Bowl Straight

Yorkshire Vikings 259 for 7
beat Essex Eagles 234 all out
by 25 runs

One Day Cup Quarter Final

Played at Chelmsford

Thursday 14 June 2018

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There was a lot going on in that game. England white ball ODIs, India Test v Afghanistan & suspensions for ill discipline had deprived both teams of key players. It looked to me like the pitch kept low & there was little carry. That said, before the off, on paper, you'd have said Yorkshire were going to rely on a still powerful top & middle to power to a score. And the bowlers defend it.

Well, that didn't go exactly to script. Kohler-Cadmore & Brook gone at 5 for 2 inside two overs. Lyth & Tattersall both went with the score on 45 in the 11th over. But, there's power, experience & nouse. Ballance & Leaning rebuilt & put on 129. Leaning was out at a still barely defensible 188-6 in the 42nd. The final 49 balls brought 71 from Bressy & The Fish (259).

And, then, FFS, back to Plan A. Who knew? Bowl straight. Energy in the field. Chase owt. That just might work?

Just 26 runs inside 8 overs, when Cook went for a ridiculous heave & indeed a ho. Patto was under it for an age before the snaffle. With around half the overs gone, Bopara went at 89 for 5. Fisher bowled 9.1, the others the full ten.
Fisher 32
Patterson 36
Bresnan 47
Coad 50
Carver 65

Lyth dropped an easy round the corner paddle to deny Captain Patterson a five for. Simple, energetic & consummate bowling performance. It did ebb a bit. A bit of rebuild, some biff. But, Essex looked behind it for a long period.

I headed for one Chelmsford bar. It looked closed (noon). Fucking Amateurs. I saw another one across the street. It looked closed (noon:01). It weren't. The wonderful Hop Beer Shop. One room shop front. Some shelves. Some bottles. The cask, gravity, in a little windowed chiller room off to the side, nominally four on.

Wibblers Brewery, Triple NNN on gravity at 4.6%. Very fruity up top. Apricot maybe. The bittering comes in fast. Pumpclip has it Dry Hopped. Lots of flavour. Keeps coming at you.

672/1395