Kiwi County Tour #7 (Royal London One-Day Cup Update)
Franklin da skipper.
Three Kiwi County Tour fixtures to enjoy this round and I've gotta squeeze these three out as we're entering a fairly hectic week of KCT cricket. As the Royal London One-Day Cup comes to a pause ahead of the return of legit County cricket, there's a log-jam of fixtures next week and I'll be doing KCT reports every second day. We bid farewell to Neil Wagner as he went up to Ireland to join the Blackcaps where he could make his ODI debut in the tri-series against Bangladesh and Ireland, but along with the likes of Hamish Bennett, Seth Rance and Scott Kuggeleijn, Wagner will be prepping for nothing and should settle back into County cricket with Essex.
Jeetan Patel's future with Warwickshire is a bit murky as well. It would make sense for him to play out the remaining one-day games with his County team as County opposition is almost on par with Bangaldesh (in Ireland) and Ireland; communication isn't exactly NZ Cricket's forte though so...
James Franklin
Middlesex vs Glamorgan (May 10)
Middlesex skipper James Franklin has been playing a steady hand for the blokes from Lord's and he hit his second half-century of the competition as Middlesex were dismissed for 243 in 48.4 overs. Franklin came in at No.6 and hit 54 off 75 balls, only hitting two boundaries as he guided his team through the middle stages of their innings.
As has been the case for much of this competition, Franklin didn't use himself as a bowling option. England seamer Steven Finn took 4/39 @3.90rpo to lead Middlesex to victory, dismissing Glamorgan for 227 in 48.3 overs.
Franklin has been super-steady so far, starting with 69 in his first RLC game and then chipping in with handy runs and a few wickets. 3 wickets in six games isn't amazing, but Franklin has only bowled in three games and when you combine those wickets with 220 runs @ 36.66avg, you've got a leader in Franklin who contributes more often than not.
Matt Quinn
Essex vs Sussex (May 10)
Without his new-ball homie Wagner, Matt Quinn was the lone kiwi for Essex as they continue to be a force with another win. Alistair Cook hit his second century for Essex (63.40avg) as they reached 295/7 from their 50 overs with Quinn not required to even pad up.
Quinn didn't do any damage with the new-ball and conceded 7.30rpo off his 10 overs, however his 30 dot balls almost gave him the honour of bowling the most dot balls and being Essex's most expensive bowler. Some geezer Paul Walter took 3/45 and bowled 32 dot balls, so shout out to him.
The wicket Quinn did take was rather crucial though as hs snared Sussex opener Chris Nash for 66 in the 32nd after Sussex had gone from 68/2 to 149/3. That wicket hit pause on Sussex's innings and they were then dismissed for 285 in 48.1 overs.
With a wicket in this game, Quinn took his tally to 7 wickets @28.14avg and with Wagner away on Blackcaps duty, the door is open for Quinn to catch Wagner (10 wkts @21.50avg).
Jeetan Patel
Derbyshire vs Warwickshire (May 10)
Warwickshire aren't very good at this 50-over cricket thing, even though they have Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell and Lord Jeetz himself. The Bears suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of Derbyshire after making 292/7 in the first innings.
Jeetz wasn't required to bat and while he did take 2/57, he and the Warwickshire bowlers were once again expensive. Derbyshire chased their 293-run target, reaching 296/6 with two deliveries remaining and Jeetz isn't carrying the best form into the Blackcaps as he's averaging 34.25 and conceding 5.16rpo.