Scotland the Brave

National League roundup - 9/10 May

Division 1

Essex v Kent, Chelmsford

Essex edged out the visitors in a low-scoring affair on Saturday.

Kent won the toss and elected to bat - a decision they were to regret within half an hour as the top half of the side was blown away for a mere 33 runs. Only Robert Key offered any real resistance with a watchful 23 as Graham Napier ran riot, finishing with the remarkable figures of 3-9 from a seven over opening salvo.

Michael Carberry and Peter Trego redressed the balance somewhat with a patient half-century partnership for the sixth wicket, and with Jones, Tredwell and Saggers chipping in with significant contributions the visitors were gradually able to edge towards respectability.

Chasing 177 to win, Essex got off to a reasonable start as Nasser Hussain and William Jefferson added 41 for the first wicket with Jefferson the dominant partner, clubbing 6 boundaries in his 35.

Hussain scratched around for 19 deliveries before becoming Ben Trott's first victim, clean bowled for just 7. This precipitated an alarming collapse as four wickets fell for just four runs to Trott, who was the pick of the Kent bowlers, and Saggers.

Paul Grayson and James Foster added 59 for the fifth wicket but when Foster was dismissed the innings seemed to falter yet again. The departure of Grayson left 40 to win with just three wickets remaining and the required run rate climbing, but a whirlwind cameo by James Middlebrook, hitting 32 from just 26 deliveries finally swung matters the way of the home side.

Essex 179-7 (Grayson 40, Trott 3-22) beat Kent 177 (Carberry 37, Trott 3-9) by 3 wickets.


Division 2

Scotland v Somerset, Edinburgh

Scotland completed their second successive victory in the National League last Friday when they outslugged Somerset in a Duckworth/Lewis thriller at the Raeburn Place Cricket Ground.

In a game reduced by the elements to just 16 overs per side, Somerset elected to bat. Cox and Trescothick blazed away from the off, adding a quickfire 23 before Cox departed in the third over.

After James Bryant had come and gone for 13, Trescothick and Ian Blackwell crashed 79 in a remarkable third-wicket partnership which lasted a little under 20 minutes with Blackwell's 34 coming off just 15 deliveries.

It seemed impossible that the scoring rate could accelerate, but it did - Michael Burns, swinging at everything plundered a remarkable undefeated 29 off just 8 balls, an innings which included a couple of boundaries and three sixes.

Marcus Trescothick remained undefeated on 80 from just 44 deliveries, an innings comprising six fours and five sixes. Some sheet-anchor role. Throughout the carnage, special mention should be made of Australia-born Paul Hoffmann, who contrived to deliver his allocation of three overs for just five runs.

Chasing an unlikely 180 to win, Scotland were ably led in the charge by Ryan Watson who set about the Sassenach invaders in style, but the departure of Grieg Williamson in just the second over brought James Brinkley to the wicket.

Brinkley was simply stunning as the pair added 84 in excess of ten runs per over, but more and more the Saltires were falling behind the clock. When Brinkley finally departed, stumped for 48 off just 27 balls it seemed a lost cause - a gallant failure.

We reckoned without Watson. Switching into overdrive, he launched the most amazing assault on the bowling leaving Somerset, and Keith Dutch in particular, simply shell-shocked.

The introduction of Dutch into the attack settled the game as the unfortunate off-break bowler was unceremoniously mauled, going at one stage for four successive sixes and ending with the ignominious figures of 0-48 off just TWO overs.

Watson's remarkable century had taken just 44 balls, included ten fours and no less than seven huge sixes as Scotland ran out victorious with just three balls to spare.

Scotland, thought by many to be certainties to finish bottom of the National League now stand in second place with a 100% record after their first two fixtures.

Scotland 181-4 (Watson 103*, Brinkley 48) beat Somerset 179-3 (Trescothick 80*) by 6 wickets under D/L rules


Posted by Eddie