Kiwi County Cricket Tour #4
Think you'll need a few more shots of espresso to face Matt Henry
Consider it a pretty damn swell round of County cricket action when there's at least one kiwi cricketer who has taken a few wickets or scored runs. A down-buzz round won't have any kiwi contributions and thankfully, we are yet to see that, even though the recent round of games didn't include the man of the moment Neil Wagner or Ross Taylor as Lancashire and Sussex both enjoyed a few days off.
We had great success this week with a few hefty contributions and on top of that, these efforts aren't necessarily coming from our BLACKCAPS in England. To me, it's just as funky to see our domestic players transitioning well to County cricket, even if they only play County cricket these days.
Derbyshire vs Glamorgan (Derby)
Whenever you think or hear the word 'derby' you should instantly think of Otago as Derbyshire is hosting both Neil Broom and Hamish Rutherford this season. In fact, the Derby boys were this week captained by Rutherford (stepping in for the usual skipper) which is pretty damn interesting with Rutherford being a young cricketer who could relish the extra responsibility.
Unfortunately for Rutherford and Broom, they couldn't make the most of their one innings with the bat as Derbyshire and Glamorgan played out a draw. Glamorgan batted first and made 377, dismissed by Rutherford's expert captaincy (and good bowling I guess), to which Derbyshire responded with 345. Rutherford scored 10 off 16 balls and Broom could only manage 4 off 26 balls. Glamorgan had another bat, finishing up on 87/2 as this game fizzled to a draw.
Hamish Rutherford: 10.
Neil Broom: 4.
Next up: Derbyshire are away to Northamptonshire, starting overnight Sunday NZT.
Essex vs Northamptonshire (Chelmsford)
It was a similar story in Chelmsford, London where Jesse Ryder only got one chance with the willow, but this was because Essex steamrolled through Northamptonshire's batting line up twice to win by an innings and 92 runs. Ryder managed 1 off 4 and was caught behind off the bowling of former South African international Rory Kleinveldt as Essex declared 8 wickets down for 441. Alastair Cook hit another half-century while former England international Ravi Bopara also passed 50.
Remember that Auckland seamer Matt Quinn is part of the Essex crew, it's just that Essex's bowlers are doing a fabulous job at the moment. They bowled Northamptonshire out twice, first for 119 off 32.5 overs and then smacking the nail into the coffin, dismissing Northamptonshire for 230. Ryder did bowl in both innings, however he didn't take a wicket (0/19 off 4 overs and 0/40 off 12 overs) with Jamie Porter taking 8 wickets in the match while Graham Napier took 5 and Ryan ten Doeschate took 4/31 in the second innings to ensure victory.
Ryder has actually struggled to take wickets thus far; he's taken a single wicket in 6 innings.
Jesse Ryder: 1, 0/19, 0/40.
Next up: Essex face Worcestershire in Worcester.
Gloucestershire vs Worcestershire (Bristol)
Matt Henry popped up for his first game with Worcestershire as they took on Hamish Marshall and Kieran Noema-Barnett's Gloucestershire. This resulted in some kiwi on kiwi County cricket crime, however what's lovely is that all three got their slice of the pie in the best kiwi-tainted game of the round.
Gloucs batted first and Marshall came to the crease with his team 57/3, thanks partly to a run out instigated by Henry. When Marshall was dismissed by Henry, Gloucs were on 369 as Marshall anchored their innings with 135 off 223 balls with 15 fours. Marshall shared a strong partnership with Noema-Barnett who scored 84 off 136 balls, hitting the same number of fours as Marshall along with a dirty biggun' and Gloucs were all out for 380.
Henry showed his class with the ball, taking 3/89 off 31 overs in his first game of the season and Henry then showed his willow-wielding skills batting at No.10 as he smacked 42 off only 40 balls, not out might I add. Henry's innings gave Worcs the lead, a crucial innings down the order and it even came with Noema-Barnett taking 2/79 off 22 overs.
Mercy? Henry shows no mercy, not even to his kiwi cuzzies as the Cantabrian followed up his 3 wickets in the first innings with 3/83 off 22 overs in the second innings. Henry skittled the stumps of both Marshall (17) and Noema-Barnett (0) as Gloucestershire were dismissed for 382, meaning Worcestershire had to chase 352 to win. This finished in a draw with Worcestershire on 210/4.
Hamish Marshall: 135, 17.
Kieran Noema-Barnett: 84, 2/79, 0, 0/14.
Matt Henry: 3/89, 42, 3/83.
Next up: Henry will lace up against Ryder (Worcestershire vs Essex) while Gloucestershire have the round off.
Warwickshire vs Yorkshire (Birmingham)
There wasn't too much action in Birmingham with Jeetan Patel's Warwickshire only getting one innings with the bat thanks to the weather gods. Yorkshire batted first at were dismissed for 379 as the seamers did the trick with Patel only bowling 8 overs (0/26) while Warwickshire's four seamers all bowled at least 20 overs each.
It was an impressive effort for Warwickshire as Yorkshire are stacked with talent and were last season's champions, with Warwickshire taking a first innings lead as they hit 443/9. Patel batted at No.10 and hit 9 off 14 before being bowled as Warwickshire declared, putting Yorkshire back in and Patel snuck in to grab the new-ball! Patel managed to trap former England opener Adam Lyth LBW and finished with 1/24 off 9 overs as things were wrapped up in a draw.
Jeetan Patel: 0/26, 9, 1/24.
Next Up: Patel has the week off, lovely.
Neil Wagner's Lancashire face Somerset in Taunton.
Ross Taylor's Sussex face Leicestershire in Hove.
Leaders
Runs
12th - Hamish Marshall (Gloucs) - 4 games, 313 runs, 52.16 avg, 64.66 strike-rate.
Wickets
8th - Neil Wagner (Lancs) - 1 game, 11 wickets, 10.09 avg, 2.82rpo.