365 Sporting Days

Today I surprised myself by choosing to stay at home with my daughter who’s visiting from Paris rather than going to the Oval to watch Surrey v Essex. That meant I kept track online and missed out on what proved to be a low scoring game. There was no cricket yesterday, on Easter Monday, today on a working day there were 4 matches. 4 matches that saw just over 2000 runs scored; remarkably 2 of the 4 matches were virtually a mirror of each other as you’ll see.

Warwickshire 183 All Out v Nottinghamshire 301 for 9

Steven Mullaney won the toss for Notts and elected to bat. That must’ve felt like the wrong decision as they fell to 98 for 4. Opener Ben Slater watched his partners walking back to the pavilion with 2 of those wickets falling in the 19th over.

It took a partnership with Steven Mullaney to pull things back for Notts, he made 40 in 43 minutes batting for just over an hour, the pair put on 95. Slater had been working his way to a century, he batted for 157 minutes, facing 115 balls, he made 100 before he was bowled by Jeetan Patel. Notts and moved to 193 for 5, they finished on 301 for 9. Jeetan Patel took 5 for 45.

Warwickshire’s innings had a disastrous start and things didn’t really kick off as it went on. The top 4 batsmen made 18 between them, Warwicks were 22 for 4 in the 7th over. Of the 183 scored by Warwickshire 112 were made by 2 players. Liam Banks in at 6 made 57, Alex Thomson in at 8 scored 55. The wickets were shared between the Notts bowlers they despatched Warwicks in 37.5 overs giving Notts a win by 118 runs.

• Ben Slater (Notts) – 100 from 115 Balls – Strike Rate 86.96
• Jeetan Patel (Warwicks) – 5 for 45

Hampshire 301 for 9 v Middlesex 182 All Out

I’ve gone out of order here for the mirror image match, there’s literally 1 run difference!

Dawid Malan won the toss for Middlesex and put Hampshire in to bat. Tom Alsop opened with Aiden Markram, the pair put on 52 for the first wicket. Markram top scored with 88, his was the 4th wicket to fall when Hampshire were on 145. Rilee Rossouw put on 81 with Rossouw making 64 and Dawson 43. Tom Helm shone for Middlesex taking 5 for 71 in his 9 overs.

Middlesex’s 182 looked quite different to Warwicks, they had 4 players who made 30 or over. But 5 of the lower order only made 11 between them. The bowlers took the wickets between them, including 3 for Markram, I didn’t know he bowled. Middlesex were bowled out in 35.4 overs, Notts won by 119 runs.

• Tom Helm (Middx) – 5 for 71

Gloucestershire 283 for 4 v Kent 282 for 8

Gareth Roderick won the toss for Gloucestershire and put Kent in to bat. Zac Crawley (Otherwise known as Chapple by the Telegraph) is in a fine vein of form, he opened and scored 85 in 109 balls batting for 141 minutes. Sean Dickson his opening partner was out in the second over for 4 which saw Kent on 7 for 1, not the best of starts. Joe Denly home from the IPL having hardly featured, came in at 3 and put on 103 with Crawley, he was out for 56 from 69 balls.

Heino Kuhn who was the top scorer in this competition in 2018 with 696 runs at an average of 87 hasn’t found that form yet in 2019. In common with the final at Lord’s last summer he was run our today, with just 24 runs too his name. Adam Rouse batting at 7 made the 3rd highest score in the innings with 45 from 28 balls. Kent lasted for their 50 overs, scoring 282.

Chris Dent and George Hankins put on 72 for Gloucestershire’s opening wicket, Hankins was out for 33 and Dent followed in the 20th over with 41 to his name. Gloucs were 90 for 2. Gareth Roderick (WK) and James Bracey put on 138 for the 3rd wicket. Bracey was out for 67 made in 59 balls. Benny Howell made it to 11 before becoming the 4th and final wicket. Jack Taylor with 19 and Roderick saw the innings to the 283 required to win. Roderick made 100 from 80 balls having batted for just under 2 hours. Gloucestershire won by 6 wickets.

• Gareth Roderick (Gloucs) – 100 from 80 Balls – Strike Rate 125.00

Surrey 278 for 8 v Essex 213 All Out

Last but not least, my first team, Essex against my second, Surrey. I think I was glad I missed this one.

Ryan ten Doeschate won the toss and put Surrey in to bat. Watching from afar with some message updates from my friend Nigel I could see that Jason Roy retired hurt after scoring 16. I believe he got hit by the ball then retired with a back spasm. A real concern for England with the Pakistan series starting after a One Day game against Ireland on May 3rd.

Will Jacks who scored 88 against Essex in the County Championship match replaced Roy, he was out for 11, caught by Alastair Cook from the bowling of Sam Cook. Surrey were 50 for 1. Mark Stoneman was run out in the 12th over seeing Surrey on 64 for 2.

Rory Burns with 55 and Ben Foakes with 82 anchored Surrey’s innings, with a stand of 78. Ollie Pope and Foakes put on 81 before Pope was out for 39. Surrey had moved to 223 for 4, they then lost 4 wickets for 24. They finished on 278 for 8 after Roy returned to join Gareth Batty.

The Essex innings was notable for 2 further injuries to Surrey players, with Roy not fielding, Pope had to leave the field after damaging his finger, but not before he caught Alastair Cook for 9. Rikki Clarke injured a finger and he too had to be replaced. One of the sub-fielders Freddie van den Bergh caught Dan Lawrence, Essex’s top scorer with 50. Ravi Bopara with 47 and Lawrence put on 90, but both were dismissed within 2 balls, Theirs was the only meaningful partnership in an innings that lasted 42.5 overs before Essex were bowled out for 213. Surrey won by 65 runs.