This was one of those weeks when not every team played – Weird, again, with the Summer wending it’s way out of 2023 it would surely have made sense to have all playing over this hot weekend! The Sussex v Leicestershire match decided that Durham were promoted with a few matches to go and in a week when they were one of the teams not playing. Other relegation and promotion matters were still up for grabs. On to those who were playing! I’m going to add the Century Makers and 5 wicket takers tomorrow so I can publish this on Day 4! There was drama galore!
Division 1
Kent v Nottinghamshire – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Jack Leaning won the toss for Kent and elected to bat. Match Drawn
Kent 446 All Out & 86 for 6, Notts 265 All Out & 348 All Out
Zak Crawley isn’t in the England squad for the ODI’s taking place against New Zealand and therefore returned for possibly one of his most important innings of the year. He and Daniel Bell-Drummond put on 153 for the 2nd wicket after Crawley and Compton had made 95 for the 1st, wicket, Compton had only made 18 of those runs. Crawley’s was the second wicket to fall, he’d scored 158 from 153 balls including 18 Fours and 3 Sixes over just under 4.5 hours. That will have been an absolute delight for the Kent fans watching! Bell -Drummond was out in the next over and had scored 60 from 126 balls. Jack Leaning in at 5 made 64 from 129 balls as Kent scored 446 in 115.4 overs. An extremely useful innings all round in Kent’s attempt to stay in Division 1.
Notts lost 2 early wickets and were 29 for 2, Joe Clarke and captain Steven Mullaney put on 131 for the 3rd wicket. Clarke made 62 from 110 balls and Mullaney 82 from 141 balls. Theirs were the only innings of note as Notts were bowled out for 265 in 98.2 overs. Aron Nijjar, on loan from Essex took 4 for 67 in his 32 overs.
Kent asked Notts to follow on and largely thanks to Joe Clarke they made a much better job of things he scored 141* from 277 balls and batted for over 6 hours. Clarke and Brett Hutton in at 9 put on 148 for the 8th wicket. Notts made 348 and took 123 overs to do so.
A win for Kent here would have been an ideal result, but their batting line up crumbled and they fell to 73 for 6 in just 27.5 overs. The game was declared a draw after 31.3 overs. The batting and bowling performances in the first innings haver moved them to within 2 points of Middlesex.
Lancashire v Middlesex – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. Toby Roland-Jones won the toss for Middlesex and elected to bat. Match Drawn
Middlesex 194 All Out & 160 for 3, Lancashire 413 All Out
Middlesex have achieved only 2 batting points over 11 games before this one and they didn’t add to that tally, their time in Division 1 is hanging by a thread and they did themselves no favours in Manchester. Sam Robson did his best to help his team, scoring 86 from 235 balls, that took him to 621 for the summer so far. Ryan Higgins scored 41 taking him to 739, he’s been one of the bright lights for Middlesex this summer. Middlesex were bowled out in 79.5 overs 56 runs short of any batting bonus point.
Lancashire had their own century maker, opener Luke Wells and Dane Vilas put on 128 for the 4th wicket, Wells made 97 from 169 balls. Vilas then shared the 5th wicket partnership of 106 with George Bell, Vilas was out for 124 from 180 balls. Bell scored 91 from 115 balls. Lancs made 413 in 102.2 overs. Jayant Yadav took 5 for 131 in his 33 overs.
As has been the case more than once this summer Middlesex’s 2nd innings was a better one, they made 160 on 67 overs, with Jack Davies scoring 65* from 148 balls. The game was declared a draw and Middlesex with their 3 bowling points have that 2 point advantage over Lancs.
Warwickshire v Northamptonshire – Edgbaston, Birmingham. Will Rhodes won the toss for Warwicks and put Northants in to bat. Warwicks won by 2 wickets.
Northants 250 All Out & 72 for no wicket dec, Warwicks 147 for 4 & 176 for 8
This was in effect a nothing game for Warwicks but a game that could have pulled Northants out of trouble, I was at The Oval watching Ben Stokes set an England record for the highest ODI score so can only go by what I’ve seen in discussions on Facebook.
Northants added to their 3 batting points for the season with the one they got in their 1st innings, Emilio Gay and Karen Nair put on 147 for the 3rd wicket, Nair in at 4 scored 78 from 177 balls and Gay 77 from 146 balls. They reached their 250 in 94.4 overs. Oli ver Hannon-Dalby took 7 for 46 in his 26.4 overs.
At this point there must have been a long chat between the captains, as Warwicks declared with just 147 to their name. The captains must have decided on a total for Waricks to chase in their 2nd innings as Northhants then declared on 72. Warwicks would need 176 too get the win, this on Day 4. They achieved that total in 52.4 overs, but lost 8 wickets as they went. So close yet so far for Northants who have only 1 win to their name this summer. They finish things off with a trip to Surrey then a visit from Essex, the 2 teams vying for the top spot! Drama galore at Edgbaston I should imagine!
Division 2
Glamorgan v Yorkshire – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Shan Masood won the toss for Yorks and elected to bat. Match Drawn
Yorkshire 500 All Out, Glamorgan 273 All Out & 401 for 5 dec.
Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean put on 98 for the 1st wicket, Lyth was out for 49. bean and captain Shan Masood put on 127 for the 2nd wicket. Bean made 93 from 93 from 128 balls. Masood and George Hill put on 132 for the 4th wicket, Hill made 71 from 124 balls. Masood went on to score 192 from 256 balls as Yorkshire scored 500 in 122 overs. 4 of the 6 bowlers shared the wickets.
Glamorgan were bowled out in 89 .2 overs with captain Kiran Carlson scoring 64 from 89 balls Matthew Revis took 5 for 50 in his 16.2 overs.
Glamorgan were asked to follow on and they most definitely did that! Opener Zain ul Hassan was out for a 3 ball Duck Colin Ingram made just 16 and Glamorgan were 30 for 2. Opener Eddie Byrom and Sam Northeast put on 178 for the 3rd wicket. Byrom scored 101 from 199 balls and Northeast went on to score 166 from 296 balls as the game ran way from Yorks. Glamorgan scored 401 in 118 overs and we had another draw!
Gloucestershire v Derbyshire – Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol, Graeme van Buuren won the toss for Gloucs and elected to bat. Match Drawn.
Gloucs 377 All Out & 208 for 6 dec, Derbyshire 403 All Out
Gloucs made steady runs before Graeme van Buuren and Ollie Price put on 157 for the 5th wicket. van Buuren made 78 from 109 balls and Price went on to score 132 from 194 balls. Gloucs made their 377 in 97.1 overs. Anuj Dal took 6 for 69 in his 23.1 overs.
Derbys scored 403 in 112.4 overs, they put on 132 for the 1st over, Harry Came scored 68 from 118 balls and Luis Reece 77 from 142 balls. Captain Leus du Plooy in at 5 scored 108 from 164 balls. Zafar Zohar took 5 for 122 in his 39.4 overs.
Gocus had 72 overs to bat before this game was declared a draw. van Buuren added 48 to his runs for the Summer. Alex Thomson took 4 for 79.
Sussex v Leicestershire – The 1st Central County Ground, Hove. Lewis Hill won the toss for Leics and put Sussex in to bat. Sussex won by 15 runs.
Sussex 262 All Out & 344 for 9 dec, Leics 108 All Out & 483 All OutFynn Hudson
I think this one takes the prize for nail biter of this round! I confess to havering BBC Sport on in front of me as I was watching the England macth at The Oval. Having finished last season questioning Leics place in the league after thy failed to win a game in 2022 it was amazing to think they were challenging for promotion!
Fynn Hudson-Prentice top scored for Sussex with 65 from 92 balls as Leics bowled them out in 72.1 overs. Matt Salisbury took 5 for 73 in his 17.1 overs.
Leics’ failure in their 1st innings, they were bowled out for 108 in just 42,4 overs, that with Rishi Patel scoring 48 from 120 balls. There were 5 Ducks on the scorecard! Ari Karvelas took 4 for 14 in his 12 overs.
Sussex opener Tom Clark scored 69 from 160 balls and James Coles in at 5 made 63 from 119 balls. Captain Cheteshwar Pujara declared on 344 for 9 leaving Leics a total of 499 to win!
Remarkably Leics very nearly did it! Colin Ackermann and Umar Amin put on 180 for the 4th wicket. Amin scored 94 from 185 balls and Ackermann 136 from 190 balls. Keeper Ben Cox and Tom Scriven put on 120 for the 7th wicket, Cox scored 58 from 125 balls and Scriven 78 from 108 balls. Leics ran out of wickets just 16 runs short of the massive total they required! Oh for a few more 1st innings runs!
A Ben Stokes masterclass at The Oval today as he took over from Jason Roy with the highest England man ODI score – he made 182 from 124 balls and he and David Malan put on 199 for the 3rd wicket. More of that to follow!
- Zak Crawley – Kent – 158 from 153 Balls
- Joe Clarke – Notts – 141 from 277 Balls
- Dane Vilas – Lancs – 124 from 180 Balls
- Shan Masood – Yorks – 192 from 256 Balls
- Eddie Byrom – Glamorgan – 101 from 199 Balls
- Sam Northeast – Glamorgan – 16 from 296 Balls
- Ollie Price – Gloucs – 132 from 194 Balls
- Leus du Plooy – Derbys – 108 from 164 Balls
- Colin Ackermann – Leics – 136 from 190 Balls
- Michael Hogan – Kent – 5 for 63 in 22 Overs
- Jayant Yadav – Middlesex – 5 for 131 in 33 Overs
- Oliver Hannin-Dalby – Warwicks – 7u for 46 in 26.4 Overs
- Ben Sanderson – Northants – 5 for 42 in 17 Overs
- Matthew Revis – Yorks 5 for 50 in 16.2 Overs
- Anuj Dal – Derbys – 6 or 69 in 23.1 Overs
- Zafar Gohar – Gloucs – 5 for 122 in 39.4 Overs
- Matt Salisbury – Leics – 5 for 73 in 17.1 Overs
- Jaydev Unadkat – Sussex – 6 for 94 in 32.4 Overs
365 Sporting Days 