1) Pollock and co in the swim
Somerset, Hampshire, Worcestershire and Derbyshire are wedged together on eight points at the top of Group A in the One-Day Cup, with the winners to go straight to the semi-finals and the teams in second and third place to face a playoff for the other spot. Worcestershire will fancy their chances. Their victory over Kent should give them a template for their final three matches.
A very inexperienced bowling unit (55 List A matches between six of them) had done well to restrict the visitors to 259 all out and, after Duckworth-Lewis-Stern had done its job, Worcestershire set off in pursuit of 259 off 48 overs. The openers? Gareth Roderick (116 List A matches) and Ed Pollock (39) followed by Rob Jones (41) and captain, Jake Libby (35). Only 27 runs were needed after Kent’s attack had got through that quartet and a comfortable victory ensued.
2) Moore is not less
The standout match in Group A showed why 50-overs cricket is the preferred white-ball format for many cricket fans.
Invited to bat at Taunton, the home side recovered from 20 for two through a pair of fifties from Andrew Umeed and Josh Thomas and a pair of 80s from James Rew and captain Sean Dickson. The question with rebuilds is always how to parcel out the risk – with 89 scored off the last seven overs and the fifth wicket falling with just seven balls left, had the home side left the charge too late?
Such questions seemed otiose when the Derbyshire captain Samit Patel was fifth man out with 227 to get in 30 overs. But Anuj Dal is a handy man to have at No 7 and David Lloyd, at the other end, has been playing these matches for a decade. They put on 145 to keep the visitors in with a shout but it took 36 off 20 balls from 17-year-old Harry Moore to close out the win, nine down.
3) Gorvin brings Glam win
With five wins and a no result, Group B leaders Glamorgan have one foot in the knockout stage. But that’s only due to squeaking home in a tight match against Sussex at The Gnoll.
All-rounder Dan Douthwaite does not always get the ball into his hand, but his four for 44 from the sixth bowler spot made the Welsh county favourites at the innings break, 201 runs the target. With 50 overs to be bowled, Sussex knew that they could only win by taking 10 wickets – a perfect setup for the connoisseurs of the game.
Wickets fell regularly and there were still 58 required when Douthwaite was seventh man out, Sussex favourites for probably the first time in the match. That said, Billy Root and Timm van der Gugten have been there many times before and they spent 10 circumspect overs advancing the score by 38. They couldn’t see it through and the last pair, Andy Gorvin and Jamie McIlroy, needed 14 to seal the win.
Gorvin had scored 37 runs in his prior 15 List A matches and McIlroy 27 in his previous 11. Cricket abhors too much specialism though and demands that players who would barely make a decent club’s first XI as a batter deliver clutch runs at the death – to their credit, they did.
4) Bears roar in Group B
Warwickshire enjoy the same near-perfect record as Glamorgan and, consequently, also stand five points clear of fourth place Nottinghamshire in Group B.
Their tightest win came against a valiant Surrey XI who were still seeking their first victory of the season, their big stars (as is the case for other counties of course) indisposed.
Chris Benjamin, despite being touted for great things by Kevin Pietersen during his breakout season for Birmingham Phoenix, was available for the Bears, and his 75 off 51 got the home side up to a respectable 311 for nine.
Dom Sibley’s 149 at better than a run a ball anchored Surrey’s reply but, when Ben Geddes fell for 62, much depended on one of the experienced trio of Rory Burns, Ben Foakes and Cameron Steel staying with the ex-England opener. They could only manage 20 between them and the all-conquering red-ball county were to fall one boundary hit short.
5) Batter of the week
Off the back of five defeats out of five, you do not want to see a scoreboard showing 25 for two as your captain walks past you with a terse “good luck” as you make your way to the middle. With 44 overs in front of you, is it an opportunity to build an innings or just more hours on the rack?
Up the other end, it’s a mate from the club and from England Under-19s, but he’s on debut and, at 18, only a couple of years older than you. You catch the eye of Mark Stoneman in the field – he’s older than both of you put together – you remind yourself that you’re both there because you’re good enough.
Opener Keshana Fonseka was to make Lancashire’s second top score (42) in a losing cause against Middlesex, but the younger lad was to bat through the innings, out trying to hit a six off the last ball, his 88 holding a fragile team together. As was remarked about another 16-year-old about 30 miles west of Old Trafford, remember the name – Rocky Flintoff.
6) Bowler of the week
Dominic Kelly might have wondered if he was going to get on at all. Three internationals (Mohammad Abbas, Kyle Abbott and Brad Wheal) had knocked off the top order and even Felix Organ had been preferred by the skipper. But the batter who bowls had just been belted for consecutive sixes by Derbyshire’s Brooke Guest and, bingo, that’s the time the teenager gets his chance.
Anuj Dal continued the aggression taking a two and a four off Kelly’s first two balls, but the 18-year-old hit the stumps next ball, soon snared the dangerous Ross Whiteley. He then finished the match with a walk-off hat-trick. Hampshire have the win; Kelly has the ball.