MOEEN'S DAY
Ali in a day's work for the Rapid Moeen
Final
Moeen a class apart
Luke Wood opened up the game bowling a tight spell, Sussex pair Wright and Evans turned on the gas until Sussex were pegged back by Moeen Ali, with 3 wickets in his four economical overs. Sharks somewhat lost their way and tailed off poorly only scoring 157-6.
Rapids through Moeen again, and Joe Clarke made rapid progress through the powerplay overs but lost wickets to the twirlers of Briggs and Beer. However Ben Cox had the necessary firepower to blast Rapids to victory with nine balls to spare.
Takes the biscuit
I'm 99% certain Luke Wood got a winners' medal in 2017, so that's two in a row for Luke.
Semi Final North
Summary:
Moeen shows his big game experience
Rapids get a flying start led by Moeen Ali
Moeen gets out and Rapids appear to choke under pressure from the Lightning spinners, losing wickets and with the scoring rate going backwards.
Lightning revert back to the quicker bowlers, Rapids 7th wicket pair of Cox and Barnard, consolidate and let loose in the last 4 or 5 overs, scoring the first 7th wicket 50 partnership on a Finals Day.
Lightning reply steady enough but get tied down by Moeen Ali, pressure builds, Buttler fails, panicky run outs and Pat Brown cashes in with some cheap wickets and Lightning are left floundering 20 runs short. Luke Wood bowled two overs for eleven runs.
Semi Final South
Smells like the Wright stuff
A Luke Wright 92 and in a partnership of 120 with David Wiese (52) ensured Sharks posted 202, a score way above par. Somerset couldn't maintain anything like the rate required a fell 35 runs short as the Shark attack hit Yorker length consistently; Chris Jordan the stand out performer 4-1-17-2.
LIGHTNING TO STRIKE AGAIN? NAH!
It's that Saturday in the year, though a little later than usual this year, and it feels a little weird not to going after the contrasting treks over to Birmingham in 2016 and 2017 which are a bit like chalk and cheese in memory now.
It's a long, long day and if your team is dumped out in the first match, it can feel like an eternity until the grand finale fireworks.
Outlaws don't have absolute zero interest in the proceedings however, with Luke Wood still paddling down the Rapids but I'd expect that interest to drip away after the first game (the North Final), Lancashire going into the game with the cliched momentum, bolstered by the return of Liam Livingstone, I presume, and the world class Jos Buttler.
The South Final; Sussex have the bowlers, but it's a batsman's game so will their form man Laurie Evans have enough to eclipse Somerset's team effort...
In terms of wins, Lancashire Lightning are the most successful T20 team in the world, will they carry that on through today?
Next season, the extravaganza of Finals Day was due to be at Trent Bridge again, but Lisa Pursestrings has sold those rights back to Edgbaston for a tidy profit and bagged an extra ODI in the process.
ReplyDeleteThe Finals Day ticket fiasco
Worcestershire CEO Rawnsley remains disappointed about the allocation of just 500 tickets for Saturday, along with equally disappointed supporters of the other three semi-finalists Lancashire (who Worcestershire meet first up), Somerset and Sussex.
But he is nonetheless looking forward to the day, having arranged for the club's support staff to be there at Edgbaston too.
"To get to Finals Day is a great achievement," he said. "Worcestershire and Derbyshire were the only two clubs who hadn't got here. For us to do it now is the culmination of many years of progress.
"But there just haven't been enough tickets to go around. We've learnt some lessons. And hopefully we'll get the chance to address that if we qualify again next year.
Matt Rawnsley took over as Worcestershire chief executive in March
Former Pears spinner Matt Rawnsley took over as Worcestershire chief executive in March
"We had an allocation of 530, of which 500 come from Edgbaston, administered by the ECB, and 30 come direct from the ECB for the players, coaches and support staff. But 30 isn't enough.
"For most of the cricketers and the support staff, this is the biggest day of their career. So, out of that 500, we've taken 30 more to give to the players and the support staff, and to the people who work here at New Road. It's a big event we can share in, to lay on transport for the staff here and take them up the M5. That reduced the allocation we could sell.
"But the root cause is the allocation. That is the issue. It was a misappropriation of tickets. I can understand why they did what they did, based on past sales of tickets. And they have recognised that the allocation was way too low.
There's more than just biscuit's involvement on the day for us Outlaws fans to be interested in - it's the Mascot derby after the first semi and this year there's vague rumours the DoC may be inside to save money as requested by the Princess herself, namely as you state, Ms Pursestrings. And also, a third, very tenuous link, in that Mull is sharing commentary duties on 5live sports extra. Almost feels as though we are there again ourselves with all those links????????
ReplyDeletePleased for Seabiscuit. Bowled well in both the semi and then the final itself. Also good to see the Wurzels bottled it YET AGAIN on the big day. The Raptors look a very close knit team and set up and not convinced Joe Clarke will move counties after this huge win. I guess the main aspect in our favour though is if he wants to play Div One level as the Pears are a constant yo-yo club, so that could be his main decision in our favour?
ReplyDeleteYou would imagine that Joe Clarke is ambitious,So then the question would be 'can he fulfill that ambition and stay at Worcestershire '
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that two maybe three things could sway his decision one way or the other ... Coaching.., Peter Moores is accepted as a fine coach many players have stated how much he helped improve their game...Test match ground .... Both Notts recent signings have gone on record as saying that walking out at to play at T.B was a huge factor in their decision... Division One .... Quite simply it's easier to attract the attention of the selectors if you play in the top division.
Whatever decision is made hopefully it's made soon,Its a fact when your mind is on other matters your work suffers Joe like any other player will realise that...
Yes, Zangakkara, it depends on like you say whether he feels he can match his ambition with the Pears/Raptors ? Also, assume we can cough up a few quid more, but like the DoC often states players rarely move for just the money -unless that is you're moving to the Kia Oval and having your wages doubled.
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