All posts by csb10.top

ScorecardNitish Kumar’s half-century and two wickets in a momentum-shifting bowling spell led Canada past USA by 34 runs in the opening 50-over contest of the 2016 Auty Cup in Woodley Park on Thursday. In his first match as Canada captain, Kumar arrived in the fourth over with the side at 20 for 1, after being put in to bat on a moist pitch, and teamed with Srimantha Wijeratne for a 104-run second-wicket partnership that laid the platform for the score of 239 for 8.Kumar had some help from USA’s poor fielding performance that allowed the side to flourish early. Kumar was dropped twice – on 2 and 11 – by wicketkeeper Akeem Dodson in his innings of 60, while Wijeratne, who top-scored with 66, enjoyed three lives – he was put down by Steven Taylor at slip on 28 and 45, and then Dodson missed a stumping on 59.Taylor did his best to stall Canada’s momentum with the ball and, after nabbing Kumar and Wijeratne, he burrowed through Canada’s middle order to claim a career-best 5 for 47. Shehan Kamileen was teased into a edging a wider delivery, while Nikhil Dutta and Junaid Siddiqui were both given out leg before playing across the line.Legspinner Timil Patel built pressure at the other end to aid Taylor, ending with 2 for 35. Both strikes came in the 37th over – a double-wicket maiden – that swung the momentum USA’s way. Hamza Tariq sent a leading edge back for a return catch off the second ball before Dilon Heyliger fell three balls later, flicking around his pads.Canada slipped from 152 for 2 to 183 for 8 by the time Taylor and Patel had ripped through the line-up but USA’s inability to see off the tail cost them badly. Varun Sehdev and Satsimranjit Dhindsa added an unbeaten 56-run stand for the ninth wicket. An injury to Srini Santhanam, who had consistently troubled Canada and had two chances put down off his bowling, also dented USA’s bowling effort. Santhanam hurt his shoulder throwing in a relay from the boundary in the 20th over, having just finished his sixth over in a spell of 0 for 30. He was off the field for the rest of the innings.USA sprinted toward the target early on thanks in part to Canada’s wayward start with the ball – four leg byes and five wides in the first over – an early sign of things to come. The 32 extras bowled by Canada ended up as the second-highest contributor to USA’s score. USA reached 45 in the fifth over as opener Abdullah Syed began by driving Dhindsa to the cover rope, then slashed him over third man for six in the second over before being caught down the leg side off Cecil Pervez for 12.Opening batsman Fahad Babar motored along to 35 off 32 balls before the introduction of spin halted his and USA’s overall progress. While Babar managed to keep Canada’s spinners out, his middle-order partners could not. Kumar brought himself on in the 14th over and clogged up runs at his end. The pressure saw USA add 10 runs and lose three wickets over the next seven overs to slip from 80 for 1 in 13 overs to 90 for 4 in 20 overs.Alex Amsterdam played down the wrong line and was pinned lbw by Kumar for 14. Taylor ran himself out for 1, with Babar on strike, as Kumar made a diving stop at midwicket off Dutta and then calmly threw to the bowler, with the batsman giving up. Dodson then edged Kumar to Siddiqui at slip for 5, giving the Canada captain figures of 2 for 6 with two maidens in his first five overs.Babar eventually brought up his half-century off 71 balls in the 27th over and appeared to have found a willing ally in Nicholas Standford to get USA’s chase back on track. Standford slammed Siddiqui’s legspin over the on side for six and four in the 23rd over but, five overs later, he edged behind off Dhindsa while attempting a cut.Babar’s patience ran out, too, and he gave his wicket to Siddiqui, charging down the track for the first time in the 38th over and edging a slog to Tariq for 63. USA needed 74 off the last 12 overs but that was too much for the tail. Jessy Singh and Danial Ahmed were both caught on the boundary to wrap up the innings in 47.2 overs. Pervez was brilliant in his second spell, taking 2 for 11 and two maidens in five overs to finish with 3 for 38 in 10.

ScorecardEd Joyce made 92 to lead Sussex’s reply before a mid-innings collapse•Getty Images

There Luke Wright was, wandering slowly from the field, strangled down the leg-side off David Masters, the sixth of six wickets to fall for just 49. Harry Finch, with a broken thumb, would only bat if absolutely required, so Wright’s big plan to haul Sussex back into the game looked in tatters, with just the bowlers left to bat.That plan, for the first half of the day, had been going so well. First thing, Chris Jordan, a little luckless yet also a wee bit wayward on day one, bowled with verve and pace to dock Essex’s meek tail, picking up four wickets for five runs, as just 21 was added to the overnight score.Then, for an hour each side of lunch, Ed Joyce batted with grace and class in the company of the more watchful Chris Nash to reach 124 without loss. Barely a bat was beaten, hardly an appeal uttered in anger. Joyce was in total control; he drove with precision, flicked crisply to leg and cut and pulled with elegance. When 100 came up, he had 72 and a fourth Championship century of the season – and 46th in first-class cricket (it is his stated aim to reach 50 this season) – seemed a formality. Nash, capable of scoring at such a lick, blocked away in awe.Then, unplanned, came afternoon drinks. On a warm afternoon, Essex’s fielders were beginning to look beleaguered – and perhaps beguiled by Joyce – regrouped. The tight line, and perhaps a little nip, of Masters, with the first over of the break, caught Nash napping, and James Foster took a fine catch low to his right. Next over, Luke Wells appeared to nick off to Graham Napier, but – with Essex incredulous and fielders delivering a volley of abuse to the batsman – the umpire adjudged it was arm, not bat. It mattered not, as next ball Wells pulled a bumper straight to fine leg. Send-offs – needless to say – followed.Another couple of overs on and it was Joyce out hooking, while David Wiese came and went for a breezy 13, which included two fine straight drives, before he edged the impressive Tom Moore – who sage judges in these parts say is playing for his future at Essex – to the lone slip. After tea, Wright’s wicket immediately followed that of Ben Brown, through his stroke early and caught at mid-on, and 124 for 0 had become 173 for 6.Then Jofra Archer, who bowled with such promise on day one, joined his mentor – and the man who arranged for him to come from their native Barbados and play in southern England, Chris Jordan, in the middle. While they made a scratchy start, they both settled and, on a pitch with wonderful carry, the Essex seamers – Ryan ten Doeschate appears to have inherited his clubmate Alastair Cook’s distrust of spinners – tired once more.Jordan and Archer – which sounds rather like a Hello! magazine cover in the noughties – went tit for tat. Jordan pulled beautifully on the front foot so Archer – who enjoyed the majority of the strike – handsomely cover drove, before standing tall to wallop Porter for six over square-leg. They moved to 50 in consecutive balls in Dan Lawrence’s solitary over and, by stumps, the partnership – all stylish, swashbuckling fare – was worth 118, and the lead had been eroded to just 67. Wright needn’t have looked so hangdog after all.”Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant,” enthused their coach, Mark Davis, “we had got ourselves in a really good position through the openers, and from there, you hope to have a proper day with the bat, and get 500. But that didn’t prove to be, we lost a few, then those two came together – what an amazing partnership, and it got us back in the game.”Jofra came in in a tricky situation but is a pretty fearless cricketer with bat and ball. He’s not fazed by the occasion, or by playing his first few games in this country. You can’t really instill that in players. He’s not just a bowler, he’s an allrounder and we are really excited to have him in our ranks. He’s had a great week, he’s very driven and is quick learner. CJ knows him very well, he’s the one who got him over in the first place, they know each other well. He’s always said how good he is. He could be a superstar for us.”Jordan’s excellence with the bat – and as a leader, too, perhaps – was matched by his early showing with the ball. Ashar Zaidi had one too many swish and was caught behind, while nightwatchman Porter was trapped plumb in front. Masters’ nick made it four in 13 balls, then Moore’s stumps went flying. With the dangerous Napier, playing his final game on his home ground, left stranded, Jordan – not for the last time – had got his team out of trouble. Much more work lies ahead for Jordan, but thanks in large part to he and Archer, a thrilling contest awaits.

ScorecardRavi Bopara’s all-round excellence kept Essex alive in the tournament•Getty Images

On a night when one campaign would be reignited and another shelved, Essex trampled all over Kent in front of their own fans for a derby hammering that soured a truly exceptional night of revelry. It was standard English T20 fare: ale in the air, kids playing in the array of green nooks that Canterbury has to offer and unhindered sun cheering even the most straight-laced Kent fan lamenting a season in which a side that promised so much has delivered so little.Before the match Ravi Bopara was not entirely sure what Essex needed for a quarter-final spot. Having called the toss correctly, he assumed winning every match might do it. Opting to bat, both he and Tom Westley notched their first half-centuries of the competition to post 190. A turn with the ball, removing Alex Blake and then running out James Tredwell with a direct hit, showed that Bopara was at least up to scratch with the short-term needs if not the bigger picture. He’ll be pleased to know that they now sit in fourth, with their fate in their own hands.With a plethora of English talent on show, Andy Flower was present to soak in an evening when the ground was bursting at the seams with a crowd that pushed the 6,000 capacity to its limit. There was not a seat nor a patch of grass spare on the bank. Standing space, too, had to be earned. The food village at the Nackington Road End was a sweaty mosh-pit of pad thai at the interval. Flower opted for the sedate order of the Sainsbury’s next to the ground.As it happens, he would have made all if not most of his notes of praise during Essex’s innings, as Kent Spitfires’ chase stuttered every few boundaries. Sam Northeast, with 994 Championship runs and, now, over 403 in the T20 Blast, was snipped after 12 balls at the crease, just as he was starting to threaten a thrilling star turn. The returning Lions fared no better: Daniel Bell-Drummond gifting David Masters a high return catch before Sam Billings, given a WWE-style fanfare when he strode to the crease, made a more sombre return walk after just two balls for Masters’ second.Westley shone brightest, coming in during the fifth over and batting right through to the end for 74 off 49 balls. It was typically Westley – a wrist-heavy affair that was more kiss-kiss than bang-bang. He took a particular liking to Darren Stevens, at times allowing deliveries to sit up, on a pitch that responded well to variety, to find gaps on both sides of the wicket.The half-century came off 33 balls, by which point, in the 15th over, Bopara had just 12 from 17 balls. A post-fifty acceleration from Westley allowed his captain the chance to settle before thrashing 15 off the 20th over, bowled by David Griffiths. Bopara’s own half-century saw him redress his stodgy start with 31 off the last 15 balls. Together, they put on 119.Tonight also marked the return of Matt Coles. Since being made unavailable for selection after an indiscretion during the Championship game against Glamorgan in Cardiff last month, the rumour mill has been turning. It is familiar territory for Coles, who is Kent through and through but will find it harder to command the goodwill of a fan base starting to lose their patience with him.News of Coles’ return to the side had not reached those at the ground until the toss, many of whom had already sussed his presence, a spitting burly figure throwing down stumps with Kagiso Rabada in the warm-ups. Brought on after four overs, he conceded consecutive boundaries off his first two balls back but finished the over with the wicket of Nick Browne – caught well by Rabada at deep midwicket- before undoing Dan Lawrence with a change of pace.A penny for Flower’s thoughts: it was he who ejected Coles from a Lions tour in 2013, along with Ben Stokes, as his visit to the camp in Australia coincided with their drunken misdemeanours. Stokes has made his peace by becoming one of the game’s most exciting allrounders as Coles battles on to find his.He needs time to get back to where he wants to be – in cricket and in life. In so many ways, it is hard not to look at Coles and, even considering the self-inflicted nature of his misdemeanours, label him “unlucky”. As one member of that 2013 Lions tour put it: “it’s not that Colesy got drunk – it’s that he got caught”.

A side normally known for its seam prowess, South Africa, now have a record-breaking spinner to boast about too. Imran Tahir’s 7 for 45 against West Indies are the best figures by any bowler from his country in ODIs.While picking up that haul, Tahir also became the quickest South African to 100 wickets. The legspinner has played 58 matches, one fewer than Morne Morkel who held the previous record.Tahir was able to do his job without worrying about keeping the runs down thanks to his team-mates putting up 343 for 4 in 50 overs. “I had the freedom to bowl whatever I wanted to because the boys put a decent total on the board, especially on a track like this,” he said. “They put us in a position where the bowlers could do whatever they want to do and try to attack and that’s what we did and things went well for us.”South Africa posted the only score over 300 in the Caribbean tri-series so far to silence criticism about their long tail, but it did not always look like it would be enough.West Indies were racing along at 58 for 0 after six overs when Tahir was introduced. His over, full of sliders and googlies, was the first not to include a boundary and his next one produced a wicket – Andre Fletcher caught at deep midwicket. It underlined Tahir’s ability to be effective even against big-hitting batsmen with the field restrictions in place.”They [West Indies] are attacking players and we know that. When someone attacks you, there is always an opportunity and that’s what I look for,” Tahir said. “The West Indian boys can chase anything. It is a big challenge as a spinner to play modern day cricket, where you have to have five players in the circle. Thanks to technology, you can sit and see the opposition’s mistakes and try to learn from them. It’s very challenging as a spinner but it’s good as well because that makes you perfect.”After his initial breakthrough, Tahir was brought back in the middle overs, a period when he has controlled proceedings for South Africa over the last two years. On Wednesday, he removed Marlon Samuels, West Indies’ match-winner when they chased 266 against Australia, for 24.It is unusual for South Africa to play two specialist spinners but they have done so in every match of this series – and once even fielded three. The combination of Tahir and left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi has helped the balance of their attack and showed that they do posses bowlers who can exploit slower surfaces.”He is a very good talent,” Tahir said of Shamsi. “I’m very happy to see him bowling like that. I’ve been working with him for a long time. He is a brother to me. We played together for a few years in domestic cricket and it’s really nice to see him doing what he is doing.”In a country that has lacked for spin-bowling role-models, Shamsi will have few better teachers than Tahir, who broke the back of West Indies’ chase and then returned to feast on the tail. He got rid of Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite off successive balls and Kieron Pollard later in the same over to take his second career five-for, and then topped up with two more wickets to end with figures better than any South African so far.”I feel really proud. I will take that any day,” Tahir said. “I’m just really pleased. When things like this happen, you feel good about yourself and all the hard work you’ve done in the nets.”

The ICC’s proposal for a two-tier Test system has not been received well in Bangladesh with the BCB’s vice-president Mahbubul Anam the latest to voice dissent as he feared for the growth of cricket in the country.As part of a widespread overhaul, David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, had said they were contemplating an increase in the number of countries with Test status and then separating them into two groups – the top seven and the bottom five – based on performance. Should this happen, Bangladesh, who are ranked ninth, are likely to slip into Division Two and settle for lesser Tests against top cricketing nations.”We do not support this system,” Mahbubul said. “We believe that more we play against competitive sides, the better we will get. If we didn’t play against better standard sides in ODIs, we wouldn’t have come this far. We were the king of the jungle from where we achieved the Test status. We were given a reality check when we were promoted to the highest level. I feel that if we go backwards, our cricket will regress.”As a veteran official who has represented the Bangladesh board at ICC, Mahbubul was disappointed that the global governing body was thinking about creating a “special class” of teams.”It is the ICC’s responsibility to globalise the game and not create a special class,” he said. “Other sports are spreading while cricket is becoming limited. I don’t think this should be the target of a global organisation.”Bangladesh gained Test status in 2000, but if they are relegated, they may have go through a two-year grind in Division Two to earn a promotion.Mahbubul is the third of the BCB directors after Ahmed Sajjadul Alam and Tanjil Chowdhury to speak against the two-tier proposal. The views of Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, are not public yet.

Uncapped left-arm seamer Chaminda Bandara has been called in as a replacement for the injured Dushmantha Chameera in Sri Lanka’s squad for the third Test against England at Lord’s. His selection follows Chameera’s lower-back injury, which ruled him out for the rest of the England tour.Bandara, 29, will leave for England with Kusal Perera, who replaced injured seamer Dhammika Prasad; both players will be available for selection for the Lord’s Test, which starts from June 9.”Bandara has been performing well domestically and he is the best choice available at the time for the English conditions,” chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya said.Sri Lanka will also wait for the results of tests on Shaminda Eranga’s bowling action, which will take place on June 6. Eranga’s action had been reported after the second Test, at Chester-Le-Street. If the tests conclude that Eranga’s action is illegal, he will barred from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect.Bandara was not in the preliminary squad for the tour, but leapfrogs Vishwa Fernando and Kasun Rajitha into the Test squad, thanks largely to his domestic experience. He was also the most successful seam bowler in this year’s first-class tournament, taking 33 wickets at an average of 26.30 for Ports Authority Cricket Club. He has played 51 first-class matches in all, taking 141 wickets at an average of 29.85.

David Miller remains in contention for the 2027 World Cup despite his absence from South Africa’s squad for their ODI series in England, according to captain Temba Bavuma.Miller, 36, has not played international cricket since the Champions Trophy in March and signed a hybrid contract with Cricket South Africa earlier this year. He missed South Africa’s white-ball tour to Australia in August while playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred and will not feature in this week’s ODI series, but will return for the three T20Is that start on September 10.Bavuma said that Miller’s involvement in the Hundred – which ended on Saturday night in the Eliminator – effectively precluded him from selection for the ODI series, since he had missed South Africa’s build-up since arriving in Leeds last week. By contrast, five of England’s players only travelled to Headingley on Monday afternoon after playing in Sunday night’s final.Related

• Maharaj back in South Africa's T20I squad

• Sonny Baker set for England ODI debut against South Africa

“What I understand is that those communications were done during his contract times, in terms of him being available during this period for the Hundred,” Bavuma said. “Essentially, he wasn’t available for selection – but I stand by correction around that… David’s still within the mix in the ODI stuff, if that answers your question.”The Australia tour would’ve coincided with the Hundred. I guess any international commitments that occurred during the Hundred, David wasn’t available for. Unfortunately, the one-day [series], it clashes: he wasn’t part of our build-up. But then with the T20 stuff, the Hundred is done, he’ll fall back into the team.”While Miller will be 38 by the time of the 2027 World Cup, he has an exceptional ODI record as a middle-order batter, averaging 42.30 and striking at 103.68 after more than 150 innings in the format. He impressed during the Hundred too, scoring 133 runs in five innings and hitting 14 of the 71 balls that he faced for six – including four in 10 balls in Saturday’s Eliminator.South Africa’s squad is otherwise at full strength for the ODI series, although Matthew Breetzke and Kagiso Rabada miss out for Tuesday’s series-opener with niggles. They have also lost Heinrich Klaasen from the group that reached the Champions Trophy semi-finals, following his retirement from international cricket earlier this year.Bavuma said that the wider context for this week’s ODI series is for South Africa to continue their development as a 50-over side ahead of the 2027 World Cup – which they will co-host with Zimbabwe and Namibia: “That’s the bigger picture… But we’d like to bring ourselves back to here and what we need to do to be successful in England.”

Ben Dawkins struck a century and Ralphie Albert claimed a ten-wicket haul as England Under-19 drew against India Under-19 in the second Youth Test in Chelmsford. Kent opener Dawkins made an impressive 136 and shared a 188-run opening stand with Adam Thomas before England declared on 324 for 5 thanks to some middle-order firepower, as they looked to pursue an unlikely win. But Ayush Mhatre’s century extinguished those hopes despite Surrey spinner Albert’s eventual match figures of 10 for 129. The result meant that the two-match series finished level.With the pitch offering little assistance at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, England’s openers picked up where they left off and Dawkins brought up his half-century with a flick off his pads for two in the fourth over of the day.Thomas provided ample support, on his way to 91, as England quickly extended their lead towards 200 in the first hour as the Indian attack toiled.India had a half-chance for an opening wicket as both openers entered the nervous nineties, but Dawkins narrowly avoided a run-out after taking a hasty single to cover.With lunch looming, Aditya Rawat finally got the breakthrough, taking a regulation caught-and-bowled chance as Thomas fell short of a century.Dawkins brought up a deserved hundred on the brink of lunch with a piercing cover drive for four, having nearly been caught on 99 playing the same shot on the previous ball.Ben Mayes looked to counterattack but was dismissed by Rawat for a quickfire 11 when a leading edge flew straight down the throat of Henil Patel at deep third.As England’s lead passed 250, Dawkins and Thomas Rew began to attack more with the skipper hitting a flurry of boundaries before Rawat bowled him for 19.As the runs flowed, so did the wickets, as Dawkins and Rocky Flintoff continued the boundary assault before both were caught in the deep.After Aaryan Sawant and Ekansh Singh smashed a few sixes of their own, England eventually declared on 324 for 5, leaving India with 65 overs to chase down 355 or simply survive.England got off to a dream start when Alex Green’s opening delivery was chopped on by 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, fuelling the hopes of victory.But India soon extinguished these hopes. While Vihaan Malhotra dug in, Mhatre attacked, racking up 50 in just 25 balls as India steadied the ship.Albert’s drop at long on when Mhatre was on 54 looked like a potentially pivotal moment as the clouds grew darker and the floodlights switched on.But Albert wasted no time in making amends with the ball, as he dismissed Malhotra in his first over, leaving India 100 for 2 as tea beckoned.India also harboured dim hopes of victory as Abhigyan Kundu joined Mhatre and hit two sixes in the first two overs after the break to keep ahead of the required run rate.Mhatre also kept the momentum going and made the most of his earlier reprieve to bring up a remarkable century off 64 balls.Kundu was equally aggressive in the middle and brought up his half-century with a well-placed four, striking at over 150 in the process.But Mhatre finally fell for 126, caught by Mayes on the long-on boundary as Albert got his revenge, triggering a mini-collapse for India.Kundu edged to slip 15 minutes later before Rahul Kumar chipped the ball straight back to Mayes, swinging the momentum back towards England.However, India’s lower order rallied and when drizzle forced the players off the umpires ended the match as a draw.

Surrey saw their romp towards a third consecutive Division One title lose a little momentum as they were forced to settle for a draw against relegation-threatened Nottinghamshire in the Vitality County Championship at Trent Bridge.On a day when their teenage off-spinner Farhan Ahmed’s 10-wicket match haul claimed a 159-year-old record set by no less a cricketing legend than WG Grace, the home side, who had been set a target of 298 to win from a minimum 48 overs when Surrey declared at 177 for nine in their second innings, were 121 without loss when the sides shook hands on a draw at 5pm, openers Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater having each made half-centuries.The result means that Surrey’s lead of 35 points at the start of this round of matches, after winning seven of their previous eight matches, is cut to 24 thanks to Somerset’s victory over Durham at Taunton. Surrey and Somerset meet at Taunton next week.At the other end of the table, after Warwickshire and Worcestershire both won, the points taken for the draw – a merit worthy achievement after trailing by 120 on first innings – leaves Nottinghamshire 10 points ahead of Lancashire in the battle to avoid being relegated alongside Kent. All sides have three matches to come.Rory Burns made 71 to go with his first-innings 161 with Liam Patterson-White finishing with five for 94 before the declaration came, but the Nottinghamshire left-arm spinner’s achievement was again upstaged by his young team-mate Ahmed, with whom he shared all 53 overs of the Surrey second innings.Already in the record books on his Championship debut as the youngest player to bag five wickets or more in a first-class match in Britain, he achieved another mark of distinction, arguably even more prestigious, when he claimed Jordan Clark as his 10th wicket of the match.This enabled him to replace Grace as the youngest to take 10 or more wickets in a first-class match in Britain – in fact anywhere other than in South Asia.Grace returned the extraordinary match figures of 13 for 84 – on his first-class debut – for Gentlemen of the South against Players of the South at the Oval in June 1865, at the age of 16 years 340 days.With a match analysis of 10 for 247 at the age of 16 years and 192 days, Ahmed lowers the record by 148 days. He bowled a staggering 76.4 overs in the match, which may be a record in itself for a debut appearance.Surrey, who had missed out on a fourth first-innings batting point that seemed theirs for the taking, arguably made another mistake when they declared just shy of an hour after lunch.The timing meant Nottinghamshire would have to score at more than six runs per over to win the contest on a pitch that had yielded at barely three-and-a-half all game, with the Kookaburra ball reportedly hard to get away on a slow surface.Surrey were banking on England off-spinner Will Jacks, who had matched Ahmed by taking seven first-innings wickets, and leg-spinner Cam Steel to exploit the fourth-day pitch but Hameed and Slater were rarely troubled as neither could find a way through.Earlier, Surrey had advanced from 13 for one overnight to 104 for four by lunch, playing in light for that period so gloomy that bowling spin was the only option for Nottinghamshire skipper Hameed.A second-wicket stand worth 57 was broken by Patterson-White, who induced a miscue to short midwicket by Ryan Patel, following up by turning one sharply to bowl Will Jacks three balls later.Patterson-White had Burns dropped at square leg on 39, after which the Surrey captain’s stop-start dithering over a single into the offside off Ahmed saw new partner Ben Foakes run out by Hameed’s throw to keeper Kyle Verreynne.As the tempo increased after lunch, with Surrey now chasing runs for the declaration, Ahmed completed his 10 for the match by bowling Burns and having Clark caught behind in a botched scoop attempt.Patterson-White raised his five for the innings by having Sai Sudharsan caught at deep midwicket and bowling Conor McKerr and Tom Lawes, for his pains getting clubbed for two meaty sixes by Dan Worrall before Burns signalled the declaration.

Sussex Sharks secured a home quarter-final in the Vitality Blast after thrashing Middlesex by nine wickets in front of a sell-out crowd at Hove.They leapfrogged Somerset, who lost heavily to Glamorgan in Cardiff, and back into second place after securing a ninth win in the South Group and will host the team who finish third in the North in the last eight when the competition resumes in September.The pitch at the 1st Central County Ground was being used for the third time but Middlesex’s 159 for 9 never looked like being enough and conditions were put into perspective by Sussex openers Harrison Ward and the Australian left-hander Daniel Hughes, who put on 141 in 15.1 overs, Sussex’s fourth highest stand for any wicket in T20.Hughes is now the top scorer in what is his debut season in the Blast after taking his aggregate to 560 runs with an unbeaten 96 while Ward, who had been drafted into the Hundred for the first time with Oval Invincibles earlier in the day, celebrated by easing to his third half-century in this season’s competition.Apart from a mix-up which nearly ended in Hughes being run out, the Sussex pair did much as they pleased until Ward was caught at deep mid-wicket for 56 (42 balls, 5 fours, 1 six).Hughes faced just 54 balls, hitting 12 fours and three sixes – the third to win the game with 22 deliveries to spare as he equalled his T20 career-best with his fourth fifty.Some disciplined bowling had set Sussex up. They had reduced Middlesex to 22 for 3 by the third over with Ollie Robinson picking up a wicket with the first ball of his first two overs. The dangerous Leus du Plooy was superbly caught at short-cover by Daniel Hughes and Danny Lamb produced an even better effort to remove Max Holden, flinging himself to his left to hang on to a full-blooded slash at backward point.Later in the same over Lamb put down a much more straightforward chance to reprieve Jack Davies on nought and had to go off with an injury to his right shoulder. It left Sussex a bowler light but slow left-armer James Coles (2 for 28) and off-spinner Jack Carson (2 for 23) strangled Middlesex’s attempts to accelerate, although Davies celebrated his reprieve by making 52.Davies hit four boundaries in an over off Scott Currie and also swiped three sixes but Carson got him in the 14th over courtesy of one of three catches on the mid-wicket boundary by Tom Clark.Luke Hollman made 28 at the end but Hughes and Ward soon had Sussex’s chase under control as Middlesex finished another disappointing campaign second from bottom after winning just three games.