Report
Gloucestershire break Blast hoodoo in style with eight-wicket rout of Somerset
Payne, Matt Taylor share six wickets before Bancroft, Hammond romp in simple chase
Alan Gardner
14-Sep-2024
Gloucestershire 129 for 2 (Hammond 58*, Bancroft 53) beat Somerset 124 (Gregory 53, M Taylor 3-18, Payne 3-27) by eight wickets
Gloucestershire claimed their maiden T20 title, and West Country bragging rights into the bargain, as they crushed defending champions Somerset in a one-sided Blast final at Edgbaston. An eight-wicket margin of victory, sealed by Ollie Price's six over long-on with 30 balls to spare, told the story as Gloucestershire marched to their first piece of silverware since 2015.
It was a night of many heroes for Gloucestershire. Miles Hammond's unbeaten 58 from 41 led them home, having put on a raucous century stand with Cameron Bancroft, after the bowlers had blown Somerset away. David Payne, Gloucestershire's stalwart attack leader, capped a remarkable campaign with 3 for 27 to take his tally to 33 and equal Alfonso Thomas' longstanding record for an English T20 season. Matt Taylor, with 29 wickets himself, was the catalyst as he picked off three of Somerset's top four on the way to figures of 3 for 18.
Full postBryony Smith makes most of her chance to lead England victory
Playing her first T20I in two years, Smith opens with 58 off 30 before Charis Pavely debuts with three wickets
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Sep-2024
England 176 (Smith 58, Villiers 35) beat Ireland 109 (Prendergast 52, Pavely 3-19) by 67 runs
Bryony Smith responded to her England recall in punchy style with a quickfire half-century to set her team up for an emphatic 67-run victory over Ireland in the first of three T20Is in Dublin.
Opening alongside Tammy Beaumont, Smith scored 58 runs off just 30 balls as England were bowled out for 176 off the last ball of their innings. Freya Sargent and Aimee Maguire each took identical figures of 3 for 30 from four overs for the hosts.
Full postAlice Davidson-Richards leads Stars into final vs Sunrisers
Eighth-wicket stand with Kalea Moore spearheads victory over Vipers
ECB Reporters Network
14-Sep-2024
South East Stars 221 for 7 (Davidson-Richards 90*, Moore 52*) beat Southern Vipers 220 for 9 (Harman 38, Corteen-Coleman 3-33) by three wickets
The South East Stars are through to the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy final, after a thrilling fightback against the Southern Vipers in their semi-final at Beckenham.
The Vipers had posted 220 for 9 from their 50 overs, Nancy Harman their top scorer with 38 and Tilly Corteen-Coleman taking 3 for 33 and the Stars looked dead and buried at 131 for 7 until a partnership of 90 from 86 balls between Alice Davidson-Richards and Kalea Moore turned the contest on its head.
Full postSunrisers reach maiden RHFT final with big win over Diamonds
Fifties to Grace Scrivens, Cordelia Griffith and Jodi Grewcock drive seven-wicket victory
ECB Reporters Network
14-Sep-2024
Sunrisers 234 for 3 (Griffith 68, Grewcock 63*, Scrivens 56) beat Northern Diamonds 232 for 8 (Marlow 63, Kalis 49, Turner 32*) by seven wickets
Half-centuries from captain Grace Scrivens, Cordelia Griffith and Jodi Grewcock steered Sunrisers to a maiden Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy final appearance as they chased 233 to beat 2022 champions Northern Diamonds by seven wickets in a one-sided semi-final at Headingley.
Sunrisers will meet South East Stars in next Saturday's final at Leicester.
Full postGloucestershire romp to West Country final as Sussex are swept aside
Victory secured with 38 balls to spare after Mills' team is bowled out for 106
Andrew Miller
14-Sep-2024
Gloucestershire 109 for 2 (Bracey 49*, Bancroft 39) beat Sussex 106 (Carson 26, M Taylor 3-25, Smith 3-25) by eight wickets
Gloucestershire booked themselves a West Country showdown with local rivals Somerset in the Vitality Blast final, to give themselves a shot at their first silverware for close to a decade, as well as their maiden title in this competition, after a crushingly effective eight-wicket victory over Sussex in the second semi-final at Edgbaston.
After being asked to bowl first on a drying pitch that was likely to offer increasing grip for the spinners - and having watched Somerset's bowlers put the squeeze on Surrey in the opening contest - Gloucestershire made sure that the conditions would be academic come the sharp end, by routing their previously high-flying rivals for 106 in 18.1 overs. Matt Taylor and Tom Smith grabbed the lion's share of the wickets with twin figures of 3 for 25, but David Payne's 1 for 9 in four overs was the epitome of their performance.
Full postDickson, Rew turn tables on Surrey as Somerset romp to Blast final
Record stand rescues defending champions after Worrall wrecks top-order in powerplay
Alan Gardner
14-Sep-2024
Somerset 159 for 4 (Dickson 78, Rew 62*) beat Surrey 153 for 9 (Sibley 48, Gregory 3-15, Davey 3-34) by six wickets
The face-off between Surrey and Somerset, locked in a tussle for the County Championhip and semi-final opponents at last year's Blast Finals Day, was always likely to be compelling. Somerset went on to lift the T20 trophy in 2023 and their hopes of becoming the first team to retain the title remain alive after a magnificent stand of 144 from 98 balls between Sean Dickson and James Rew lifted them from the wreckage of 7 for 3 to set up an unlikely stroll to victory.
It was Surrey's second humbling of the week by their main rivals for silverware, following the dramatic defeat at Taunton that loosened their grip on a third consecutive Championship pennant. A patched-up team, deprived of four first-choice players by England call-ups, looked far from fluent after being inserted, Lewis Gregory taking 3 for 15 - but they seemed firm favourites after Dan Worrall and Tom Curran combined to remove Somerset's top three inside the first 13 balls of the chase.
Full postTilak, Pratham centuries leave India D with mountain to climb
India A declared at 380 for 3 in the final session, setting up a massive target of 488
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Sep-2024
India D 183 and 62 for 1 (Bhui 44*) trail India A 290 and 380 for 3 dec (Tilak 111*, Pratham 122, Saurabh 2-110) by 426 runs
Tilak Varma and Pratham Singh scored centuries each to stretch India A's lead and further put them in a strong position against India D on Saturday. From the overnight score of 115 for 1, when they had a lead of 222 runs, India A posted 380 for 3 on the third day before declaring in the final session to set up a target of 488. India D were 62 for 1 at stumps and were 426 runs behind India A.
Resuming from 59, Pratham brought up his second first-class hundred off 149 deliveries and stitched a 104-run stand with Tilak for the second wicket. Left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar dismissed Pratham for 122 in the 60th over. But Tilak played the long innings and put India A in control. Only one wicket fell in the morning session as India A piled on 145 runs to take lunch at 260 for 2.
Full postEaswaran makes 143*, but Kamboj's five-star show puts India C in the driver's seat
Musheer, Sarfaraz, Rinku, and Reddy all fell cheaply to Kamboj and let go of the advantage India B had going into day three
ESPNcricinfo staff
14-Sep-2024
India B 309 for 7 (Easwaran 143*, Jagadeesan 70, Kamboj 5-66) trail India C 525 by 216 runs
Even as Abhimanyu Easwaran stood tall from one end to post an unbeaten 143 for India B, Anshul Kamboj ran through the batting unit to take 5 for 66 to give India C the advantage by stumps on day three in Anantapur. With one day of action remaining, India C are now favourites to claim the first-innings-lead points, with India B still 216 runs behind at 309 for 7.
Day three began with India B on 124 for 0. The opening pair of Easwaran and N Jagadeesan were looking to build towards overcoming India C's first-innings score of 525, but Kamboj struck in the day's fourth over, dismissing Jagadeesan for 70.
Full postBabar and Tahir fifties set up Stallions' big win
No one apart from Imam-ul-Haq showed fight in the 337-run chase as Lions went down by 133 runs
Danyal Rasool
14-Sep-2024
Stallions 336 for 5 (Babar 76, Tahir 74, Haris 55, Talat 50, Jamal 2-60) beat Lions 203 (Imam 78, Haris 3-43, Ali 2-18) by 133 runs
Babar Azam top-scored with 76 to help Stallions thump Shaheen Shah Afridi's Lions by 133 runs in the second match of the Champions Cup in Faisalabad. Half-centuries from four batters, including Tayyab Tahir, captain Mohammad Haris and Hussain Talat, helped Stallions amass 336 for 5 in their 50 overs.
It was a team effort with the ball, too, with all six Stallions bowlers among the wickets. Haris Rauf picked up three wickets before Mohammad Ali's 2 for 18 set the tone up top for a dominant Stallions performance as Lions failed to get stuck into the chase. Imam-ul-Haq offered the only real resistance, and though his 78 was the highest score of the match, none of his team-mates managed even 30.
Full postLivingstone and Bethell star as England level T20I series
Jake Fraser-McGurk hit a maiden half-century and Matt Short bagged five but Australia couldn't defend 193
Matt Roller
13-Sep-2024
England 194 for 7 (Livingstone 87, Bethell 44, Salt 39, Short 5-22) beat Australia 193 for 6 (Fraser-McGurk 50, Inglis 42, Head 31) by three wickets
Perhaps being dropped from England's ODI squad was the wake-up call that Liam Livingstone needed. After flattering to deceive while battling a series of niggling injuries over the last three years, Livingstone marked his 50th T20I cap by clubbing 87 off 47 to square the series in Cardiff, having earlier helped to drag Australia back with 2 for 16 in his three overs.
Chasing 194 to set up a decider in Manchester on Sunday, England slipped to 79 for 3 in the ninth over when Phil Salt miscued Matthew Short to long-on. But Livingstone combined with the precocious allrounder Jacob Bethell to add 90 in just 47 balls, and despite a major wobble against Short's offbreaks, England got home with an over to spare.
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