T20 Blast 2018, Day 17: Round-up

There was some great action on display on the seventeenth day of the Vitality T20 Blast. There were two North group games that were played on this day. While one day was completely one-sided and quite boring, the other game was a very intense one. It kept the audience glued to the edge of their seats and there was some absolutely insane stuff that took place.

The first encounter was between Durham and Nottinghamshire that took place at Chester-le-Street. It was Derbyshire versus Yorkshire in the second encounter which was a treat to watch. At the moment, it is still Lancashire which leads the points table with 10 points. Here is how the two games progressed on the day:

Durham vs Nottinghamshire – North Group

It was an early start to the games on the seventeenth day. Durham won the toss and opted to bowl first. Nottinghamshire’s batting in this game was a complete turn-off. Their in-form opener Riki Wessels was dismissed for a duck. Soon, William Fraine and Tom Moores were also dismissed. Although Samit Patel tried hard to get going, he couldn’t score at a quick pace. He only managed to get 32 off 29 balls. Skipper Dan Christian failed to pull off any miracle and was dismissed for 10 runs. However, Mullaney scored 38 runs at the end to take his team to a respectable total. Rushworth and Rimmington picked two wickets each.

It was an easy chase for Durham. Their opener Graham Clark continued his exploits and scored a quickfire 64 off 43 which ensured that his team can’t lose from there on. Ben Stokes was a disappointment. He only managed to score 10 runs off 12 balls. However, despite some quick wickets falling, Paul Collingwood ensured that he kept one end tight. Also, he was unbeaten till the end and scored 40 off 31 balls to take his team through.

Brief Scores:

NOTTS: 132/7 in 20 overs (S Mullaney 38, Samit Patel 32, C Rushworth 2/13)

DUR: 136/3 in 16.5 overs (Graham Clark 64, Paul Collingwood 40*, Harry Gurney 1/10)

Derbyshire vs Yorkshire – North Group

Yorkshire won the toss and opted to bat first in the game. Although they were down to 37/2 right in the 5th over, David Willey and Kane Williamson took the onus upon themselves. However, both of these men failed to capitalise on their starts. While Willey 55 off 44, Williamson scored 35 off 22. With a few cameos from the other batsmen, Yorkshire got to 166 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.

The chase wasn’t a cakewalk for Derbyshire. Their opener Billy Godleman played the anchor role and was unbeaten on 71 off 57 deliveries. However, there wasn’t anyone else to play the aggressor. The team was in a spot of both after they were 106/5 in 15 overs and needed 61 in the last 5 overs. It seemed as it Yorkshire could pull this off. They did exceedingly well till the 19th over. Derby needed 19 runs in the last over. Matthew Critchley, who scored 16 off 12 balls till then was under the spotlight. In the next five falls, he became the hero with some sheer brilliance.

He took a two off the first ball of the over. In the next four balls, his intentions were clear. He hit a six off the second ball of the over and followed it up with a four. The equation was down to 7 runs off 3 balls now. Critchley hit a six off the next ball and sealed the game by hitting a four off the fifth ball of the over.

Brief Scores:

YORKS: 166/8 in 20 overs (David Willey 55, Kane Williamson 35, Ravi Rampaul 4/19)

DERBY: 170/5 in 19.5 overs (B Godleman 71*, M Critchley 38*, Adil Rashid 2/19)