Kiwi County Tour #14
James Franklin's a low key OG of Middlesex
The cool kids have been kicking back, doing the rounds of the English pub scene and generally bonding as kiwi males should with a splash of cricket thrown in for good measure. Those Blackcaps are long gone, no one cares about them any more and we're having a jolly ol' time on the Kiwi County Tour. There's not many of us, but we're going hard.
Leicestershire vs Derbyshire
Neil Broom held it down for Derbyshire with Hamish Rutherford still suffering from the local produce, although Broom's County struggles continued against Leicestershire. Broom managed a few overs with the ball in the first innings, even snapping up a wicket - it was a No.10 batsman - as he took 1/9 off 2 overs and led Derbyshire's bowling effort in dismissing Leicestershire for 380.
Coming in at No.5, Broom was sent back to the sheds for 30 with Derbyshire falling short of taking a lead, all out for 362. Broom had another bowl and once again took a wicket, another tail-ender though as he skittled the stumps of their No.9 batsman and Leicestershire worked their way to 294/9dec, setting Derbyshire 313 to win.
This game ended in a draw with Derbyshire stranded on 104/4 after 30 overs. Broom had a bat but he scored as many runs as he took wickets in the second innings (1).
Neil Broom: 1/9 off 2, 30, 1/11 off 3, 1.
Skip to 0:50 for Broom's 1st wicket
Skip to 1:30 for Broom's 2nd wicket
Middlesex vs Surrey
James Franklin has been quietly going about his business with Middlesex and at Lord's, the Middlesex skipper chipped in with a nice all-round contribution as they drew with Surrey. Franklin used himself as the fourth bowler with Surrey batting first and Franklin took 2/42 off 13 overs including the wicket of Aaron Finch for 37. Surrey were dismissed for 415.
Middlesex could only manage 293 in reply with Franklin coming in at No.7 and scoring 17 before he was bowled. Franklin could take a second innings wicket, bowling 13 overs for 53 runs and Surrey declared on 266/7 setting Middlesex 389 to win. In combination with George Bailey, Franklin helped steer Middlesex to within a sniff of the target, however they ran out of time on 278/6 with Franklin putting 70 on the board.
James Franklin: 2/42 off 13, 17, 0/53 off 13, 70.
Yorkshire vs Warwickshire
I won't lie; Jeetan Patel is my best friend on the Kiwi County Tour. We're besties, mainly because I idolise him and won't leave him alone but fair play to Jeetz as he's been nice enough to share a brew or two with me. Unfortuntely for Jeetz, his Warwickshire suffered defeat at the hands of Yorkshire ... he's still taking wickets though.
Jeetz took 2/55 off a mammoth 32 overs as Yorkshire were dismissed for 257 in their first innings, with Jeetz taking the wicket of fringe English cricketer Adil Rashid. Rashid got some revenge however, sending Jeetz back to the sheds for 7 with Warwickshire dismissed for 179, giving up a decent lead to Yorkshire.
As we'd expect from our talisman, Jeetz did his best to keep Warwickshire in the contest, taking 4/49 off 29.3 overs as Yorkshire were rolled for 150 in their second dig (Jeetz had Rashid's wicket again). Yorkshire set Warwickshire a target of 229 and sealed victory by dismissing Warwickshire for 180, with bloody Rashid having the last laugh of a ding-dong battle with Jeetz, having Jeetz stumped for 4.
Hah! Nobody has the last laugh over Jeetz. In pursuit of another 50+ wicket County season, 6 wickets in the loss to Yorkshire puts Jeetz in 2nd in the Division One wicket-takers - level with his Warwickshire homie Keith Barker on 41 wickets but 2nd 'cos his average of 25.82 is slightly worse than Barker's 25.51.
Jeetz has 41 wickets in 11 games/21 innings, an average of 25.81 and has only conceded 2.66rpo. May the Jeetz show continue.
Jeetan Patel: 2/55 off 32, 7, 4/49 off 29.3, 4.