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13 April 2005
Frizzel County Championship Division 2
Old Trafford
Lancashire Vs Somerset
The boys really out-did themselves here, in this two hour session they claimed 5 Somerset wickets to inch ever closer that their first victory of the season in their very first match, they needed a really big session with over 4 wickets in it or it would have been too close to call in the end but with just 2 wickets to take and with the pace and spin attack operating as it is i think it is fair to say that unless something drastic happens then we have got this match in the bag, in fact, i would but my mortgage on it if i had one. As it stands i have ?20 on us to win at 3/1!
It was fair to say that we needed an early breakthrough but i didnt expct it to be this early, Ian Blackwell must have has too much to eat at Dinner because he played a sluggish defensive shot against a Flintoff ball that nipped away from him after pitching on leg stump, a thin edge was neatly taken by Warren Hegg behind the stumps, he has had a good game with the gloves and was deservedly congratulated by Freddie who hoisted him up over his shoulder and ran the length of the wicket with him, Somerset were really in trouble at this point, they were 89/4
Heggy took another catch, this time it wasnt as hard, it went straight to him and sailed right into his gloves, Jimmy Anderson claimed his first wicket of the innings, after teasing Wood for some time with the outswinger that were just missing the outside edge and carrying through to the wicket keeper he turned the ball around and delivered the perfect inswinging delivery that got quite high on the right hander, it wasnt a convincing shot, he just held his bat in the air and the ball got the nick and carried on swinging in, staight at Heggy who doesent drop those, Jimmy was very pleased to have got the wicket he deserved as he bowled well in his first spell but didnt really get the rewards.
Freddie was back in the action soon after when he decided that enough was enough, he had been bowling at 87-90 mph all day which is a feat in itself but thsi one really did for the batsman, he steamed in from a slightly longer runup and really threw himself at the crease, the ball sped through the defenses of Turner and clipped him on the pads, it would have been a cracking LBW shout had the ball not gone straight on to hit off stump. Freddie really grabbed the game by the cruff of the kneck in his first spell of bowling after lunch, the batters had no chance to breath let alone get a shot off, this is what i want from all of our bowlers, he is a class act and now the abll is ageting a bit older its starting to swing a bit more, i dont think the tailenders have a chance...
The next wicket didnt fall for a long time, James Anderson was kept on but Freddie was rested for a quick spell before tea, Corky was his replacement, he bowled well but didnt really trouble the batsmen enough which was a pretty dangerous game because by the time Murali was introduced one of the batsmen was set and the other was nearly there, Corky was taken out of the attack and Freddie re-introduced, he struck immediately with the third ball of his comeback over, Laraman tried to drive him through the covers on the back foot, the ball jumped out of the pitch and a thick edge was caught brialliantly at second slip by Stuart Law, he dived forwards and just managed to get his fingers under the ball, the batsman didnt hang around for the descision, he was of to the pavillion after a decent knock under the circumstances. The lads have been ribbing Stuey about the catch ever sinse because he landed roughly on his private area and had to come off for some treatment, hes fine now though..
Everyone knew it wouldnt be long before Murali got in on the wickets, it was just going to be a matter of how many he claimed, unfortunately Freddie has been knocking them over so quick that he only got one in his spell, that was the wicket of Johnson, bowling over the wicket to the right hander into the rough created, he was trying to get the ball turning into the pads and then get the odd one to turn away and take the edge, he didnt need to second part of that as one really kicked out of the rough and hit the batsman plum in front, good bowling from the Sri Lankan, he was very pleased about taking a wicket but dissapointed that he hadnt troubled the batters more on a turning 4th day pitch.
So, this game looks like it is comming to close, my money is of Freddie getting at least one more wicket to complete a cracking 5-for in the match, if he got the last two that would take his tally up to 9, a great performance for a "Batting" all rounder.... This has been a hard fought contest an has gone right down to the wire, if the lads dont get the two wicket required for victory then i would be bitterly dissapointed, theres no doubt about that, they would have let themselves down having come this far, played 3 and a half days of great cricket and then thrown it away in the end, but hopefully that wont happen...
Scorecard:
Bowling Statistics:
Andrew Flintoff's Bowling:
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