365 Sporting Days

Easter Sunday saw 7 matches take place on another glorious day, including the ‘War of The Roses’. My County, Essex weren’t involved so it was a family day for me – here’s a round up of what occurred.

Yorkshire 310 All Out v Lancashire 311 for 6

Dane Vilas won the toss for Lancashire and elected to bat; they fell to 116 for 4 in the 23rd over, with Jonny Tattersall taking 3 of his 4 catches in that run of wickets and with Vilas being run out. Steven Croft batting at 3 was Lancashires top scorer with 97 helping Lancashire to 311 for 6.

In response Yorkshire were 87 for 3, Yorkshire opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore matched Croft with 97 and Gary Balance batting at 5 made 72. Yorkshire were heading to a win with 16 runs needed from the final over, remarkably they were headed to a draw, having tied their match on Friday, when Josh Poyden was run out on the last ball going for 2 to get that draw. Lancashire therefore won by 1 run.

Northamptonshire 358 for 6 v Warwickshire 164 All Out

Jeetan Patel won the toss for Warwickshire and put Northants in to bat. Having been 1 for 1 Northants built an innings with 5 players scoring 48 or over, Rob Keogh top scored with 69; the West Indies captain Jason Holder scored 6 from 31 balls, an exciting signing for the team from the Midlands. They made 358 in their 50 overs.

In reply Warwicks wee bowled out in 34.4 overs for only 164, the top score on their part was 36, made by opener Ed Pollock and number 7 batsman Alex Thomson. In both cases the wickets were shared by the bowlers.

Leicestershire 377 for 4 v Worcestershire 339 All Out

Paul Horton won the toss for Leicestershire and elected to bat, there were 2 Star Men in their innings and another who went close, which is remarkable considering they fell to 5 for 2. Opener Harry Dearden made 91 and he and Colin Ackerman built a 3rd wicket stand of 170. Ackerman went on to score 152 from 143 balls in 197 minutes. He was joined in a stand of 200 by Lewis Hill (WK) who scored 118 from 62 balls in 91 minutes.

In reply Worcs had their own centurion having fallen to 75 for 5; Ross Whitely saved their blushes with a score of 131 in 83 balls, he batted for 100 minutes. Ed Barnard batting at 8 contributed 61 but Worcs were bowled out for 339 in 46.2 overs.

• Colin Ackerman (Leics) – 152 from 143 Balls – Strike Rate 106.29
• Lewis Hill (Leics) – 118 from 62 Balls – Strike Rate 190.32
• Ross Whitely (Worcs) – 131 from 83 Balls

Lewis Hill’s Roy of The Rovers Moment from Who’s Who – Scoring my maiden first class century at the Oval and having Kumar Sangakarra and Kevin Pieterson shake my hand at the end of the day.

Derbyshire 297 for 8 v Nottinghamshire 299 for 4

Billy Godleman won the toss for Derbyshire and elected to bat. That proved to be a good choice for his batting figures as he made 116 from 148 balls, batting for over 3 hours. His fellow opener Luis Reece made 88 as teh pair put o an opinion stand of 153. Luke Fletcher took 3 wickets in 5 balls in the final over of the innings to end up with 5 for 56 from his 10 overs.

Ben Slater opening for Notts top scored with 83 as they built their innings steadily, with only Ben Duckett failing to score above 37, they made the required runs with 4.5 overs to spare.

• Billy Godleman (Derbys) – 116 from 148 Balls – Strike Rate 73.83
• Luke Fletcher (Notts) – 5 for 56

Luke Fletcher’s Surprising Fact from Who’s Who – My previous job was as a chef at Hooters

Middlesex 287 for 4 v Gloucestershire 283 for 7

Dawid Malan won the toss and put Gloucestershire in to bat. Tim Murtagh had restricted Essex in the match I watched on Good Friday, he did the same job here, taking 2 wickets for 40 in his 10 overs. James Bracey top scored with 83 in 61 balls as Gloucs moved towards 283 in their 50 overs.

Middlesex found themselves on 36 for 3. Steve Eskinazi came to the rescue as he scored 107 in 97 balls batting for 131 minutes; Eoin Morgan had thrown his wicket way against Essex but he formed a partnership of 67 with Eskinazi being out for 38. Nick Gubbins with 98 from 84 balls saw Middlesex to the win with 7.4 overs remaining.

• Steve Eskinazi (Middlesex) – 107 from 97 Balls – Strike Rate 110.31

Steve Eskinazi’s Surpising Fact from Who’s Who – I could have 4 passports (if it was legal)

Kent 298 All Out v Sussex 302 for 3

Adam Rouse won the toss for Kent and elected to bat. Matt Renshaw (Australian in practice) batting at 3, scored 109 from 111 balls batting for 138 minutes. With 5 batsmen failing to get into double figures Kent were all out for 298.

In reply Sussex made 56 for their first wicket before Philip Salt who’d opened with Luke Wright made 137 from 106 balls, batting for 149 minutes. Harry Finch scored 89 as Sussex made the required runs with the loss of just 3 wickets.

• Matt Renshaw (Kent) – 109 from 11 Balls – Strike Rate 98.20
• Philip Salt (Sussex) – 137 from 106 Balls – Strike Rate 129.25

A very topical quote from Phil Salt in the Who’s Who – Which Bowler Would You Least Like to Face – Joffra Archer – because he bowls off 17 yards in the nets

Glamorgan 259 All Out v Somerset 261 for 9

Tom Abell won the toss for Somerset and elected to bat. They fell to 29 for 2 then 77 for 3 before James Hildreth batting at 4 built to 67 from 76 balls batting for 100 minutes.

261 shouldn’t have been a winning score, but Glamorgan found themselves on 21 for 5 in the 6th over; not ideal! David Lloyd at least gave the innings some oomph as he scored 84, Graham Wagg helped the respectability with 62 batting at 8 but with 4 ducks in the innings it wasn’t going far. Glamorgan were bowled out in 48.1 overs to give Somerset a win by 2 runs.