Friday 21st June was county second eleven trophy semi-finals day, with for once the weather set fair as Kent made the long journey from their match at Folkestone to Scarborough to take on Yorkshire.
Our other county Durham had an equally long journey to Taunton Vale to take on Somerset seconds.
Hopes were high at the start of the day that we would have a Durham v Yorkshire final which as Yorkshire could not provide a first class ground next week would be played at South Northumberland.
Sadly it was not to be, even though Durham completed their part of the bargain with an excellent win. Kent, with few names in their team known to northern cricket watchers, proved far too good for Yorkshire and produced a crushing victory, added to which they got a home draw for the final on Thursday next which will be played at Beckenham.
Things started well for Yorkshire, despite the early loss of Harry Brook, who is finding runs hard to get at present. Will Fraine continued his recent good form and provided the back bone of the Yorkshire innings with another century. This time 121, which included fifteen fours and two sixes. Initially he got good support from Bilal Anjam who made 37 in a partnership of 85. Yorkshire were then 113-2 but lost the valuable wicket of the Academy's prolific batsman George Hill who was run out for nought. Birkhead and Fisher then gave some support but Fraine was out just after the score reached 200.
Barnes batted well at the end of the innings with a confident 41 and some lusty hitting from Pillans, including two huge sixes, brought Yorkshire within sight of three hundred but they fell to 294 all out with little contribution from the last three. Nevertheless this looked a demanding target for Kent and hopes were high at this stage that Yorkshire would reach the final.
Kent opened with the experienced Calum Haggett and 18 year old wicket keeper Jordan Cox. Haggett went early on caught behind off Fisher, but Cox looked confident from the very start. He lost Sam Burgess, who has joined from Essex, for 34 with the total 62-2. Enter Alex Blake well known to us from his spell with Leeds/Bradford University from 2009 to 2011. What is still his highest first class score came during that period when he made 105 not out for Kent against Yorkshire at Headingley in 2010. He has really developed as more of a one day player since that time.
Today was his day in a very big way. In partnership with young Cox he put on a stand of 215 for the third wicket, treating all the Yorkshire bowlers with the utmost contempt and taking them to the cleaners in a really big way. He faced only 83 balls but scored no less than 139 which included twelve fours and eight sixes. Many of the sixes landed in the far terracing which was inhabited by a sole spectator who became more or less a permanent ball boy! Sadly Cox, who also batted magnificently, was dismissed for 97 when an attempted big hit caught the edge went up in the air to provide a running catch for Birkhead.
After the two heroes were out it was a simple task to score a mere handful of runs for Kent to achieve a notable victory from the first ball of the forty third over. Little can be said of Yorkshire's second string bowling attack except that they all suffered equally and not one of them looks like first team material on this performance.
So it will be yet another long trip for Durham seconds all the way to Beckenham on Thursday 27th June for the second eleven trophy final. On today's Kent performance they will not find it easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment