National League 18 May

National League roundup - 18 May

Division 1

Warwickshire v Essex, Edgbaston

Essex continued to pile on the pressure towards the top of Division 1 with an emphatic eight wicket victory over Warwickshire today.

This is England, this is summer, you can guess the rest. The Midlands received its by now customary deluge shortly before the game got under way, hence the three hour delay and the appearance of messrs Duckworth and Lewis. Even then, the boundary on one side of the wicket had to be re-marked to avoid a marsh which threatened to curtail play even before it began.

Essex won the toss, inserted Warwickshire and at 55-1, were probably regretting the decision with Jonathan Trott going great guns. The introduction of Ronnie Irani changed everything, though as five wickets fell for the addition of just 20 runs and the Essex skipper claiming the bulk of them on the seaming surface.

Dougie Brown offered stern resistance and blazed his way to 37 from just 25 balls, but it was a rare gesture of defiance in a sorry total of just 143.

When Essex replied, it seemed a different game with openers Andy Flower (49*) and William Jefferson (50) effectively ending the contest by the time they were separated. Only Ashley Giles threatened, bagging the only two wickets to fall.

Irani made a significant contribution with the bat too, cracking a quick-fire undefeated 26 from just 15 deliveries at the death as Essex cruised home before the next downpour.

Essex 146-2 (Jefferson 50, Flower 49*, Giles 2-27) beat Warwickshire 143 (Trott 40, Irani 3-21, Clarke 2-18) by 8 wickets


Leicestershire v Yorkshire, Leicester

With both teams struggling to make any real impact on the National League thus far, this was an opportunity for the victors to put things to rights and start moving in the right direction. Leicestershire skipper Phil DeFreitas won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to take first knock.

Virender Sehwag continued his week's good work with a fine half-century which had the home supporters in raptures, and with healthy contributions coming all down the order, especially from Darren Stevens, the home side ended on 247-8, despite the best intentions of the in-form Ryan Sidebottom, once again the pick of the Tykes attack with the splendid figures of 5-42 from his 9 overs.

Leicestershire had the game in the bag within half an hour as Yorkshire subsided to a sorry 28-5 with Charles Dagnall rampant, grabbing four wickets in as many overs. It was left to the tail to wrest a trace of respectability from an otherwise disappointing afternoon, but a win by now was out of the question.

Leicestershire 247-8 (Stevens 63, Sehwag 54, Sidebottom 5-42) beat Yorkshire 181 (Craven 35, Dagnall 4-41) by 66 runs


Glamorgan v Gloucestershire, Cardiff

Glamorgan continued their impressive start to the season with a totally one-sided destruction of Gloucestershire at Cardiff today, maintaining their 100% record in the process.

Glamorgan won the toss and inserted the visitors in what was to become a rainy Duckworth/Lewis affair. Gloucestershire, frankly never got going in the face of the accurate seam attack of Alex Wharf and Andrew Davies who bagged seven wickets between them. Whatf was the pick as he grabbed 4-18 off his six over allocation, and Gloucestershire never recovered.

When Glamorgan batted, it was a different story altogether as Robert Croft and Ian Thomas both hit half-centuries as they cruised past the required total with 5 overs to spare to give the home side one of their more straightforward victories.

Glamorgan 135-0 (Thomas 71*, Croft 60*) beat Gloucestershire 133-9 (Wharfe 4-18, Davies 3-31) by 10 wickets


Surrey v Kent, AMP Oval

One of the few games to avoid the vagarities of the English climate was responsible for a feast of runs today. Kent won the toss and decided to field - and what a hard time they had of it.

Ally Brown gave Surrey their accustomed blistering start as he long-handled the Kent attack to all parts. Peter Trego stuck manfully to his task as the visitors pegged the hosts back, but then Mark Ramprakash reminded everyone just how devastating he can be against a 'mere' county attack.

The enigma that is Ramprakash electrified the home fans with a superb undefeated century at better than a run a ball as a score in excess of 300 seemed well within sight. Azhar Mahmood bludgeoned 70 - an innings which included 4 sixes as Surrey ended on a seemingly invincible 322-7.

Kent pushed them all the way, absolutely murdering the bowling of Mahmood who went for 77 in his stint, but seemed cursed to lose wickets every time they closed in on the required run rate. It was Mahmood, though who struck the crucial blow, pegging back Ed Giddins' off stick for 99.

Matthew Walker with an undefeated 80 tried in vain to maintain a decent share of the strike towards the end off the innings as the Spitfires fell, gallantly, just seven runs short of the victory target.

Surrey 322-7 (Ramprakash 107*, Azhar Mahmood 70, Trego 4-66) beat Kent 316-7 (Smith 99, Walker 80*, Murtagh 2-68) by 6 runs


Division 2

Northamptonshire v Derbyshire, Northampton

Northants lost their 100% record in Division 2 of the National League, and very likely had to thank the elements for at least allowing them to salvage 2 points from the game against Derbyshire Scorpions.

Northants won the toss and decided to bat first - badly. Derbyshire skipper and inspiration Dominic Cork was in devastating mood, bagging 3-22 as the home side slumped to 61-7, after which a fighting knock by Mike Cawdron helped them limp to 131-9.

Derbyshire came out to bat, Shahid Afridi didn't have time to resurrect his disappointing early season as the heavens opened again, washing out any prospect of further play.

Northants 131-9 (Cawdron 37*, Cork 3-22, Dean 2-25)
Derbyshire 5-0

Match abandoned as a draw


Lancashire v Hampshire, Old Trafford

Hampshire won the toss and duly inserted the hosts. They would have felt well-satisfied too with Dimitri Mascarenhas in full cry as Lancashire teetered at 8-2. Enter Stuart Law, exit the chink of light which flickered briefly in the eyes of the Hampshire players.

Law was class, plundering three maximums and seven boundaries as he raced to 98 in just 81 balls, only to fall to Tremlett. Carl Hooper added his customary touch of gloss to the proceedings with an undefeated half-century in just 37 balls as the home side finished on a more than satisfactory 231-4 from just 30 overs.

Hampshire made an excellent start with an opening partnership of 75 between James Hamblin and John Crawley, but the introduction of Sajid Mahmood and Mark Chilton precipitated a collapse of calamitous proportions as five wickets fell for the addition of just four runs.

A brief respite ensued with Mascarenhas and Pothas holding firm for a while, but a second collapse condemned Hampshire to their fate.

Lancashire 231-4 (Law 98, Hooper 51*, Mascarenhas 2-38) beat Hampshire 150 (Crawley 37, Mascarenhas 37, Chilton 3-20, Mahmood 2-12, Martin 2-16) by 70 runs under D/L rules


Somerset v Nottinghamshire, Taunton

Nottinghamshire won the toss and elected to field - a decision they had plenty of reason to regret in a rain-affected game as the Somerset openers Jamie Cox and Carl Gazzard added 131 for the first wicket.

Gazzard was the first to go, but with all of the Somerset upper order amongst the runs, each wicket to fall brought only brief respite. James Bryant grabbed a half-century, but it was Cox who provided the backbone of the home side's rain-interrupted incredible total of 293-4 from just 35 overs with a well-constructed and rapid 110.

Nottinghamshire's reply, in their quest of a Duckworth/Lewis-adjudged victory target of 315 was spirited to say the least, and a whirlwind partnership of 161 between skipper Jason Gallian and Usman Afzaal threatened to tip matters their way. Gallian departed for 69, but Afzaal went on to complete a breathtaking century, ending sixth out for 105.

That was the end of the challenge as far as Notts were concerned, and the wickets which had started to fall with the departure of Gallian continued with increasing regularity and the Notts innings eventually folded for 265 in 33 overs.

Somerset 293-4 (Cox 110, Gazzard 58, Bryant 56*) beat Nottinghamshire 265 (Afzaal 105, Gallian 69, Andrew 3-50, Francis 3-56) by 49 runs under D/L rules



Posted by Eddie