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It took one month and five attempts last season for Middlesex to win a Championship match but after 20 wickets fell in 92.1 overs at Lord’s they will have victory sealed against Essex in just over two days

Sahil Dutta at Lord's16-Apr-2011
Scorecard
With the hard work done on the second day Middlesex enjoyed the first sighting of sunshine at Lord’s this Championship summer, needing just over 40 minutes to seal victory over Essex.20 Essex wickets fell the previous day to leave Middlesex needing just 54 for victory and despite a second failure in the game for captain Neil Dexter they reached their target inside 11 overs. With everyone chasing a Saturday off in the sunshine Scott Newman hurried the victory with seven boundaries in his unbeaten 38.The day before Newman had been goading Ravi Bopara on Twitter after Bopara had taken to the internet to vent his frustration about the Tiflex ball – which is used in Division Two and has a reputation for prodigious swing – and state of the pitch. Newman response was clear: “Dry your eyes, big lad. No feet movement and loose shots is a recipe for nicking off.”James Foster, the Essex captain, was not quite as resolute as Newman but dismissed any complaints about the ball for his side’s second defeat in as many games.”It’s the same for both sides,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s early season, the ball is going to swing a bit because of the conditions, it’s going to nibble a bit because of the pitches. It’s early April, it’s always happened. I’m not sure if it’s the ball, that’s just what it’s been like for the last x amount of years I’ve been involved in cricket. We haven’t performed well enough, it’s as simple as that.”One man who certainly wasn’t complaining about the ball was Steven Finn. He is looking to push his case for an England recall after losing out during the Ashes and though he only took five in the match the quality of his bowling, and his scalps – Bopara in both innings and Alastair Cook second time round – put down an ideal marker to start his season.”I’ve had my ups and downs over the last year but I’m developing all the time, he said. “There are still areas of inconsistency I need to work on and get better at though.”I feel like I’ve become a better bowler over the last year, I’m learning to swing the ball more and getting it to move away from the right-handers but consistency is the most important thing. It doesn’t matter if your bowling with an apple or a cricket ball, you still have to put the ball in the right area and let the rest happen. We went out there looking to enjoy ourselves and if we keep doing that results will come.”Middlesex will hope England don’t come calling because with Finn at the helm they could be a formidable attack in Division Two.

Warwickshire bounced back well from defeat to Yorkshire in the opening round of the season to dominate the opening day of their County Championship match against Lancashire at Old Trafford

15-Apr-2010
ScorecardAshwell Prince led Lancashire’s fightback for 14 for 4 in the morning session•Getty Images

Warwickshire bounced back well from defeat to Yorkshire in the opening round of the season to dominate the opening day of their County Championship match against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Ian Westwood’s men reduced the home side to 14 for 4 within the first seven overs of this Division One clash thanks to three wickets from England Lions seamer Chris Woakes.The 21-year-old took advantage of early movement to dismiss Tom Smith, Paul Horton and Stephen Moore cheaply on the way to three for 44 from 20 overs. But the hosts mounted a recovery with a fifth-wicket partnership of 133 between overseas player Ashwell Prince and all-rounder Steven Croft.Lancashire, who were lifted by seeing all-rounder Andrew Flintoff bat in the nets at lunch for the first time since his knee operation in August, were finally bowled out for 253 inside 86 overs. James Anderson then boosted the hosts with the ball when he bowled Varun Chopra in his second over. Warwickshire closed on 13 for 1 from eight overs in reply.South African left-hander Prince top-scored for Lancashire with 82 off 153 balls, including eight fours and a straight six off Imran Tahir, while Croft added a useful 64 and Glen Chapple 54 not out.After Westwood won the toss and elected to bowl, the four quickfire wickets were all caught in the slips by either Ian Bell or Jonathan Trott – Bell clinging on three times. Smith fell from the third ball of the match to Woakes, who soon undid both Horton and Moore with extra bounce. Chilton fell to Carter’s first ball courtesy of a loose waft outside off-stump.The experienced right-hander was Carter’s first of three victims and Prince was the second after lunch, also with the first ball of a new spell. Prince and Croft made batting seem a lot easier either side of the break. Croft, who had survived three strong lbw shouts from Carter early in his innings, brought up his half-century two overs after lunch and Prince’s came shortly afterwards.But both fell within the space of ten overs to halt their side’s recovery. Croft slapped a friendly Naqaash Tahir delivery to Chopra at point to leave the score at 147 for 5 in the 45th over. Prince then pulled a Carter short ball straight down the throat of Naqaash at deep square-leg in the 55th with only another 21 runs added.Luke Sutton (33) and Chapple navigated their side beyond 200 in the midst of a seventh-wicket partnership of 59 before the wicketkeeper was caught by Jim Troughton at backward point off the medium pace of Trott in the 78th.Anderson was bowled for a duck in Trott’s next over and Lancashire were back in bother at 227 for 8. Tahir snared Simon Kerrigan before Carter had Sajid Mahmood caught in the slips by Rikki Clarke to complete the innings and finish with figures of three for 64 from 19.4 overs.Chopra fell early with Warwickshire’s total on 8, but Westwood reached nine not out and nightwatchman Naqaash played out 17 scoreless deliveries as they reached the close without further loss.

Opener Campbell Kellaway also impressed for Australia A on a dominant day for the hosts

AAP05-Dec-2025Jhye Richardson has announced his triumphant return to bowling, taking four wickets in his second game back from injury as Australia A punished a hapless England Lions.The hosts went to stumps on day one of their four-day match in Brisbane at 155 for 2, after Richardson had taken 4 for 35 to help bowl the Lions out for 166.Richardson would almost certainly have figured in Test contention for this summer, had he not been recovering from shoulder surgery. He went wicketless during 20 overs for a CA XI against the Lions late last month, but was back bowling at pace at Allan Border Field on Friday.Richardson had Ben McKinney dropped at first slip in his third over of the day, before running through the tourists in the second session. He bowled James Rew for 7 when the left-hander inside-edged a ball that angled across him onto his stumps, before Richardson’s pace had Ben Kellaway playing on.In almost comical fashion, Kellaway defended a delivery from the quick before he was unable to stop the ball rolling back onto his stumps.Richardson then had both Matthew Fisher and Nathan Gilchrist edging behind the wicket, as the Lions fell from 72 for 1 to all out for 166 in 50 overs.Richardson played his last Test in December 2022, but has battled constant shoulder and hamstring injuries since then. His recovery from last season’s dislocated shoulder ruled him out of contention for the start of the Ashes, with Brendan Doggett debuting in Perth.Todd Murphy and Xavier Bartlett also took two wickets each for Australia A, before Campbell Kellaway flew to 71 off 75 balls in the final session.Earmarked as a Test opener of the future, Kellaway’s runs came after he also hit a half-century for the Prime Minister’s XI against England last weekend.Kellaway produced one of the shots of the day with a cracking pull shot off Gilchrist, before he later pulled the quick straight to mid on.England spinner Shoaib Bashir meanwhile had an unhappy afternoon, taking 0 for 22 from three overs after being overlooked for the Gabba Test.Nathan McSweeney (40 not out) pulled Bashir’s first two balls for four, before Kellaway also took to him in the next over and he was dragged out of the attack.

Mitchell Starc bowled Abhishek Sharma in the first over, and there was no way back for SRH

Sidharth Monga26-May-20240:46

Moody: Starc’s jaffa to Abhishek is the ball of the tournament

Just like the 2015 World Cup final, Mitchell Starc led the rout of the second-best team of the tournament as Kolkata Knight Riders fashioned the most one-sided IPL final to secure their third title. Starc started with arguably the ball of the tournament, and the most complete attack of the tournament was too good for Sunrisers Hyderabad on a pitch that offered seam movement for at least seven overs followed by grip off the surface too. SRH were bowled out for the lowest total in an IPL final, 113, which KKR chased down with 57 balls to spare thanks to Venkatesh Iyer’s blitz of 52 off 26.Five of the six bowlers used by KKR took a wicket in their first over, including a golden duck for SRH’s talisman Travis Head to Vaibhav Arora in the second over. It is hard to find fault with SRH who had to take risks while KKR’s strategy was straightforward: with the ball moving, just minimise the bad balls and experiment less. Whenever SRH looked to force the pace, they ended up losing wickets.

Scintillating Starc

Starc didn’t quite start the tournament the way he would have wanted after becoming the costliest player in IPL history, but he turned up for the playoffs all right. The first ball of the match swung away to beat Abhishek Sharma, who was taking first strike after Starc bowled Head second ball in the Qualifier 1. By the end of the over, Starc had worked himself into enough of a rhythm to pitch the ball on leg and hit the top of off. It was an unplayable delivery at Starc’s pace. You could forgive Abhishek for not lunging forward because it was pitched on a good length and the movement was late.Abhishek Sharma could not keep out Mitchell Starc•BCCI

Head got on strike only last ball of the second over, which is when Arora started on a good length outside leg, and swung and seamed it to finish just outside the top of off. Head pushed at it, edged, and was caught behind.While Arora mixed up his inswing with various-paced short balls, Starc kept using the scrambled-seam ball to threaten both the edges. One outside edge flew wide of slip, before Rahul Tripathi fell off a top edge as he tried to push back.

Rana starts the second slide

Seeing how the ball was moving, KKR used just the two bowlers in the powerplay, but Arora went for 17 in the final powerplay over, taking SRH up to 40 for 3. That seemed like a situation from which SRH could salvage the game, especially with an Impact Player up their sleeve.It wasn’t to be. In his first over, Harshit Rana bowled three straight slower balls before bowling the hard length at 146kmph and managing seam movement against the angle. Nitish Reddy had no choice but to go after it, and all he managed was an edge through to the keeper.Harshit Rana was flying high in the final•Associated Press

Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen were now SRH’s last hope really. They batted cautiously together for three overs but when Markram tried to take Andre Russell on, he found long-on. Soon after Varun Chakravarthy produced the wicket of Shahbaz Ahmed with a top edge on the sweep from well outside off.In the next over, the Impact Player Abdul Samad gave Russell his 18th wicket of this IPL, the most he has taken in one edition. Rana came back to get Klaasen playing on to a slower ball. Russell would go on to add a 19th to his tally when ending the innings with Pat Cummins’ wicket in the 19th over.Not before Cummins managed the top score to take SRH past 100.

The chase as one long celebration

KKR continued their domination of Bhuvneshwar Kumar by charging at him even though they lost Sunil Narine for 6 off 2 at the other end. Venkatesh hit Bhuvneshwar for two straight sixes in a 20-run third over, and when he and Rahmanullah Gurbaz took another 20 off T Natarajan in the sixth over, KKR had put together the most in a powerplay in an IPL final (72).Gurbaz hit boundaries post the powerplay, but didn’t have the benefit of a review because of a technology breakdown when given out lbw for 39. That only allowed captain Shreyas Iyer to be in the middle for the winning moment after a tough year for him in which he has lost his place in and retainer with the Indian national team.

Oval to host eliminator as fixtures for tournament’s third staging are confirmed by the ECB

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2023Trent Bridge, the home of men’s reigning champions Trent Rockets, will host the opening fixtures of this year’s Hundred on August 1, with the final once again scheduled for Lord’s, on August 27.As revealed by ESPNcricinfo, this year’s tournament will played in a reduced four-week window, to avoid a clash with the summer’s men’s international schedule that has restricted the availability of many of the tournament’s marquee players in its previous two seasons.To enable this shortened window, all of the rounds will be played as men’s and women’s double-headers – a change from both 2021, when the tournament opened with a standalone women’s fixture at the Kia Oval, and 2022, when the women’s event was delayed by the concurrent Commonwealth Games – while there will be eight “double-double-header” days, on which four matches will be played.In a further change to the 2022 schedule, the eliminator will be played in London – at The Oval – on the eve of the Lord’s final, following criticism from, among others, Manchester Originals’ head coach, Simon Katich, who felt his team was hampered in last year’s event by having to make a late-night journey from Southampton following a thrilling win in their eliminator against London Spirit.The Hundred’s partnership with BBC Music Introducing will be continued for the 2023 event, meaning a diverse range of artists and DJs will once again provide in-game entertainment, while ticket prices are set at £5 for juniors aged 6-15, free for children five and under, and adults starting from £10.For the first time in the competition’s history, both the men’s and women’s events will be preceded by a draft, which is due to be held on Thursday, March 2. Deadline day – the day on which retained players are confirmed across both competitions – is set to be Thursday, February 16.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Lifting the trophy with my Oval Invincibles team-mates last year was a career highlight that I’ll never forget,” Lauren Winfield-Hill, the England batter, said. “The Hundred is such a thrilling competition to be a part of. The support we had at every game was just phenomenal and I can’t wait to get back into action to defend the title this year.”The first ever women’s draft is definitely going to bring an exciting new element to the game and it will be interesting to see how the teams shape up for another fierce competition.”Dawid Malan, last year’s leading run-maker in the men’s competition, and a reigning champion with Trent Rockets, added: “I have a lot of great memories from the Hundred 2022. The atmosphere in every ground was really enjoyable and winning the title at Lord’s was very special. This summer is shaping up to be massive for cricket in England and Wales and I’m really looking forward to the third year of the Hundred, playing with some of the best players in the world in front of big crowds.”Related

• Simon Katich suggests 24hr turnaround between eliminator and final 'needs to be looked at'

• The Hundred to be played in four-week window in August 2023

Sanjay Patel, the tournament’s managing director, said: “I am incredibly proud of the impact the Hundred has already had on cricket in England and Wales after just two years, providing a new format that has seen more families and a diverse new generation of fans getting into the game.”As we enter year three, we’re looking forward to building on that momentum and putting on another unforgettable summer of world-class cricket action and entertainment that will continue to appeal to new and existing audiences alike.”Beth Barrett-Wild, head of the women’s tournament, and of female engagement at the ECB, added: “We are in the middle of a really special period of time for professional women’s sport, with exponential levels of growth happening across every measure of engagement, from broadcast viewing figures to match day attendances.”Since launching in 2021, the Hundred has had a transformational impact on women’s cricket, propelling the women’s game into the mainstream, and making household names of our brilliant female players.”

Sky commentator and former England coach had made disparaging remarks in an exchange with a third party

Andrew Miller16-Nov-2021David Lloyd, the Sky Sports commentator and former England coach, has issued an apology to Azeem Rafiq and the wider Asian cricket community, after admitting to a text message exchange in which he had questioned Rafiq’s personal life and called into question the community’s willingness to participate in the social side of club cricket.Speaking at a parliamentary hearing in Westminster on Tuesday, Rafiq spoke about the sport’s response to his allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire, and accused “high-profile media people”, including Lloyd, of engaging in “denial, briefings, cover-ups, smearing” to damage his credibility.”It’s clear the problem is there,” Rafiq said. “Everyone’s known it for a very long time. I think it’s been an open secret. As I’ve seen over the last 15 months, if you speak out your life is going to be made hell – and there’s no doubt my life [has been made hell].”I sat in front of national TV and talked about the dark places this whole episode has got me into and what’s happened since then? Denial, briefings, cover-ups, smearing.”High-profile media people messaging other members of the media who supported me saying stuff like, ‘The club houses are the life blood of a club and Asian players don’t go in there’, ‘Getting subs out of Asian players is like getting blood out of stone’.Related

• David Lloyd announces retirement from commentary after 22 years with Sky Sports

• Live Blog – Parliamentary inquiry into Yorkshire racism investigation

• Azeem Rafiq: Joe Root's comments about not seeing racism at Yorkshire were 'hurtful'

• Yorkshire 'covered up' Gary Ballance drugs tests

• Yorkshire CCC is institutionally racist, admits former chair Roger Hutton

“And then personally this guy doesn’t even know me, has never spent any time with me, is talking about my personal drinking, going out and socialising.”That was David Lloyd, he’s been an England coach, commentator, and I found it disturbing because Sky are supposedly doing this amazing work on bringing racism to the front and within a week of me speaking out that’s what I got sent to me.”And I thought, ‘Gosh, there’s some closet racists and we need to do something about it’.”Responding on Twitter, Lloyd, 74, acknowledged that he had made an error of judgement in making such generalisations, and pledged to work harder to “make cricket a more inclusive sport”.”In October 2020, I had a private message exchange with a third party involved in cricket, about a number of topics,” Lloyd wrote. “In these messages, I referred to allegations about Azeem Rafiq which I had heard from within the game. I also made some comments about the Asian cricket community.”I deeply regret my actions, and I apologise most sincerely to Azeem and to the Asian cricket community for doing this, and for any offence caused. I am strongly committed to making cricket a more inclusive sport.”It is very obvious now that more work needs to be done and I will do everything I can to remove discrimination from the sport I love, and the sport that has been my life for over 50 years.”

Head coach wants one of his players “to set themselves targets of getting a big hundred” in bid to save Test

Valkerie Baynes26-Jul-2020Series don’t come much tougher than travelling to England to face on-song pace duo Stuart Broad and James Anderson. That was the assessment of Phil Simmons, West Indies’ head coach, after his side were bundled out for 197 in their first innings at Emirates Old Trafford and then went two wickets down early in their second, needing to bat out the rest of the match to retain the Wisden Trophy.”Wherever you go it’s going to be tough, in England’s it’s going to be toughest with two bowlers, one there in 600, one there in 500 wickets and it’s going to make things hard,” Simmons said after play on the third day of the deciding Test, with his side still trailing by 388 runs.”On this wicket, we showed in the first innings of the second Test that… we were doing what was necessary, we were getting scores, we got a few fifties, but you’ve got to carry on, and these guys keep coming and they’re relentless. So I think it’s, it’s one of the most difficult places to bat, especially against these two experienced bowlers.”ALSO READ: Can West Indies keep their eyes on the prize?Broad already has eight wickets for the match, having taken 6 for 31 in West Indies’ first innings before dismissing struggling opener John Campbell and nightwatchman Kemar Roach to put them at 10 for 2 in their second and leave himself on 499 Test wickets.Broad and Anderson started the day with two wickets apiece before Broad’s 4 for 14 in four overs halted West Indies shortly after they had avoided the follow-on. Anderson, playing his 153rd Test, now has 589 scalps to his name.With the ball only six overs old, the duo are likely to feature heavily when play resumes with England seeking eight more wickets to win the match and reclaim the Wisden Trophy after levelling the series with victory in the second Test.Jermaine Blackwood’s 95 in West Indies’ first-Test victory at the Ageas Bowl remains his side’s highest individual score, while No. 3 Shai Hope is yet to pass 25 for the series.Opener Kraigg Brathwaite, unbeaten alongside Hope at the close, made 65 in the first Test and 75 in the second, while Shamarh Brooks made twin scores in the 60s last week. But the need to convert such starts into big innings is now vital if West Indies have any chance of holding out for a draw and retaining the trophy.”Yes, we’re struggling where the runs are concerned, and we’ve struggled since after the second innings of the second Test, but all in all, a lot of work has been done,” Simmons said. “Guys are going to go home on empty but that’s what you want at the end of a series – they’ve given their all, and if all isn’t good enough, you take that, and you work out how you get better.”We haven’t got any centuries in this series so I’m always going to be putting pressure on them to go there. The wicket is still a good wicket to bat on so they have to set themselves targets of getting a big hundred on this wicket. Tomorrow is only the fourth day so we have a lot of time so we’ve got to show that determination to get big scores.”Rain is expected to wipe out much of Monday, which would still leave England time to bowl their opponents out on the final day, but it would also see West Indies needing to resist for a far shorter period.It may also give Shane Dowrich some extra recovery time after he was hit in the face by a Shannon Gabriel delivery which deflected off Dowrich’s wicketkeeping glove.Dowrich has also been struggling with the bat, having made 61 and 20 in the first Test and a pair in the second before he was out for 37 on Sunday, Broad’s last first-innings victim. At this stage he has not looked like needing to call upon a concussion substitute to bat in his place, although Simmons said team medical staff would “see how he wakes up in the morning”.”He was lucky that it came on to the glove first,” Simmons said. “He has a little cut on the lip but no damage to the teeth or anything like that, just a cut and it’s been sealed up by the doctor. So I guess now all he has is a big headache.”Simmons praised fast bowlers Gabriel and Kemar Roach who, along with Jason Holder and spinner Roston Chase have toiled hard through all three Tests.Gabriel, originally in the touring party as a reserve following ankle surgery, has looked particularly tired and stiff at times, often leaving the field for physio treatment and rest, but Simmons defended his team selections, saying all were fit to play.”It’s tough, it’s been tough going into this third back-to-back Test,” Simmons said. “I’m so appreciative and excited for the work that the bowlers have put in, especially the two quicks who played in all three Test matches and have given us everything they have. I’ll always raise a glass for them.”The fast bowlers especially have done a lot of work but I didn’t see any of them faltering in this game. The two fast bowlers did their job.”

New South Wales are happy to mix youth with experience keeping a stable squad for next season

ESPNcricinfo staff13-May-20190:54

WATCH – Aus U-19 cricketer Davies hits six sixes in an over

Beaten Sheffield Shield finalists New South Wales have upgraded left-arm quicks Daniel Sams and Greg West to their contract list for 2019-20 as they continue to develop youth.The Blues have kept a fairly stable squad after falling just short of claiming the Shield against a dominant Victoria side.Sams, 26, has been rewarded after an excellent JLT Cup last season. He also made his Sheffield Shield debut playing two matches prior to the BBL break. West, 24, also impressed in his first two Sheffield Shield matches, taking five wickets against South Australia on debut and three against Victoria.New South Wales were keen to keep continuity within the squad that was revamped under new coach Phil Jaques last season. Teenagers Jack Edwards, Jason Sangha and Baxter Holt all debuted last season with Edwards and Sangha playing all 11 Shield games in order to fast-track their development as long-term players.”When you try to develop players, you want to give them an opportunity to do well,” Jaques said. “We obviously want to reward performance as well which we’ve done with the changes that we’ve made.”I think the long-term development of the core group of young guys is still, very, very important, as is the leadership that the [senior players] have shown over the last 12 months.”Young batsman Ollie Davies, 18, and wicketkeeper batsman Matt Gilkes, 19, have both been handed rookie contracts. Davies became the first player to make a double century in a 50-over match at the Australian Under-19 Championships last season while Gilkes made 51 on BBL debut for Sydney Thunder.New South Wales 2019-20 contract list Peter Nevill, Sean Abbott, Nick Bertus, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Daniel Fallins, Ryan Gibson, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Stephen O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Param Uppal, Greg West, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner Rookies Ryan Hackney, Ryan Hadley, Baxter Holt, Oliver Davies, Matt Gilkes, Chad Sammut

Left-arm medium-pacer Tangeni Lungameni’s List A career-best 3 for 6 helped dismiss Kenya for 83, but heavy rain just five overs into the host’s chase, forced an end to play with no result

The report by Peter Della Penna in Windhoek10-Feb-2018Match abandoned
Peter Della Penna

Left-arm medium-pacer Tangeni Lungameni’s List A career-best 3 for 6 propelled Namibia’s bowling attack to wipe out Kenya for 83 at United Cricket Club Ground, but heavy rain just five overs into the host’s chase forced an end to play with no result. According to tournament rules, the match is now set to be replayed from scratch on the next tournament reserve day on Tuesday.The match had originally been scheduled for Friday but never got started due to damp bowler’s run-ups forcing tournament officials to push the match back into Saturday’s reserve day. Though the outfield dried up by Saturday morning, sweat from the pitch covers resulted in a slightly damp pitch that caused a 90-minute delay and a reduction to 45 overs.After losing a crucial toss and being sent in, Kenya struggled throughout the Powerplay to survive the generous movement on offer. Craig Williams finally made the first breakthrough three balls into his first-change spell in the ninth over, getting Alex Obanda to loft a drive to long-off.Lungameni replaced Smit at the opposite end for the 10th over and had Irfan Karim edging into the slips for his first wicket. Across his next four overs, Lungameni conceded just one run. Dhiren Gondaria drove to mid-on for Lungameni’s second wicket before Collins Obuya’s painstaking innings of 2 in 27 balls ended when he charged in frustration only to drive a bullet straight to Gerhard Erasmus at short extra cover.Captain Sarel Burger continued to set attacking fields, with no less than two men catching behind the wicket throughout the innings to the medium-pacers, as the final four men out were caught behind the wicket. After bowling out Kenya in 38.5 overs, Namibia had just under a half-hour to bat before lunch but thunder began to rumble across the field as the opening pair of Stephan Baard and Lohan Louwrens took the field. A steady drizzle came down throughout their short chase before it worsened into a downpour, robbing Namibia a golden chance of two points and a much-needed net run rate boost.

A Round up of the Super Smash matches held on December 23, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2016Ben Hilfenhaus finished with career-best T20 figures of 5 for 23, complementing the 109-run partnership between Peter Fulton and Henry Nicholls, to secure Canterbury’s seven-run win over Otago at Hagley Oval.After choosing to bat, Canterbury’s Fulton and Nicholls each struck half-centuries in their 71-ball third-wicket stand, which rescued Canterbury from 8 for 2 in the third over. Fulton, who scored 64 off 43 deliveries, reached his half-century off 36 balls, while Nicholls took one ball more to the landmark, eventually falling for 52 off 40 balls. Nicholls’ fifty was his third in five Super Smash matches. Their partnership came at close to 10 an over and had set Canterbury up for a strong total, before they lost 5 for 35 to close their innings. Fulton’s wicket, taken by Christi Viljoen, stemmed Canterbury’s scoring rate as they could add only 40 more in their last six overs and finished their innings on 157.Like Canterbury, Otago lost two early wickets – Anaru Kitchen and Neil Broom were caught behind off Matt Henry and Hilfenhaus respectively – before a third-wicket partnership of 60 between Michael Bracewell (38) and opener Hamish Rutherford (38) steered their chase. However, following Bracewell’s run-out, Otago fell swiftly from 70 for 2 in the 12th over to 94 for 5 by the 15th.Hilfenhaus took two of those wickets and followed it up with two more scalps in the 19th over to finish with a five-for. Needing 18 off the last over, Otago managed only 10 runs and finished seven runs short of Canterbury’s total. The win took Canterbury to fourth, tied on 12 points with Otago.Mitchell Santner followed up a 21-ball 45 with three economical overs to help Northern Districts defeat Central Districts by ten runs at Seddon Park.Having been put into bat, the Northern Districts scored 57 before the opening stand was broken off the last ball of the fielding restrictions when Dean Brownlie (36) was dismissed. Contributions from BJ Watling (35) and Corey Anderson (28) carried Northern Districts along at a fast lick before Santner and Scott Kuggelijn (23 off 10) provided a late surge to lift them to 197 for 5.Central Districts’ reply was led by Mahela Jayawardene, who had earlier bowled for the first time since March 2010 and gone for 15 runs in his solitary over. He followed up his century in the previous game with 64 off 36 deliveries in an opening partnership of 84 that took just 8.2 overs. He was dismissed by Santner, who then put the brakes on the Central Districts, conceding only 12 runs off his three overs. Central Districts managed only 58 runs in the 7.5 overs after their opening stand, and even an unbeaten 16-ball 37 from Josh Clarkson wasn’t enough as they fell short by ten runs. The win, Northern’s second in the series meant they remained on fifth while Central were on second place.