Tag: T20

How a West Country Derby Final Came to Be

A look at the two T20 Vitality Blast semi-finals, Somerset v Surrey and Gloucestershire v Sussex, and a large photo gallery.

Today is finals day in the T20 Vitality Blast, the longest day of the English cricketing year – both semi-finals and the final take place on one day. The venue this year is Edgbaston, and since none of the four teams involved are based there I will use strict alphabetical order when referring to the matches. This was the second straight time that all four semi-finalists were from the south group. The format of the day is that the first semi-final starts at 11AM, the second at 2:30PM and the final, which is still to come and is played under lights, at 6:45PM. This post looks at the two semi-finals.

SOMERSET v SURREY

Somerset are the holders, Surrey have such strength in depth that they are a threat in any competition. Somerset won the toss and opted to bowl first. Surrey started well, and it looked ominous for Somerset when skipper Gregory inexplicably allowed a ball passing within half a metre of him to go the boundary without even trying to stop it. However, Gregory made amends with the ball, helping to put the skids under Surrey’s good start. In the end it took a bit of a final flourish to get Surrey up to their final total of 153-9, no more than respectable.

It looked a good deal more than respectable when Somerset were 7-3. However Sean Dickson and James Rew proceeded to settle in and then share an all time finals day record partnership for any wicket, 144 in total before Dickson perished in the moment of victory for 78 off 57 balls. New batter Gregory hit his second delivery for six to secure to the victory, and to add insult to injury for Jordan Clark it was also called no-ball meaning that it cost him eight runs in total. James Rew was 62 not out from 44 balls in what was his debut in this competition. This makes it twice in three days across formats that Somerset have put one over on Surrey. Full scorecard here.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE v SUSSEX

Gloucestershire were probably the least fancied of the four semi-finalists. Sussex had boosted their own stocks by absolutely annihilating Lancashire in their quarter-final. Sussex won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision they soon had cause to regret. David Payne was supremely economical, taking 1-9 from his four overs of left arm seam. At one stage Sussex were 44-5 and then 64-7. The eighth wicket stand between Jack Carson and Oliver Edward Robinson was worth 37 and at least spared Sussex the humiliation of having less than 100 to defend. The first ball of the 19th over ended the innings with the score 106, leaving Gloucestershire with an easy task. Miles Hammond, who had taken four catches in the field, the most ever by a non-wicket keeper in this competition (not the first Hammond of Gloucestershire to feature in such records – the legendary Wally Hammond once pouched ten in the course of a first class match, still a record for non-keeper a century on), was out cheaply for just 7, but Bancroft and Bracey had a good partnership for the second wicket. Cameron Bancroft reached 39 before he was second out, and Oliver Price joined James Bracey. Bracey was especially impressive as this pair moved towards victory. Just before the end Robinson, who had bowled his four overs of right arm medium pace for 23 runs but no wickets, excellent in most circumstances but here failing to answer Sussex’s biggest requirement, shelled a very straightforward chance from Bracey, a single accruing. Price took another single, and then Bracey secured Gloucestershire their place in an all west country final by driving one down the ground for six. Gloucestershire had eight wickets and 6.2 overs to spare, dealing even more ruthlessly with Sussex in this semi-final than Sussex had dealt with Lancashire in their quarter-final. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before my usual sign off, the toss has just happened for the final, with Gloucestershire winning it and opting to bowl first. Now for the photographs…

Flowering Ivy features heavily today – at this time of year it is vital for pollinators, there being a limited amount of stuff still in flower.

Surrey Book Their Place on Finals Day

A look back at the first of the T20 Blast quarterfinals, between Surrey and Durham last night, and a photo gallery.

Yesterday evening saw the first of the T20 Vitality Blast quarter-finals, with Surrey playing against Durham at The Oval. This post looks at how the match unfolded.

THE DURHAM INNINGS

Surrey won the toss and decided to bowl. Graham Clark, whose brother Jordan was playing for Surrey, was out in the first over, without scoring. Durham continued to fare poorly in the early stages, and when their fourth wicket fell with the score at 36 an early finish looked likely. However a combination of some good batting and some very poor death bowling revived Durham’s fortunes to the extent that they had 162 to defend. What should have been the last ball of the innings was called no-ball, and then the extra delivery was smashed for four. This was still a poorish score for The Oval, where 180 is about par.

THE SURREY CHASE

Surrey did not have things all their own way in the chase. However, the fourth wicket pair of Dominic Sibley and Sam Curran shared an excellent partnership. Sibley was eventually out for an excellent 67, which included bringing up his 50 with a reverse scoop for six. That brought Tom Curran in to join brother Sam for the closing stages. By this point the question was how much time would Surrey have to spare, and in the end it proved to be precisely two overs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Dog in the Manger at the Melbourne Derby

A look back at the Melbourne derby in the Big Bash League, and a bumper crop of photos.

This morning UK time saw the Melbourne Derby in the Big Bash League. The Renegades were already eliminated from the tournament, while Stars knew that if they won both their remaining matches they would progress to the final. It was also Aaron Finch’s final game as a professional cricketer, since that worthy had decided that a Melbourne derby was a fitter stage for his last bow than an entirely meaningless game in Sydney, which is where Renegades’ campaign will finish.

THE STARS INNINGS

Stars never really got going at any stage, with only Glenn Maxwell, 20 off 10 balls, ever looking truly in command. Beau Webster took 34 balls to score 29, which is never acceptable in a T20, Hilton Cartwright was less unimpressive, but 38 off 30 is no great shakes in T20. Opening batter Thomas Rogers managed 23 off 17. Kane Richardson (right arm fast) managed 2-17, Akeal Hosein (left arm orthodox spin) 2-18. Stars had managed 137-8, which looked inadequate.

THE RENEGADES RESPONSE

Aaron Finch ended a long and distinguished professional career with a highlu unimpressive duck, but Shaun Marsh, another oldster, and Jake Fraser-McGurk had an excellent stand for the second wicket. They were still together at the halfway stage, and had moved their side into control. They took the Power Surge for overs 11 and 12, the earliest point at which it can be taken, with a view to killing the game there and then. Those two overs yielded 19 runs but also three wickets, those of Fraser-McGurk, Jordan Cox and Will Sutherland. However, they were well ahead of the required rate, and after Sutherland was out the experienced Jonathan Wells joined Shaun Marsh, and these two veterans never looked in any hint of trouble, as Renegades coasted home with six wickets and 2.4 overs to spare. This means that Stars are no longer in control of their own destiny – if Adelaide Strikers win their final group match they will qualify and Stars will be eliminated.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off. Today was by January standards quite pleasant – dry, and the odd hint of sun poking through, and yielded a bumper crop of photos, including a grey heron, a large group of lapwings, cormorants in two very different locations, starlings, blackbirds and five squirrels (they were close enough together that there are two pictures featuring all five)…

A cormorant on the far side of the Great Ouse
The heron
Cormorants on the structure I call “Cormorant Platform”
Lapwings
closer views of lapwings
The squirrels
A cormorant swimming in the Gaywood river.

The Sandpaper Derby

An account of today’s clash between the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder, “The Sandpaper Derby” ads I have dubbed it because of some of the personnel involved. Also a photo gallery.

Today’s Big Bash League match was between the two Sydney sides, the Sixers and the Thunder. I have dubbed it the sandpaper derby because Steve Smith was playing for the Sixers and David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were both in the Stars XI. A win would ensure Sixers a place in the knockout stages and definitively end the Stars hopes, while a win for the Stars would have created a logjam in the middle of the table.

THE SIXERS INNINGS

It was recently confirmed that Steve Smith would be moving up to open the batting for Australia in test matches following the retirement of David Warner. Unfortunately for those looking for omens, Smith was out to the very first ball of this match and Sixers were 0-1 after one ball. They fought back from that early blow, and at 88-3 after 12 overs were looking reasonably placed. However they not only failed to take the Power Surge at that point, they also failed to do so an over later when they were still only three down. Then in the next over Josh Philippe was out, and the opportunity to take the Power Surge with two set batters together had been squandered. Sixers then completed a display of poor decision making by taking the Power Surge at an obviously bad time. It was only a late flourish that got them to the semi-respectability of 151-7 from their 20 overs.

THE THUNDER RESPONSE

Thunder set off like a train in pursuit of this seemingly moderate total, and were 44-0 at the end of their four over initial Power Play, 17 runs and one wicket better than Sixers at the same stage. However, veteran left arm spinner Steve O’Keefe bowled the fifth over, and he produced one that scooted through low to bowl Alex Hales for a fluent 28. Four balls later Bancroft, the Thunder number three, was on his way back, and five overs into the reply Thunder were 46-2. Warner and Kohler-Cadmore stopped the haemorrhage of wickets, but neither batted with any fluency, and in the tenth over Kohler-Cadmore holed out to Moises Henriques off the bowling of Hayden Kerr to make it 63-3, Kohler-Cadmore’s share 6 off 12 balls. The new batter was Oliver Davies, and he also failed even to strike at a run a ball, making 15 (18) before he was caught by Jack Edwards of Sean Abbott to make it 87-4. Daniel Sams, in at number six, proceeded to edge one from Ben Dwarshuis and it was 88-5 in the 15th. Two runs later Chris Green fell to a catch by Vince off Edwards to make it 90-6. With one ball of the 17th over remaining Warner became O’Keefe’s third victim, ending one of the worst T20 innings ever played, considering the circumstances and Warner’s vast experience (this was his 357th T20 match as a professional), 37 off 39 balls, with two sixes and a four early on, so that ex-boundaries he managed a measly 21 off 36. That was 101-7, and Thunder were pretty much done for. A late flurry from number 10 Liam Hatcher (20 off 10 with the game well and truly lost, a knock which should have had some of his supposed betters squirming with embarrassment) got Thunder to 132 when they were all out with one ball left of their allocation, defeat by 19 runs. O’Keefe, whose wickets of Hales and Bancroft started the turning of the tide, and who also accounted for Warner, and finished with 4-0-13-3, was deservedly named Player of the Match. Full scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Brisbane Heat Guaranteed to Top the Big Bash League

A look at how Brisbane Heat secured top spot in the Big Bash League earlier today and a large photo gallery.

Today’s Big Bash League Match saw Brisbane Heat take on Perth Scorchers. Heat came into the game knowing that a win would guarantee them a first place finish, while Scorchers knew that a win would ensure them qualification. I missed the Heat innings due to a morning commitment in town, but I listened to the Scorchers chase after I got back.

SCORCHERS PULL UP SHORT

At the halfway stage of the chase Scorchers were 80-3 chasing Heat’s total of 191, some way behind the required rate, but with Laurie Evans just starting his innings. Two overs later they were 103-3 and looking much better placed. It was at this point that they took their Power Surge, which was always likely to have a major impact on the outcome. I believe they were right to do so, with two batters both going well at the crease together. However, having picked a good moment to take the Power Surge you then have to make good use of it, and Scorchers did not. Spencer Johnson bowled the first over, and his six legal deliveries were good, but he also bowled three wides along the way, and was probably fortunate that a couple of others weren’t called. The second Power Surge over was better for Scorchers, and with six overs to go they were 122-4, needing 70 to win. Evans played a fine knock, reaching a half century off 28 balls, but no one else did enough (Ashton Agar who came in at number seven was especially culpable, scoring slowly and almost being run out when arguing with Evans over the merits of taking a single early in an over). Evans won the argument, and fortunately for Agar the bowler, Spencer Johnson, foozled the run out attempt. The next two balls after the spurned single saw Evans hit a four and then score three off the next, illustrating why he had not wanted to give up the strike so early in the over. Scorchers fell further and further behind, and by the time the 20th over came round they needed 30 from it to win with two tailenders together. The final margin was 23 runs, and Michael Neser secured Player of the Match, having placed a vital innings with the bat, fielded superbly and claimed two wickets with the ball.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

My main errand this morning was being at a cheque presentation in this building, in my capacity as WNAG Secretary.

The BBL So Far

A look at how the Big Bash League is panning out and a photo gallery.

The Big Bash League is well underway. This edition of the tournament features only 10 group matches per side rather than 14 and also sensibly only allows the top four sides to qualify for the knockout stages as opposed to the ludicrously overgenerous situation previously whereby fifth was good enough.

HOBART HURRICANES v MELBOURNE RENEGADES

There was radio commentary on this match today for UK listeners. Renegades batted first and helped by a rare example of a reasonably well timed Power Surge (overs 16 and 17, making it a kick starter into the death overs rather than actually being part of the death overs, still an over or so later than I would like but the best timed one in any of the radio commentaries I have listened to so far) which they capitalized on, taking the two overs for a total of 34 runs, tallied an eminently respectable looking 185-5 from their 20 overs.

Unfortunately for them they bowled like drains, which in combination with some excellent Hurricanes batting, especially from Matthew Wade and Macallister Wright, saw the hosts home by six wickets with an over to spare.

HOW THE TABLE IS LOOKING

Three sides, Brisbane Heat, Sydney Sixers and Perth Scorchers, are looking very likely to progress. Another three, Adelaide Strikers, Sydney Thunder and Hobart Hurricanes would appear to be fighting for the fourth qualification slot, while the two Melbourne sides, as happened in the women’s version of this tournament, look like propping up the table.

POWER SURGE THOUGHTS

In the BBL the initial Power Play lasts for four overs rather than the usual six and the batting side then has a two over Power Surge which they have to take in the second half of their innings (this is to stop sides lazily using it for overs 5 and 6 and thereby having a standard Power Play). My feeling based on the games I have listened to so far this season is that most sides are very overcautious about taking the Power Surge which means it often happens later than it should. Personally the latest I would countenance those overs being taken is for overs 16 and 17 as happened today, but I would want to go earlier if possible. In one of the other games I listened to the side batting first had two well set batters together at the end of 12th over and still together at the end of the 13th, but they refused to take these golden opportunities to use the Power Surge, and lost a wicket in the 14th. They ended up using the Power Surge in the 18th and 19th overs of their innings, which I regard as plumb crazy. It depends on exact situations but I would always want to go fairly early. If the openers happened still to be together at the end of the 10th over I would seriously consider taking the Power Surge for overs 11 and 12 as a launch pad for the second half of the innings. The other time I might go that early as if a number of wickets have fallen and I want to use the surge while I still have two front line batters to capitalize on it. I would say that in intermediate situations between the two I have outlined above I would look at overs 13-14, overs 14-15, overs 15-16 and at the very outside overs 16-17 and would never allow the surge to unused going into the death overs.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Heat’s Horror Day

A look at today#s BBL game, and how Brisbane Heat got absolutely blown apart by the team who came into today bottom of the table.

Today in the Big Bash League Brisbane Heat took on Sydney Thunder, with both sides desperate for a win.

THE HEAT INNINGS

Jimmy Peirson won the toss for Brisbane Heat and decided that they would bat first. This was the first and only thing that went right for them all match.

After six overs they were limping at 26-3. Peirson joined Munro for a rebuilding act at that point, and the pair were still together at the end of the 14th over, and the scoring rate was still below six an over. Time for the Power Surge you would think, but Peirson bottled taking it. A few balls into the 15th over Peirson was out and the chance of taking the Surge with two well set batters together had gone. In the end Peirson’s cowardice resulted in Heat’s Power Surge being the last two overs of their innings, with six wickets down. Unsurprisingly in those circumstances they did little with it, and ended with a final total of 121-6. In a T20, even on a pitch that is not particularly batter friendly that kind of score should never be enough…

THE THUNDER INNINGS

…Sydney Thunder’s openers, Gilkes and Hales, immediately put Heat’s pathetic effort in to proper context. By the halfway stage of the innings they were 87-0, needing just 35 more to win. A brutal onslaught against Swepson in the 11th over reduced that target to 10 off nine overs, and three fours in four balls by Hales off Steketee in the next over completed a ten wicket win for Thunder with 50 balls to spare. Gilkes, Sydney Thunder’s keeper as well as one of their opening batters, was named Player of the Match, having scored 56* (34) to Hales’ 59* (36). Sydney Thunder won so comprehensively that Peirson bungling the timing of Brisbane Heat’s Power Surge probably did no more than increase the severity of the beating that Heat took, but nevertheless it was terrible captaincy by him. I personally thought he should have called it at the end of the 12th by when he and Munro had been together six overs, and not calling it at the end of the 13th or the end of the 14th, when the pair were still together was beyond stupid. It is hard to see how Heat pick themselves up from this blasting at the hands of the team who came into today bottom of the table, and it is hard to see how Peirson can be allowed to remain captain. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Two Great Performances in Losing Causes

A look at two remarkable performances that came in losing causes, a brief mention of an innings victory for Sri Lanka and some photographs.

Yesterday saw two remarkable games of cricket, each featuring a notable performance for a member of a badly beaten team.

INTERNATIONAL: SURYAKUMAR YADAV

In the final match of the T20I series England batted first against India. With Dawid Malan leading the way (77 off 39), England posted a massive total. For a time it looked like India might chase them down, and had Suryakumar Yadav had proper support they probably would have done. As it was, the only person to stay with him for any length of time, Shreyas Iyer, did not score quick enough on his own account. Yadav scored 117 off 55 balls, and India went down by 17 runs. Although I understand why Reece Topley got Player of the Match for his three crucial wickets I personally would have given it to Yadav.

DOMESTIC: GEORGE SCRIMSHAW

In the evening the last of the four Vitality Blast quarter finals took place. Somerset were at home to Derbyshire. Somerset were scoring at ten an over at the end of the 11th over, but then went on a spectacular charge which saw the last nine overs yield over 150 runs. This meant a final total of 265-5, an all time tournament record, for Somerset. Leg spinner Matthew McKiernan earned a place in the record books for the wrong reason – his 4-0-82-0 was the most expensive four overs in T20 history. Yet in amongst the dung heap that was the Derbyshire bowling figures one jewel shone out: George Scrimshaw 4-0-16-2. Given that his team mates collectively had 3-249 from 16 overs, for an ER of 15.56 per over his performance prevented a Somerset tally of over 300. The runs his bowling saved unsurprisingly counted for little in the end – a dispirited Derbyshire sank to 74 all out and defeat by 191 runs, yet another record.

SOME NEWS FROM ABROAD

Sri Lanka is a country in turmoil at the moment. Their male cricketers gave them something to enjoy though – around noon UK time they completed a victory over Australia by an innings and 39 runs. Australia managed 364 batting first, Sri Lanka took 190 run lead, piling up 554 with Dinesh Chandimal scoring an unbeaten double hundred. Australia then mustered a meagre 151 all out in their second innings. Chandimal’s innings notwithstanding, the star of this victory was debutant Prabath Jayasuriya, a left arm orthodox spinner who had taken 6-118 in the first dig when conditions were all in the batters favour. Second time around on a surface now offering assistance to spinners he claimed 6-59. Only three players have ever had better match figures on debut than his – Narendra Hirwani took 16-136 for India v West Indies, Bob Massie took 16-137 for Australia v England, and Fred ‘Nutty’ Martin took 12-102 for England against Australia in 1890. None of those three went on to have long or illustrious careers, but Jayasuriya can look at two who took 11 on debut: Clarrie Grimmett went on to claim 216 test wickets, an all comers record at the time, and Alec Bedser took 236 in his career. At 30 years of age Jayasuriya is three years older than Bedser was and three years younger than Grimmett was when he made his debut.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

Babar Azam’s Command Performance

A look at two contrasting T20s, one featuring Babar Azam and one featuring Virat Kohli, a mathematical teaser and a lot of photographs.

There was much wailing and gnashing of Indian teeth this morning as the new ODI batting rankings came out with Babar Azam promoted to no1, pushing Virat Kohli down to no2. Both were in T20 action today, Babar for Pakistan against South Africa and Virat for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Sunrisers Hyderabad. This post tells the story of the international match and where we are at so far in the IPL game.

RUNS GALORE AT JO’BURG

Johannesburg is no stranger to high scoring matches (just ask Ricky Ponting, who once failed to defend 434 in an ODI there!) but even so South Africa would have expected a tally of 203 from their 20 overs to be chased down with quite such ridiculous ease. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan opened the batting together and for a long time it looked like they were leading their side to a ten wicket win. Babar Azam took just 49 balls to reach his 100, and Rizwan also topped 50 quite comfortably. So unfortunately for him did Beuran Hendricks with the ball – 4-0-55-0. Eventually Babar Azam fell to the fourth ball iof the 18th over to make it 197-1, his own share 122 off 59 balls. Fakhar Zaman came in to bat and clouted the last two balls of the 18th over for fours to settle the issue with nine wickets and two whole overs unused.

RCB V SRH

Kohli was named to no one’s surprise as captain and opening batter in the Royal Challengers Bangalore XI to face Sunrisers Hyderabad. Such is Kohli’s power in certain circles that an innings of 33 off 29 balls, in reality an awful performance in a T20, was described by at least one commentator as “An excellent cameo.” Only Maxwell, who came close to living up to his moniker of “The Big Show” with 59 not out off 41 balls, did anything significant with the bat and RCB were held to 149-8 from their 20 overs, a total that seems modest. Rashid Khan as so often in any game of which is part was well to the fore with the ball, finishing with 2-18 from his four overs, and outstanding effort in this form of cricket. Although Saha fell for just one in the reply David Warner and Manish Pandey seem to be in little trouble, with SRH now 32-1 off four overs and looking set for a comfortable win.

A MATHEMATICAL TEASER

This is today’s offering from brilliant.org, slightly modified as their setting gave multiple choice options for the answer, which opened up a hack that I availed myself of. Can you solve this in the intended way and work out the answer? My hack, and an authentic solution will appear in my next post. Click here for more.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off, with Warner and Pandey still going nicely, and Bairstow waiting to come in next…

PS as I publish, SRH are 75-1 in the tenth, well on course to chase down the modest target they have been set.

Good Riddance 2020

A farewell to 2020 (don’t let the door hit your bum on the way out), an account of the last cricket match of 2020 and a new year’s message to my readers.

The end of 2020 is now less than ten hours distant (in UK, some of you are already into 2021, and have been able to celebrate New Year’s Eve – well done NZ), and it will be a great relief to see it out, though 2021 offers little sign of immediate improvement for us Brits (although those north of Hadrian’s Wall might do themselves a favour by going for a UDI). A stark indication of quite how badly Johnson and his cronies are letting the country down: yesterday 981 people in Britain died due to Covid-19, while across the Irish sea just nine suffered the same fate.

As a cricket fan, 2020 has been a fine year since the resumption of cricket in the summer (my congratulations to the West Indies, both men’s and women’s teams for making the journey and ensuring the home summer saw some international cricket – as soon as a visit from this island becomes an asset rather than a liability those tours should be reciprocated. I am going to devote most of the rest of this post to covering the last top level cricket match of 2020.

ADELAIDE STRIKERS V PERTH SCORCHERS

This BBL match featured one team doing less well than expected or hoped (Strikers) and a team doing appallingly (Scorchers). Strikers batted first, and every time they seemed be getting going a wicket fell. Finch batted well but could find no serious support. Then, down to him and Rashid Khan (best known for being the no1 rated T20 bowler on the planet but also a more than useful lower order batter whose approach is ideally suited to short form cricket), he was overly timid about claiming the Power Surge, and Rashid fell with it still unclaimed. At the end of their innings the Strikers had 146-9, a total that should not pose the chasing side much of a problem, but Scorchers as mentioned earlier were winless.

Scorchers started the chase well, with Jason Roy doing most of the scoring. However when both openers, Roy for 49 and Livingstone for an unconvincing 8, fell in the same over one had to wonder if the Scorchers were about to suffer another case of the collywobbles. Although a third wicket fell just before halfway, a boundary of the final ball of the tenth over secured Scorchers the Bash Boost point. Some would say that they also delayed claiming the Power Surge longer than they ought, but at least they managed to take it with two set batters at the crease, and by the time it ended the chase had been reduced to 14 off four overs, which would take a lot of messing up.

The 17th over of the innings was Peter Siddle’s third and he made a good fist of it, meaning that the target was still 10 going into the 18th. Successive fours off the third and fourth balls of that over completed the job, giving Scorchers a win by seven wickets and all four points. It was a satisfying end for me on two counts: 1) I had predicted at the start of the 17th that Siddle would not get to bowl his 4th because the game would end before he could and 2) much more importantly it meant that the Strikers were properly punished for mucking up over the Power Surge.

The more I follow of this year’s Big Bash the more I think that it must be better to go for the Power Surge too early rather than too late, which is why I cannot wholly endorse Scorchers waiting until the end of the 15th to go for it, but unquestionably they approached it miles better than the Strikers.

If the Scorchers could contrive to use this hugely impressive victory as a springboard back into the tournament it would represent a comeback to send Lazarus green with envy on their part.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Just before my usual sign off, which on this occasion includes a video, I have a few final words of 2020 for my readers: thank you all, and here’s to a better 2021