Kiwi County Tour: Matt Henry & Ish Sodhi Are T20 Blast Champions
Along with Will Young hitting a century in his third consecutive Kiwi County Tour, Somerset won the T20 Blast with Matt Henry and Ish Sodhi playing crucial roles. Henry finished as the leading wicket-taker for all T20 Blast teams and elevated his mahi for finals cricket, snaring 3w @ 4.9rpo in the semi-final followed by 4w @ 6.8rpo in the final.
Here is Henry's winter mahi in England...
T20 Blast: 31w @ 13.25avg/7.8rpo | 44 runs @ 133sr
County Championship: 18w @ 18.27avg/2.8po | 122 runs @ 122sr
Those batting strike-rates continue to intrigue as Henry will probably be required to whack some boundaries at the ODI World Cup in a few months. Henry is currently averaging 23.82 in First-Class cricket, 26.54 in List-A and 24.77 in T20.
We will wait to se if Henry lines up for Somerset’s next County Championship game. Sodhi hasn't been playing County Championship and only played five T20 Blast games, taking 8w @ 17.37avg/6.9rpo. In the final, Sodhi took 3w @ 5.5rpo and was Somerset's most economical bowler as well as being Somerset's most economical bowler in the tournament.
Henry and Sodhi both play for Canterbury, although neither played in last summer's Super Smash. They are also likely to be in the ODI World Cup squad together with Henry now dabbling in all three formats and Sodhi poised to snap up opportunities left by Michael Bracewell's absence.
Will Young's first County Championship game for Nottinghamshire produced a century, with Young hitting 145 against Tom Latham's Surrey. Young was also not-out in the second innings on 25 after Latham hit his second 50+ score of the campaign. Young's 170 runs in his first game, is more than Latham's 160 runs after three games for Surrey.
Here are Young's last three winters...
2021 with Durham: 278 runs @ 39.7avg, 2 x 100
2022 with Northamptonshire: 672 runs @ 37.3avg, 1 x 100, 4 x 50
2023 with Nottinghamshire: 170 runs @ 170avg, 1 x 100
Henry Shipley continues to grab wickets in County Championship division two while also showing his sneaky batting ability. In six innings of batting, Shipley has been not-out in four of them to bump his record up to 116 runs @ 58avg. Shipley took 7w in his most recent game against Derbyshire and has 13w @ 36.2avg/4.1rpo.
Shipley hovered around 5rpo in both innings vs Derbyshire and he has been expensive in all three County games, which bumps his average up over 35. Shipley is also churning out overs for Sussex as he is their only bowler who has jacked up 100+ overs in less than five games. The consistent workload is a fabulous development nudge for Shipley and he has flashed all the skills that commanded attention in Aoteaora.
Daryl Mitchell didn't play for Lancashire and he may have finished his KCT stint, missing the Lancashire vs Essex encounter. Colin de Grandhomme lined up for Lancs and didn't do much, with Will Williams taking 5w in the game as he keeps on gathering wickets. Lancashire lost thanks in part to Doug Bracewell's all round mahi as he whacked 61* @ 174sr to help Essex build a competitive target, then Bracewell took 3w @ 3.2rpo as Essex stormed their way to victory.
Will Williams: 31w @ 19.9avg/2.6rpo
Colin de Grandhomme: 128 runs @ 18avg | 7w @ 42avg/3.3rpo
Will Young: 170 runs @ 170avg
Tom Latham: 160 runs @ 26avg
Doug Bracewell: 141 runs @ 15avg | 23w @ 25avg/3.9rpo
Matt Quinn: 14w @ 28avg/2.7rpo
Henry Shipley: 116 runs @ 58avg | 13w @ 36avg/4rpo
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