Report
Hick masterclass routs Gloucestershire
A round-up from the second day of Twenty20 Cup matches
Cricinfo staff
12-Jun-2008
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Graeme Hick rolled back the years with a clinical and brutal display of strokeplay, as Worcestershire overwhelmed Gloucestershire by nine wickets at New Road. Hick clubbed 11 fours and a six in a 58-ball 88, and made light work of Gloucestershire's sub-par total of 168. He was the dominant partner in an opening stand of 143 with Vikram Solanki, who was hardly sluggish in making 51 from 43 balls, and on 71, he went past 1000 runs in the tournament's history. None of the visiting bowlers had any answer to his onslaught, least of all Carl Greenidge, whose two overs went for 32 runs. Earlier, Marcus North was the pivotal figure for Gloucestershire with 45 from 33 balls, as he added 53 for the third wicket with Chris Taylor, but it was not nearly enough.
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Bouyant Middlesex barely break sweat
Martin Williamson watches Middlesex canter to a seven-wicket win over Essex at Lord's
Martin Williamson at Lord's
12-Jun-2008
Middlesex 116 for 3 (Morgan 47) beat Essex 115 for 9 (Dexter 46, Murtagh 3-24) by seven wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
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Just now, Middlesex, who have done little but struggle in recent seasons, are finding cricket a rather easy game. After beating Hampshire on Wednesday, they cruised to a seven-wicket win over Essex at Lord's with 19 balls to spare, a result which takes them to the giddy heights of the top of the South Division.
Buoyed by three straight wins, Middlesex were tight in the field, capped by a string of good steepling catches, and batted with sense in a well-paced chase. Essex, however, will take nothing from a game where their batsmen perished to a series of swings and cross-batted swipes, and their fielding verged on the woeful.
Full postFiery West Indies trouble Australia
West Indies' fast bowlers made use of a quick and bouncy Barbados pitch but another counterattacking half-century from Andrew Symonds ensured the match was relatively evenly poised when rain forced an early finish to the first day. Australia had reached 2
The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale
12-Jun-2008
Australia 226 for 7 (Symonds 52, Bravo 3-48) v West Indies
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out
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West Indies' fast bowlers made use of a quick and bouncy Barbados pitch but another counterattacking half-century from Andrew Symonds ensured the match was relatively evenly poised when rain forced an early finish to the first day. Australia reached 226 for 7, with Beau Casson on 6 and Brett Lee on 7, after an eventful morning tussle as both teams aimed to out-gun each other with aggression. A fitting finale to a tightly-fought series is looming.
Four wickets fell before lunch as Dwayne Bravo and Jerome Taylor made the most of some early swing but, unusually for the first session of a Test, Australia hammered four sixes in trying to belt West Indies into submission. Perhaps lured by a surface with genuine speed, following the slow pitches in Jamaica and Antigua, Australia's batsmen over-exerted themselves having been sent in by Chris Gayle.
Full postGambhir century takes India to easy win
A fifth ODI century for Gautam Gambhir and another quickfire fifty from Virender Sehwag extended India's domination in the Kitply Cup
The Bulletin by Mathew Varghese
12-Jun-2008
India 223 for 3 (Gambhir 107*, Sehwag 59) beat Bangladesh 222 (Raqibul 89, Ashraful 36, RP Singh 3-46) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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A fifth ODI century for Gautam Gambhir and another quickfire fifty from Virender Sehwag extended India's domination in the Kitply Cup as they thumped Bangladesh in Mirpur by seven wickets, with 14.5 overs to spare, and set up a final with Pakistan. Bangladesh needed to win by a bonus point to book their place in the final but, despite Raqibul Hasan's 89, they were always going to fall short of a fighting total after a miserly opening burst from Praveen Kumar.
Chasing 223, India were off to a flier with Sehwag in imperious touch. He offered a few chances early in his innings but soon took the attack to Reza in the sixth over, smacking one over midwicket for a boundary and then another through point. Fortunately for him, an outside edge eluded a diving Mushfiqur Rahim. Gambhir repeated the dose in Reza's next over, taking three fours as the bowler erred in his line.
Full postLeicestershire's walls come tumbling down
John Ward watches Leicestershire's Twenty20 campaign get off to a losing start against Lancashire at Grace Road
John Ward at Grace Road
11-Jun-2008
Lancashire 157 for 5 (du Plessis 45) beat Leicestershire 105 (Croft 3-6) by 52 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
Leicestershire, the most successful county in the brief history of Twenty20 cricket, began their 2008 campaign on a disappointing note, going down by 52 runs to Lancashire at Grace Road. Neither team batted particularly well, but while the visitors shone in patches, Leicestershire did not shine at all and were unable to challenge a moderate total. Lancashire's South African, Francois du Plessis, who held the later batting together, was crucial to the win.
Lancashire, who batted on winning the toss, began with a bang, as Lou Vincent pulled the second ball, from Garnett Kruger, over the square-leg boundary for six. They brought up their 50 in the sixth over for the loss of just Mal Loye (5), and looked on course for an impressive total. Stuart Law, returning after injury, was in control along with Vincent, until he drove a catch to deep mid-off. He was quickly followed by Vincent for 31 (26 balls), top-edging an attempted scoop to the keeper, and from 70 for 3, Lancashire never quite regained their early run rate.
The rest of the innings was held together, as has happened several times this season, by the invaluable du Plessis, still unappreciated, but possibly with his name due to become a household word - and if so, it will no doubt still be pronounced incorrectly. With bold but sensible hitting he scored 45 off 34 balls, with three fours and two sixes, before skying a catch to long-on in the penultimate over. Twelve runs came off the final over, with Cork hitting Dillon du Preez for a big six, but 157 was a rather disappointing total after a good start.
Full postFirst blood to Kent in cat and mouse thriller
A round-up from the opening round of Twenty20 Cup matches
Cricinfo staff
11-Jun-2008
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Surrey offered little against Essex, losing by seven wickets with five overs remaining at The Oval. Click here for Andrew McGlashan's report.
Middlesex's 190 for 7 proved beyond Hampshire under lights at The Rose Bowl even though the home side included Kevin Pietersen and Dimitri Mascarenhas in their ranks. Put into bat. Middlesex scored at almost 12 an over in the first third of the innings with all but one of their top six making contributions, although Pietersen the bowler with 3 for 33 pegged them back at the end. While he was in the middle the home fans remained confident, but when he became the first of former Hampshire favourite Shaun Udal's three victims for 43 the momentum switched and Middlesex ran out easy winners.
Full postPettini sparkles against poor Surrey
A dazzling 66 from Mark Pettini guided Essex to a comfortably seven-wicket victory against Surrey at The Oval
Andrew McGlashan at The Oval
11-Jun-2008
Essex 127 for 3 (Pettini 66) beat Surrey 126 for 9 (Brown 35, Kaneria 3-22) by seven wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
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The visitors barely had to break sweat in wrapping up a seven-wicket win with five overs to spare in front of around 16,000 spectators. Surrey can earn as much from one Twenty20 match as from all the other county games in a season put together, although the marketing men would, no doubt, like the team to put on a better show.
Essex aren't one of the power-wielding counties like Surrey but where it mattered, on the field, they were streets ahead of the home side. Mark Pettini continued to haul himself out of a lean spell, switching from Championship to Twenty20 mode with a 35-ball 66, which included a couple of mighty sixes over the leg side.
Full postMcCullum finds one-day form
The New Zealanders sent out a warning ahead of the one-day series as Brendon McCullum's 98-ball 123 led them to a handsome 95-run against Worcestershire
Cricinfo staff
11-Jun-2008
New Zealanders 358 for 8 (McCullum 123, Taylor 75, Whelan 4-78) beat Worcestershire 263 (Solanki 80, Styris 3-25) by 95 runs
Scorecard
Scorecard
The New Zealanders sent out a warning ahead of the one-day series as Brendon McCullum's 98-ball 123 led them to a handsome 95-run against Worcestershire.
McCullum returned to keeping duties after his back problems at Trent Bridge and New Zealand were back in their comfort zone of limited-overs cricket. Not that McCullum's game needs much adjusting between formats. He cracked 12 fours and three sixes, his century coming off 83 balls, as Worcestershire's attack - minus the rested Simon Jones - struggled to contain the hitting.
He added 101 in 15 overs for the first wicket with Jamie How and 142 with Ross Taylor, who made a 71-ball 75. Scott Styris, who has arrived to bolster the one-day squad, contributed a useful 36 off 27 balls, and the lower order all scored at a brisk rate, as the total moved past 350.
Full postIndia rout Pakistan by 140 runs
India showed how the hectic pace of Twenty20 cricket could be replicated in ODIs, pounding 330 on a sluggish pitch before their bowlers rounded off a thumping win in their opening match of the tournament
The Bulletin by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
10-Jun-2008
India 330 for 8 (Sehwag 89, Gambhir 62, Yuvraj 55) beat Pakistan 190 (Malik 53, Praveen 4-53, Chawla 4-40) by 140 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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India showed how the hectic pace of Twenty20 cricket could be replicated in ODIs, pounding 330 on a sluggish pitch before their bowlers rounded off a thumping win in their opening match of the tournament. Pakistan, coming off 12 successive wins against weak opposition, crashed to their worst defeat against India and their coach Geoff Lawson, who had hoped for a 150-run win, would have been embarrassed to see the shoe on the other foot.
India's domination was complete. Their mammoth total was made possible not by one but three batsmen: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir made the most of some sloppy catching, getting within four runs of India's highest opening stand against Pakistan, before Yuvraj Singh raised visions of a 375-plus total. They settled for 330 but that didn't matter in the final analysis. Once Pakistan crumbled to 26 for 3, it was only a case of picking up the pieces.
Full postSutton's enterprise fails to pay off
After looking set for a good finish, following an enterprising declaration by Luke Sutton, Lancashire's match against Nottinghamshire faded away into a draw on a pitch that, even after four days, did not provide enough assistance for the bowlers
John Ward at Old Trafford
09-Jun-2008
Nottinghamshire 304 and 178 for 4 (Read 71) drew with Lancashire 384 and 234 for 6 dec (Horton 60, du Plessis 53*)
Scorecard
Scorecard
After looking set for a good finish, following an enterprising declaration by Luke Sutton, Lancashire's match against Nottinghamshire faded away into a draw on a pitch that, even after four days, did not provide enough assistance for the bowlers. A classic over from Dominic Cork, where he claimed three wickets, gave the home side brief hope of victory, but they were unable to maintain their advantage and Nottinghamshire finished comfortably on 178 for 4.
Lancashire, 146 for 4 overnight, with Faf du Plessis and Steven Croft at the crease, began with an air of briskness that was a little deceptive. The batsmen couldn't find the boundary, and finally a lofted drive from Croft off Graeme Swann found the fielder at a fairly deep mid-on instead. The first hour brought 57 runs, which was probably below the target. Sutton settled in before beginning to open up, while du Plessis reached his 50 off 82 balls.
Sutton surprised most people by declaring more than half an hour before lunch, as he lofted a catch to cover and was dismissed for 38, leaving du Plessis unbeaten on 53. One observer said, quite seriously, that it was the most positive declaration he had seen from Lancashire in years. Certainly it left Nottinghamshire with an interest in the game, as they were set 315 runs in a minimum of 73 overs, and set up the match for an interesting afternoon.
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