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Spirited batting closes gap to eighth place with one round of matches to come

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay18-Sep-2025Durham 450 for 6 (Gay 161, Rhodes , Bedingham 58) drew with Worcestershire 591 for 9 dec (Roderick 151, Brookes 100, D’Oliveira 84, Taylor 66*, Edavalath 61)Centuries from Emilio Gay and Will Rhodes helped Durham pick up five crucial batting bonus points as they drew their Rothesay County Championship clash with already relegated Worcestershire.In the morning the Pears picked up a couple of Durham scalps to halt their quest for batting bonus points, but Gay and David Bedingham (58) combined for a partnership worth 122 to help Durham’s cause.Gay then reached three figures, while Rhodes scored his maiden first-class hundred for Durham to get them to 450 for six, securing the maximum number of batting points available ahead of a potential relegation decider against Yorkshire next week.Worcestershire declared overnight on 591 for nine, leaving Durham with the task of getting batting bonus points to boost their chances of staying in Division One.Opener Alex Lees carved a Tom Taylor delivery through the covers to the boundary, but Taylor got Lees next ball as he was caught behind for eight.The Pears were testing Durham in the early stages, but Gay relieved the pressure as he produced a great straight drive off Taylor which went for four.Durham’s pursuit stalled as Ben McKinney then departed for 16 at the hands of Matthew Waite as he edged one to Ben Gibbon at slip.That brought David Bedingham to the crease and the batter managed to find the boundary with ease in the early stages of his innings.Pears skipper Brett D’Oliveira came into the attack, but on his follow through he went over on his right ankle, which prompted concerns from the dressing room given they have the Metro Bank One Day Cup final on Saturday.Gay continued to tick along nicely and got his fifty from 71 balls, while taking his side to 100 before lunch.Bedingham continued to attack the bowlers after the lunch interval as he clipped one on the onside for four and he played another excellent shot, this time carving a Taylor delivery through the covers for four.Gay was almost heading back to the pavilion on 72, as he edged an Allison delivery but Gibbon couldn’t cling on to it with an outstretched hand.Bedingham then brought up his second fifty of the season from 79 balls and smashed a six off the bowling of Waite next ball. However, he went for one hit too many as Waite got him for 58 after he didn’t get enough on a pull shot, which Allison caught on the boundary.Gay continued to motor, now alongside Will Rhodes, and he picked up his fourth century of the season from 127 balls.The opener continued to play fluently after reaching the milestone, picking up three boundaries in a Brookes over, and Durham reached their first batting point in the 53rd over.Gay passed the milestone of 150 for the third time this campaign after tea and Rhodes, who has struggled for First Class runs this season, played nicely and found the boundary with a tidy glance off the legs from a Gibbon ball.Rhodes then reached fifty for the first time in Durham whites from 72 deliveries and he picked up another boundary straight after. Gay then went for an excellent 161, his highest Durham score, as he chopped a Gibbon delivery onto his leg stump.Rhodes continued Durham’s swashbuckling approach as he heaved a Dan Lategan to the boundary, but Ollie Robinson fell soon after for four as he was bowled by the part-time off spin of Jake Libby.Rhodes continued his charge as he smashed Lategan for a six down the ground and then reached three figures for the first time this season, coming from 121 balls.Graham Clark produced a quick 29 to speed things up, but Libby got his second of the day as he got the Durham man caught and bowled.Rhodes then got his 150 and guided his side to 450, the magic number for five batting points, and the two sides shook hands just after 5pm.

England’s Test captain prepared for possibility summer could be drastically hit

Alan Gardner30-Mar-2020Joe Root, England’s Test captain, has admitted that he is prepared for the possibility that there is no cricket played at all during the 2020 summer, with the UK currently under lockdown as it battles the coronavirus outbreak. Root also said that he expects conversations to take place “in the coming weeks” about the possibility of players taking pay cuts in order to safeguard the game’s financial future.England returned early from their tour of Sri Lanka earlier this month, as the pandemic began to take hold around the world, and the ECB has already said there will be no domestic cricket played before May 28. While the governing body is looking into the viability of holding games behind closed doors, Root conceded that scheduled home series against West Indies, Australia, Pakistan and Ireland may not go ahead.”It has definitely crossed my mind, it is a possibility,” he said. “But I think we have to try to stay optimistic, try to take things day by day, not get too ahead of ourselves, we’ve just got to be ready for whenever that opportunity to play again is.”We’ve got to stay fit, obviously can’t do much in terms of actual practice, hitting balls and bowling and stuff like that. Might be that my wife has to start giving me some throwdowns in the back garden but until things become that drastic it will be simply sit tight and wait. If that happens, then we’ll just have to adapt, make the most of those circumstances as a cricket community by coming together and doing the best for the game.”ALSO READ: PCA seeks collective solutions as players face prospect of pay cutsThe ECB is expected to announce measures aimed at propping up the professional game in England and Wales, with several counties contemplating “furloughing” their playing staff – effectively placing them on leave, with some of the costs met by the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme. It was also reported at the weekend that centrally contracted England players could be asked to give up around 20% of their earnings, although Root said such matters would be in the hands of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA).”I’m sure at some point in the coming weeks there will be a discussion,” he said. “That’ll probably take place between the PCA and the ECB, and until those happen, that’s not my area of expertise. I think we just have to concentrate on making sure we are as fit and as ready to go as we can be for whenever it is we get back to playing cricket.”While there are graver issues at stake over the coming weeks and months, cricket’s current shutdown could have several knock-on effects beyond the purely financial – from impacting on the 2020 T20 World Cup to delaying the World Test Championship, with the final currently scheduled to take place in England next year.Root, who said that over the last two weeks he had “been in touch with every single player” on England’s winter tours, was understandably frustrated at the interruption after overseeing an encouraging 3-1 Test series win in South Africa. But he suggested the enforced break would see an increased appetite for the game among players and spectators when cricket does resume.”It is frustrating. There are more important things to concern ourselves with but, from a cricketing point of view, we were preparing ourselves well for the two Test matches in Sri Lanka and we made big strides in South Africa. Of course very different conditions but you saw how the warm-up games panned out and how the younger guys adapted with the bat and readied themselves for those Tests – it felt like we were in a very strong position to do something again.ALSO READ: ‘We’re going to cherish getting back out there’ – Anderson“It would have been nice to get those games in to test ourselves out there against a side on the rise, to see if we could keep building our away form and build on the three brilliant Tests we had last time [in 2018-19]. Going into the summer, the six Test matches [against West Indies and Pakistan] will be crucial points, as the home games seem to be really important in the Test championship. It might be that changes now. When it comes to those games they might have to be rescheduled, play them abroad. I am sure there are a number of different scenarios we may have to find ourselves looking at down the line. Of course it would have been nice to play those two games [in Sri Lanka].”When you get time like this away from the game when it is unscheduled, guys will be even more determined to come back and play. When that opportunity comes, all the guys will be desperate to start playing again and all of the pent-up energy that will be there from spending time at home will be expended on the field and into performances. Whenever we get back to playing again there will be some very excited players playing it and people watching it.”Joe Root reacts to the cancellation of England’s Test series•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Like the rest of the country, Root and his family are observing guidelines to stay at home – he conducted his media duties via video conference call – with cricket activity currently limited to giving his three-year-old son, Alfie, throwdowns.”I’ve got an exercise bike at home and have generally been using that for my aerobic stuff. I’ve tried to stay isolated as much as possible, trying to get Alf running around the garden or doing something outside with the kits the ECB have kindly sent us. I’m taking this very seriously, trying to stay indoors as much as possible, avoid contact at all costs. It’s pretty impossible to get online shops at the minute. We’ve had one booked for three or four weeks. We’re literally trying to get out as little as possible, be efficient with what we’re buying and use, try to be creative with our cooking, finding different ways of using what we’ve got in the fridge, not wasting anything.”Having announced at the weekend that he has become a patron of Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Root has also written an open letter to cricket supporters, jointly with England women’s captain, Heather Knight, calling on people to “stay strong and united” and praising those on the frontline in the coronavirus fight.”It is motivating seeing how powerful it is when people come together and show support for a fantastic organisation like the NHS. We are very lucky to have it. We should appreciate it and not take it for granted. The work they are doing right now is amazing and they deserve all the support and care they are getting. Hopefully that continues long after this pandemic finishes as well.”

Zimbabwe captain says he wanted to send a message to his batters that the pitch was still good

Mohammad Isam10-Jul-2021Captain Brendan Taylor hopes his swashbuckling 92 inspires the rest of his Zimbabwe teammates to salvage a draw on the fifth day against Bangladesh. Taylor struck 16 fours in his 73-ball bonanza but got out with roughly ten overs to spare on the fourth day. The home side also lost the stonewalling Takudzwanashe Kaitano shortly afterwards, leaving them on 140 for 3, and a day to keep Bangladesh at bay.The way Taylor batted put the visitors on the backfoot for much of the evening session. He drilled cover drive after cover drive, drove the spinners with ease, looking at times like he was batting in a different league than the batter at the other end.Related

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He said that the strokeful innings was intuitive, as he was trying to preempt the Bangladesh bowlers’ plans on a pitch he considered to be almost dead for the bowlers.”There was no real intent to play with that amount of aggression, but playing instinctively paid off for me,” Taylor said. “I thought that at the end of day four, the wicket will start getting tired. Instead of just sitting around, I wanted to be a little proactive, and try to send a message to the guys that the wicket is still playing okay. Hopefully I have done that.”I got out at the wrong time, and I felt that I left so many runs out there. It is hurting me at the moment, but there are guys that I have a lot of faith in, as well. It is frustrating (to miss out on the hundred) when you are going that well. You want to kick on (and score the hundred) obviously. From the team’s perspective, it was crucial that I stayed out there for a longer period.”Taylor said that the rest of the Zimbabwe batters are capable of putting up a good fight on the fifth day and that the overnight batters Dion Myers and nightwatchman Donald Tiripano must stave off the first hour as a first priority.”We want to start the first hour well. Hopefully we don’t lose a wicket. We have guys who are technically sound and solid. Unfortunately we lost Kaitano in the end there. He has been a pillar for us. But there are guys there who can really front up, which will be the chat tomorrow. There’s no better time to save a game for your country,” he said.Zimbabwe’s bowlers got punished in Bangladesh’s second innings. Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto struck centuries as the home side could take only one wicket, giving away the 476-run lead. But Taylor said that he was happy with how the bowlers worked hard in this Test.”The attitude has always been good, particularly with the ball as well. The wicket was pretty dead, and the batsmen were going pretty hard at the ball. They were not giving many chances. All I asked my bowlers, was to keep fronting up. They are young guys with great attitude and a lot of commitment. We had to work hard.”Taylor said that Bangladesh’s experience as a Test side showed as they dominated any time they got set in the middle. “They have shown that they are an experienced side. They have dominated, and when they get in, they make it count. We have certainly learned a lot from how they have gone about their business,” he said.

Odisha denied by umpiring gaffe, Hyderabad and Rajasthan keep all-win records

Shashank Kishore15-Nov-2021A hat-trick, a four-over return without giving up a run, a controversial boundary call that rescued the defending champions and scintillating performances from IPL stars were among the many highlights from the group stages of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 competition.As the caravan moves to New Delhi for the knockouts, amid worsening air quality that has left the local administration contemplating a lockdown, here’s a quick look at those made it and those who missed out.

Group A

Defending champions Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, led by the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad, both made the cut on the back of four wins in five matches. However, Maharashtra have to play the pre-quarterfinal despite finishing with a better net run rate than TN because head-to-head is the first criterion for teams tied on points. When the two sides met, TN comfortably defended 167 despite Gaikwad’s 30-ball half-century.Maharashtra won’t have Gaikwad’s services from here on, as he is part of India’s T20I team for the New Zealand series. TN, who endured a massive slice of luck en route in the group stage, won’t have any such worries, having a full squad to choose from.In what proved to be a turning point, a final-over umpiring gaffe resulted in Odisha being denied a boundary. M Ashwin’s feet were in contact with the rope even as he went beyond the line to push the ball back in – and Odisha lost the match by one run. Punjab were the closest among the other sides to qualification, but eventually lost out after going down to TN.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Group B

Bengal stole the top spot from high-flying Karnataka in the final group game, but both sides made it through to the knockouts without any hiccups. Both sides will be missing key players because of either India A or national duties. Bengal will be without Abhimanyu Easwaran and Wriddhiman Saha, while Karnataka will be without Mayank Agarwal, K. Gowtham, Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna.Shreevats Goswami, controversially left out of the group stages, has an opportunity to make amends as he returns for the knockouts. Goswami was left out due to Saha’s availability, despite being among the top three run-getters in the tournament for the side in three of the last five seasons.Mumbai was the nearly-side from this group, having finished with three wins in five matches. Although captain Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 286 runs in five games at a strike rate of 133, including four half-centuries, they couldn’t capitalise. Prithvi Shaw’s poor form – 107 runs in five innings, 83 of which came in their final game against Baroda after being knocked out – didn’t help matters either.Deepak Hooda’s move to Rajasthan has paid big dividends•BCCI

Group C

Rajasthan were the undisputed leaders, maintaining an all-win record to blaze into the knockouts, even as Himachal staved off competition from Andhra and Jharkhand to squeeze into the knockouts as the second side from the group.Much of Rajasthan’s running was done by their new signing Deepak Hooda, alongside established hand Mahipal Lomror. Hooda, who moved from Baroda after a spat with Krunal Pandya last year, top-scored with 291 runs in five games, including an unbeaten 39-ball 75 after walking into bat at 10 for 2 to help beat Jharkhand. More than the four half-centuries he struck, his strike rate of 175 stood out. Ravi Bishnoi, the legspinner, impressed with the ball, picking up eight wickets in five games.Himachal, meanwhile, were propped up by Rishi Dhawan, who finished the group stages with 14 wickets, third-best. This included his career-best figures of 6 for 23 that helped pip Jammu & Kashmir in a thriller after his 26-ball 45* had set the game up in the first place.

Group D

Gujarat topped the pool with four wins in five games, on the back of clinical batting performances, led by Priyank Panchal. However, their designated captain won’t be available for the knockouts because of India A commitments, along with Arzan Nagwaswalla, the left-arm fast bowler who picked up seven wickets. Piyush Chawla, who featured in just one game at IPL 2021, proved why he isn’t a spent force yet. He picked up five wickets in as many games and was economical, conceding at just 6.42 per over.The Sanju Samson-led Kerala took the second spot, after overcoming stiff competition from Madhya Pradesh. Both sides managed three wins, but Kerala pipped them on head-to-head, in the team’s final league engagement, making light work of a 172-chase courtesy stroke-filled half-centuries from Samson and Sachin Baby. Meanwhile Venkatesh Iyer, who made it to the India’s T20I side on the back of a breakout IPL season, managed just one half-century at the top of the order in five outings for MP.Akshay Karnewar was devastating in the Plate Group•Prakash Parsekar

Group E

They named two captains and two squads prior to departure, the kind of confusion and chaos not new to Hyderabad cricket. But on the field, they managed to turn a corner, winning all five games to make the quarterfinals. Tanmay Agarwal, the captain, is currently the tournament’s highest run-getter with 302 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 150, while left-arm seamer CV Milind leads the wicket charts with 16 scalps, including a best of 5 for 8 that helped defend 147 against Uttar Pradesh.Saurashtra were the second qualifiers from the group, with four wins in five games. While Jaydev Unadkat led the wicket charts, Sheldon Jackson, who returned to his home state after a stint with Puducherry at the end of the 2020-21 season, left his imprint with the bat, top scoring with 221 runs in five matches. Their only loss was in a last-over thriller against Hyderabad, where Unadkat joined Prerak Mankad at 67 for 6 and then put on a near century stand to set up a defence of 173. Hyderabad won by two wickets with three balls to spare. Hanuma Vihari, who returned to home like Jackson, from Andhra, had underwhelming returns, 57 of his 94 runs coming in one innings alone.

Plate Group

Two-time Ranji winners Vidarbha proved no match for the rest of the pack, as they emerged runaway winners from this group. Meghalaya and Tripura fought hard to post four wins in five games, but couldn’t close out games against Vidarbha.Vidarbha’s Akshay Karnewar, the ambidextrous spinner, broke the record for the most economical figures in T20 cricket when he produced a return of 4-4-0-2 against Manipur. He became the first player to bowl four maidens in four overs in men’s T20 cricket, bettering Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan’s returns of 4-3-1-2 in CPL 2018. A day later, Karnewar claimed a hat-trick against Sikkim returning figures of 4-1-5-4.

The Pakistan legspinner thanked family and friends for their support as he faced a difficult month recovering from a bout of hepatitis

Umar Farooq15-May-2019Legspinner Shadab Khan was left tense and frustrated after learning that he was suffering from hepatitis, two days after being picked for the Pakistan squads for the tour of England and the World Cup.A blood test had revealed Shadab was suffering from hepatitis, and was subsequently replaced by Yasir Shah in the squad for the England series, while the PCB arranged an appointment with a London-based gastroenterology and hepatology specialist. While Shadab recovered from the viral infection over the last month, his health was still a concern, with his chances of playing the World Cup at risk. But now he has been declared fit and is set to join the squad after the England series.”When you suddenly get to know that you have a viral [infection] in your blood, naturally I got frustrated but my team-mates and friends have been very supportive,” Shadab said. “I have a strong belief that whatever happens, happens for a reason and for good. I was tensed up on the first day but then I told my friends that whatever happened was in the past. If anything good is to happen, it will happen. So I asked them to avoid talking to me about it.”Shadab was given a two-week course of medication and was prescribed complete rest. He was declared fit after undergoing another round of blood tests in Lahore earlier this week and is set to leave for England soon.”I was always hopeful because the viral infection was found at its initial stage,” Shadab said. “With two weeks of medication, it’s out of my blood. Now I am heading to the World Cup. We [Pakistan] have been going there [to England] regularly over the last three years so it isn’t really difficult to acclimatise. All I have to do is to get in my rhythm otherwise I am mentally prepared for the challenge.”Shadab has been Pakistan’s key strike bowler in the middle overs for the last two years, and his return is a boost for the side. His replacement, Yasir, hasn’t made an impact as Pakistan have struggled with their bowling in the ongoing ODI series against England. Yasir’s ODI form has been a far cry from the quality that has marked him out as an elite Test bowler, and he was left out of the third ODI against England on Tuesday after conceding 60 runs in seven overs during the second ODI in Southampton last week.Pakistan have taken only seven England wickets in the last two ODIs, after the first match was washed out. The hosts scored 373 in the second ODI and on Tuesday, chased down 359 with 31 balls and six wickets to spare. Shadab who has a knack of picking wickets in the middle overs, believes the Pakistan bowlers are not in rhythm.”Nowadays you have to take wickets because cricket has become very fast and even 350 isn’t a par score,” Shadab said, reflecting on Pakistan’s performance in England so far. “Yes we have been struggling with the ball in the middle overs, but the way the batting is performing is a good sign. No doubt we lost the games but we put up a good fight and played competitive cricket, which gives a lot of boost to the team. Pakistan, anyway, still have the ability to win the remaining games.”I have already played in a competitive tournament, in the 2017 Champions Trophy, which we won. Victory indeed has its own taste. Even though we lost a few games, I know how to adapt in a big tournament. Our team has 100% skills to do well in the World Cup. Yes, they are struggling but so are the other teams in many ways. They are playing good cricket overall. Yes, the bowlers are not doing well, they are actually not in the rhythm required but once they start clicking, we will start winning the games. Overall, when you are missing four key players [Shadab, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik] it becomes increasingly tough. But there is a difference between pressure for a series and the World Cup, so I am optimistic about our chances there and we will try to win the World Cup.”

The third edition of the five-team tournament will conclude on August 21

Madushka Balasuriya11-Jun-2022The third edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) will take place from July 31 to August 21, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed. The registration of international players for the player draft “will commence shortly,” added an SLC media release.Despite speculation that this year’s tournament might see the addition of a sixth team, SLC has confirmed that it will remain a five-team tournament. Like last year, the group stage games will take place at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, while the action will then shift to the MRICS in Hambantota for the Qualifiers, Eliminator and final. The tournament will see a total of 24 games played.”We are extremely happy to announce the 3rd edition of the Lanka Premier League, which has started its journey toward carving a place in the global T20 League competitions, as a formidable tournament,” SLC president Shammi Silva stated in the release.Jaffna have won both editions of the tournament in 2020 and 2021, initially under the Stallions moniker and then a second time after being rebranded the Kings by its new owners. The Galle Gladiators have been the losing finalists on both occasions.The LPL will be part of a packed schedule for Sri Lanka’s cricketers leading up to October’s T20 World Cup in Australia. While the match dates for the tournament are yet to be announced, the July 31 start indicates a short turnaround for those involved in Pakistan’s July tour of Sri Lanka, the exact dates of which are to be finalised. Then in September, Sri Lanka are set to host the Asia Cup before heading off to Australia for the global tournament.

The Bangladesh captain is certain about “bouncing back” from the collapse in Durban

Mohammad Isam05-Apr-2022Surrendering to spin in overseas conditions didn’t sit well with Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque, who has taken the responsibility of the team to bounce back in the Port Elizabeth Test which begins on Friday. Chasing 274 on the last day in Durban, the visitors were bowled out for just 53, their second-lowest Test score, with Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer sharing all ten wickets.Bangladesh lost three wickets late on the fourth evening but there was hope that Mushfiqur Rahim could lead some sort of recovery on the last day. But that was not to be. Mushfiqur was the first to go on the fifth morning, when he was trapped lbw by Maharaj, and the collapse followed.”I think it was a big crime on our part to give wickets to spinners on foreign soil,” Mominul said. “You simply cannot give wickets to spinners when you are on tour. You have to score runs against spinners. I think it is my fault. I couldn’t score in either innings. It is nothing but a total batting failure. I think we just couldn’t handle the pressure.”Related

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At one stage, Bangladesh were threatening to break their record of lowest Test score of 43, but for a couple of big hits from Najmul Hossain Shanto and Taskin Ahmed. South Africa’s spin duo bowled accurately, preying on the defensive mindset of the Bangladesh batters. It was a surprise to see a batting unit bred on spinning tracks to succumb to spin so easily on a good pitch.Mominul himself had an inauspicious 50th Test match, making only 0 and 2. He has scored just one fifty in the last ten innings, a rare downturn in his Test career. He wasn’t worried, though, and was already looking to turn the corner.”I don’t think the captaincy is weighing down my batting form. I am not worried about it. I don’t think I am in bad form. I will be back on track after a good innings. I am not too worried,” he said.Mominul was more concerned about convincing his team that they had only one bad day in Durban, and that shouldn’t bother them for the second Test.”We can certainly bounce back from this defeat,” he said. “We played well in four out of the five days. We batted poorly in the last few overs yesterday and on the fifth day. There are enough positives to take from this Test match, to suggest to me that we can bounce back easily in the next game.”[Mahmudul Hasan] Joy’s 137 was a really good innings. Litton [Das], Rabbi (Yasir Ali) and [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz also batted well. The fast bowlers did really well. Miraz was outstanding. We didn’t play badly for all five days. We just had a bad fifth day, but as everyone knows, it is difficult to get back from a Test after you slip once. I think we can come back into the series by being mentally strong.”

Home side fall away between showers despite promising platform

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2022Southern Vipers 75 for 3 (Wyatt 36*) beat Central Sparks 163 for 7 (E Jones 39, Scholfield 2-20) by seven wickets (DLS method)Southern Vipers defeated Central Sparks by seven wickets on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in a heavily rain-affected Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy opener at Portland Road. After frequent interruptions by the weather, Vipers chased down a revised DLS target of 70 in ten overs as they reached 75 for 3 with just two balls to spare.On a relentlessly damp afternoon in Birmingham, calculators were to the fore as both innings were truncated by heavy showers.Sparks batted first and closed on 163 for 7 from 36 overs – an innings of two halves after they reached 103 for 3 from 24 before a two-hour rain break. They resumed with 12 more overs to have a thrash but added just 60 more against disciplined bowling led by Georgia Elwiss (8-0-29-1).Chasing an initial target of 176 from 36, Vipers were 24 for 1 when rain returned. That trimmed the target to 70 from ten and Danni Wyatt paced the chase to perfection with an unbeaten 36 from 24 balls.Put in, Sparks, depleted by the absence of Emily Arlott, still recovering from Covid, and recent England debutant Issy Wong, were given a solid platform by openers Eve Jones and Davina Perrin who added 65 in 17 overs. Fifteen-year-old Perrin, a Staffordshire product, impressed for 22 from 48 balls before lifting Charlotte Taylor to mid-on.Paige Schofield soon had Thea Brookes caught behind before Jones’s promising innings of 39 ended in wasteful fashion when Ami Campbell called for a second run and Jones’ desperate dive for home narrowly failed. Three balls later the rain arrived and, after the resumption, Vipers bowled accurately to deny Sparks the boundaries they needed to beef up their total. #Vipers’ reply suffered an early blow when Georgia Adams was trapped lbw by the third ball of the innings, from Grace Potts. Wyatt was quickly into her stride, striking three boundaries despite the wet outfield before rain returned at 24 for 1 after three.The final chapter of a complex plot saw Vipers resume at 5.20pm needing another 46 from seven overs. Wyatt and Maia Boucher added a measured 62 from 47 balls and though Boucher fell lbw to Sarah Glenn in the penultimate over, Vipers needed just five from the last, from Hannah Baker.A handsome straight four from 17-year-old Freya Kemp from the second ball relieved the pressure. Kemp was bowled by the next but Elwiss settled the match by lifting her first ball for a huge six.

Belligerent opening stand with Finn Allen turns a taxing chase into a saunter at Edgbaston

George Dobell01-Aug-2021Birmingham Phoenix 145 for 4 (Allen 43, Smeed 36) beat Trent Rockets 144 for 6 (Malan 51, Milne 2-13) by six wicketsAn outstanding spell of bowling from Adam Milne and a blistering innings from Will Smeed helped Birmingham Phoenix inflict a first loss of the competition upon Trent Rockets at Edgbaston.Milne equalled the most economical analysis by any bowler delivering their full contribution of 20 deliveries in the competition to help keep Northern Rockets to a modest total of 144 on what appeared to be a fine batting track.While Dawid Malan made 51, the highest score of the match, he struggled for fluency for much of his innings. At once stage, Moeen Ali was able to bowl 10 successive deliveries for a cost of just 10 runs with Benny Howell again impressing with his control and variations.Only Alex Hales and Samit Patel scored at the rate Trent Rockets would have wanted. But Hales skied ball 44 to mid-off, the victim of a neat piece of bowling from Moeen who floated one a little wide, and without his impetus, the innings failed to ignite.In taking 59 from the first 20 balls of the reply – a record for a Powerplay in this competition even before the final five balls of the period (they only added one more in that next set) Smeed and Finn Allen soon broke the back of the run-chase with Phoenix reaching their target with six wickets and 26 deliveries to spare. Only once in the competition to date, when Manchester Originals defeated Phoenix with 27 balls remaining, has that margin been exceeded.While Trent Rockets, who won their first three matches, stay top, it’s a result that revives Birmingham Phoenix’s campaign. They move into the top four.Mean Milne

Despite bowling two sets in the Powerplay, Milne went for just 13 runs from his 20 deliveries. Bowling at a sharp pace and cramping the batters for room, Milne’s spell included 14 dot balls while he also claimed the wickets of D’Arcy Short, dismissed for a duck in the opening moments of the game, and Rashid Khan. Tom Helm’s first five balls, by contrast, cost 18 runs. It was, in many ways, the defining contribution of the match. But it’s a batter’s game and it was Smeed’s impressive innings which won the Hero of the Match award.Going according to Malan?

In an innings that provided something of a microcosm of his career, Malan top-scored for Trent Rockets. But he did so at such a run-rate that it remains debatable how valuable an innings it was. Certainly there were moments in Malan’s innings – not least when he had scored seven off his first 12 deliveries despite batting in the Powerplay – when his run-rate appeared to put pressure on his partners. Hales’ dismissal, caught at mid-on, could be put down to just such pressure.Moeen Ali had a good day as Phoenix captain•Getty Images

As so often, Malan started to make up for lost time as he innings progressed. From having scored 29 from 29, he finished with 51 from 41. But his run-out – he was the victim of a direct hit from Moeen fielding at wide mid-off – from the 91st delivery of the innings prevented him from fully cashing in on the investment he had made at the start. And when the opposition gallop to victory with more than a quarter of the allotted deliveries unused, there are bound to be questions about how well he paced his innings.The counter argument is that, without Malan, Trent Rockets may not have got anywhere near 144. This was their highest score of the competition to date, after all, and the site of Rashid, flailing like a drowning man at No. 6, and Matt Carter at No. 8, suggested their batting lacks a bit of depth.Either way, Malan’s method is sure to encourage more debate.The need for Smeed

Smeed is fast making a name for himself. Like Jos Buttler and Tom Banton, he was educated at King’s College, Taunton and like both of them, he has impressed as a young player at Somerset. But, having won a call-up in the Hundred as one of many replacement players, he had never previously opened in T20 cricket (the Hundred is officially seen as T20 for statistical purposes) and owed his opportunity to something of a hunch from Phoenix’s coach, Dan Vettori.It worked beautifully. Smeed thrashed 36 from just 13 deliveries to put his side far ahead of the run-rate at the start of their innings. At one stage, the 19-year-old took 20 from four successive balls (two sixes and two fours) from Timm van der Gugten, a man who has played almost 50 international matches. Such was the power with which he pulled and drove that he will have franchise owners around the world sitting up and taking notice. “The coach just told me to go out and have some fun,” Smeed said later. “I just kept it simple and watched the ball.”Van der Gugten, by contrast, later parried a chance from Liam Livingstone over the mid-wicket boundary for six. Sometimes it’s just not your day.Mole-eye

Moeen hadn’t scored from any of his first five deliveries. And while the pace at which Smeed and Allen had started the chase gave Moeen some sort of cushion, there was just a bit of pressure building when he defended his sixth ball only to see Patel ask for a review of a leg-before decision that had been given not out on the pitch.Multiple replays persuaded the TV umpire that ball had, indeed, hit pad before bat, at which stage Moeen’s heart must have been in his mouth. But ball-tracking technology was unavailable due to a technical error meaning the officials were obliged to stick with the on-field umpire’s decision. Moeen went on to make an increasingly fluent 26 to speed his side towards victory. It could have been a crossroads moment.Voting with their feet

Edgbaston might be seen as a potential swing state in the Hundred’s bid for success. While the ground has a good record for international ticket sales, it has never matched the London grounds (or, of late, Emirates Old Trafford) when it comes to domestic T20 sales. Only local derby matches against Worcestershire have come close to selling out in the Vitality Blast.So, to see Edgbaston close to full here felt significant. The club also reported swift sales of merchandise (a report supported by the number of spectators wearing Phoenix orange) and an eight percent increase in the number of female ticket-buyers in the tournament to date when compared to the Blast.As ever with the Hundred, you have to be a little careful with official reports. Several thousand seats were unavailable here due to the placing of the stage and because of Covid protocols. And, with plenty of beer being consumed and even Sweet Caroline making a brief appearance, it wasn’t entirely clear how ‘new’ these spectators really are. But a crowd of 17,479 for a domestic cricket match outside London is impressive and suggests this competition is starting to gain some traction.