365 Sporting Days

Round one was a match drawn kind of round, Round 2 saw 7 games won and just 2 drawn after a weekend of some great weather, some great performances and some surprises. Here’s a round up of who did what!

Derbyshire v Worcestershire – The Incora County Ground, Derby. Joe Leach won the toss for Worcs and put Derbyshire in to bat.

Derbyshire 390 All Out & 312 for 5 dec. Worcsestershire 305 All out & 193 for 8 – Match Drawn

Four batsmen excelled in Derbyshire’s first innings, Billy Godleman opening scored 50 from 94 balls, Leus du Plooy scored 98 from 170 balls, batting for just over 3.75 hours. Matthew Critchley was the top scorer with 109 from 159 balls, he was at the crease for 3.75 hours as was Harvey Hosein who scoed 83 from 173 balls. With a few more runs contributed that all added up to 390. The innings lasted for 111.3 hours.

Worcestershire had 2 scores over 50 in their first innings; Tom Fell scored 69 from 147 balls and Riki Wessels 60 from 95 balls. They amassed 305 in their first innings, which lasted for 102 overs.

A win is obviously always the intention, when to declare is a conundrum. Derbyshire batted for 80 overs and Critchley was in the runs again with 84 from 109 balls. That took him to 340 runs after 2 games , some start to the season! Hosein perfomed well again too, with 55 from 88 balls. Captain Billy Godleman declared on 312 for 5.

Worcs batted to save the draw and did so for 83.5 overs, Ben Cox batted for just under 4 hours making 60 from 148 balls, the play ended with Worcs on 193 for 8 and the Match Drawn.

Essex v Durham – The County Ground, Chelmsford. Tom Westley won the toss for Essex and elected to bat.

Essex 96 All Out & 330 All Out, Durham 259 All Out & 123 All Out – Essex won by 44 runs.

Essex, 96 All Out, if only I could type a horror face here! Naturally no one scored over 50 in this innings, an honourable mention to Dan Lawrence with his 32 from the 68 balls he faced. No 5fer to be mentioned, the wickets which fell within just 41.3 overs were shared amongst 4 bowlers.

Scott Borthwick, the Durham captain seemed to be batting on a different pitch to the Essex batsmen, he made an impressive century facing 129 balls and batting for just under 3 hours. Stuart Poynter added 52* from 102 balls. Simon Harmer, now playing as an Overseas player took 5 for 79 in 34 overs. Durham made 259, taking a lead of 163 into the second innings.

Essex’s second innings was somewhat better, in spite of losing both Nick Browne and Alastair Cook for just 19 they made 330. There were 3 innings of over 50. Dan Lawrence batted for just over 2.5 hours scoring 76 from 123 balls. Paul Walter batted for just over 3 hours facing 134 balls and making 77 runs. A key contribution came from Ben Allison who batted for over 3 hours scoring 52 from 163 balls, taking valuable time out of the game. Brydon Carse took 5 for 82 in his 27.2 0vers.

Durham needed 168 runs to win, Essex 10 wickets, it was the sort of day as an Essex fan you really wanted to be there! Borthwick couldn’t repeat his heroics of the first innings, but Harmer did repeat his, he took 5 for 57 in 24 overs, giving him 10 for the game. Jamie Porter and Sam Cook took the other 5 and Durham were bowled out in 56.4 overs for 123. A notable bowling spell for Allison in only his second county game, he bowled 5 overs giving away just 7 runs. Essex won by 44 runs.

Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire – Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Steven Mullaney won the toss for Notts and elected to bat.

Nottinghamshire 273 All Out & 260 All Out, Warwickshire 201 for 9 and 333 for 7 – Warwickshire won by 3 wickets

Liam Patterson-White batting at 8 for Notts was the top scorer, he batted for just over 3 hours, facing 117 balls and making 73, his was the only innings over 50. Notts made 273, Will Rhodes took 4 for 53 in 18 overs.

Sam Hain was Warwicks top scorer batting for nearly 3.5 hours he scored 72 from 142 balls. Dom Sibley was injured and unable to bat, Warwicks innings therefor ended with 9 wickets down for 201.

Haseeb Hameed a name many are keeping a look out for scored 53 from 113 balls, and similarly Joe Clarke made 56 from 96 balls, theirs were the only notable innings as they were bowled out in 88.2 overs for 260. Danny Briggs took 4 for 68.

Warwicks still without Sibley made the required runs with 7 wickets down in 121.5 overs. Sam Hain scored 57 from 152 balls batting for just under 3.5 overs. Matthew Lamb scored 50 from 113 balls and the top scorer in the innings, Tim Bresnan batting for over 3.5 hours faced 149 balls and was not out 68. Warwicks won by 3 wickets.

Hampshire v Middlesex – The Ageas Bowl, Southampton. James Vince won the toss for Hampshire and elected to bat.

Hampshire 319 All Out & 290 for 4 dec, Middlesex 79 All Out & 281 All Out. – Hampshire won by 249 runs.

There was no mighty innings for Hampshire this week , but 3 men scored over 50, with Ian Holland scoring 64 from 138 balls and Sam Northeast, a favourite of mine from his Kent days, scoring 63 from 111 balls both batted for just under 3 hours. Kyle Abbot scored 58 from 144 balls. Steven Finn took 4 for 96 in his 25.2 overs. The innings lasted 110.2 overs.

I thought Essex’s first innings was a horror one, but the bowling performance of the round, ensured Middlesex surpassed Essex’s 96. Mohammad Abbas, an inspired signing, took a remarkablr 6 for 11 in 11 overs, 6 of those overs were maidens. The Pakistan bowler loves English conditions! Nathan Sowter, a bowler, top scored with 24 of the 76 runs made. The innings was over in 34.4 overs.

Hampshire added insult to injury with 2 centuries in their second innings. With both Holland and Northeast reaching the landmark. Holland batted for just over 4 hours and Northeast just over. Holland scored 146 from 186 balls and Northeast 118 from 188. Vince declared on 290 for 4.

Abbas took 3 for 28 in Middlesex’s second innings, but they fared better, with Nick Gubbins scoring 67 from 123 balls and Robbie White 73 from 161 balls, he batted for just under 3.5 hours. The innings lasted for 99 overs and the 281 scored was well short of the runs needed to save the game. Hampshire won by 249 runs

Somerset v Gloucestershire – The Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton. Chris Dent won the toss for Gloucestershire and put Somerset in to bat.

Somerset 312 All Out & 149 All Out, Gloucestershire 309 All Out & 156 for 2. Gloucestershire won by 8 wickets

Steve Davies (another keeper scoring runs) top scored in Somerset’s first innings with 87 from 180 balls, he batted for 3.5 hours. Craig Overton showing his all rounder credentials made 54 from 88 balls. Somerset were bowled out in 94.1 overs for 312. The wickets were shared between 4 bowlers.

James Bracey (Keeper) scored 118 from 234 balls, batting for nearly 6 hoursChris Dent scored 50 from 82 balls and Matt Taylor 56 from 115 balls. Marchant de Lange took 4 for 63 in 21.1 overs. The innings lasted for 110.1 overs and Gloucestershire scored 309.

James Hildreth is still doing special things for Somerset in his 18th season, he scored 64 from 150 balls, contributing over half of Somerset’s second innings score of 149. Ryan Higgins took 4 for 29 in 16. overs. The innings lasted 65.5 overs.

Gloucestershire took just 41.1 overs to reach the required total, Bracey again excelled scoring 83 from 122 balls. Gloucestershire won by 8 wickets.

Surrey v Leicestershire – The Kia Oval, London. Colin Ackermann won the toss for Leicestershire and elected to bat.

Leicestershire 375 All Out & 295 for 3, Surrey 672 for 8 dec – Match Drawn.

The first of four centuries in this match was scored by Leics Sam Evans, he batted for just over 6.5 hours, facing 280 balls for his 138. Lewis Hill scored 70 from 124 balls. They were bowled out for 375 in 117.3 overs, the wickets were shared between 4 bowlers.

Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes shared a 4th wicket innings of 229, Foakes was out for 87 from 230 balls, Pope shared a 5th wicket innings of 234 with Jamie Smith. Pope batted for 7 hours facing 272 balls and making a mighty 245. Smith batted for 3 hours scoring 123 from 148 balls. Rory Burns declared on 672 for 8.

This wicket was obviously one that favoured the batsman and we had the 4th century with the Leics opener Hassan Azad scoring 144 from 280 balls, he batted for nearly 6.5 hours. Lewis Hill was not out for 69 from 95 balls. Leics saved the draw and made some great memories. Match Drawn.

Glamorgan v Sussex – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Ben Brown won the toss for Sussex and put Glamorgan in to bat.

Glamorgan 285 All Out & 349 All Out , Sussex 481 All Out & 154 for 2,– Sussex won by 8 wickets

David Lloyd opening for Glamorgan scored 84 from just 99 balls, he was backed up by Kiran Carlson who scored 127 from 182 balls, he batted for just over 4.5 hours. Ollie Robinson took 4 for 590 in 18 overs. Glamorgan were bowled out for 285 in 75 overs.

5 Sussex batsmen scored over 50 in their 481. An opening partnership of 115 saw Aaron Thomason score 67 from 110 balls in the just over 2 hours he batted and his partner, Tom Haines went on to score 87 from 158 balls. Stiaan van Zyl went big and scored 113 from 153 balls, batting for just over 3 hours. George Garton and Ollie Robinson shared a 7th wicket innings of 134, Garton scored 97 from 117 balls and Robinson 67 from 134. Michael Hogan took 4 for 46.

Glamorgan fell to 150 for 5 before a 6th wicket stand of 117. Kiran Carlson scored 132 from 198 balls, batting for just over 4 hours. Callum Taylor coming in at 7 scored 84 from 251 balls batting for 5 hours. Having stated earlier Abbas had the bowling performance of the round I now come across Ollie Robinson who took 9 for 78 in 30.1 overs! That is, wow!

Sussex made the required runs in 40.1 overs. Thomason was having a good game, he scored 78* from 118 balls.Tom Clark was not out 54 and the game was done, Sussex won by 8 wickets

Kent v Yorkshire – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Steven Patterson won the toss for Yorkshire and elected to bat.

Yorkshire 379 All Out & 330 for 5 dec, Kent 265 for 9 and 244 for 9 – Yorkshire won by 200 runs.

Yorkshire did have 2 batsmen scoring over 50 but 4 innings in the 30’s by those at 7-10, helped them reach their 379. Adam Lyth opening scored 97 from 116 balls, batting for just over 2.5 hours. Harry Brook batting at 5 scored 54 from 80 balls. The evergreen Darren Stevens took 4 for 60 in his 19.2 overs.

Kent were without Harry Podmore who was injured so like Warwicks only had 9 wickets to play with. Just one innings over 50 and that of course Darren Stevens, he scored 52 from 99 balls. The wickets were shared between 5 bowlers.

Yorkshire amassed their 330 in just 75.2 overs with both Adam Lyth and Joe Root scoring centuries. They shared a stand of 119, Lyth scored 116 from 169 balls batting for just over 4 hours and Root 101 from 139 balls in just under 3 hours. Patterson declared with a lead of 444.

Matthew Milnes top scored in Kent;s second innings with 78 from 210 balls, he batted for just over 4.5 hours. Stevens had to contribute and he scored a decent 47 from 82 balls. David Willey took 5 for 61 in 16 .4 overs. Yorkshire won by 200 runs.

Lancashire v Northamptonshire – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. Dane Vilas won the toss for Lancashire and elected to bat.

Lancashire 305 All Out & 296 for 7, Northamptonshire 177 All Out & 218 All Out – Lancashire won by 206 runs

Alex Davies (wk) opening for Lancs scored 57 from 79 balls , batting for just under 2 hours. Josh Bohannon batting at 3 scored 68 from 156 balls batting just over 3 hours. 6 players contributed at least 20 which helped Lancs to 305. Tom Taylor took 4 for 91 in his 26.2 overs.

Adam Rossington top scored with 49 in Northants 177, Simon Kerrigan was 45 not out. The wickets were shared between 4 bowlers, they bowled Northants out in 62 overs.

Steven Croft scored 103 runs from the 174 balls he faced in Lancs second innings, he batted for nearly 4.5 hours. Unusually there were 2 run outs in the innings. Vilas declared with a lead of 424.

Northants were bowled out for 218 well short of the total they needed, but in the middle of the innings Luke Proctor scored 93 batting for just over 6 hours, he faced 294 balls. The wickets were shared between 5 bowlers. Lancashire won by 206 runs.

There were some top performances in Round 2, Ollie Pope’s 245 has to be the stand out innings, but it’s 2 bowlers who had the best performances of the round, Mohammad Abbas with his 6 for 11 and Ollie Robinson with a remarkable 9 for 78!