365 Sporting Days

A Sunday and 7 matches, one of which I was at (You can probably guess which!) I’m sitting down to write this as Line of Duty is on the TV, I have work in the morning, so bed will be calling. However I’ve become slightly obsessed with getting these written and out on the same day, so, a facts based, brief piece with, hopefully the right players featuring in the right teams.

Worcestershire 281 All Out v Warwickshire 315 for 5

Jeetan Patel won the toss for Warwicks and elected to bat; 23 for 2 ended on 315 for 5 after Sam Hain scored 161 from 141 balls, he ended up not out after batting for 195 minutes.

Worcs had won 3 from 4 before visiting their local rivals, in spite of 5 batsmen scoring 34 or over with Wayne Parnell batting qt 9 top scoring with 76 this was to be a win for Warwicks as they bowled Worcs out for 281 in 47 overs and won by 34 runs.

• Sam Hain – 161 from 141 Balls – Strike Rate 114.18

Nottinghamshire 214 for 6 v Yorkshire 213 All Out

Steven Patterson won the toss for Yorkshire and elected to bat. Before I look at the fact and stats for this one it’s hard to imagine we’ll see any batting Star Men.

Amazingly the highest score was Adam Lyth opening for Yorkshire, he batted for just over an hours, facing 54 balls and made 63. 7 Yorkshire batsmen made just 38 rubs between them, with 2 Ducks as they were bowled out for 213 in 42.2 overs. The wickets were shared amongst the bowlers.

Notts were unbeaten before this sold out clash, they weren’t set a difficult task to keep things that way. It took them just 34.3 overs to make the required 214, they did however lose 6 wickets in the chase. Captain Steven Mullaney top scored and was not out 54. Again the wickets were shared as Notts won by 4 wickets.

Lancashire 83 for 1 v Leicestershire 80 All Out

Dane Vilas won the toss for Lancashire and put Leicestershire in to bat. That clearly proved to be a top choice! There is no possibility for a batting Star Man in this match, but inevitable there is a bowler who gets his place. Saqib Mahmood took the first 4 wickets with just 32 runs on the board, adding Ben Mike as his 5th. Leics were bowled out for a remarkably low 80.

While those assembled will have seen a good bowling performance they really didn’t get value for money for their entrance fee. It took Lancashire just 19 overs to beat Leics by 9 wickets.

• Saqib Mahmood – 5 for 14

Durham 260 for 7 v Derbyshire 255 for 8

Cameron Bancroft won the toss and put Derbyshire in to bat. Derbyshire batted for the full 50 overs, looking at the batting stats they did so too slowly almost on the whole. When there were runs scored amongst the top 6 batsmen the highest Strike Rate was the 88.89 recorded by Tom Lace for his 48. Matt Critchley batting at 7 top scored and was not out 49 from 36 balls. While Derbyshire used all of their overs they didn’t lose all of their wickets and finished on 255 for 8.

Durham chased the total in 46.4 overs, with Michael Richardson top scoring on 72 from 71 balls. A win by 3 wickets

Gloucestershire 246 for 6 v Somerset 242 for 9

Tom Abel wonteh toss and elected to bat. The only unbeaten team in the Southern league they were playing Gloucs a team with a 50% success rate before today.

Another top 6 batsmen with a strike rate of under 100, in fact the highest was George Bartlett with 80.56. Lewis Gregory in at 7 batted with some urgency, making 52 in 33 balls. His was the top score as Somerset made 242 in their 50 overs.

This was no foregone conclusion as Gloucs scored the winning runs in teh 50th over with just 4 balls to spare. Again the scorecard shows runs scored but Strike Rates of under 100. Gloucs lost 6 wickets with Graeme van Buuren top scoring with 61. However Gloucester won by 4 wickets

Glamorgan 323 for 7 v Surrey 259 All Out

Rory Burns won the toss and put Glamorgan in to bat. This is proving to be an unhappy tournament for Surrey with just one win to their name before today. However Glamorgan had not a single win to theirs.

Falling to 50 for 3 didn’t make a victory look likely for Glamorgan, Morne Morkel was on a hat-trick in the 3rd over, but took his 3rd in the 11th. Billy Root came to the rescue for his new team, coming in at 5 he was not out 113 from 115 balls. Glamorgan bout a decent score of 323 for 7.

I’ve mentioned Strike Rates and in this case both Surrey openers had SR’s of over 100, but they scored just 21 between them. Jordan Clarke, a signing from Lancashire top scored with 79 having formed a partnership of 107 with Stuart Meaker. That was the only partnership of any note and Surrey were bowled out for 259 in 46.4 overs. A win for Glamorgan by 64 runs.

Essex 341 for 6 v Hampshire 230 All Out

Last but not least, my team, Essex against Hampshire who’d been in great form, winning 4 from 4, in contrast Essex had lost 3 from 4.

I can feel myself going into match report mode but it’s getting late and I’ll do that later. The bare facts –

Ryan ten Doeschate won the toss and elected to bat. Alastair Cook and Rishi Patel, making his Royal London debut made 60 for the first wicket. Ravi Bopara and ten Doeschate put on 150 for the 5th wicket. There was a determination that was plain from both men, amazingly they didn’t run each other out! Although ten Doeschate was eventually run out once Bopara had departed. Both made 89, Bopara from 83 balls and Ten Doeshcate 59. Paul Walter in at 7 added 22 useful runs in 7 balls helping Essex to 341 for 6 in their 50 overs.

Hampshire had a lot of fire power in their batting line up and Essex’s bowling had been average to date. However today was to be Essex’s day. Rilee Rossouw top scored with an impressive 93, but his team were bowled out in just 40.5 overs to give Essex a win by 111 runs. Match report to follow.