Yorkshire
also achieved their third Championship success of the summer at Taunton but by
a mere three runs. I’m gutted that Somerset should lose yet again by such a
narrow margin. Neither side managed 300 in an innings and it was Gary Ballance’s
second innings 98 not out which proved to be the top individual score. While
Ryan Sidebottom was reverse swinging the ball, and only one wicket left, Jamie
Overton decided to attack the off-spin of Adam Lyth. The first ball of the part-timer’s 18th
over went for six, the next for two leg-byes. Seeking a match-winning boundary,
Overton just hol out to mid-wicket, dammit! Somerset’s young captain Tom Abell
endured another miserable week with the bat. Surely a change is imminent, but
the rest of the batting line-up is also struggling.
There were no
three-figure scores at Southport either, and it was Lancashire’s bowlers who
the upper hand over Middlesex. Stephen Parry was unused on the first morning
but took 5-45 on the final morning. Special mention must go to Alex Davies. His
runs have dried up but he made an impressive nine catches and a stumping.
Division Two
is beginning to resemble a table of two halves. At the top, Nottinghamshire, Kent
and Worcestershire each have four victories so far. However, none of them won
this week. Indeed, the latter county contrived to lose at home to Glamorgan
inside three days. Not wishing to downplay the significance of stand-in skipper
Michael Hogan’s 5-38, the crucial passage of play was probably the Glammies’
recovery from 57-6 to 381 all out. It included a century stand for the ninth
wicket between Andrew Salter and Lukas Carey.
At Bristol, Samit
Patel struck a career-best 257 not out to put Nottinghamshire in the driving
seat. However, Gloucestershire batted out the entire final day to salvage a
draw. Northamptonshire also registered a fourth Championship success, this time
against Derbyshire. It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. Rob Newton was back in
form but after he was out for 108 in the second innings, his team collapsed
farcically, the remaining eight wickets vanishing for just 52 runs. However,
they had sufficient runs in the locker and Derbyshire aren’t exactly prolific
scorers. Seamer Ben Sanderson did the rest. There was, however, personal
success for the losers’ teenage seamer Conor McKerr. In only his second
first-class fixture, the South African claimed a satisfactory ten-for!
At Grace
Road, Jofra Archer chalked up another eleven scalps with his fast-medium pace
as Leicestershire came a cropper against Sussex. Meanwhile, at Canterbury,
Durham came within a whisker of celebrating a first win of the season. On the
last afternoon, after skipper Sam Northeast was the eighth man out for 72, Kent’s
last three men, Claydon, Coles and Yasir Shah managed to survive the last
eighteen overs. Tough on Paul Collingwood who contributed another 171 runs to
the north-easterners’ cause.
This week,
its back to the Royal London Cup, starting with the two quarter-finals. I
wonder whether Somerset’s ongoing woes will impact upon their chances of
advancing to the semis. Notts are in form so I fancy they will progress. Yorkshire
v Surrey is harder to call but, if pushed, I’d plump for the Londoners to advance
to Friday’s decider.
Team of the
Week: Stoneman (Sur), Newton (Nor), Northeast (Ken), Patel (Not), Collingwood
(Dur), Ten Doeschate (Ess), Davies (Lan +), Archer (Sus), McKerr (Der),
Sidebottom (Yor), Sanderson (Nor)
