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Post by longstop on Aug 18, 2018 18:08:17 GMT
After the euphoria and ups and downs of T20 cricket, Sussex are back in action with a 4-day County Championship game against Derbyshire at Hove. Four players return to the fold after taking no part in the T20 competition – Wells, Robinson, Haines and skipper, Ben Brown.
Derbyshire come to Hove in 6th place having won 2 and lost 3 of their 8 games. Sussex come into the game on a disjointed run of three consecutive County Championship wins, two of which were by an innings. In Derbyshire’s last game, they narrowly defeated Northamptonshire by 39 runs to move up the table.
Wayne Madsen with 705 runs at an average of 47 is their most successful batsman this season with Ben Slater not far behind with a highest score of 99 this season. In the bowling department, Duanne Olivier has taken the most wickets with 31 victims while Palladino, Critchley and Viljoen have shared 62 wickets between them.
Our last game against Derbyshire was a narrow defeat at Hove by 45 runs last September. Having been set 390 to win, Sussex fell short despite Wells, van Zyl and Wright each scoring 70+ in the run chase. In the 2016 season at Hove, Sussex won handsomely by 10 wickets after Joyce and Wells both scored centuries.
Another win would put Sussex in a strong position in the Division Two table, particularly as Kent have a tricky away to Leicestershire and Warwickshire entertain Gloucestershire. Can the wave of optimism keep going? We will see.
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Post by coverpoint on Aug 18, 2018 18:34:07 GMT
Sussex: Wells, Salt, Haines, Finch, Burgess, Brown (c, +), Wiese, Jordan, Archer, Robinson, Briggs
Derbyshire: Godleman (c), Slater, Madsen, Hughes, Ervine, Critchley, Hosein (+), Ferguson, Palladino, Viljoen, Qadri
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Post by philh on Aug 19, 2018 12:11:01 GMT
Mixed fortunes for Sussex this morning. Disappointingly, four wickets have fallen. Wells looked set but was out for 35. Finch has looked solid and has scored 39 not out. Burgess looked comfortable enough but was out LBW just before lunch. We need Finch and Brown to take the score on rather than relying on the last 3 or 4 wickets.
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Post by hhsussex on Aug 19, 2018 17:45:34 GMT
Mixed fortunes for Sussex this morning. Disappointingly, four wickets have fallen. Wells looked set but was out for 35. Finch has looked solid and has scored 39 not out. Burgess looked comfortable enough but was out LBW just before lunch. We need Finch and Brown to take the score on rather than relying on the last 3 or 4 wickets.Well they did to an extent, but 400-7 still speaks to the strength of the lower order. 5 points is banked but Warwickshire look certain to cruise against Glos and we must hope that Leics and Kent slug themselves to a standstill, though it doesn't look very likely after 13 wickets fell for 273 runs. Onward to 480 or so tomorrow morning and then push for a follow-on. Our pace attack is easily the best in either Division. |
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Aug 19, 2018 17:49:52 GMT
An imperious opening day from the Sussex batsmen as they score 4.2 runs an over to reach 400-7. Great to see a rested Ben Brown score a century (116), backed up by Finch (82) and Wiese (89*). A first innings score of 450+ should make this an easy win for Sussex as their ace J-War (Jordan/Wiese/ Archer/Robinson) then skittle them out twice for an innings victory.  www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKO43216 |
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Post by philh on Aug 19, 2018 21:28:47 GMT
A funny first day. I was a bit gloomy this morning. Four wickets went down without, I felt, Derbyshire trying very hard. Cricket is always full of ifs, but if Brown had gone for a low score, it could have been a different day. I keep feeling with our top order that a calamity is around the corner. I wonder if a poor side will bowl us out cheaply some time this season, but it’s easy to forget that we bat deep. And, how we showed that today against a poor bowling attack. Ferguson and Viljoen bowled about as straight as I used to and Critchley offered two bad balls most overs. It was no wonder we scored at 4+ per over all day. Only Palladino and Rampaul, who bowled particularly well in a spell after lunch, looked decent. But, let’s not take anything away from Ben Brown who has a habit of coming up trumps when he needs to. It was a good 15th ton from our skipper. Finch and Wiese both batted well and it would be a deserved 100 if Wiese finishes the job in the morning.
I would have liked Wells to have gone on past 35; he needs a big score and we need him to get a big score if our dependable lower six fail some time soon. Burgess, who batted patiently, could also benefit from a two session knock.
Having said all that, we are well placed. 5 points on day one is good work. If the bowlers perform close to their ability, a win is on the cards. Day two will tell us more.
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Post by hhsussex on Aug 20, 2018 15:37:55 GMT
Mixed fortunes for Sussex this morning. Disappointingly, four wickets have fallen. Wells looked set but was out for 35. Finch has looked solid and has scored 39 not out. Burgess looked comfortable enough but was out LBW just before lunch. We need Finch and Brown to take the score on rather than relying on the last 3 or 4 wickets.Well they did to an extent, but 400-7 still speaks to the strength of the lower order. 5 points is banked but Warwickshire look certain to cruise against Glos and we must hope that Leics and Kent slug themselves to a standstill, though it doesn't look very likely after 13 wickets fell for 273 runs. Onward to 480 or so tomorrow morning and then push for a follow-on. Our pace attack is easily the best in either Division. So much for hubris. An hour for 30 runs, then Derbyshire 202-2 at well over 4 runs per over at 4.30. I will keep quiet now and hope things get no worse.  |
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Aug 20, 2018 16:19:51 GMT
Day 2 has disappeared from the script and run for the hills.
Derbyshire: 238-2 (Godleman 110*/Madsen 72) with our star bowler
Archer: 17 overs, no wickets, for 56. Sadly, this match has a draw
written all over it.
Let us hope for miracles.
Edit: Close of play: 315-5.
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Post by grandavefan on Aug 21, 2018 8:07:28 GMT
Just by looking at the scores I can see that the groundsman has excelled himself!
Another batting paradise when we have arguably the most potent attack in D2.
The sooner he gets the Lords job the better.
Gillespie must be fuming at having someone working against him and the team.
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Post by philh on Aug 21, 2018 9:13:18 GMT
It was a hard day in the field for Sussex and one in which little went our way. Half chances evaded and the occasional play and miss didn't get the edge that the bowlers sought. Godleman and Madsen are no mugs and batted well. They took Derbyshire to a position where I thought they couldn't lose to a position where I wondered if Derbyshire could win. They scored quickly and a total of 600 or so didn't look impossible and could have left us with a day and a bit to play out.
Haines was the first bowler to slow the run rate and gradually the rate decreased to nearer four. The wicket of Madsen off the first ball after tea was a definite bonus. Hughes looked uncomfortable at first as though he had been waiting too long to get to the crease, but he slowly looked more confident and ended 60 not out at the close. Godleman got his century only to be beaten by Wells in his first over. The skipper was slow to hear my suggestion about Wells bowling. Two more late wickets fell and Derbyshire have been pegged back a bit to 315-5.
If the remaining wickets fall quickly this morning, Sussex will feel that they can squeeze a win out of this game. A draw though looks the most likely result; Mr Betfair is offering only 4/9 on the draw.
I'm finding hard to keep my eyes off the Leicestershire v Kent score. It's a definite result match unless weather intervenes heavily. The ideal results would have been a win for Sussex and a draw at Grace Road, but that looks as likely as England beating India in the Third Test.
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Post by hhsussex on Aug 21, 2018 13:16:24 GMT
It was a hard day in the field for Sussex and one in which little went our way. Half chances evaded and the occasional play and miss didn't get the edge that the bowlers sought. Godleman and Madsen are no mugs and batted well. They took Derbyshire to a position where I thought they couldn't lose to a position where I wondered if Derbyshire could win. They scored quickly and a total of 600 or so didn't look impossible and could have left us with a day and a bit to play out. Haines was the first bowler to slow the run rate and gradually the rate decreased to nearer four. The wicket of Madsen off the first ball after tea was a definite bonus. Hughes looked uncomfortable at first as though he had been waiting too long to get to the crease, but he slowly looked more confident and ended 60 not out at the close. Godleman got his century only to be beaten by Wells in his first over. The skipper was slow to hear my suggestion about Wells bowling. Two more late wickets fell and Derbyshire have been pegged back a bit to 315-5. If the remaining wickets fall quickly this morning, Sussex will feel that they can squeeze a win out of this game. A draw though looks the most likely result; Mr Betfair is offering only 4/9 on the draw. I'm finding hard to keep my eyes off the Leicestershire v Kent score. It's a definite result match unless weather intervenes heavily. The ideal results would have been a win for Sussex and a draw at Grace Road, but that looks as likely as England beating India in the Third Test.Kent need to get the highest score of the game to beat Leics and move to 134 points - and have already lost 1 wicket. A Leicester win would take them to 131 points. Sussex look as if they're very well aware of this as they go into the 12th over with a lead of 136 over Derbyshire. A win - for example a run chase of 300-320 in 80 overs on the 4th day - would keep them up 4 points behind Warwickshire on 145 points. The draw would produce 134, and of course defeat is unthinkable. It looks nicely poised, and the thought of Wells and Salt battering their way to a form partnership is a very nice one to conjure up hope for promotion and for next season. |
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Post by philh on Aug 21, 2018 17:40:21 GMT
I wasn't at Hove today but it sounds like Salt produced an excellent innings to give Sussex a good chance of winning this game. Adrian Harms was speaking highly of the performance and, apparently, it didn't escape Sir Ian Botham's notice. An exciting day ahead tomorrow and a good game to win as Kent and Warwickshire have wrapped up victories.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Aug 21, 2018 19:53:28 GMT
Thanks primarily to Phil Salt and a scintillating batting performance that saw him strike 148 runs off 138 balls which included fourteen
4s and five 6s and allowed Sussex to score, at one stage, six runs an over, the Club are in a strong position to beat Derbyshire
tomorrow.
Miracles do happen for after Day 2, this match had a draw written all over it, but now the likes of Briggs and J-War could completely
turn around the previous logic and bring home 22 points.
In Salt or Salty to his comrades, Sussex have a batsman of extraordinary natural ability. He is the ultimate modern day batsman who
can score quickly in both formats. For him T20 is no different to the Championship and when on form he is as good as the Buttlers, Roys,
Hales and Stokes of England.
What a day 4 we have in prospect.
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Post by philh on Aug 22, 2018 11:35:33 GMT
It doesn't seem as though Derbyshire are interested in chasing 405. With Godleman and Madsen back in the hut, it looks as though they have a draw on their minds and nothing else.
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Post by Wicked Cricket on Aug 22, 2018 12:23:39 GMT
Slater left the field with possible concussion after an Archer bouncer. Rampaul already out of the game due to a breathing problem.
Surely this match is ours for the taking? Just 7 wickets required.
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