Ball one: fun and fungibility
Surrey remain top of Division One after their extraordinary but curiously inevitable 501 chase at Canterbury, one of the top 10 fourth-innings chases in first-class Cricket. It was also an example of how different batting styles can complement each other, with Kent’s bowlers exhibiting different tactics and attitudes that ultimately proved interchangeable in the chase.
Jamie Smith had a lot of fun making 114 off 77 deliveries, an innings that resembled one of those camera lenses that focus on a distant and barely visible object. Ben Foakes pushed it further forward with 124 off 211 measured balls as Kent’s side wilted under relentless pressure. Meanwhile, Dominic Sibley smack as he did in 1899 and did not set a record or two in less than 10 hours in 20 minutes on his way to 140.
Each approach had its value, everyone did their job in the chase, everyone was equally hard on the bowlers. Fungibility is the quality of interchangeability and it is a glory of Cricket that batsmen of such opposite styles as Smith and Sibley can swap blows and still get things done. The former England opener is not the prettiest girl or the most handsome boy at the ball, but he can still say that he scored the winning run – and doesn’t he deserve it?
Ball two: Rhodes is going the wrong way
Warwickshire, who are 32 points behind the as-yet unelected champion, missed the chance to hang on to the Londoners’ penalty strikeout after racking up 571 for six against Nottinghamshire and giving themselves all the time in the world to take 20 wickets.
The first 10 arrived in a hurry, the six from the Will Rhodes action captured a scalp. But then the follow-up is forced, Joe Clarke starts and suddenly it’s a lot of hard work. Three wickets had come in just 26.1 overs, but only three more came in the next 126 as Clarke scored a double century and the lower middle order paddled in his wake.
Can you have too many points in the first inning? Perhaps a withdrawal of 100 less (in this matter, 471) will force the refusal to apply the follow-up, buy the bowlers a little break and maybe make the opponent play a little more positively if he knows that a winning chase is possible. After all, a goal of more than 500 is achievable nowadays.
Ball three: Vilas finds Southport a home away from home
The only undefeated team in Division 1 is Lancashire, but they are still behind in the bottom half of the table due to a quintet of ties. That said, they picked up their first win of the campaign in a sunny Southport to put a damper on any remaining Hampshire hopes for the Surrey overhaul.
It is often noticed that bowlers are the key players in Red-ball Cricket, but this Match was decided more by the batsmen, especially the internationals.
After the visitors collapsed in their first innings, Lancashire were almost at ground level by the end of the first day, one down, and Phil Salt led the power for 76, en route to a first championship century for his county. Daryl Mitchell helped with 68 and there were enough practical contributions elsewhere to secure a 232-run lead.
Inevitably, James Vince was at the centre of the catch-up struggle for Hampshire, but his team could not find the great partnerships they needed to regain lost ground on the first morning. Dane Vilas made a brief trial in the aim of 140 never enough on this fast outdoor pitch and the Red Rose bloomed for the first time this Season.
Ball Four: the White Rose is also blooming
Riding the confidence wave of their T20 form, Yorkshire won a championship match for the first time since the opening weeks of last Season, but they were pushed to work terribly hard by a feisty Derbyshire team.
After Matthew Fisher’s five wickets and more runs from Dawid Malan, the Tykes had a lead of 227 runs, with only six wickets to be caught in the second innings as they faced Leus Du Plooy and Haider Ali. The captain and the Pakistan white-ball international spent the next 67 overs collecting 277 runs, and Yorkshire faced a tricky pursuit of 212 for this elusive victory.
They were still missing 65 runs when captain Shan Masood was joined by all-rounder Dom Bess, not the world’s worst No. 9. As the diaspora of White Rose listened to the nail-biting online comments, the two experienced test men reduced the runs to a nervous hour of compelling cricket.
Ball five: Stuck down the middle
Essex are the fit team in the explosion, a fifth win on the rebound puts them in third place in the South Group.
It was hardly surprising to see whipping boys Middlesex give the cricket house a disheartening 237 for six, which must feel anything but that for the tenants. Daniel Sams, the Australian franchise specialist, was their leading executioner, throwing eight sixes with just 24 balls into the increasingly stormy skies of St John’s Wood. Middlesex hit a total of two fewer from the team’s 12.3 overs, with firepower simply not available for this type of pursuit.
Investing in a gun for rent is usually a smart move for a county, but if finances do not allow it, the seasons with white bullets can be very long.
Ball six: Notts strangled by Tye
Cricket is a great leveler even in its short formats. Nottinghamshire drove the M1 to Wantage Road to face Northamptonshire in a clash that was not entirely between up and down but was not far away.
David Willey’s men were more regular than spectacular, setting a target of 178, the kind of number that requires a good performance on the field to defend with little room for a weak link.
The first part of the work was delivered by Ben Sanderson, who knocked down Alex Hales for a six-ball duck. Seeing the big man return to the pavilion can inspire any side and Willey, Tom Taylor, Freddie Heldreich and Andrew Tye all took part with at least one wicket and Notts were sent home with their tail between their legs, but still one of four counties with 12 runs at the top of the north group.
