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Gazzard dazzles

Monday, May 24 2004

Carl Gazzard played the innings of the day as 4 Division 2 games provided plenty of entertainment.

Derbyshire vs Somerset

The visitors hammered their hosts in this game, being in complete control from the moment they won the toss and decided to bat.

Skipper Michael Burns and Carl Gazzard opened up and were ruthless in the way they compiled their runs in a blistering opening stand of 125 before Burns fell for 73 from 63 balls. It was then that Gazzard took over, as he reached his hundred from 104 balls then added another 57 in just 32 balls before finally being run-out. Steady contributions at the other end meant that the final score was an imposing 316-5.

Derbyshire gamely tried, but 2 early Andrew Caddick wickets meant they were always fighting a losing battle, and although Chris Bassano hit 85 from 81 balls and the scoring rate was good, medium pacer Keith Parsons ripped out the lower order in taking 5 wickets and they were well short when dismissed with over 9 overs unbowled.

Somerset 316-5
Gazzard 157, Burns 73, Dumelow 2-78
Derbyshire 202
Bassano 85, Parsons 5-39, Caddick 2-23


Nottinghamshire v Middlesex

This was a much less high scoring and much closer game that was eventually settled by a classy innings from South African all-rounder Lance Klusener.

Nottinghamshire batted first, and although several batsmen got starts (3 of the top 5 were all dismissed for 31), it took a cameo from the discarded England wicket-keeper Chris Read, who hit 2 sixes and 3 fours in his 31 ball innings, to help the score even exceed 200, as Chad Keegan again impressed with the ball.

In reply, only Paul Weekes of the top order got going, hitting 57 from 56 balls, and Stuart MacGill in particular was dangerous, as Middlesex subsided from 74-1 to 139-6 before Klusener entered the fray. The South African wasn't as brutal as we've come to know him, but was certainly effective as he scored an unbeaten 56 from 58 balls, taking his side to victory with a sensational run of 3 boundaries from the last 3 balls of the match.

Nottinghamshire 207-7
Read 45, Hussey 31, Singh 31, Warren 31, Keegan 3-28, Cook 2-46
Middlesex 211-7
Weekes 57, Klusener 56*, MacGill 4-55


Sussex v Leicestershire

This was another last ball thriller, with sensational batting on both sides.

The away side were the first in, and Darren Maddy (95 from 92 balls with 12 fours and a six) was the first to shine in a 2nd wicket stand of 165 with Australian Brad Hodge. Hodge then took centre stage in style as he passed his hundred in 103 balls before smashing 5 fours and 4 sixes in his next 19 balls to take his final score to 154 not out and his county to 324-4.

That Sussex got near was thanks to fine batting from Murray Goodwin (64 balls, 5 fours and a six), Chris Adams (38 balls, 1 four and 2 sixes) and in particular Ian Ward (120 balls, 10 fours and 5 sixes), but they all fell, and it was left to Richard Montgomerie and Michael Yardy to try and snatch it at the death. Yardy hit 14 from just 5 balls, but needed a six from the final ball, and was only able to hit a four and therefore a 1 run loss.

Leicestershire 324-4
Hodge 154*, Maddy 95, Nixon 30
Sussex 323-5
Ward 136, Goodwin 66, Adams 45, Henderson 2-54, Cleary 2-60


Yorkshire vs Worcestershire

This match was a relatively uninteresting match when faced with the other 3 games, but that's not to say it was poor.

Worcestershire owed their total to 3 batsmen making half centuries - Vikram Solanki showed good form at the top of the order, whilst Graeme Hick continued his superb summer in the middle overs and then the much-maligned Kadeer Ali added the finishing touch in blasting 51 from 44 balls. In spite of those knocks, some tight Yorkshire bowling, led by captain Craig White's brilliantly miserly 1-18 from 7 overs, restricted the visitors to an eminently getable 238-6.

That they came well short owed a lot to some fine attacking bowling from Nadeem Malik in removing the dangerous lower order players and a fine tight spell from Gareth Batty, who finished his 9 overs with 3 maidens and 1 wicket for just 21 runs. Although Matthew Wood hit 46 from 40 balls at the top and shared a good opening stand with White, the bowling was always too good for the White Rose, and Worcestershire were comfortable winners in the end.

Worcestershire 238-6
Solanki 68, Hick 54, Kadeer Ali 51, Dawson 2-42, Bresnan 2-50
Yorkshire 199
Wood 46, White 31, Malik 3-53, Harrity 2-44

Posted by Marc