Twenty 20: South Division

In the final group games of the Twenty 20 South Division saw the possibility of anyone from Kent, Sussex or Middlesex having an outside chance of qualification.

Sussex vs Kent at Hove - Day / Night Match

Kent and Sussex went into the match with a faint glimmer of hope of qualification, however Kent throw the chance away without the help of any of the other sides they were relying on as the batting that has been the strong suit so far crumbled to a disciplined Sussex attack that saw each bowler take a wicket and Mushtaq Ahmed being a particular standout ending with figures of 2/12 from his 4 overs.

Kent lost wickets regularly and never really got going with the best partnership of the innings being an abysmal 27 between Mark Ealham 22 (18) and Ed Smith 9 (12). Kent completed a bad day at the office by completing the cardinal sin of failing to bat their full allotment of overs as they were bowled out for just 114.

Sussex in reply required just 115 to win at a 5.75 an over. However the Kent bowlers put up a bit more fight as they reduced the home side to 2/6 inside the first two overs of the reply. However that's where any chances of a win were destroyed as Baz Zuiderent and Chris Adams shared in a fine 80 run partnership that all but saw the Sharks home under the floodlights at Hove. However the home side had a slight anxious feeling as Baz Zuiderent and Robert Martin-Jenkins both departed in quick succession and then the linchpin of the innings Chris Adams fell just a few runs from victory, however no more wickets fell as Sussex wrapped up an regulation victory.

Sussex v Kent at Hove

Kent: 114 All Out - M Ealham 22; J Lewry 3/34 (3.5), Mushtaq Ahmed 2/12 (4) and R Martin-Jenkins 2/21 (4)

Sussex: 115/5 - B Zuiderent 42, C Adams 34; M Ealham 1/17 (3), A Sheriyar 1/18 (3), M Dennington 1/22 (4) and Mohammad Sami 1/23 (3.5)

Sussex won by 5 wickets - B Zuiderent Man of the Match


Essex vs Middlesex at Chelmsford - Day / Night Match

Batting first Essex made a fine start many thanks to the ever-reliable A Flower who proceeded with the help of the Essex captain to destroy the Middlesex attack all over the place, adding 67 for the first wicket. However a further three quick wickets fell to peg the home side back partly before A Flower found a useful associate in P Grayson as the pair added 63 runs in quick time before the Zimbabwean was dismissed by Abdul Razzaq with just a single ball remaining in the innings. A Flower departed for a fantastic 83 from just 53 balls, P Grayson at the other end finished 34 (25) not out.

Middlesex had a tough task ahead of them if they were to chase down one of the bigger score of the competition so far - 176. That task got a lot harder when the in form J Dakin destroyed the top order of the visitors to reduce them to 3/34, S Brant the other wicket taker. However the Middlesex pair of P Weekes and Abdul Razzaq went about the rebuilding of the innings by adding 49 very quick runs before Abdul Razzaq fell to the part-time bowling of P Grayson. Another very handy partnership of P Weekes and E Joyce then added a further 22 runs as the target was still within range even after the poor start Middlesex had. When P Weekes departed of the bowling of ten Doeschate, it bought the last real batsman to the middle R Weston, but he soon became another victim of ten Doeschate. E Joyce also depart in the same period of play and left the lower order needed to score around 30 runs for victory. However a faint hope nearly came true as both B Hutton and S Cook went after the bowlers and were unlucky to fall just two runs short of the target when the allotted 20 overs were up.

Essex v Middlesex at Chelmsford

Essex: 174/5 - A Flower 83, A Grayson 34*, R Irani 30; S Cook 1/26 (4) and T Bloomfield 1/27 (4),

Middlesex: 173/7 - P Weekes 35, Abdul Razzaq 33, E Joyce 31; J Dakin 2/31 (4), R ten Doeschate 2/35 (4) and P Grayson 2/36


Essex won by 2 Runs - A Flower Man of the Match



Hampshire vs Surrey at The Rose Bowl

In the only insignificant match of the group where Surrey had already gain promotion and Hampshire were way of the pace and had no mathematical hope of qualification saw Surrey opt to bat first.

The decision looked a good choice as Surrey rattled along to 75 without loss, before a remarkable Hampshire fight back saw the undefeated Surrey go from 75/1 to 140 all out with the last eight wickets adding just 65 between them, and out of that total the opener S Newman added 36 of them in his run a ball 59. Out of the last nine batsmen only M Bicknell managed double figures ending on 10 not out.

In reply Hampshire would have fancied their chances of defeating a strong Surrey side, however Surrey hadn't read this script.

Hampshire lost a key wicket of the big hitting J Hamblin with the very first ball of the innings and a 52 run partnership between J Crawley and S Katich seemed to have the home side cruising to a easy win when P Sampson removed the Hampshire captain for 23 (27). Just an over later and Saqlain Mushtaq won the battle of the Pakistan when he had fellow Pakistan associate W Akram caught for just 1. However at the other end D Kenway was enjoying the Surrey bowling as he balzed 27 from just 18 balls, however Hampshire's innings then took a turn for the worst as it followed that of Surrey's as the last six wickets fell for just 20 runs, with A Hollioake the chief destroyer with 5/21 from his 3 overs.


Hampshire vs Surrey at The Rose Bowl

Surrey: 140/9 - S Newman 59 and A Brown 33; J Hamblin 3/31 (4), L Prittipaul 2/17 (4) and Wasim Akram 2/20 (4)

Hampshire: 120 All Out - S Katich 45, D Kenway 27 and J Crawley 23; A Hollioake 5/21 (3) and Bicknell 2/11 (4)

Surrey won by 19 Runs - AJ Hollioake Man of the Match

Today's results and other results from around the country meant that only Surrey would represent the South at Trent Bridge in just under a month's time, for the rest it was a worthwhile experiance and certianly bump up the takings for the year so far. However as they say, "maybe next year".

Posted by Richard