Showing posts with label Caribbean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caribbean. Show all posts

Monday, August 02, 2010

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Alfonso Thomas hurries Somerset win

Somerset recorded their fourth Championship Division One victory in five outings, beating Nottinghamshire by 10 wickets. The victory, achieved with more than a day to spare, earned Marcus Trescothick's side 24 points and keeps their hopes of lifting the coveted title for the first time very much alive. Resuming their first innings on 278 for 5, Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read, unbeaten on 75 overnight, opened his account with a boundary off the last ball of the opening over - bowled by Charl Willoughby.The left arm seamer had the last laugh however when Read was caught by wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter for 80 as he pushed forward to the last ball of the 81st over - the first with the new ball. Read added 157 for the sixth wicket with Samit Patel, before being dismissed with the score on 287.Patel reached his century when he edged Willoughby through the vacant third slip area, but in the next over he was out leg before wicket as he played back to a delivery from Alfonso Thomas. Patel scored 104 off 185 balls, including 17 fours and two sixes.Andre Adams brought up the 300 with a boundary through midwicket, but after moving on to 20 he attempted to drive Willoughby and was caught by Kieswetter. Willoughby struck twice more to wrap up the innings, accounting for Paul Franks leg before, and two balls later bowling Charlie Shreck as the visitors were all out for 339.In the morning session Willoughby took four wickets for 26 runs from 6.3 overs to end with six for 101. Trescothick enforced the follow-on, and batting for a second time 178 runs behind, the visitors lost Matt Wood, leg before to Willoughby with the score on one.By lunch the score had reached 28 off 10 overs without further loss - but four overs after the break Alex Hales, who had moved on to 28, stepped down the wicket to Murali Kartik and edged to Kieswetter.In the next over Thomas had new batsman Patel caught at first slip by Trescothick for one and the visitors found themselves 42 for 3. Mark Wagh was joined by David Hussey and between them they took the total on to 93 when Wagh was lbw pushing forward to to Zander de Bruyn for 45.New batsman Ali Brown brought up the 100 with a boundary through cover point off De Bruyn in the 31st over. When Willoughby replaced De Bruyn at the Old Pavilion End, Brown - 16 at the time - gave a chance which Kieswetter, just failed to take diving to his right.De Bruyn's return to the attack paid dividends when he bowled Hussey, shouldering arms, for 30 which brought Read to the wicket. The Nottinghamshire skipper spent eight overs at the crease before he was caught by De Bruyn at deep backward mid-off for four off Thomas.The same bowler then had Paul Franks caught by James Hildreth for one at backward square leg in his next over - and the visitors were rocking on 168 for 7. Thomas struck again in his next over when he had Brown leg before wicket for 47 but the visitors went ahead when Adams edged Kartik through first slip to the boundary.However, the left arm spinner got his revenge when he trapped the batsman leg before in his next over for 10. Thomas claimed the final wicket when he bowled Shreck for three as Nottinghamshire were all out for 190, giving him final figures of 5 for 40 from 14.4 overs.Needing 13 for victory Somerset reached their target in 11 balls, with Trescothick unbeaten on four and Nick Compton five not out, with the remaining runs being extras. Notts picked up five points for their part in the match.

Sunday, August 01, 2010

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All-round T&T crush Jamaica for third place

Marlon Samuels playing for Chicago against the...

Trinidad and Tobago may have narrowly missed making the finals of the Caribbean T20, but they put in a thoroughly disciplined performance against a listless Jamaica to settle for third place. The seamers, led by Kevon Cooper, restricted Jamaica to an inadequate 94 in a match initially reduced to 14 overs, before the openers strolled to the revised target of 89 in just 10.1 overs. T&T had the incentive to give their home fans something to cheer about, but Jamaica failed to derive any kind of inspiration. With the exception of Carlton Baugh, none of the batsmen batted with motivation, and it was a continuation of their performance in the semi-final yesterday.Jamaica captain Tamar Lambert won the toss and chose to bat under bright skies, but a sudden downpour forced the players indoors for more than 90 minutes. The Trinidad seamers hit the deck hard and got good carry off a moist surface, getting rid of the attacking opening pair of Chris Gayle and Xavier Marshall early. Gayle, who had a disappointing tournament, holed out to the trap at deep midwicket, before Marshall had his middle stump flattened by a Cooper yorker.Marlon Samuels failed to assume the role of senior pro and was dismissed in embarrassing circumstances. He squeezed the ball to cover and set off for a single but his partner Danza Hyatt was rooted to his end watching the ball. Samuels was stranded at Hyatt's end giving T&T an easy run-out. Hyatt himself failed to make amends as he lost his off stump to Dave Mohammed trying to pull a ball which wasn't short enough. Baugh gave the innings some impetus sweeping and cutting Sherwin Ganga for consecutive boundaries. He swept Mohammed over deep square-leg to bring up the first six of the game, and then picked up two crisp boundaries past point off the seamers. But the pressure increased on him as he lost a couple of partners and when Lendl Simmons served up a short delivery, he failed to clear Bravo at deep midwicket. Bravo bowled a fine final over, delivering three dot balls to Lambert as Jamaica limped to 94. Adrian Barath and Simmons made easy work of the target, which was reduced to 89 off 13 overs following a brief shower after 3.2 overs. The pair also ensured they kept with the Duckworth-Lewis par score and didn't lose any wickets by the end of five overs, the minimum required to constitute a match. The persistent drizzle didn't help the Jamaican bowlers as they struggled to grip the ball. Simmons used the opportunity to recover some form by going on the attack, often making room and clearing his back leg to muscle the ball away. Barath was powerful off the front foot, lofting and driving square on the off side to pick up five fours in his 39. The match was nowhere close to the intensity of the first semi-final yesterday, but the home fans weren't complaining as T&T delivered the knockout blow.