NCL Division 2 - June 22

Fans of tense finishes were in their element today as the games at Old Trafford and Trent Bridge both went to the wire.

Lancashire v Durham, Manchester

A splendid all-round performance by Glen Chapple was decisive in Lancashire emerging with the spoils in the all-North encounter at Old Trafford today.

Durham won the toss and elected to bat, with Nicky Peng the first to depart for a run-a-ball 25, caught by Warren Hegg off the bowling of Chapple.

The familiar Lancashire new-ball attack of Chapple and Peter Martin were tight and penetrating, and following the departure of the stubborn Philip Mustard, clean bowled by Martin, the introduction of Kyle Hogg and Carl Hooper caused further problems.

Through it all, Martin Love held firm, but when he was winkled out by Hooper for a fine half-century, Durham were in danger of losing direction at 120-4. A partnership of 71 between Jonathan Lewis and Gary Pratt took the score on to 191, then the return of Chapple ensured that there would be no late flourish as Durham ended on 197-7.

Lancashire's reply at first was little short of disastrous as Liam Plunkett, a young man of immense promise, tore through the upper order. At one time, the home side were tottering at 24-4, a situation made even worse by the retirement of Iain Sutcliffe.

Enter Glen Chapple into the proceedings. Schofield flattered to decieve, hitting five boundaries before departing for 25, leaving Lancashire effectively 58-6 but in Warren Hegg, Chapple found a willing partner.

The pair added a vital 74 runs before Mark Davies accounted for Hegg, then Kyle Hogg added further stability to proceedings with a valuable 22 before he became the second of Vince Wells' victims.

Chapple eventually steered Lancashire through to their victory target with just seven balls to spare, hitting six boundaries and one maximum in his match-winning innings of 77 not out.

Lancashire 198-7 (Chapple 77*, Plunkett 3-38)
beat
Durham 197-7 (Love 53, Chapple 3-38)
by 3 wickets

Nottinghamshire v Middlesex, Nottingham

Middlesex squeaked through this one by the narrowest possible margin today, having to thank Owais Shah for a thrilling century which left Nottinghamshire with just too much to do.

Middlesex won the toss and elected to bat first at Trent Bridge, losing Andy Strauss for 8 with just 24 on the board. Fellow opener Paul Weekes crashed eight boundaries in his 40, but apart from the Karachi-born Shah, the visitors had precious little to offer.

Shah was stunning, both stylish and hard-hitting as he proceeded serenely to his hundred, eventually becoming Richard Logan's third of four victims as he was ninth out for 106

Gareth Clough and Stuart MacGill were Nottinghamshire's other principal wicket-takers with two apiece, but it was Richard Logan's medium pace which was the major thorn in Middlesex's side.

Nottinghamshire lost Jason Gallian and Usman Afzaal early, but a partnership between Guy Welton and Kevin Pietersen took the home side on to a relatively comfortable 112-2 before Welton went for 50, the first of two victims for Paul Weekes.

To say that Weekes was expensive would be to understate the case, his nine overs disappearing to all parts of Trent Bridge for a less than flattering 71 runs. Bilal Shafayat was the other batsman dismissed by Weekes, but the hard-hitting Pietersen found the off-spinner's fare to be very palatable.

Pietersen savaged the Middlesex attack for 82 runs from just 70 balls before falling to Ed Joyce, but with Russell Warren (36*) picking up the mantle, a home victory still seemed possible. It was all too much in the end as Joyce went for just 10 runs from his three overs, and Richard Logan was run out off the last ball of the match striving to register the tieing run.

Close, but no cigar.

Middlesex 234 (Shah 106, Weekes 40, Logan 4-44)
beat
Nottinghamshire 233-8 (Pietersen 82, Welton 50, Joyce 2-10)
by 1 run


Posted by Eddie