Kiwi County Tour #18
Get dreads Hamish...
The Kiwi County Tour rolled on with a round of County games to end the week, we're back in action overnight Monday so there's no rest for the wicked. This time around we're headlined by a century to Hamish Marshall and yet another 5-wicket bag for the great, Lord Jeetz who continues to dominate County cricket and make Aotearoa proud. More importantly, many of our kiwi lads enjoyed the taste of success which always makes the Kiwi County Tour bus a fun place to be.
Glamorgan vs Gloucestershire
Maybe it was actually Hamish Marshall's bowling that should headline our Kiwi County Tour ... eer, maybe not. Marshall bowled 2 overs in Glamorgan's first innnings and went for 14 runs as Gloucs dismissed Glamorgan for 220, Marshall then came in at No.5 and hit 101 off 189 balls including 16 boundaries as he helped steer Gloucs to 363 all out.
Marshall wasn't required with the ball in the second innings, with Gloucs bowlers again doing the trick in dismissing Glamorgan for 232 which meant Gloucs only had to chase 90. They did so without losing a wicket, giving Gloucs the win and Marshall's century ended up being the difference between the two teams.
In his past four games, Marshall has hit two centuries and a half century and is currently averaging 40.59 for the season.
Hamish Marshall: 0/14 off 2, 101.
Leicestershire vs Sussex
Craig Cachopa was again in action for Sussex and after the Sussex bowlers did a great job in rolling Leicestershire for 135, Cahcopa couldn't do better than 15 batting at No.5. Sussex were still able to get a nice lead, all out for 313 without much help from Cachopa and the Sussex bowlers did such a good job in the second dig that Sussex didn't even need to bat again.
Leicestershire were rolled for 119 and even though Cachopa didn't do much, his lads won so happy days.
Craig Cachopa: 15.
Nottinghamshire vs Middlesex
Marshall and Cachopa both enjoyed wins, so did James Franklin. Nottinghamshire batted first and were all out for 241 with Franklin bowling 9 overs without a wicket but Franklin's been contributing nicely with the bat in recent months and helped give Middlesex a teeny-weeny lead as he hit 40 at No.8 with Middlesex dismissed for 247.
Franklin again went without a wicket, only bowling 4 overs this time but his bowlers did a good job in restricting Nottinghamshire to 240 and a target of 235. Promoting himself to No.7, Franklin then guided his team to victory as he hit 54* off just 84 balls and with John Simpson (58*), they took Middlesex from 146/5 to 235/5 to claim the victory.
How about Franklin's all-round contributions, leading from the front; in his past four games, Franklin has taken 6 wickets and hit three half centuries.
James Franklin: 0/25 off 9, 40, 0/10 off 4, 54*.
Somerset vs Warwickshire
And that leaves us with Lord Jeetz, who funnily enough was the only kiwi on Tour to suffer defeat. As is always the case with Jeetan Patel, he did his best with the ball and Warwickshire's struggles tend to come via their batting line up which simply is on par with Lord Jeetz and his off-spin wizardry.
Somerset were first up to bat and Warwickshire's seamers steamrolled them for 95, with Patel only needed for a single ball. That ball delivered a wicket though as he skittled the stumps of Somerset's No.10 batsman. Warwickshire however were unable to make the most of this and were themselves all out for 123, putting their initial dominance in the shade. Jeetan did score 16 though, which is a handy knock.
Lord Jeetz then opened the bowling and took 5/86 off 34.3 overs, dismissing four of Somertset's top-six batsmen. Jeetan's 5-for helped restrict Somerset to just 211, giving Warwickshire a target of 184 to win and with minimal contribution from Jeetz (1) Warwickshire were all out for 152.
The dominance continues for Lord Jeetz as he's now 10 wickets ahead of the 2nd best wicket-taker in Division One as well as being 5 wickets ahead of Division Two leader Graham Napier, meaning that Lord Jeetz is the numero uno wicket-taker in County cricket. Jeetz has 64 wickets at an average of 24.53 including four 5-wicket-bags and in his past five games, he's taken 29 wickets #Yoza.
Jeetan Patel: 1/0 off 0.1, 16, 5/86 off 34.3, 1.