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Surrey appear unstoppable on their title march after deposing of the defending champions in three days

Matt Roller at Chelmsford06-Sep-20181:55

Surrey make it eight and promotion race hots up

ScorecardNot since 1999 have Surrey won eight Championship games on the bounce, and their current run certainly has a once-in-a-generation feel to it. That run owed much to the dual spin threat of Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury; this time, it has been all about the seamers.On the third day at Chelmsford, led by Morne Morkel and the evergreen Rikki Clarke, they bowled Essex out for the second time in just over three sessions to go 43 points clear at the top of the Championship, and look certain to secure the pennant before the final round of games. Ravi Bopara offered staunch resistance with an unbeaten 81, but despite being some way short of their bullish best, Surrey’s pace attack was simply too good.For some time this fixture had been earmarked as a final test of Surrey’s credentials. Away from home against the reigning champions, it should have been a tough challenge; instead, they cruised to victory with a full day to spare.Surrey have proved over the course of the year that Championship cricket requires a squad rather than just a team. They have used 20 players, and that Tom Curran, who did the early damage, was playing for just the second time in this competition this season, showed their impressive level of depth.Curran was fearsome in his opening burst, running in with his collar up and his hair slicked back. He trapped Varun Chopra lbw early, before beating Tom Westley’s outside edge time after time and eventually ending his difficult stay at the crease by sending his off stump cartwheeling.It seems a long time since Curran made his Test bow at the MCG back in December, and his youngest brother Sam has overtaken him in England’s long-form plans this summer. But Tom remains a fine bowler at the Championship level, and his first spell of the day was a reminder of his worth in red-ball cricket. He bowled with hostility and an extra yard of pace, and found enough movement off the seam to keep Essex guessing.The middle-order destroyer was again Clarke. He made good use of a helpful pitch to remove Dan Lawrence and Nick Browne, both caught in the slips off back-of-a-length balls that lifted sharply, before Rory Burns’ stunning catch in the gully accounted for Ryan ten Doeschate to leave Essex five down going into lunch.At that point, the only question was whether or not Essex could make Surrey bat again, and thanks to Bopara and some old-fashioned tail-end slogging from Jamie Porter and Sam Cook, they did. Bopara was the only Essex batsman throughout the game to look comfortable at the crease, as he rotated the strike well and scored fluently both sides of the wicket. When he brought up a 76-ball half-century, he had hit just three boundaries; it was an innings that highlighted the importance of ticking over against quality bowling.But in truth, Bopara’s knock served only to delay the inevitable. Morkel returned to remove Simon Harmer for a pair, and then ended Porter’s fun after a couple of lofted boundaries off Clarke, before Bopara and Cook added 18 to leave Surrey needing two.The impact Morkel has had on this Surrey team cannot be overstated. His Championship debut was the first game of this eight-match winning run, and it would be brave to suggest that is in any way coincidental. He now has 42 wickets at 14.57, and has terrorised Division One batsman up and down the country. He did not bowl as well as he can here, but a couple of sharp bouncers to Michael Pepper and Porter showed that his pace has by no means dropped.Surrey now go to New Road next week to play bottom club Worcestershire in the knowledge that a win will effectively, if not mathematically, seal the title with two games to spare. On the basis of this run, they will be worthy winners.

Bowlers dominated on a fluctuating first day at Arundel where Clint McKay’s four wickets gave Leicestershire hope that they can win their first game of the season

ECB Reporters Network05-Jul-2017
ScorecardBowlers dominated on a fluctuating first day at Arundel where Clint McKay’s four wickets gave Leicestershire hope that they can win their first game of the season in the Specsavers County Championship.The wholehearted Australian fast bowler picked up 4 for 59 in searing heat at Arundel as Sussex were bowled out for 262 and appeared to have squandered the advantage of winning the toss.But a two-paced pitch, which is expected to turn, gave seamers assistance all day and Sussex’s new ball pair Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer each picked up one of the Leicestershire openers as they closed on 77 for 2.It was a day to remember for Leicestershire’s 19-year-old debutant William Fazackerley. Guernsey-born but educated just down the road from Arundel at Lancing College, he claimed his maiden Championship wicket when he had Jordan lbw for 34.Jordan was one of several Sussex players who got starts without pushing on. Eight of their batsmen got to 20 but only South African Stiaan van Zyl, who top scored with 49, looked capable of dominating a persevering Leicestershire attack.Van Zyl shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 62 in 12 overs either side of lunch with Luke Wright, whose first scoring shot for the second successive game was a six.But from 138 for 4 Sussex lost three wickets adding 27 runs. Wright played on to Richard Jones for 25, van Zyl was lbw half-forward to McKay after hitting nine boundaries before skipper Ben Brown drove McKay’s slower ball to cover for 19.Jordan and leg-spinner Will Beer, who took 11 wickets at Arundel last month against South Africa A, put on 54 for the seventh wicket but Leicestershire wrapped up the innings with three wickets after tea, two of them to Matt Pillans.Earlier, Luke Wells had passed 700 Championship runs after being restored to the top of the order. The left-hander lost opening partner Chris Nash, who played on to McKay before Harry Finch fell for a golden duck shuffling in front to a ball from Jones which nipped back.Wells and van Zyl briefly prospered together, taking the score to 74 before Wells, who had struck eight fours in a fluent 42, was caught behind off Pillans.By then umpire Martin Saggers was on the pitch, his arrival having been delayed by traffic congestion. Martin Bodenham, who retired from the first-class list last season but lives in nearby Ferring, stood at square leg before Saggers arrived.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore continued a remarkable run of scores at New Road as Worcestershire escaped from a dire position on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship Division Two fixture at New Road

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2016
ScorecardTom Kohler-Cadmore lifted Worcestershire out of a dire position•Getty Images

Tom Kohler-Cadmore continued a remarkable run of scores at New Road as Worcestershire escaped from a dire position on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship Division Two fixture at New Road.In leading a beleaguered side from 34 for 5 to 341 for 8, the 21-year-old batsman made 153 not out, his fourth century in his last five innings on his home ground for an aggregate of 580 with only two dismissals.The sequence began last September with 130 not out against Middlesex and this season he has followed up with 119 not out against Essex and 127 from 54 balls in a NatWest T20 Blast match against Durham. In his only other knock, he scored 51 against Sussex.Until Kohler-Cadmore went to work, in particular peppering the midwicket boundary for many of his 23 fours from 262 balls, Gloucestershire were celebrating their decision to bowl first on a dry, greenish pitch.David Payne was the spearhead, exploiting swing and seam movement with 3 for 11 in seven overs. There were also wickets for Liam Norwell, on his return after a month’s lay-off, and Josh Shaw before Ben Cox, with 75 from 108 balls, turned things round in a partnership of 155 with Kohler-Cadmore.This equalled the county’s sixth-wicket record against Gloucestershire which Cox himself had set when batting with Joe Clarke at Bristol in April.Apart from a difficult caught-and-bowled chance to Norwell on 52, wicketkeeper Cox looked at ease in making the highest of his seven fifties since he scored 109 against Somerset in May last year.When he was dislodged by Craig Miles, giving Chris Dent his third catch in the innings at second slip, Worcestershire briefly faltered as Joe Leach also fell to Miles, slicing to point with the total on 205 for 7.However, Kohler-Cadmore powered on to a new career-best mark with an edged boundary off Jack Taylor, and in Ed Barnard he found another strong partner in putting on 92 in 27 overs. The former England Under-19 allrounder played well for 50 from 80 balls, a maiden first-class half-century, before he was lbw to Norwell.Jack Shantry, unbeaten with 26, then added to Gloucestershire’s frustration on a day that had begun so well. Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell was lbw to Payne from the third ball of the match and Clarke edged Norwell to Dent in the second over.Alexei Kervezee was also snapped up by Dent – a second success for Payne – and in his next over the left-arm seamer had Brett D’Oliveira leg-before. When Shaw bowled Ross Whiteley with his fourth ball, half the side had gone inside 12 overs in the first hour.

Perhaps Essex have spent too much time watching England recently. Serenely placed on 61 for 0, Chelmsford offered no hint of the bedlam that once again was about to engulf Essex’s batting

Tim Wigmore03-May-2015
ScorecardLiam Norwell sparked another classic Essex collapse•Getty Images

Perhaps Essex have spent too much time watching England recently. Serenely placed on 61 for 0, Chelmsford offered no hint of the bedlam that was about to engulf Essex’s batting.Even with Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate detained by the IPL, the sense that Essex boast a formidable batting line-up was reinforced by Dan Lawrence making 161 at The Oval this week in just his second first-class game. It only makes their propensity to collapse, most spectacularly when they were routed for 20 by Lancashire here two years ago, all the more inexplicable.And, on the evidence of the start to the summer, this unfortunate trait remains, particularly at Chelmsford. In their previous home game, Essex suffered a collapse of 51 for 7 against Kent; against Gloucestershire this time it was even worse: 45 for 8. Bafflingly, these games were sandwiched by an utterly imperious performance against Surrey, when Essex declared on 610 for 8.This time Liam Norwell was the main beneficiary. Persistent morning drizzle had delayed the start until ten to two – and given the wicket a distinctly green tinge, leading Geraint Jones to insert Essex after winning the toss between two former England wicket-keepers.Normally such conditions are an invitation to bowl full, but Jaik Mickleburgh had driven proficiently through the offside. At the suggestion of David Payne, Gloucestershire located a slightly shorter length. For Norwell, ambling in with his strawberry blond hair, the results were spectacular, as he extracted late movement from a good length.Three times in eight balls a batsman obligingly nicked him to Chris Dent, who calmly poached Dan Lawrence, James Foster and Jesse Ryder at second slip: a welcome contrast with the swathes of dropped chances that have undermined Gloucestershire’s start to 2015. With Mickleburgh already having been clean bowled, Norwell had snared four wickets for two runs in two overs.Norwell’s teammates benefited from similar virtues, pitching the ball up and allowing Essex to implode. The dismissals of Kishen Velani, trying to flick a ball on offstump to midwicket, Graham Napier, lashing his second ball to point after hitting his first there for four and Greg Smith, heaving wildly outside offstump, were particularly regrettable.To restrict Essex to 159 all out under increasingly sunny skies was quite an effort from Gloucestershire. And even that represented a partial recovery from the wreckage of 106 for 8.In the circumstances, Essex were most grateful to have a spin bowler with evident batting aptitude. That was not Monty Panesar but Adeel Malik, the younger brother of former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik. After a brief and undistinguished career in Pakistan – 14 first-class games yielding 486 runs at 21.13 and eight wickets at 43.62 – Malik has impressed in the Essex second team, and was rewarded with his first first-class match since 2010.Batting with grace and palpable intent, Malik clubbed Payne over long on for a ferocious clean six, and then smeared him down the ground for a four before Payne located a gap between his bat and pad.Malik has just signed a three-month contract, and his batting ability will make it more difficult for Panesar to return to the side. In an over of legspin before the close, he bowled with enough flight to suggest he might be a genuine wicket-taking threat, twirling his arms in a manner reminiscent of Danish Kaneria.Not that Gloucestershire will be particularly perturbed. In glorious evening sunset, Will Tavare and Dent completed a sterling day’s work. Technically proficient and an assured leaver of the ball, Tavare invites comparisons with his uncle Chris. He provides a neat contrast with his opening partner Chris Dent, a powerful left-hander adept at marmalising anything short.An emphatic pull off Ryder, judging the length early before crashing the ball to the square leg boundary, was almost contemptuous. Together Tavare and Dent added almost half of Essex’s total to leave Gloucestershire envisaging their first win at Chelmsford since 1930.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians Champions League T20 match in Johannesburg

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria19-Oct-2012

Match facts

October 20, 2012
Start time 1730 (1530 GMT)Dwayne Smith has provided the boost to Mumbai Indians’ batting upfront•Getty Images

Big Picture

Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians are not yet out of the tournament, but by the end of Saturday’s round of Group B matches, at least one team will join Kolkata Knight Riders on the list of knocked-out teams. The match between the two IPL giants is preceded by a game between Lions, who are playing at their home ground, and Yorkshire. If Lions win, they will join Sydney Sixers as the second team from the group in the semis. However, if Yorkshire sneak out their first win, the winner of the match between Super Kings and Mumbai Indians will get a two-day lifeline, while the loser will be knocked out.Both teams are evenly matched, having put 150-plus totals every time they have batted and having given away 150-plus runs every time they have bowled. The batting and bowling for both teams have been patchy and the thrust has mainly come from their overseas players. Big Indian names – such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh – are yet to produce a performance of note. Playing against each other, which they have done quite often, gives both teams an even (perhaps their best) chance to get the valuable four points to avoid the bottom finish.However, irrespective of the permutations within the table, on Saturday, weather permitting, an IPL team will win. It has been that kind of a tournament for Twenty20 cricket’s high flyers. A short format means that the teams’ fates are decided even before they have got a chance to adjust to the markedly different conditions from what they are used to. That also means their best cricket could be round the corner now that they have spent more than a week in South Africa.

Watch out for…

Faf du Plessis has scored 43 and 25 in two innings at the top of the order. His familiarity with the South African conditions has allowed the other batsmen to play around him in the first six overs when the pitches are at their most responsive. If he can provide a strong start, the middle-order is likely to find the rest of the familiar Mumbai Indians’ attack fairly comfortable to negotiate.While Sachin Tendulkar has struggled as an opener, Dwayne Smith has teed off from the word go. He opened the match against Yorkshire with a couple of huge hits and like du Plessis for Super Kings, he will have the responsibility of neutralizing the threat from Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus.

Stats and trivia

• Suresh Raina is the only batsman in the two teams to score a half-century in the tournament. He made 57 against Sydney Sixers
• Mumbai Indians have won seven of their 12 matches against Super Kings. In their only meeting in the Champions League, they beat Super Kings by three wickets.

Quotes

“We’ll be sending our masseurs and physios to the Yorkshire team to help them sort out all the hamstring problems of their fast bowlers. We want Yorkshire to get on the park fit for their game against the Lions and surprise them.”

Danish Kaneria faces a further wait to gain clearance to play for Pakistan after the Sindh High Court adjourned his case against the PCB till October 20

Umar Farooq28-Sep-2011Pakistan legspinner Danish Kaneria’s case against the PCB in the Sindh High Court has been adjourned till October 20. During the September 27 hearing in the case, Kaneria consented to allow the board to ask the British Crown Prosecution Services for the tapes of an investigation by the Essex police. Kaneria had been questioned regarding a case involving spot-fixing allegations during a Pro40 match for his county Essex.Though Kaneria was not charged in the spot-fixing case, in which his Essex team-mate Mervyn Westfield faced criminal proceedings, he has not been cleared to play for Pakistan since the incident. Kaneria had filed a petition against the PCB over his non-clearance on July 2. During a hearing on August 18, he had admitted that tapes of the investigation in Essex existed and it was decided that they would be produced before the court on September 27. Kaneria’s lawyer Mohammad Farogh Naseem had said the tapes were in the UK with Kaneria’s British lawyer Steve Haurigan. .During the September 27 hearing it was decided that the PCB would write to the CPS to ask for the tapes or their transcripts. The PCB’s lawyer Taffazul Rizvi argued that though Kaneria was not charge with spot-fixing, his integrity was under the scanner and therefore his clearance would only be possible after scrutiny the of the tapes.The PCB’s integrity committee had asked Kaneria to produce transcripts of the investigation before the case had been filed began but his lawyers had maintained it was not possible as the transcripts were still part of an ongoing investigation in the UK. Before seeking legal recourse, Kaneria had appeared several times before the integrity committee to gain clearance and had submitted various financial records and documents, but had not managed to satisfy its members. He last met the committee on August 15, along with Shoaib Malik, and though Malik got clearance after that meeting and was on Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe, Kaneria’s wait continued.”I am desperate to play and am missing top cricket,” Kaneria told ESPNCricinfo after the September 27 hearing. “Of course I feel frustrated but I am optimistic about my career. I chose the legal path for which I feel no regret as I see it as the only way to get myself clear from the stigma.”

Shaun Pollock is set to be the bowling consultant for the South African ODI team for their three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010Shaun Pollock, the former South Africa captain, is set to be the bowling consultant for the South African ODI team ahead of their three-match one-day series against Zimbabwe that begins on October 15 in Bloemfontein.Pollock, who retired from international cricket in early 2008, confirmed to that he would be in Bloemfontein to assist the South African team for a couple of days.Pollock played 108 Tests for South Africa picking up 421 wickets and scoring 3781 runs. He played 308 ODIs scoring 3519 runs, picking up 393 wickets.

England lose both openers after being set 297 to win the second Multan Test

Alan Gardner17-Oct-2024England 291 (Duckett 114, Sajid 7-111) and 36 for 2 need a further 261 to beat Pakistan 366 and 221 (Salman 63, Bashir 4-66)With a twinkle in his eye and a twirl of his moustache, Sajid Khan helped turn the Multan rematch Pakistan’s way. A first-innings seven-for was followed up by crucial lower-order runs to help set England a daunting target of 297 to win the second Test. Sajid then struck with his third ball to remove Ben Duckett, England’s centurion on day two and a key man in their hopes of a successful chase.Sajid may be an unassuming offspinner on paper, and something of an afterthought in selection – he described himself as “always the first to be kicked out” after taking four England wickets during the second evening to put his side on top. But with his shaved head, luxuriant facial hair and colourful celebrations he has brought some much-needed character to Pakistan’s attempts to break a winless run at home that stretches back to 2021.Having claimed three of the four England wickets to fall during the first hour on day three, securing a 75-run lead for Pakistan and personal figures of 7 for 111 – the best for an innings in Tests at Multan – Sajid came to the crease during the evening session with the scoreboard reading 156 for 8. England were eyeing up a chase in the region of 230-240, only for Sajid to join Salman Agha in putting on a bristling stand of 65, by far the highest of a day on which 16 wickets fell and the spinners prospered.Salman did the bulk of the scoring, making his third 50-plus score of the series to steer the target up towards 300, and England’s pain in the field was only increased by the knowledge that he could have been dismissed twice in single-figures. Brydon Carse was the unlucky bowler, as two chances went down in the space of three balls: Jamie Smith failing to hold a regulation nick behind the stumps before Joe Root shelled another to his right, the fact he was wearing a helmet and standing in close only partial mitigation.Pakistan’s recent issues in the third innings have been well-documented, failing to capitalise on positions of varying promise against Australia and Bangladesh, and it seemed as if they were primed for another stumble after losing three wickets to Shoaib Bashir to be 43 for 3 at lunch. Saud Shakeel helped steady things, although he too had a life off Carse as Root couldn’t get his hands up to a flashed cut at slip.When Shakeel was trapped lbw by Jack Leach, the first of three wickets to fall in the space of five overs after tea, England had hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly. But Salman immediately countered, hitting three fours from his next seven balls and going on to his half-century by lofting Leach clean over long-off for six. The ninth-wicket pair took less than eight overs to raise the 50 stand, as England’s target rose rapidly – eventually leaving them needing the second-highest successful chase in Pakistan, and by far their highest overall in Asia.Salman Agha made a vital contribution as Pakistan’s lead grew•Getty Images

Sajid survived being caught at long-on, when Duckett was forced to throw the ball back in as he crossed the rope, then overturned being given out lbw to a Matt Potts full toss when UltraEdge detected an inside edge; he might have been out on 20, but with the DRS momentarily down, England couldn’t review for caught behind.Carse eventually broke through when Salman spliced a pull to midwicket, belated reward for the fast bowler’s perseverance and skill in demanding conditions, and Potts bounced out Sajid. But the spinner took centre stage again with the ball in hand, eyes bulging like a cartoon supervillain after Duckett had top-edged a sweep straight up to depart for a two-ball duck in the first over of the chase.Noman Ali then produced a beautifully flighted delivery to have Zak Crawley stumped by a distance, the opener collapsing to his knees even as he turned to see Mohammad Rizwan break the bails, as England slipped to 11 for 2. Ollie Pope and Root saw them through to the close but there was plenty of work still to be done on a pitch that has increasingly taken spin if England are to extend their winning run in Pakistan.It was all a far cry from the first Test at this ground, when only 13 wickets fell across the first three days – the count now up to 32 at the same stage in the pitch second’s incarnation.England’s prospects had been undermined by the four-wicket burst from Sajid on the second evening, and he did not have to wait long for his second Test five-for when play resumed. Carse holed out to long-on before Potts got in a tangle trying to work off his pads to be bowled between his legs. Noman then claimed his 50th wicket in Tests as Smith, looking to hit out in the company of the tail, could only miscue high to long-off.A last-wicket stand of 29 between Leach and Bashir cut into the lead, before Sajid’s seventh brought the innings to a close. It was then Pakistan’s turns to get the jitters, as the top three all departed in the space of 15 overs before lunch.Bashir had not enjoyed much success on tour to date but rose to the occasion after being thrown the new ball by Ben Stokes. His third over produced the breakthrough, with Abdullah Shafique adjudged to have feathered a catch behind down the leg side – although it took some lengthy deliberations by the third umpire, Sharfuddoula, after England had gone to the DRS. Shafique’s dismissal brought an end to Pakistan’s opening stand at 9 – the ninth time in ten innings that he and Saim Ayub have failed to reach double-figures together.Shan Masood did not last long, squared up by one that ripped away off a length to hit the splice for a sharp catch to Pope, in close under the helmet at second slip. There was turn and bounce aplenty for England’s spinners and with the final delivery before the break, Bashir dislodged Ayub, who propped forward to provide a simpler chance to Pope.Pakistan needed solidity and they got it in the form of three dogged stands in the 30s featuring Shakeel. The debutant Kamran Ghulam provided further signs of his ability, following his first-innings hundred, before being trapped plumb lbw by Leach. Rizwan then resumed his battle with Carse, eventually falling to him for the third innings in a row after England got the ball to reverse swing. Whether they can reverse the course of this Test may depend on keeping Sajid from top billing on day four.

Sub-par target of 143 proves ample as Craig Overton, Henry and Green set up Essex showdown

Andrew Miller15-Jul-2023Somerset 142 for 7 (Abbott 4-23) beat Surrey 118 (Henry 3-19, Overton 3-24, Green 3-25) by 24 runsCraig Overton, Matt Henry and Ben Green claimed three wickets apiece in a stunning defence of a sub-par target of 143, as Somerset overcame Surrey by 24 runs to book their place in the Vitality Blast final, where they will face the 2019 champions, Essex, with the chance to cap a record-breaking campaign with their first T20 title since 2005.At the halfway mark of the contest, it seemed Surrey already had one foot in the final, after a masterful display from their own seam attack, led by Sean Abbott’s stand-out figures of 4 for 23. The build-up to their campaign had been overshadowed by the absence of Sunil Narine, who opted to stay in the USA for the maiden season of Major League Cricket, but Surrey didn’t require a single over of spin. Their extraordinary wealth of allrounders seemed to have turned up the ideal combination for the blustery conditions, but as it transpired, they had simply inspired their opponents to raise their own game in response.Desperation does the trick for SomersetAfter finishing as runners-up and semi-finalists in consecutive Finals Days, Tom Abell had conceded Somerset were “desperate” to go one better this year. And while that was a choice of words that might have implied weakness, it was also an apt description of their hungry, clawing response to a sub-par batting display.In the course of Somerset’s innings, Jamie Overton didn’t even get a bowl against his old county, given how stacked with pace options his new team clearly is. But the onus on hitting the pitch hard and forcing Surrey into errors was right up his alley of his Taunton-based twin brother. With his fourth ball of the chase, Craig Overton found enough jag off the seam from his favourite back-of-a-length to smash Laurie Evans stumps for a second-ball duck, and spark his side with renewed belief.Matt Henry’s hardly averse to hard lengths either. His second over did for the key scalp of Jason Roy, who looked aghast skywards as an attempted flick to leg got pick on him and spiralled out to a sprawlingv Sean Dickson, running in from deep square. And with the going good for the quicks, Lewis Gregory gambled on a third powerplay over for Overton, and was quickly vindicated as Will Jacks holed out to deep midwicket.At 24 for 3, Somerset had stolen the ascendancy for the first time in the match, albeit at the cost of five overs from their strike bowlers.Green and Sodhi becalm the middle orderGregory, however, still had a significant trump card up his sleeve. Green, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, entered the attack for the eighth over of the innings, and struck with his first ball as Sam Curran scuffed a tame drive to Henry at mid-on (38 for 4). He left for 5 from 10 balls, perhaps ruing his failure to assert himself against the legspin of Ish Sodhi, whose previous over – the first sighting of spin in this contest – had gone for just five runs.With the wind now swirling and making strikes down the ground from the City End particularly fraught with peril, Green’s naggingly awkward cutters were the ideal impediment for a team in a hurry. Jamie Smith didn’t get the memo, with an ill-conceived club down the ground that held in the breeze and was dying on Craig Overton as he swooped in from long-on.Jamie Overton, next man in, got away with a similar drill that scudded over the head of long-off for a second-ball four, and though he found a more convincing route to the rope in Sodhi’s next over, one ball later he too was gone, and in the most galling fashion possible … another long-levered club down the ground, but straighter this time and straight into the hands of his brother at long-on (68 for 6).Short-side bluesSurrey’s unparalleled depth means that no cause is lost until the tenth wicket has been toppled, and as the England pairing of Tom Curran and Chris Jordan combined with 75 needed from 48 balls, it was clear that Somerset’s graft was not done yet. Three sixes in as many overs kept that rate very much under control, with both men recognising that the short leg-side boundary from the City End was the place to take on the quicks.But then, after depositing the return Overton in that very direction, Jordan succumbed to the same stroke three balls later, getting underneath his pull on this occasion for Will Smeed to cling on at square leg. And one over later, with a touch of desperation setting in, Curran decided to chance his arm on the long side instead, and wiped Henry into the hands of deep midwicket. He departed for 22 for 15, with his team in the soup at 103 for 8.Three balls later, Green had his third – and his 30th of the tournament – after another reviewed nick off Cam Steel, and nine balls later, Somerset were home and hosed, as Abbott became just the latest – but arguably most blameless – victim of some superb outfielding, as Smeed clung onto another flat smash into the leg side.Top-order power failureSomerset’s record-breaking run in the group stages had been built on the form of their bombastic top three. Smeed, Tom Banton and Tom Kohler-Cadmore came into Finals Day with more than 400 runs apiece, each at strike-rates in excess of 150. And though it hardly seemed like it at the time, their application of the usual template for the first four overs of match would prove to be the difference between the teams.It wasn’t that Smeed and Banton came hurtling out of the blocks in their opening stand of 38 (the same score at which Surrey would lose their fourth wicket), but with four fours and a six between them – the latter swatted off the eyebrows over fine leg by Smeed – the pair had emerged with a clear determination to get busy. That trait would be noticeably absent by the back-end of the innings, with not a single boundary coming from the final 20 balls as Jordan and Tom Curran nailed their death lengths.That Smeed six, however, had been a harbinger of the hardships to come. Gus Atkinson’s extra pace had all but decapitated his quarry in the process, and when Abbott entered the attack with similar licence to slip the handbrake, he took just two balls to make the breakthrough. More pace and bounce outside off drew a flat-footed drive from Smeed, and after a review, a thin nick through to the keeper was confirmed.Banton carried on attacking, dispatching Atkinson for a second six with an excellently played ramp over fine leg. But one ball later, he too was gone – once again via a review as Atkinson followed him down the leg side with that pitch-battering length and found another graze of willow to the keeper. Kohler-Cadmore by this stage had got off the mark with a genuine edge through deep third off Abbott, but he wouldn’t add to his boundary count before Abbott got his revenge, via a steepling catch to point. Somerset’s big three were gone before the end of the tenth over and the innings never quite regained its poise. In the end, it never needed to.

South African bags four early wickets as visitors stutter to 68 for 6 in reply to 238

David Hopps26-Jun-2022Chelmsford is Simon Harmer country again. The sun is up, the pitch is turning on the first day and one by one he can expect that all his dreams will come true.If Hampshire are to quicken their Championship challenge here – they lie second, three points behind Surrey as the halfway stage of the season approaches – then they will need to withstand Harmer at his most potent. Few county sides have shown the ability to do that. Much more likely is that he will finish with something approaching the best match figures of the season.By the close of the opening day, he held figures of 8-2-23-4 with Nick Gubbins, James Vince, Liam Dawson and Aneurin Donald already ticked off. The welcome inclusion of a few Championship matches in midsummer might be designed for him.An attention-grabbing haul will also sharpen his chances of retaining his place in South Africa’s side for a three-Test series against England, beginning at Lord’s on August 17. He returned to the fray after a near seven-year absence in March and April and returned 13 for 78 in two Tests, with Bangladesh shot out for 53 in Durban. But his fellow spinner, Keshav Maharaj was also in the wickets and it would be a rare thing for two specialist spinners to be fielded in England.These are the days of summer wine that Harmer has been missing, a throwback to 2017 when he took the second-highest haul in the country with 72 wickets at 19.19 and teams came to Chelmsford and came over all of a tizzy.The following seasons were successful, too, but his rewards have been meagre this summer, with only 12 wickets at 39.33 at the start of this match, partly the result of three tortuously slow, low Chelmsford surfaces in which all matches have been drawn. This surface had more bounce and pace, not just for Harmer, but also for the seamers. He was brought into the attack as early as the eighth over after Sam Cook had dealt with arguably the weakest opening pair in the country.The most extraordinary dismissal was Harmer’s first, that of Vince, who decided to try to dominate Harmer from the outset. Perhaps the influence of “Bazball” is now beginning to permeate county cricket. If Vince imagines such an approach will win an England recalled at 31 he may be deluding himself. He charged down the pitch to the second ball he faced, his first from Harmer, failed to reach the pitch, as the ball turned substantially through a wild swing, and was stumped.Harmer’s second over included the wicket of Dawson, who conjured up a gentle leg-side push at a turning delivery despite the presence of two close fielders, and even though it took a deflection of the wicketkeeper’s gloves en route it could not be construed as unfortunate.
Gubbins pushed firmly to silly point in Harmer’s sixth over and he had two wickets in two balls when Donald propped limply forward to be caught at short leg.In this season of good county surfaces, one of the most regrettable aspects is that so few of them have broken up on the final day. Matt Parkinson, Lancashire’s legspinner, is arguably the only slow bowler to have presented a persistent threat. Faced by a turning surface from the outset, Hampshire’s response was inadequate, but it is difficult to improve against something you meet so infrequently.Kyle Abbott, Hampshire’s South African pace bowler, suggested that Hampshire’s approach against Harmer had been a considered one.”We are coming up against a world-class spinner so we knew it was going to turn but we didn’t expect it to turn that much that quickly on day one,” he said. “It maybe took us a bit by surprise but we now have a challenge ahead of us now.”We discussed Harmer and how we wanted to play him but he is world-class and has taken a lot of wickets for Essex over the years and been successful for South Africa. I thought we played him pretty well except for some of those ones which we managed to get out. We need to find a way to negotiate that.”Essex were in bother themselves at 105 for 7 but allrounder Shane Snater hit about him cleanly to make 71 from 73 balls – the left-arm spin of Dawson suffering the most – and remarkably his third half-century of the season was enough to make him Essex’s third-highest Championship run-scorer. There was skill alongside the power, notably when he leant back to avoid a short ball from Brad Wheal and uppercut to the third man boundary. He fell attempting to slap Wheal down the ground.Nine days ago, Snater was a part of the Netherlands bowling attack which was flailed for a world record 498 by England in Amstelveen. He went for 99 runs, although he picked up the wicket of his cousin Jason Roy.”I don’t know what the groundsman has done differently but it has brought Harmy more into the game which is good for us,” he said. “If it is going to turn they also have spinners, but he is just so much better.”