County Cricket: Surrey surge but Somerset Still Top

Most of this week’s Vitality Blast action focussed on the South group where Somerset had been unbeaten. After almost three weeks without an individual century, we witnessed two, both scored by Kent openers albeit in different fixtures. 

Indeed, it was Kent who spoiled Somerset’s 100% record. Daniel Bell-Drummond’s 49-ball hundred dominated a 158-run opening stand with Tawanda Muyeye (70) as the Spitfires racked up 228-5. The Westcountrymen aren’t fazed by a challenging chase, and Toms Banton and Kohler-Cadmore set about the task in typical fashion. Joey Evison strangled the middle-order and, although Dickson and Green tried their best, and Craig Overton launched the last ball for six, Somerset fell four runs short. 

Kent again topped 200 on Friday, this time at Chelmsford. It was Muyeye’s turn to score exactly 100 but, with only Simon Harmer’s seven sixes to cheer the home crowd, Matt Parkinson’s 5-23 hastened Essex’s seventh defeat of the campaign. Meanwhile, Somerset did bounce back with victories over Hampshire and Glamorgan. Riley Meredith was the pick of the bowlers, taking eight across the three games. 

Surrey surged into second place thanks to a trio of wins, each achieved easily after batting first. With an international top six, they could hardly fail, and it was Will Jacks who stole the show, including a 56-dellivery 97 against a miserable Middlesex. Sussex lie third, falling to Surrey but beating Glamorgan in Cardiff. Interestingly, all fifteen wickets to fall were either caught or stumped. Pakistan international spinner Imad Wasim may be Swansea-born but only this week did he make his Glamorgan T20 debut, finishing the week with five cheap wickets. 

There were three particularly exciting tight finishes. Needing ten from the final over bowled by Tom Helm, Essex could nick only eight, Noah Thain failing to find the crucial boundary. In the North Group, the Bears were involved in not one but two real nail-biters. At Edgbaston, Nottinghamshire needed seventeen off the concluding over. Daniel Sams whacked a couple of sixes, leaving the scores level with one ball remaining. Notts ‘keeper Tom Moores thought ‘what the hell’ and cleared the boundary to win by six wickets. At the same ground a few days later, neighbours Worcestershire popped over the border to contest a desperately close, low-scoring affair. Dan Mousley took 4-19 and the home team required only 135 to win. However, wickets fell regularly and it was left to Sam Hain to shepherd the tail to the finishing line. But could he do it? At 132-9 after nineteen overs, they required three while Matthew Waite scented blood. The Bears didn’t suffer another last-minute defeat as Hain struck the decisive single off the third ball.   

Northamptonshire retained their position at the top despite losing to Notts and there are now three teams queuing up behind them just four points adrift. Durham are one of them, picking up consecutive successes against Yorkshire. Last Sunday, Matthew Potts (5-17) starred at York while the Chester-le-Street encounter featured a genuine team effort, the winning margin being 63 runs. 

Still plenty to play for, but players must curb their crazy ramps and cow-corner heaves for the next few weeks. The Championship is back (hooray!), and leaders Notts welcome back red-ball specialists like Hameed, Slater and Abbas for the visit of Yorkshire. Surrey travel to lowly Worcestershire, Sussex to Durham, while Somerset and Warwickshire meet for the opportunity to go second or third. Essex hope to begin rescuing their sticky summer at home to Hampshire. 

In the second flight, surprise package Leicestershire look to extend their lead by beating Glamorgan, who themselves were in good form before the June hiatus. Basement clubs Kent and Lancashire come together at the Blackpool seaside. 

Team of the Week:- Muyeye (Ken), Bell-Drummond (Ken), Jacks (Sur), Smeed (Som), Rehan Ahmed (Lei), S Curran (Sur), Moores (Not +), Potts (Dur), Evison (Ken), Singh Dale (Glo), M Parkinson (Ken)

Championship Top 6 decided

While England were polishing off a 3-0 series win against Pakistan, the county circuit was mostly concerned with finalising the initial ‘conference’ stage of the 2021 Championship. The week got off to a miserable start. The English government’s response to the rampant Covid Delta variant may be to abandon all safety precautions but the virus made its presence felt from the start. 

Kent’s entire First XI was forced to isolate before the start of their Group 3 match against Sussex. Their makeshift side managed to avoid defeat against their neighbours who themselves fielded an unfamiliar line-up. 20 year-old opener Ali Orr and 19 year-old seamer Jamie Atkins put Sussex in the driving seat but Kent’s Hastings-born Harry Finch responded with a gutsy 115 to earn a draw. 

In Group 1, Essex and Derbyshire had already begun play at Derby when a positive test wiped out the home side and forced the abandonment. It seemed tough on Essex who needed victory to have a chance of defending their title. Fortunately it wasn’t Covid which ultimately thwarted them but Warwickshire, whose draw at Worcester ensured that not even a maximum-point win would have handed them a top-two place. The West Mids derby was quite high-scoring in a generally wet week. Daryl Mitchell and Ed Barnard struck tons for the home county but South African Pieter Malan scored 141 and 77 not out for Warwickshire in what has been a weak season for their batting. 

Nottinghamshire consolidated their position as leaders with a draw at Durham. Losing the second day to rain made a result less likely, despite Joey Evison’s impressive first-innings 5-21, and Durham managed to bat out the final two sessions. 

In Group 2, Sam Robson’s 154 and seven wickets for Tim Murtagh propelled Middlesex to their second triumph of the summer, beating Leicestershire by 121 runs. However, given they have lost seven out of the previous nine, they still finished last. The battle at Cheltenham to decide which of Gloucestershire and Hampshire advanced to the top group went the way of the visitors. New recruit Nick Gubbins struck an unbeaten 137 and Colin de Grandhomme took 4-31 to establish a huge lead. Tom Lace responded with an excellent 118 but none of his colleagues reached 30, leaving Hampshire to knock off the required 54 with the loss of three wickets. 

However, it was Somerset who remained at the summit despite a rollercoaster ride at The Oval. Stand-in skipper James Hildreth made 107 and Jack Leach twirled his way to 6-43, leaving Surrey in trouble at the start of day four. Following their opening gambit of 429, Somerset then tumbled to just 69 at the hands of spinners R Ashwin (6-27) and Dan Moriarty (4-20), giving Surrey a glimmer of victory hope. At 25-2, Somerset must have fancied their chances of a similar skittling but a draw was eventually agreed. 

In Group 3, Yorkshire and Lancashire were already guaranteed Division One status but Keaton Jennings led a high-scoring Lancashire top four until the weather, and a dangerously unfit Headingley outfield brought the clash to a premature conclusion. In Cardiff, Glamorgan’s fifth wicket pairing of Kiran Carlson and Chris Cooke put on a mighty 307 against Northamptonshire but their bowlers couldn’t finish the job on the final day. Both will play in Division Two when the Championship resumes after The Hundred weaves its spell. 

Team of the Week: Robson (Mid), Jennings (Lan), P Malan (War), Gubbins (Ham), Carlson (Gla), Cooke (Gla +), D’Oliveira (Wor), Evison (Not), W Davis (Lei), Leach (Som), Murtagh (Mid)