - but he is in the top dozen.

For Sri Lanka, there is only cause to celebrate (and perhaps for some of the batsmen to consider how they can emulate Karunaratne). Playing without their captain, Dinesh Chandimal, and coach, Chandika Hathurusingha, who will sit out the series as they await the verdict of their code-of-conduct hearing, Sri Lanka imposed themselves on a team that beat them convincingly just 18 months ago, in South Africa, and won their last series in Sri Lanka. And now, they are only a draw away from a series win.

Saturday 21 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Hampshire 170/5
Essex 170/8
Match tied

Vitality T20 Blast

Gloucestershire
Essex 172/7
No Result

Notts Outlaws 176/9
Leicestershire 193/6
Leicestershire Foxes win by 17 runs


Lancashire 176/2
Yorkshire 175/4
Lancashire Lightning win by 1 run


Kent
Surrey 250/6
No Result


Durham 125/3
Worcestershire 121 all out
Durham Jets win by 7 wickets


Birmingham 231/5
Northamptonshire 231/5
Match Tied


Glamorgan 160/9
Somerset 190/5
Somerset win by 30 runs


Hampshire 184 all out
Middlesex 163/9
Hampshire win by 21 runs

Thursday 19 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Northamptonshire 180 all out
Derbyshire 211/2
Derbyshire Falcons win by 31 runs


Middlesex 175/5
Somerset 178/6
Somerset win by 4 wickets

Glos v Sussex County Championship


Day 1

Sussex 286: Finch 76, Brown 59, Salt 57; Miles 4-68
Gloucestershire 42-0: Hammond 27*, Dent 12*
Gloucestershire (3 pts) trail Sussex (2 pts) by 244 runs

Gloucestershire, bottom of Division Two, enjoyed a good first day in their game against Sussex at Cheltenham.

Sussex won the toss and decided to bat, but paceman Craig Miles helped reduce them to 97-4, despite Phil Salt's 57.

Harry Finch (76) and Ben Brown (59) shared a stand of 113 for the fifth wicket, but Sussex were eventually all out for 286, with Miles claiming 4-68.

Miles Hammond and Chris Dent navigated 11 overs safely to guide the home side to 42 without loss at the close.


Day 2

Sussex 286: Finch 76, Brown 59, Salt 57; Miles 4-68
Gloucestershire 303-8: Hammond 103, Dent 65; Archer 3-59
Gloucestershire (6 pts) lead Sussex (4 pts) by 17 runs

Gloucestershire collapsed late on day two to leave their County Championship match with Sussex in the balance.

Resuming on 42-0, Miles Hammond (103) scored his maiden first-class ton to help put on 182 for the first wicket alongside Chris Dent (65).

The hosts were 240-2 when the new ball was taken, allowing Sussex to hit back.

Seamer Jofra Archer (3-59) took three wickets in an over at Cheltenham as the hosts slumped from 295-3 to 303-8 at stumps, giving them a lead of 17 runs.

Wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick was left unbeaten on 48 at the close as Sussex took four wickets in 10 balls, with Ollie Robinson trapping Craig Miles lbw for four with the final delivery of the day.

Sussex had been made to toil in the field by Division Two's bottom club, being punished after dropping Dent on 14 in the slips, but carved their way through the middle order in the evening session at the College Ground.

Archer missed out on a hat-trick after removing George Drissell and Ryan Higgins in consecutive balls, but then saw Kieran Noema-Barnett caught behind for a duck to bring his side back into the game.


Day 3

Sussex 286 & 295: Finch 98, Wright 48, Wiese 40; Payne 4-69
Gloucestershire 306 & 30-2: Archer 2-14
Gloucestershire (6 pts) trail Sussex (5 pts) by 246 runs

Gloucestershire face a final-day run-chase to beat Sussex after 14 wickets fell on day three of their Division Two game at Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire added three more runs to their overnight total before being bowled out for 306, giving them a first-innings lead of 20 runs.

Harry Finch (98) anchored Sussex's second-innings total of 295, leaving the hosts a target of 276 to win.

Jofra Archer removed both openers as Gloucestershire reached 30-2 at stumps.

Chris Dent and Miles Hammond were both caught behind by wicketkeeper Ben Brown, but nightwatchmen George Drissell and Matt Taylor survived four overs before the close.

Earlier, Finch had missed out on his fourth first-class century, and his second in the Championship this season, as he was caught behind off the bowling of Craig Miles.

David Payne was the pick of the Gloucestershire bowlers, removing opener Luke Wells and former Sussex captain Luke Wright (48), as he took figures of 4-69.


Day 4

Sussex 286 & 295: Finch 76 & 98; Payne 4-69
Gloucestershire 306 & 247: Bracey 87, Roderick 66; Archer 4-29, Robinson 4-49
Sussex (21 pts) beat Gloucestershire (6 pts) by 28 runs

Sussex beat Gloucestershire by 28 runs in Division Two as the hosts fell short in their run-chase at Cheltenham.

After resuming on 30-2 on the final day, needing a further 246 to win, Gloucestershire lost nightwatchmen Matt Taylor and George Drissell early on.

Gareth Roderick (66) helped James Bracey put on 138 for the fifth wicket, but once that partnership ended Sussex were able to tear through the tail.

Bracey (87) was last out, caught on the boundary, as they were all out for 247.

Sussex paceman Jofra Archer (4-29) reached the landmark of 100 first-class wickets while Ollie Robinson (4-49) picked up the vital scalp of Bracey to end the innings.

Earlier, wicketkeeper Ben Brown equalled Sussex's record for most catches in a first-class innings, picking up his sixth catch when Kieran Noema-Barnett nicked behind before tea.

Sussex move up to third in the table after winning at Cheltenham, and the south-coast club are now 13 points behind second-placed Kent and a promotion spot.

Wednesday 18 July 2018

Tuesday 17 July 2018

3 match ODI Series ENG 2-1 IND

3rd ODI

India 256-8 (50 overs): Kohli 71, Willey 3-40, Rashid 3-49
England 260-2 (44.3 overs): Root 100*, Morgan 88*
England won by eight wickets; win series 2-1

England served notice of their World Cup-winning credentials by crushing India in the third one-day international to take the series 2-1.

The home side eased to their target of 257 with 33 balls and eight wickets to spare - Joe Root hitting the winning runs to complete a second successive century and Eoin Morgan ending on 88 not out.

That India were restricted to a modest 256-8 was down to England's excellence with the ball and in the field.

Shikhar Dhawan made 44 before being run out by Ben Stokes, while Virat Kohli looked ominous for 71 until he was bowled by a lovely Adil Rashid delivery.

With England's limited-overs summer now at an end, the first of five Tests against India begins on Wednesday, 1 August.






2nd ODI

England 322-7 (50 overs): Root 113, Morgan 53, Kuldeep 3-68
India 236 (50 overs): Raina 46, Kohli 45, Plunkett 4-46
England won by 86 runs; series level at 1-1 with one to play

Joe Root's gritty century laid the foundations for England's series-levelling victory over India in the second one-day international at Lord's.

Root made 113 and David Willey's unbeaten 50 from 31 balls gave England the late impetus to reach 322-7.

Though India slipped to 60-3 in reply, the reassuring presence of captain Virat Kohli kept them in the game.

After he was lbw to Moeen Ali for 45, the tourists limped to 236, to lose by 86 runs.

The three-match series is left poised at 1-1 and will be decided at Headingley on Tuesday.

Vitality T20 Blast

Notts
Firstinnings150 all out
ResultDurham
Firstinnings184 for 5wickets
Durham Jets win by 34 runs

Sunday 15 July 2018

WI 2-0 BAN 2 Test Matches

2nd Test

WI 354 & 129
Bangladesh 149 & 168 (42 ov, target 335)
West Indies won by 166 runs

Jason Holder completed Bangladesh's devastation with career-best match figures of 11 for 103, as West Indies cantered to a 2-0 series win, their first at home since 2014. Holder, who took 5 for 44 in the first innings, followed up with 6 for 59 as Bangladesh folded for 168 in the second innings. That was also their highest score in four innings this series.

Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain, was the lone shining light from his side, top-scoring with 54. That came on the back of a six-wicket haul earlier in the day that triggered a West Indies collapse as they were bundled out for 129 - the lowest score against any visiting Bangladeshi side - giving Bangladesh a slight opening in the Test. Shakib's 6 for 33 are the best bowling figures by a Bangladeshi in an away Test.

Chasing 335, Bangladesh needed to come up with their best batting performance of the series. They began that pursuit by losing Tamim Iqbal early. Undeterred, Liton Das counterattacked, punching Holder for four fours in one over. Liton stayed put with his aggressive approach, which fetched him 33 runs in quick time, before Keemo Paul put an end to it when he held onto a catch at gully. Mominul Haque managed his best contribution of the series - 15 - which ended just before the tea interval, when Roston Chase had him lbw. Mominul ended his series with a solitary run from his three other innings.

Mahmudullah, who also endured a wretched Test series, perished meekly when he tried to loft Chase over midwicket, but Shai Hope intercepted the shot with a well-timed jump. Shakib and Mushfiqur then added 54 runs for the fifth wicket, with both batsmen hitting boundaries quite freely.

Shakib took a liking to Paul, collecting his first four boundaries off him, flicking and driving through the covers, before cutting him twice past point in the 20th over. Shannon Gabriel, too, felt the brunt, going for three fours in the 29th over: two straight drives and a square-cut.

Mushfiqur's first four came via a reverse sweep against Chase, before he unleashed cuts, glides and straight drives against Miguel Cummins. Holder, however, went through the gate, created by a large bat-pad gap, to bowl him in similar fashion to Gabriel in the second innings in Antigua.

With his next ball, Holder gave Nurul Hasan a pair, the batsman falling lbw in almost identical fashion to the first innings, although this one was more adjacent. Mehidy Hasan survived the hat-trick ball, but soon became Gabriel's first victim, Devon Smith taking the catch diving to his left at second slip.

Shakib struck three more fours to reach his fifty, before Holder struck again. Rabbi and Abu Jayed followed suit. It was the completion of West Indies' recovery after enduring a torrid time during first half of the day.

Like with the bat, Shakib played an important role with the ball, but he also found help from the younger bowlers, with Mehidy Hasan, Abu Jayed and Taijul Islam sharing the other four wickets. But it was he who paved the way for the fightback, snaring the first three wickets in the morning, taking out Devon Smith, Keemo Paul and Kieran Powell. Smith and Paul were stumped, while Powell was adjudged leg-before going back to a length ball. Taijul and Jayed struck next, dismissing Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmeyer, and soon after the lunch break, Mehidy bowled Chase, who top scored with 32.

The innings also saw wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan complete a Bangladesh record of three stumpings when Holder ran past a Mehidy delivery in the next over. Shakib then bowled Cummins and Gabriel in the same over to end the West Indies innings nine overs after lunch.

Vitality T20 Blast

Worcestershire 167/8
Yorkshire 179/7 wickets
Yorkshire win by 12 runs


Birmingham 202/5
Durham 220/6 wickets
Durham win by 18 runs

Friday 13 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Kent 210-4 v Hampshire 207-6

Kent beat Hampshire by three runs

Worcestershire 130-3 v Northamptonshire 89-6 (9 overs a side)

Worcestershire beat Northamptonshire by 41 runs

Leicestershire 229-5 v Birmingham Bears 129

Leicestershire beat Birmingham Bears by 100 runs

Nottinghamshire 175-8 v Derbyshire 139-9 (19 overs a side)

Notts beat Derbyshire by 39 runs (DLS method)

Surrey 192-3 v Sussex 140

Surrey beat Sussex by 52 runs

Essex 167 v Glamorgan 17-8

Glamorgan beat Essex by two wickets

Somerset 114-8 v Gloucestershire 116-6 (11 overs a side)

Gloucestershire beat Somerset by four wickets

Yorkshire 157-6 v Durham 147-6

Yorkshire beat Durham by 10 runs

Thursday 12 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Surrey 222/4
Essex 183/7
Surrey win by 39 runs




Hampshire 158/7 
Sussex 161/2 
Sussex win by 8 wickets

Wednesday 11 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

Gloucestershire consigned Kent Spitfires to their first defeat in the T20 Blast this season as they won by five runs in Bristol.

Jack Taylor top scored from number seven with an unbeaten 42 as the hosts finished on 184-7 after batting first.

Heino Kuhn led Kent's early chase but he was caught and bowled by Kieran Noema-Barnett six runs shy of a 50.

Sean Dickson kept them in the hunt with 32 but they fell short on 179-8 after needing six to win off the last ball.

Sunday 8 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

YORKS 157/7
B'HAM 158/2 (15.5/20 ov, target 158)
Bears won by 8 wickets (with 25 balls remaining)


DERBS 135/9
WORCS 136/4 (18.4/20 ov, target 136)
Worcs won by 6 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)


GLAM 173/4
SSSX 177/2 (18.4/20 ov, target 174)
Sussex won by 8 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)


NTHNT 123/9
LANCS 124/2 (16.1/20 ov, target 124)
Lancashire won by 8 wickets (with 23 balls remaining)


NOTTS 199/8
LEICS 180/9 (20 ov, target 200)
Notts won by 19 runs


MIDDX 160/7
GLOUC 165/4 (18.4/20 ov, target 161)
Gloucs won by 6 wickets (with 8 balls remaining)


SOMST 159/6
KENT 163/2 (16.3/20 ov, target 160)
Kent won by 8 wickets (with 21 balls remaining)

ENG 1-2 IND 3 match T20 series

3rd T20

England 198-8 (20 overs): Roy 67, Pandya 4-38
India 201-3: Rohit 100 not out, Kohli 43, Willey 1-37
India won by seven wickets

Rohit Sharma made a stunning 100 not out to help India beat England by seven wickets in the third Twenty20 and secure a 2-1 series victory.

England, batting first, could only manage 87 runs from the final 10 overs to post 198-8 in Bristol, despite Jason Roy's 67 from 31 balls.

Sharma shared an 89-run stand with Virat Kohli and accelerated in the final overs to put India in control.

He and Hardik Pandya closed out the match with eight balls to spare.

It is the highest successful run chase by any team against England in an international T20 match.

Three terrific catches from England - one from Jake Ball and two by Chris Jordan - interrupted India's chase.

However, Hardik took 20 runs from Ball's bowling in the 18th over to put India ahead of the run rate and turn the match firmly in their favour.

A lofted drive from Hardik, who made 33 from 14 balls, ensured an impressive victory from India in front of a packed crowd.



2nd T20

India 148-5 (20 overs): Kohli 47 (37), Plunkett 1-17
England 149-5 (19.4 overs): Hales 58* (41), Bairstow 28 (18)
England won by five wickets

Alex Hales' unbeaten 58 took England to a dramatic final-over win in the second Twenty20 international against India.

Chasing 149, England slipped to 44-3, but Hales led a recovery that left them needing 12 from the final over.

He hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for six, then four, with David Willey scoring the winning runs to level the series and set up a decider in Bristol on Sunday.

England's bowlers earlier adapted well to the dimensions of the Cardiff ground to restrict the tourists to 148-5.

Friday 6 July 2018

Vitality T20 Blast

FRIDAY 6TH JULY 2018 

Knockout Stage 
  • 192-7 (20.0)ResultB'ham188-9 (20.0) 
    Worcestershire Rapids win by 4 runs
  • 161 all out (17.3)ResultNotts219-6 (20.0) 
    Notts Outlaws win by 58 runs
  • 120 all out (18.3)ResultDurham153-7 (20.0) 
    Durham Jets win by 33 runs
  • 161-4 (20.0)ResultLancs164-1 (14.3) 
    Lancashire Lightning win by 9 wickets
  • 194-4 (16.5)ResultGlos188-6 (20.0) 
    Somerset win by 6 wickets
  • 167 all out (18.5)ResultKent173-6 (20.0) 
    Kent Spitfires win by 6 runs
  • 105 all out (16.5)ResultGlamorgan168-6 (20.0) 
    Glamorgan win by 63 runs
  • 181-7 (19.5)ResultMiddlesex179-6 (20.0) 
    Essex Eagles win by 3 wickets