Month: April 2016

Yorkshire 177 for 4 (Ballance 50*, Leaning 50*) v WarwickshireScorecard Gary Ballance helped Yorkshire rebuild © Getty Images There is an expression they use around these parts to describe notable buildings. Knowing they cannot get away with the word “beautiful” – Birmingham has many qualities, but few would claim beauty was one of them – they ascribe the word “iconic” instead. The Bullring is “iconic”. The Mailbox is “iconic”. The…

Surrey 394 for 5 (Sangakkara 171, Roy 85 Burns 80) v SomersetScorecard Kumar Sangakkara passed 1000 runs for Surrey during his innings of 171 (file photo) © Getty Images The first day of the season at The Oval was given a grandstand beginning as one of game’s leading stars gave Surrey the perfect home start. Kumar Sangakkara, still glistening as bright as ever, produced a mesmeric sixth Championship hundred –…

Kolkata Knight Riders 162 for 8 (Suryakumar 60, Yusuf 36, Bhatia 2-19) beat Rising Pune Supergiants 160 for 5 (Rahane 67, Smith 31) by two wicketsScorecard and ball-by-ball details Suryakumar Yadav struck six fours and two sixes in his 49-ball 60 © BCCI Before Sunday, Kolkata Knight Riders had won three games out of three while bowling first. On Sunday, they chased again, won again, and went top of the…

Kent 227 for 7 (Bell-Drummond 124) v LeicestershireScorecard Daniel Bell-Drummond saved Kent from disaster © Getty Images Daniel Bell-Drummond underlined his potential with a high-quality century to deny Leicestershire control of the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Kent at the Fischer County Ground. The 22-year-old batsman made 124 in an innings spanning four hours and 20 minutes as Kent recovered from 48 for 4 to close…

Kolkata Knight Riders 162 for 8 (Suryakumar 60, Yusuf 36, Bhatia 2-19) beat Rising Pune Supergiants 160 for 5 (Rahane 67, Smith 31) by two wicketsScorecard and ball-by-ball details Suryakumar Yadav struck six fours and two sixes in his 49-ball 60 © BCCI Before Sunday, Kolkata Knight Riders had won three games out of three while bowling first. On Sunday, they chased again, won again, and went top of the…

Middlesex 358 for 7 (Malan 74, Gubbins 60, Voges 50) v DurhamScorecard Ben Stokes returned for Durham after his World T20 final mauling © Getty Images Ben Stokes was back in action and this time he had the final word. Three weeks have passed since Stokes suffered Carlos Brathwaite’s last-over assault in the World Twenty20 final. Three weeks since the bang, bang, bang, bang from Brathwaite’s bat clattered around Eden…

Essex 335 for 3 (Cook 65, Westley 64, Browne 60, Bopara 57*) v NorthamptonshireScorecard Tom Westley was one of four Essex batsmen to pass 50 © Getty Images Alastair Cook made a patient half-century as Essex continued their fine start to the Specsavers County Championship summer by dominating the opening day against Northamptonshire at Chelmsford. Like Cook, Nick Browne and Tom Westley – both of whom have been tipped to…

Glamorgan 308 for 6 (Bragg 129) v DerbyshireScorecard Will Bragg recorded his fifth first-class hundred © Getty Images Will Bragg bathed in the warmth of a career-best 129 in bitterly cold conditions as Glamorgan took the first-day honours at Derby. The 29-year-old celebrated his fifth first-class century and his first in 22 innings before Andy Carter struck twice with consecutive balls to leave Glamorgan on 308 for 6 at the…