Oh joy, oh rapture. Back to the franchise it is. Off to Cardiff I go.
Selection:
Still got no players. Rory Burns, Joe Denly, Glenn Maxwell and Mark Wood all out or off.
So, same collection of players who have been battered every time out it is then.
The Opposition:
Cardiff aren’t bad either. Jonny Bairstow, Ben Duckett, Liam Plunkett, Leus du Plooy and Ravi Rampaul are all quality.
Wanna guess how the toss goes?
Cardiff’s Innings:
Bairstow and Somerset’s Tom Banton open for the welshmen.
I open with Toby Roland-Jones and we set our plan to try and encourage them to hit to the leg side which both batsmen claim not to favour.
The 14 they slap off us makes me think they’re ok with it really.
Bairstow continues where he left off against Mohammad Amir. 4, 4, play and miss, 4, Out. Bowled for 26 off 10.
26-1, 10/100 bowled.
Ben Duckett follows him in.
And then follows him out. Bowled for a golden duck by TR-J. 27-2.
12/100.
Somewhat unbelievably, du Plooy blocks his first ball and is then trapped lbw. 27-3.
14/100 bowled.
Dutch international Ryan ten Doeschate is dropped horrendously at mid on to rain on my parade.
It doesn’t last. At the 60 ball mark, they’ve slipped the leash. They’re 109-3 and Doeschate has gone to 44 off 30 and Banton is 38 off 17.
They head on relentlessly. Being so short of bowling, I chuck on Luis Reece.
Unbelievably, he draws Banton into a snick behind and Adam Rossington tickles it. Gone for 70 off 29. 150-4.
77/100 bowled.
I bring back TR-J. He gets smashed for five consecutive fours.
However, he does eventually get Doeschate by splattering his stumps. The Dutch irritant is out for 97 from 49 balls. It’s a match winning knock. 201-5.
97/100 balls gone.
The Surrey man also gets shot of Kevin Bickerton two balls later. 202-6.
99/100 balls bowled.
Cardiff end their innings 206-6.
We’ve never made anything like this as a total.
London Blue’s Innings:
Youngster Max Holden and England international Zak Crawley open for us again.
Holden opens strongly. He hits 20 but is nearly out twice as well. An eventful five balls.
Crawley never looks settled, despite making 7 off 3 balls faced. He goes, snicking Plunkett behind to Bairstow. 36-1.
12/100 balls bowled.
Skipper Eoin Morgan joins Holden and the pair bring up the 50 from just 25 balls.
Thinking it could last was too much, though and David Payne soon dispatches the kid. Holden is leg before for 32 off 13. 56-2.
29/100 balls gone.
At the 50/100 ball mark, Daniel Lawrence has joined Morgan and is progressing at a run a ball. But that’s half the run rate we need. 81-2.
Lawrence does really well to up the rate and by the time Qais Ahmad gets him for 23, we are 99-3, needing 108 from 42.
I start trying to get Morgan to farm the strike. It works.
Until it doesn’t. He’s caught by Bairstow off Ahmad for 47 from 32. 112-4.
95 from 33 needed.
Rossington is bowled by Simon Harmer all ends up to reduce us to 131-5.
76 from 19 balls with only one recognised batsman is unlikely to the point of hysteria.
When Reece is trapped by Harmer for 12 we are 144-6 and doomed.
63 from 12 balls.
Nabi literally catches the ball between his pads. That doesn’t turn out that well for him when the umpire gives it as lbw in one of the dumbest dismissals I’ve ever seen. Plank.
Harmer was pleased, so that’s something.
144-7.
63 from 11.
Amir. Bowled. 152-8.
55 from 4 needed. That’s quite a tall order, isn’t it?
All out for 155. Another loss.
Seven games. Seven losses. I’m extremely consistent.
