At
the end of the first week of fixtures Kent are the only unbeaten county,
defeating useful one-day sides like Essex, Somerset and Hampshire. The
Spitfires’ stand-out individual performance was Imran Qayyam’s 5-21 which shot
Somerset out of the skies at Canterbury. Middlesex stand second of the South
division. AB De Villiers got them off to a stunning start with an unbeaten 88
off 43 deliveries but Dawid Malan was the most consistent batsman of all, while
seamers Tom Helm and Toby Roland-Jones were always amongst the wickets.
Sussex
boast a formidable line-up of specialist T20 bowlers, particularly Mills,
Topley, Rashid Khan and Danny Briggs. They have propelled Sussex into third place,
despite only managing a tie with Surrey. The latter side enjoyed a 97-run
drubbing of Glamorgan on Thursday evening at The Oval. Tom Curran captured a
second-over hat-trick, then Batty and Imran Tahir each took a further three
wickets as the Welsh were dismissed for 44. It was their worst T20 performance
to date but at least it was better than Ireland’s second-innings Test meltdown.
Curran
was less successful against Essex. With South African hired T20 gun Cameron
Delport slogging fourteen sixes in a career-best 129, the England man’s three
overs went for 60. On their home ground, Essex amassed 226-4 from only 15 overs
but it wasn’t the highest total of the week. In the North group Yorkshire took
255 off Leicestershire, with Tom Kohler-Cadmore leading the way with 96 not
out. However, the Vikings lost the Big One, falling just short of Lancashire’s
170-6 at Headingley.
Warwickshire,
aka the Birmingham Bears, also got off to a good start. Their recruit from
Hampshire, Fidel Edwards, and Aussie spinner Ashton Agar looked useful
acquisitions. Nottinghamshire ought to do well, and Alex Hales needs to make some
high scores to get back in Eoin Morgan’s good books.
Gloucestershire
and Worcestershire saw relatively little Blast action as they squeezed in a
Championship fixture at Cheltenham. The result was closer after four days than
the majority of games spanning just three hours. An excellent all-round
contribution by Ryan Higgins helped the home team to a 13-run triumph, propelling
them to an unlikely third position in Division Two.
As
for the Blast, there’ll be plenty more thrills and spills before the knockouts start.
I’m sure Glamorgan and Leicestershire won’t end the competition winless.
Team of the
Week: Delport (Ess), Short (Dur), Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Malan (Mid), Du Plooy
(Der), Pooran (Yor +), Higgins (Glo), Roland-Jones (Mid), Agar (War), Helm
(Mid), Edwards (War)
