Somerset Surge and Western Storm

It’s been a busy week of Vitality Blast fixtures. In the North division, Yorkshire and Derbyshire each played four matches, two of them against each other, with the latter winning both. The Falcons also beat the Birmingham Bears but a clean sweep was prevented by a nine-run defeat at Trent Bridge.

I’d picked the Worcestershire-Lancashire clash as the big one, so maybe it was inevitable it was one of three games to be completely washed out. In the end, it was the Rapids’ Friday night home tie against Durham which was to decide who topped the table. Durham had already made it five wins in a row with an easy victory over struggling Northamptonshire, and seemed to be homing in on a sixth when Ross Whiteley’s powerful innings of 60 was ended in the final over. Ten were still needed off five balls, but Wayne Parnell required only three to hit the 195 target and take Worcestershire to the summit.

Elsewhere, Derbyshire's Wahab Riaz and Yorkshire's David Willey were both in fine fettle with bat and ball but Mohammad Nabi provide the most explosive innings of the division. The veteran Leicestershire spinner didn't have a vintage week with the ball but he plundered eight sixes in a 32-ball 86 to carry his side to success against Lancashire. 

In the South, Somerset won all three of their matches, the most impressive being a ten-wicket slaughter of Essex at Taunton. Johannes Myburgh thrashed 103 not out from 44 balls to end Essex’s misery. Captain Lewis Gregory had earlier beaten Middlesex almost on his own, striking 60 from 26 deliveries then taking 4-28. Jerome Taylor's 5-15 against Hampshire was the bowling achievement of the week.

Gloucestershire had retained their lead after defeating Sussex by four wickets in a low-scoring encounter at Hove on Wednesday but failed to consolidate n Friday night in Cardiff. Helped by Craig Meschede’s career-best 77, Glamorgan had passed 200 and seemed to be cruising until Jack Taylor began peppering the boundary and the crowd beyond. Van Gugten bowled him at the start of the final over, but AJ Tye duly heaved two sixes. He needed three runs from the last ball but missed. That left Kent to occupy pole position. Despite, or because of, three ‘No Results’, they have thirteen points whilst Somerset’s superior number of wins gives them only twelve.

However, the greatest runfest of the week came at The Oval last night in front of a sellout 24,000 crowd. It wasn’t as close as the Cardiff game but for huge hitting it was unsurpassed. Paul Stirling’s 109 in 58 balls had propelled Middlesex to 221-5. But, in Jason Roy and Aaron Finch, Surrey boast two of the most electrifying T20 openers in the world. They don’t always click at the same time but on this occasion they did. Roy plundered 84 from 37 before holing out to deep mid-wicket. Meanwhile, the Aussie kept going. Having already broken the county record for a fastest T20 fifty, he raced to three figures and was still there on 117 when Nic Maddinson launched the ball over mid-wicket to clinch the victory. There were still four overs remaining so God knows how many more runs Finch might have accumulated had they been batting first!

Next week’s potential highlights include Surrey’s trip to Somerset, the Roses battle at Headingley, Derbyshire’s visit to Worcester and Kent hosting Gloucestershire.

Finally, before I go, a quick mention for the T20 Women’s Super League. Thankfully it has been expanded this year, and there have been some fine performances in the past few weeks. The Somerset-based Western Storm have looked a formidable outfit, and with Indian Smriti Mandhana in sparkling form, may well retain their title. She garnered almost 200 runs in her three fixtures, including a 61-ball century and then 52 not out from a mere 19, taking her six tally for the tournament so far to sixteen. Watch out, Mr Finch, you have competition!

Team of the Week: 

Finch (Sur), Myburgh (Som), Williamson (Yor), Willey (Yor), Mandhana (Wes), Billings (Ken +), Gregory (Som), Wahab Riaz (Der), J Taylor (Som), Imran Tahir (Dur), Milne (Ken)

Pakistan in the driving seat

Last week, England felt cheated of victory by bad light. This time in Dubai they were barely six overs from securing a very unlikely draw before Pakistan’s attacking field yielded the final wicket. Both matches have provided exciting finales, but it was the second which gave us consistently good cricket.

After a shaky start on the first morning, Pakistan’s middle-order did their job. Something you can’t say of England’s! Captain Misbah ul-Haq shared stands of 93 with Younis Khan and 104 with Asad Shafiq before Moeen Ali and Mark Wood kept the total below 400. England’s reply was a very staccato affair. Ali and Bell struggled again, then Alastair Cook and the redoubtable Joe Root put on 113, playing the pace of man-of-the-match Wahab Riaz and spin of Yasir Shah with much-needed patience.

However, once Root nicked to the ‘keeper, the last six wickets tumbled for only 36 runs. Pakistan’s second innings again survived two early departures. This time, Younis showed why he remains one of the best Test batsmen of his generation, progressing to his 31st century and passing 9,000 runs. Misbah’s late-flowering career continued with another fine display, scoring 87, while Shafiq provided more sterling support. The declaration left England a day and a half to achieve a world record target or, barely more likely, bat for a draw.

They really needed Cook on his A-game but the heat and dust had taken its toll. Bell scratched around for 48, Root passed 50 yet again, but Bairstow, Stokes and the hapless Jos Buttler failed miserably. An early end looked inevitable, but Adil Rashid is no pushover with the bat. Bowling figures of 2-191 were poor, but his application against Shah and Babar put his colleagues to shame. Broad tried to hit out, falling to a brilliant fast yorker, but Wood stuck it out for two hours, a great effort. Rashid’s innings lasted twice as long for 61. The number of runs wasn’t important; the number of overs survived was. However, with the finishing line in sight, the Yorkshireman chose the wrong ball to drive past the close cordon and was caught by Babar.

It was one of the longest second innings ending in defeat ever played in Asia, demonstrating that with the right amount of skill and sense of when to play and when to leave, Pakistan can be kept at bay in the UAE. Unfortunately for England, only Root, Rashid and tailender Wood had what was needed.

Pakistan now have the added incentive of winning the final Test, not only to take the series but also to advance to second in the ICC rankings. Not bad for a side unable to play on home pitches. However, they will need some fine young blood to succeed Younis (aged 37) and Misbah (41) if they are to hold on to that status for any length of time.

As for England, selection for the 3rd Test and, arguably more importantly, the South Africa tour, must be tricky. It was interesting to watch a Sky TV discussion yesterday in which nobody could agree on what should happen next. Ali has not proved a capable partner for Cook, Buttler can’t bat at all, and Stokes, Bell and Bairstow are all struggling. Replacement options are few. Bairstow could take the gloves from Buttler, although his ‘keeping is not as good. Ali could drop back down the order to give Hales his chance, and James Taylor deserves a position at, say, five or six in place of Stokes. Titanic, rearranging and deckchairs spring to mind! The type of pitch in Sharjah will be crucial. I can’t believe it won’t be spin-friendly, in which case both Rashid and Ali will play. However fine they are with the willow, they are nowhere near as potent as Pakistan’s slow bowlers, and Pakistan must be favourites for another series win.

Quarter-Finals go with form, but can both hosts reach the Final?

More World Cup matches, more records, but the organiser would be more relieved that the big four progressed to the semi-finals. It wasn't all about the batsmen either, as the bowlers were in the ascendancy at Sydney and Adelaide.

The Aussies gave short shrift to Pakistan. It was Josh Hazlewood's turn to take four wickets, before Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Shane Watson applied the coup de grace with the bat. The scoreboard doesn't show the nasty sledging aimed by the Aussie fielders at Wahab Riaz, nor the magnificent fast bouncers delivered by a fired-up Riaz in response to Watson. Both were fined but nevertheless it was Watson who had the last laugh, ending not out and remaining in the competition.

New Zealand continued their serene procession, thanks mainly to Martin Guptill's second-half blitz on the West Indian quicks. The opener shattered Chris Gayle's newly-notched World Cup record score on his way to 237, and poor Andre Russell very nearly went for a century of runs against his name. Gayle started as ferociously as the situation demanded, thumping eight sixes but once Milne bowled him, the game was effectively over. Trent Boult added four more wickets to his tally and Jason Holder's men were on their way home.

Earlier, there had been a rare day in the sun for South Africa's spinners, JP Duminy and Imran Tahir in the first quart-final. After Abbott and Steyn had removed both Sri Lankan openers cheaply, even Kumar Sangakkara could not muster a run every two balls and his side slumped to 133 all out. Not even the South Africans cold throw away such a commanding position but Quinton De Kock struck twelve boundaries to make sure.

In the other match, India maintained their unbeaten run and ended Bangladesh's extended World Cup adventure by 109 runs. Rohit Sharma's excellent 137 did the early damage before Yadav led the attack superbly. Ten more wickets, all bar one down to catches, and India are still looking a great all-round outfit rather than talented batsmen and fielders hoping to win by sheer volume of runs.

But now they face the host nation, and it'll be an interesting clash between the two sets of passionate fans, too, at the SCG on Thursday. Sydney may have witnessed a Sri Lankan meltdown this week but you can't forget the huge first innings totals racked up by the Proteas and Green Baggies against West Indies and Sri Lanka in the group stages. The toss will be a good one to win, although both teams are capable of pacing a run chase.

NZ v SA will be a fascinating encounter, too. I'd love to see McCullum's team reach their first ever World Cup Final but then, of course, neither of these two have yet won the trophy. Eden Park has witnessed two exciting contests, South Africa's narrow defeat by Pakistan and the Black Caps' single-wicket spine-tingler against the Aussies, so there may not be any batting records tumbling in this one. Both teams boast a first-class attack, while AB De Villiers and Brendon McCullum can tear bowlers apart in the right conditions.

I'd like to see India v New Zealand in the final but somehow I reckon Australia v South Africa is the more likely, with Watson or Warner coming to blows with Dale Steyn, both sides banned and the trophy presented to Ireland..... Maybe not, but I can see Michael Clarke as the man accepting the trophy and delivering the victor's speech.