Email Us Forum Mail Article Print Article

D1: Sami Blasts Through Gladiators!

Monday, April 26 2004

Mohammad Sami inspired a thrilling Kent victory by just one run, as he ran riot on the Gloucestershire batsman on his return to Canterbury for a second season.

Earlier in the day Gloucestershire won the toss and asked the home side to bat first, the move seemed pivotal as the Kent top order crumbled to the accurate bowling early on and with the score just on 30 the top three were all back in the hut and they were soon joined by two more as Kent looking in dire straights five down with a mere 73 on the board.

However as Kent were looking down and out for the count the tailed wagged with G.Jones (22), J.Treadwell (22) and R.Ferley (31) all adding vital runs before a quick fire 13 from 9 balls by Mohammad Sami lifted the total of 175/9 to some sort of respectability.

J.Lewis and M.Alleyne were the main destroyers with the ball ending with fine figures of 2/29 and 2/32 respectively both from their full allotment of nine overs.

In reply Kent knew quick wickets were vital to defending the small total and were in deep trouble as the Gloucestershire openers targeted M.Saggers for some particularly harsh treatment and raced to 50 without loss in just over half an hour.

In a fraught attempt to stem the flow of runs D.Fulton called for the introduction of Mohammad Sami and the game was turned on it’s head within half an hour Mohammad Sami had ripped through three of the top four batsman and spinner R.Ferley grab the other wicket to fall as Gloucestershire went from 50/0 to 81/4.

Gloucestershire did a fine job of consolidating the situation and C.Spearman and M.Allenye lead the side over the 100 mark and looking in a position of strength when It was the Ferley / Sami combo that did the trick again. Mohammad Sami made the breakthrough dismissing C.Spearman for a fine 63 (88 balls), and R.Ferley trapped the former England wicket keeper J.Russell in front for just 6.

An over of complete and utter madness saw first M.Alleyne run out and just a couple of balls latter J.Averis also being caught short of his ground, to leave Gloucestershire needing 13 still for victory with just two wickets left.

Gloucestershire's M.Ball and J.Lewis played the situation perfectly and picked the gaps and scored well for the next couple of overs. Going into the last over Gloucestershire required just two runs for victory and all seemed lost for Kent, however as seen in the last two matches you can never write the Kent side off until it's over and with Mohammad Sami to bowl the last over Kent always felt they had a slim hope of victory.

Mohammad Sami charged in and was rewarded with the wicket of the first ball of the over to dismiss J.Lewis for 6 (7 balls) A.Smith came in to face the music and survived his first ball, however the second was a different story all together as Mohammad Sami let one rip and made a complete mess of the stumps and led Kent to a stunning one run victory.

The star of the Kent attack was un questionably Mohammad Sami who ended with the fantastic figures of 8.3 overs 6/20, R.Ferley must also get a mention any other day of the week his 9 overs costing just 20 runs and picking up two vital wickets would have given him a great chance of a MOM award but today was Sami's day and showed he ment business after the disappointing series versus India over the last couple of months.


Surrey Lions vs Glamorgan Dragons @ The Brit Oval

Elsewhere in Division 1 saw Surrey stage a superb fight back recovering from a precarious position of 36/7 to end with 146 all out, thanks mainly to the late order batting of I. Salisbury 59* (92) and Saqlain Mushtaq 26 (57). A. Davis's 4/29 and M.Kasprowicz 3/27 were the chief destroyers for Glamorgan as each of the five bowlers used all took at least one wicket.

In reply the score was never going to be enough on a good batting track and even with a couple of early wickets half centuries from Elliott 69* (83) and a devastating assault from Powell that saw him blast 64 from just 40 balls, saw the Dragons home with over half of their overs remaining. Azhar Mahmood's 2/30 was the only standout from a disappointing Surrey bowling effort at the Oval.


Northamptonshire Steelbacks v Lancashire Lighting @ County Ground, Northampton

In another match that the ball dominated the bat saw Northants capitulate to 161/9 in their 45 overs, only the wicket keeper G Brophy offering any resistance to the Lancashire attack as he struck an defiant 50 not out, his main support came from a quick fire 25 from J Cook and the fast bowler B.Phillips hitting a stubborn 23 that only saw one boundary hit, before he became the second (of three) vitamin of the gentle medium pace from part time bowler M.Chilton.

Chapple, Cork and Mahmood all took two wickets each and Chilton three as all the Lancashire bowlers kept the pressure on.

In reply the Lancashire batsman made comparatively easy work of the target as M.Loye lead the way with an aggressive 70 from just 53 deliveries in an opening stand of 93 with I.Sutcliffe 38 (85). Although wickets began to fall in regular intervals with just 60 left to win the victory was never really in any doubt, M Chilton 23* and G Chapple 7* (16) saw their side over the victory line with four overs remaining.

G.Swann bowled with huge determination for his 3/16 (8 Overs) but was given little support by his colleagues and allowed Lancashire to keep the score ticking over contentedly.


Warwickshire Bears v Hampshire Hawks @ Edgbaston

Newly promoted side Hampshire were asked to bat first and were in immediate trouble as both the openers were removed quickly, however a solid 68 from the young Australian M.Clarke and able back up from numerous players getting to the 20's and 30's saw Hampshire get up to a defendable total of 215/6, thanks as well to S.Udal who hit a scintillating 30 from just 9 balls.

Hampshire would have been slightly disappointed that so many batsmen got in but not going on with their good starts, mainly due to some good bowling in patches from a strong Bears attack, N.Carter was easily the pick of the bowlers with 2/18 from his 9 overs and D.Pretorius 1/39 from 8 overs, but the rest were just a little too expensive in particular D.Brown going for 58 for his two wickets.

In reply the Bears found the going tough and the innings followed a very similar pattern to that of the Hampshire one, two quick wickets at the top of the order with the score on just 15 left Warwickshire with a battle ahead, just like Hampshire some of the batsman got starts but failed to carry on Australian B.Hogg would have been disappointed at getting out while looking in good form, S.Warne taking the wicket too even up the tally after it was B.Hogg that dismissed S.Warne in the Hampshire innings.

G.Wagg offered some fighting sprit as he blasted 35 from just 17 balls including four sixes from number 9, but it wasn’t enough as the Warwickshire Bears fell 26 runs short of victory.

All six of the Hampshire bowlers did a super job of keeping the runs down and all bar S.Udal took at least a well deserved wicket, C.Tremlett finishing with 3/30 and D.Mascarenhas 2/18 were the main picks.


Match Summaries - Totesport League Division One - 25 April 2004

Glamorgan 147 for 7 (Elliott 69*) beat Surrey 146 (Salisbury 59*, Davies 4-29) by seven wickets @ The Oval

Lancashire 162 for 5 (Loye 70) beat Northants 161 for 9 (Brophy 50*) by five wickets @ Northampton

Kent 175 for 9 beat Gloucestershire 174 (Sami 6-20) by one run @ Canterbury

Hampshire 215 for 6 (Clarke 68) beat Warwickshire 189 (Tremlett 3-30) by 26 runs @ Edgbaston

Posted by Richard