1
Brookes in the flow with bat and ball
Middlesex, having lost just one of seven matches to date, cannot be caught for a top three slot in Group B and will play in the knockout phase on Friday or Sunday or both – it’s complicated. The better of their two wins last week came at Chester-le-Street and proved another fine advert for retaining the 50 overs format, providing a thoroughgoing test for all 22 players and a fine day out for the public.
After all the batting unit (bar Emilio Gay, who retired hurt), had contributed to Durham’s 303/7, the match was set up perfectly for a tight chase. Though none of the visitors could match Alex Lees’ century, there were solid contributions through the Middlesex XI but when Zafar Gohar was seventh man out with 30 still to get in 16 balls, it looked like a long trip back to London.
But Toby Roland-Jones and Henry Brookes are two of the more capable eights and nines on the circuit and three sixes were smote, two off Ben Stokes. Hertfordshire’s golf courses will be that little bit less busy as a result.
2
Hill on his way to the top?
Yorkshire climbed above Durham to put themselves in pole position to grab second place in the group after a last-over win at Scarborough. Batters had little time to enjoy the benefit of the sea air as the pitch required all their attention, rather less trustworthy than the weather this summer.
Derbyshire progressed to 137 without loss at the halfway mark, eyeing up a target well in excess of 300. Cue Jafer Chohan, who took two wickets in an over on his List A debut, having sat on the bench for three weeks contracted to the Hundred (how is a young leg-spinner to learn that most unforgiving of arts like that?).
The home side will have been delighted to be chasing 279, but were in trouble at 57/3. That is exactly the situation for which Yorkshire-born Aussie, Sam Whiteman, was contracted and he booked in at the crease to make 94, supported by James Wharton and George Hill. A textbook rebuilding job delivered the points the Tykes needed.
Hill is still only 25 but has plenty of experience and a fine record in all three formats of the game at domestic level. That said, he never seems to get a mention for England, a situation that may change now Joe Root is back as captain. Many county cricket followers would be delighted to see him given a chance.
3
Gorvin? Gorwin more like!
In yet another tight finish, Worcestershire were denied by Glamorgan to leave them needing to beat Durham today, boost their run rate and get a bit of help from elsewhere. Such ifs, buts and maybes seemed far off when Worcestershire skipper, Jake Libby, looked like cashing in his century for four points, the home side needing 54 runs off 32 balls, but seven down. But Glamorgan’s Timm van der Gugten was fresh off a maiden century in professional cricket at the age of 35 and had his captain, Andy Gorvin, for company.
The latter edged the last ball through vacant third man (really, vacant?) for the boundary that secured the win because, well, because that’s what happens with stands like that. Glamorgan are too far back to qualify themselves, but that chase put a significant dent in Worcestershire’s hopes of progressing.
As an aside, are there more thrillers in 50 overs matches than in T20s? There seem to be, but has anyone crunched the stats? More intriguingly, has anyone modelled the formats to demonstrate a bias one way or the other? Instinctively one feels that the shorter format should provide more close finishes, but is that offset by more recoveries from poor powerplays or middle order collapses in the longer format? There’s an undergraduate dissertation to be written right there!
4
Parkinson the talk of the town again
Group A is as tight as a drum, with any three from the top eight in with a shout of a knockout match or two. Leicestershire have the points on the board, but may live to regret running into Daniel Bell-Drummond and Matt Parkinson, as Kent kept their hopes alive with a win at Beckenham.
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Hamza Shaikh’s 93 had anchored the visitors’ innings but it needed a quickfire 57 down the order from Ben Green to get up to a defendable 261/7. Parky may have got a bit of a mauling last time out at The Oval, but a leg-spinner knows how to bounce back and 2-27 (both stumped) in 10 overs is as good as a 100 off 100 balls to a captain.
That’s pretty much what Bell-Drummond delivered, 133 not out, leaving his team to dream of a late run to the quarters and Leicestershire to bring out the calculators as results and run rates filtered through online.
5
Leach dries up Surrey’s new blood
Surrey, one of the four teams on 16 points just behind Leicestershire, were pummelled at Taunton as Somerset spied an unlikely route to the knockouts. The home side hit 46 boundaries, as Tom Lammonby notched a ton up top with skipper, Lewis Goldsworthy, joining him in a stand of 152 for the second wicket. Archie Vaughan led the lower order fun with 52 off 36 balls as Rory Burns’ inexperienced attack learned some hard lessons.
The Londoners were then shown how it was done, as Jack Leach, in his 15th season as a pro, took 3-29, the mismatch done in the 39th over.
Though Hampshire won the match, much credit again goes to the players of Sussex for not simply rolling over, especially after Toby Albert had hit six sixes off six deliveries. One can only imagine how Jack Carson’s men felt when Ali Orr, biting the hand that once fed him, and Ben Mayes were still together on 225 in the 36th over, not a wicket taken – and Albert’s pyrotechnics were still to come.
The bowlers fought back to restrict Hampshire to 383/9 off their 50 overs and then the batters gave the Hove faithful something to cheer with a century for Charlie Tear and good knocks from Jack Leaning and Danial Ibrahim, but they still fell 52 runs short.
It’s enough to make you want 80 fewer overs to suffer in a day – but that’s another story.