365 Sporting Days

With Australia having departed India were next up for England, they’d face them in a T20, ODI and Test series.  I was lucky enough to see most of that cricket with some county stuff thrown in.

July 2018

David Wiese, Rashid Khan, Jofra Archer – Essex v Sussex Sharks – 4 July 2018 – Cloud FM, County Ground, Chelmsford

David Wiese was the starve the show stats wise during this match he took 5 Essex wickets for 24 runs.  But, it was having Rashid Khan one of the World  stars of the T20 game in front of me at the County Ground that was a thrill. He took 2 wickets.  I wonder if we’ll see his class of player in the T20 Blast once the ECB get their new competition up and running.  Jofra Archer has to have a mention too, England are going to have to wait for him, but he’s bound to be an international star once he gets onto the big stage.  He scored 24 runs in 18 balls and took 3 for 24.  Sussex won by 36 runs.

Alex Hales, Virat Kohli – England v India T20 – 6 July 2018 – SSE Swalec, Cardiff

in a low scoring game Virat Kohli scored 47 for India helping his team to 148 for 5.  This was my first look at the man who must be counted as the best batsman in the world and he didn’t disappoint.  Alex Hales had a key innings for England, scoring 58 from 41 balls, including 4 Fours and 3 Sixes. England won by 5 wickets in the final over.

Jason Roy, Rohit Sharma – England v India – 8 July 2018 – The Brightside Ground, Bristol

 England batted first and made 198 for 9, Jason Roy top scored with 67 from 31 balls, including 4 Fours and 7 Sixes.  That was some innings but Rohit Sharma opened and put on a batting performance extraordinaire.  He scored 100 in 56 balls including 11 Fours and 5 Sixes, it was one of the innings of the summer for me.  He took India to victory and carried his bat.

Kuldeep Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli -England v India – 12 July – Trent Bridge, Nottingham 

The venue of England’s record breaking 481 against Australia was to prove rather more challenging against this India team.  The young left-arm Chinaman Bowler literally blew the England batting line up away!  He took 6 for 25 in his 10 overs, Joe Buttler was England’s top scorer with 53.  Rohit Sharma of the batting class in Bristol gave us more and better.  He was 137 not out, hitting 15 Fours and 4 Sixes from 114 balls.  Virat Kohli kept him company for over 90 minutes making 75.  India won by 8 wickets with nearly 10 overs to spare.

Sam Northeast – Essex v Hampshire – 13 July 2018 – CloudFm County Ground, Chelmsford 

A T20 match in the middle of the England v India series saw one of my favourite cricketers outside of Essex playing for Hampshire.  Sam Northeast scored 73 from 50 balls including 5 Fours and 4 Sixes, he was not out.  Hampshire made 170 for 5, Essex had made 170 for 8 – the match was a tie.

Joe Root – England v India – 14 July 2018 – Lord’s, London

The second ODI saw the teams travel to London, Lord’s is often a fallow place for England but this was to be their game.  Joe Root hadn’t had a big score in the summer but at Lord’s he scored 113 from 116 balls including 8 Fours and a single Six.  It helped his side to 322 for 7.  India were all out for 236 with Liam Plunkett taking 4 wickets.

Max Holden – Middlesex v Somerset – 19 July 2018 – Lord’s, London

An invite to watch this T20 match in the pavilion at Lord’s made the evening one of my highlights of the summer.  Max Holden’s innings was the highlight of the match, albeit in a losing cause.  The young batsman scored 84 from 55 balls, including 8 Fours and 2 Sixes. 

August 2018

Virat Kohli, Sam Curran – England v India – 1 August 2018 – Edgbaston, Birmingham

There were 2 outstanding performances in this match, JoeRoot scored 80 and Jonny Bairstow 70 but in the scheme of the match the two players listed  take the ‘prize’.  Virat Kohli was the man giving the masterclass this time, he scored 149 in India’s first innings and 51 in the second, it was a privilege to watch.  20 year old Sam Curran took 5 wickets in the match and scored  an important 63 runs in England’s second innings, coming in when his team were 86 for 6.  He was instrumental getting England to 180.  England won the game by 31 runs, it was a great game of test cricket! 

An Essex v Surrey T20 saw Surrey win by 6 wickets, and no stand out performances and the second test at Lord’s was pretty much a washout for the 2 days I attended, Chris Woakes scored 137 but I wasn’t there to see it, so it’s on to Trent Bridge.

Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya ,Ben Stokes,  Jos Buttler – England v India – 18 August 2018 – Trent Bridge – Nottingham

There was some controversy for this match as England’s key performer was left out to facilitate the return of Ben Stokes, I was very disappointed to see Sam Curran dropped.  I wasn’t disappointed to witness Virat Kohli score 200 runs across his two innings, he was out for 97 in India’s first innings, batting for over 4 hours.  He balanced his run tally up to the 200 with 103 in his second innings.  Ajinkya Rahane kept Virat company in India’s first innings with 81.  England were all out for 161 with Hardik Pandya being the unexpected source of wickets, he took 5 for 28 in 6 overs.  With England chasing 521 Ben Stokes with 62 and Jos Buttler with 106 were really the only batsmen to make a fight of it.  India won by 203 runs.

The partnership between Stokes and Buttler helped take the test into the 5th Day, that gave messed of my top moments of the summer as I was able to be in the pavilion, the photos say it all!  I was even sad enough to ask for Virat’s autograph!  It had tone done.

The Ageas Bowl test started in August, but I’m going to push that into September, the next instalment.