Story Brendon vs Callum vs Jono - A Worcestershire Battle

[Chewie]

5th July 2010
Worcestershire vs Lancashire
Twenty Over Cup - Group Match
​

Playing XI?s

Worcestershire

1. Vikram Solanki *?
2. Steven Smith
3. Sanath Jayasuriya
4. Alex Kervezee
5. Imran Arif
6. Moeen Ali
7. Ben Smith
8. Jack Manuel
9. David Wheeldon
10. Matthew Mason
11. Chris Russell


Lancashire

1. Paul Horton
2. Stephen Moore
3. Shivnarine Chanderpaul
4. Dominic Telo
5. Steven Croft
6. Tom Smith
7. Luke Sutton?
8. Kyle Hogg
9. Glen Chapple*
10. James Anderson
11. Gary Keedy
​

The same lineup as our previous match. Overseas players come back into the side at the expense of Richardson and Mitchell.

I won the toss and batted first. The first two overs were played defensively, but Anderson's second over went for 18 runs as Smith and Solanki decided that they had enough time to get their eye in. The run rate stayed above 8 for the next few overs before Solanki lamely chipped one back to Chapple to bring Jayasuriya to the crease. He didn't last an over as he was out LBW to Hogg to continue his poor string of results. Kervezee started defensively, but unleashed against Hogg, hitting two fours and a six in between two LBW appeals. Smith and Kervezee put on a great partnership before Smith was bowled by his namesake on 48. At this point there were only 4 overs left so it was slogging time. Arif probably wasn't the best person to send out, as he was bowled for a duck. Smith took his third wicket of the over as Kervezee was out on 45 from 34 balls. Wickets continuously fell over the next few overs but we managed to make our way to 145/6 from our 20 overs.

We tasted success in our first over with Russell getting Horton out LBW. This brought Chanderpaul to the wicket however. He smacked a huge six off a no-ball from Mason, as his over went for 18. Russell managed to take the huge wickets of Chanderpaul and Telo in consecutive balls in the next over however, as Lancashire were 50/3. In his first over Smith managed to have Croft out caught behind. He almost had the crucial wicket of Moore as well, only to be dropped at slip by Manuel. He made up for that by taking a great diving catch off Jayasuriya to have Tom Smith out. At this stage Lancashire only required 31 runs however. Things became interesting the next over with Moore running Sutton out for a duck, and we were into the tail. Hogg proved he was no pushover however, smacking Jayasuriya for a massive six. He was caught the next over, as Lancashire were 127/7, still requiring 19 runs. We were in with a chance, especially when Smith got Chapple out for one. Moore decided to finish it the next over however, bowled by Arif, as 18 runs were scored off it. Lancashire won by 2 wickets.

Smith and Kervezee's batting was promising, but no one else contributed much. Russell and Smith bowled well as well, but failing to get Moore out proved out biggest failure.

Lancashire win by 2 wickets
​

 

[CG123]

Your random bowlers like Chris Russel seem to do much better than mine...
Dam I wish Australia didn't pinch Steven Smith.

 

[Chewie]

So far for me it's only Russell, and he can be pretty expensive when he bowls. But having Smith in the side is so handy

 

[hedger_14]

5th July 2010
Worcestershire vs Lancashire
Twenty Over Cup - Group Match​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Steven Smith
2. Daryl Mitchell
3. Vikram Solanki *?
4. Jack Manuel
5. Alex Kervezee
6. Moeen Ali
7. Sanath Jayasuriya
8. James Cameron
9. Imran Arif
10. Gareth Andrew
11. Chris Whelan


Lancashire

1. Mark Chilton
2. Stephen Moore
3. Shivnarine Chanderpaul
4. Steven Croft
5. Tom Smith
6. Nathan McCullum
7. Gareth Cross?
8. Glen Chapple*
9. Kyle Hogg
10. Sajid Mahmood
11. James Anderson


Toss:

Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat first


Lancashire - 150/6

Stephen Moore 33 (24)
Tom Smith 28 (23)

Gareth Andrew 3/33 (4)
Sanath Jayasuriya 1/21 (4)


Worcestershire - 151/2

Vikram Solanki 70* (51)
Jack Manuel 44* (33)

Sajid Mahmood 1/30 (4)


Worcestershire won by 8 wickets (with 4 balls remaining)


Points:

Worcestershire 2
Lancashire 0


MOTM:

Vikram Solanki (70* off 51)


Comments:

What a win. Good bowling performance, Jayasuriya opening the bowling which payed off with a nice economic spell at the start with a wicket. Andrew took 3 wickets while being a bit expensive and some very tight bowling from James Cameron (1/27 off 4) and Smith (1/25 off 4) only to be spoiled by Arif and Whelan's whose combined 4 over's went for 43 runs, over 10 an over. 150 was a reasonable total and it seemed unlikely we would get it but Smith and Mitchell got starts to open things up for Solanki and Manuel who went for it and 14 runs off the 19th over won us the game, as we hit the final 2 runs in the last over. What a great win.

 

[CG123]

Those are the games I can never win. This season I've been in a 16 to win off the final two overs a few times, but my batsmen just crumble under the pressure.

CG123 added 1 Minutes and 22 Seconds later...

I just don't know what I'm doing wrong in these T20 matches...

 

[CG123]

You guys should both play another match today, if you can.

 

[hedger_14]

I will play another match today. I like to just play one in the morning and one in the evening. I've still got another 7 hours. Only 4:30 here.

 

[CG123]

Ok sweet, are we going to have a rest tomorrow, or shall we just do one T20 game?

 

[hedger_14]

Maybe have 1 T20 game tomorrow. I'll be sitting down doing ████ all for most of the day so we may as well have one game. Also will be good to see how our regens go.

 

[CG123]

I've got indoor cricket and a some school work, but still should be able to do as many as you guys want to do.

 

[hedger_14]

Just go 1 game tomorrow and that will be enough.

 

[Chewie]

7th July 2010
Worcestershire vs Leicestershire
Twenty Over Cup - Group Match
​

Playing XI?s

Worcestershire

1. Vikram Solanki *?
2. Steven Smith
3. Sanath Jayasuriya
4. Alex Kervezee
5. Imran Arif
6. Moeen Ali
7. Daryl Mitchell
8. Jack Manuel
9. David Wheeldon
10. Matthew Mason
11. Chris Russell


Leicestershire

1. James Benning
2. Will Jefferson
3. Jesse Ryder
4. Brad Hodge
5. Paul Nixon?
6. Tom New
7. Jacques du Toit
8. Matthew Boyce
9. Wayne White
10. Claude Henderson
11. Nadeem Malik
​

Mitchell gets another shot at the T20s down the order.

I lost the toss and was made to bowl. Russel got a wicket in his second over, while Mason seemed much better than the last game. He was rewarded for the numerous LBW appeals and plays and misses with the wicket of James Benning in his third over - a maiden. This brought Hodge and Ryder together at the wicket - a potent combination. Ryder was undone by Smith's spin however, out to his first ball. Arif managed to dislodge Hodge and Leicestershire were 60/4 after 9 overs. Despite his wicket first ball, Smith was attacked by New, and bringing Wheeldon on didn't change anything. Ali was more restrictive however, but it appeared spin wasn't the best idea on this pitch. Russell and Mason were better when they came on but couldn't stop Leicestershire reaching 168/4.

My batsman started off at a decent clip, with both Solanki and Smith playing well around the ground. Spin unstuck Smith however, bowled by the sharp turn of Henderson. Henderson also accounted for Solanki an over later as we made our way to 66/2 after 9. Jayasuriya began to make a case for why he should remain in the side but was caught behind on 13. Kervezee was also out to White, but Ali played aggressively in combination with Arif to get it down to 33 from 4 overs. Arif got out the next over however, bringing Mitchell in under pressure. Things didn't improve when Ali also fell in that over. Now we needed 29 from 3 overs with Mitchell and Manuel at the crease. This became 17 from 12 and then 2 from 6, with both players batting well. We eventually won with 4 balls remaining.

The chase was a team effort with everyone contributing to some extent. Bowlingwise, we should have taken more wickets, and the spinners were expensive, but it didn't matter in the end. We are now tied on points with Warwickshire, but a much worse NRR.

Worcestershire win by 4 wickets
​

 

[CG123]

Pretty much the same thing I said to Hedger earlier today, I'd just never win those close games, while you guys do.

CG123 added 1 Minutes and 22 Seconds later...

How are your youth players?

 

[Chewie]

I've got a wicket keeper and a batsman with second team averages of 40. So better than Ben Cox, but probably about the same as the other batsmen.

 

[hedger_14]

7th July 2010
Worcestershire vs Leicestershire
Twenty Over Cup - Group Match​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Steven Smith
2. Daryl Mitchell
3. Vikram Solanki*?
4. Jack Manuel
5. Alex Kervezee
6. Shaaiq Choudry
7. Sanath Jayasuriya
8. James Cameron
9. Imran Arif
10. Gareth Andrew
11. Jack Shantry


Leicestershire

1. James Benning
2. Jacques du Toit
3. James Taylor
4. Brad Hodge
5. Andrew McDonald
6. Paul Nixon?
7. Tom New
8. Claude Henderson
9. Nadeem Malik
10. Matthew Hoggard*
11. Andrew Harris


Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bowl first


Leicestershire - 166/5

James Taylor 52 (41)
Andrew McDonald 43 (25)
Brad Hodge 40 (40)

Imran Arif 2/30 (2)
Jack Shantry 1/28 (4)


Worcestershire - 145/4

Shaaiq Choudry 46* (34)
Alex Kervezee 35* (26)

Nadeem Malik 2/28 (4)
Andrew McDonald 1/30 (4)


Leicestershire won by 21 runs


Points:

Leicestershire 2
Worcestershire 0


MOTM:

James Taylor (52 off 41)


Comments:

Not a great performance, but it wasn't bad. Taylor led the Leicestershire batting lineup with a fifty and 166 was going to be an extremely hard target to chase. Smith hit a nice 30 off 25 balls while Shaaiq Choudry scored 46* off 34 and Kervezee scored 35* off 26 to have some consolation to our batting but it wasn't good enough to get across the line. Anyway, onto my new regens. 23 year old middle order batsman, Julian Stafford looks good with a 2nd team average of 52.12 with 2971 runs in 41 matches. He will be getting a go in our next match. Our other regen is a 22 year old keeper, Stuart Adler. He has a 2nd team of 49.29 in 32 matches and averaging over 3.5 catches a match. It will be good to see how they both go.