365 Sporting Days

As England managed to beat the West Indies in 3 days I’m sitting at home rather than at Lords so can get back to my mission of getting up to date with the cricket I’ve watched this summer.

England started the day on 252 for 6 with work to do, Toby Roland-Jones and Jonny Bairstow were batting.  Sticking with the highlights route there is one obvious highlight – the innings of Jonny Bairstow, he was a delight to watch, batting at 7.  Jimmy Anderson found himself batting with a man seeking his century again and made 4 from the 15 balls he faced as the pair put on 50 runs.

Bairstow reached 99 before he went a long way forward looking to sweep a ball from Maharaj, the ball hit his pads and to the disappointment of the England fans in the crowd the umpire raised his finger.  The review was inevitably ‘Umpires Call’ which saw Jonny walking back to the dressing grooms.  It was a timely and entertaining 99 which deserved a place on the honours board. England were all out for 362.

I’d had a problem with my view in my allocated seat, having difficulty seeing over the heads of the people in front of me.  I found the very lovely Andy who I’d met last summer and he kindly moved me into the pavilion which was then a perfect view.

A perfect view to see Jimmy Anderson take the ball at the James Anderson end! Working his way to his 500th wicket, which he’s just achieved at Lords, Jimmy’s bowling was the highlight of the day as he took 4 wickets for 38 runs.

South Africa had the ‘England problem’ as their top order failed, with the class Hashim Amla being the second wicket to fall having made 30, opener Heino Kuhn made 24 before he too departed and South Africa were 84 for 3.

It was down to Temba Bavuma to get runs on the board again for his team, the diminutive cricketer is a delight to watch and he made a much needed 46 before being bowled by Anderson.

There were no other innings to write home about and South Africa finished the day on 220 for 9.