North
group winners Lancashire were denied their home advantage by the primacy of the
Ashes. Instead of Old Trafford or the floodlight-less Liverpool, they were
forced to play Essex the other side of the Pennines at Chester-le-Street. Mind
you, I think that T20 is such a lottery that it removes much advantage of
batting on a familiar track, and two of the other three fixtures were won by
the visiting county.
Lancashire’s
innings was anchored by Alex Davies, who was still there at the end of their
innings on 80. Essex’s target of 160 was far from straightforward and it
required Ten Doeschate and Bopara to raise their strike rate considerably in
the last five overs. The experienced duo succeeded, as Vilas switched his seven bowlers in desperation.
The ex-England man rounded off an excellent all-round performance with 2-28 and
an 18-ball 39.
On
Wednesday evening, another rapid fifty by Eoin Morgan proved in vain. The Trent
Bridge faithful were treated to a fine display of hitting as Middlesex failed
to capture a single wicket, dropping three catches along the way. Chris Nash made
his first Blast outing of the season, showing Joe Clarke how ‘tis done, striking
twos and fours with pleasing regularity. At the other end Alex Hales heaved
seven balls into the crowd, the last of them bringing up the ten-wicket victory
in the seventeenth over.
The
third quarter-final was hosted by Hove but, facing Worcestershire, South
table-toppers Sussex were undone first by the crucial bowling of Ed Barnard
then the brilliant batting of Moeen Ali. He thumped an awe-inspiring
career-best 121 not out to follow a mean 1-21 bowling spell.
In
contrast, runs were in short supply at Bristol where Derbyshire restricted
Gloucestershire to only 135-7. Four bowlers conceded fewer than seven an over
with off-spinner Matt Critchley perhaps the pick of the pack. The county duly
booked their first Finals Day trip thanks largely to Wayne Madsen keeping the
scoreboard ticking merrily for 47 until he became Tye’s second victim. Too little,
too late, and captain Godleman and coach Dominic Cork could celebrate the
achievement. They may not have the dosh or the big names of their opponents but
underestimate Derbyshire in T20 at your peril.
Last
weekend, the women had their own Finals Day in Sussex. The last KSL action
before it’s ditched for the horrible Hundred saw the Southern Vipers overpower
Loughborough Lightning with an over to spare in the semi. Western Storm have
bossed the group stages with nine wins out of ten, and they duly made it a
double-figure tally in a six-wicket triumph. Competition top scorer Dani Wyatt
had given the Vipers an excellent start but England skipper Heather Knight (78
not out) and Deepti Sharma (39 off 22 deliveries) saw the hot favourites home.
After the England women suffered such a drubbing in their own Ashes, Knight could
final lift a trophy. We’ll know shortly whether Joe Root could do the same.
Team of the
Week: Davies (Lan), Moeen Ali (Wor), Hales (Not), Wyatt (Vip), Knight (WS),
Bopara (Ess), Cox (Wor +), Barnard (Wor), Critchley (Der), Hudson-Prentice (Der),
Carter (Not)
