Kiwis cruise to historic victory over Sri Lanka

New Zealand cruised to a comprehensive 28 run victory over Sri Lanka to win the first ever Twenty20 International to be played in North America as both teams made history at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill.

The victory for the Kiwis was the perfect start to their partnership with USA Cricket which is a joint venture to promote cricket in North America.

With a healthy crowd watching on, made mostly up by local Sri Lankan fans; the Kiwis restricted Sri Lanka to a total of just 90 on a slow wicket which wasn’t ideal for international Twenty20 cricket.

The Twenty20 World Cup semi finalists were unable to chase a total of just 121 for victory thanks to an inspired bowling display from Daniel Vettori who conceded just 11 runs from his four overs.

Having won the toss New Zealand batted first but having lost wickets at regular intervals they were unable to build a competitive total as the Kiwi batsman failed to build on a number of positive starts as they reached a total of just 120-7.

Ross Taylor top scored for the Kiwis before he was run out in the 13th over. His innings of 27 came from 30 balls and included just 3 fours.

With Sri Lanka on top Ajantha Mendis was the pick of the bowlers picking up two wickets and conceding just 18 runs from his 4 over.

Having got off to a positive start the Kiwis lost two early wickets with openers Brendon McCullum (18) and Aaron Redmond (8) both being dismissed within the space of 5 balls as New Zealand were reduced to 27-2 at the start of the 4th over.

Rob Nicol and Ross Taylor built a vital 3rd wicket partnership of 34 on a wicket with low bounce which was making it hard for the ball to reach the boundary.

With the foundations of the partnership laid Nicol tried to increase the scoring rate but he was bowled by Suraj Randiv at the end of the 8th over to leave the Kiwis 51-3.

Taylor then enjoyed another good partnership which contributed 20 runs with Scott Styris, but once again the batsman couldn’t build on a solid base thanks to Ajantha Mendis who bowled Styris in the 12th over.

Taylor and Martin Guptill (10) soon followed to leave Daniel Vettori (21) and Nathan McCullum (9) the task of giving the Kiwi bowlers a competitive total of 121 to defend.

New Zealand got off to a bright start thanks to Kyle Mills who picked up two early wickets including that of Twenty20 World Cup top scorer Mahela Jaywardene (0) from just the second ball of the innings.

Mills also dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan (6) as Sri Lanka got off to a slow start having been reduced to just 20-2 after 4.1 overs.

Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews built a partnership of 28 which included a massive six from Angelo as the pair tried to attack the Kiwi bowlers.

Despite Mathews’ success against Nathan McCullum the Kiwis maintained control of the game and when Sangakkara (17) was dismissed in the 9th over by Daniel Vettori the Sri Lanka were faced with an up hill battle having been reduced to just 48-3 after 9.3 overs.

By the time Scott Styris struck twice in the 12th over to remove Mathews (17) and Chamara Kapugedera (7) Sri Lanka were left in deep trouble as their middle order failed to fire.

Thissara Perera (3), Nuwan Kulasekara (3), Suraj Randiv (6), Lasith Malinga (0) and Ajantha Mendi (2) were all dismissed cheaply as New Zealand cruised towards a historic victory.

Hussey and Patel lead Outlaws to third win

The Nottinghamshire Outlaws made it three wins in a row thanks to a 6 wicket victory over the Worcestershire Royals at Trent Bridge.

Set a total of 151 for victory the Outlaws got off to a slow start losing Alex Hales (15) and Ali Brown (21) early on before David Hussey and Samit Patel (59) built a 4th wicket partnership of 80 before Patel was dismissed by Steve Smith in the 13th over.

Despite the loss of Patel, Hussey (39) remained at the crease to see the outlaws home with a massive six to win the game.

Having won the toss the Royals decided to bat and although they lost a couple Phil Jaques (7) and Jack Manuel (12) inside the first 4 over they would have been satisfied with setting the Outlaws a competitive total.

With Jaques and Manuel back in the dugout the Royals were indebted to Moeen Ali who scored an impressive 67 from just 49 balls which included 4 fours and 4 sixes.

Daryl Mitchell offered Ali some support with a quick fire 31 top offer the Royals hope of snapping a two game losing streak.

Spitfires cruise to comprehensive 36 run victory

The Kent Spitfires got back to wining ways thanks to a 36 run victory over the Gloucestershire Gladiators at Archdeacon Meadow in Gloucester.

The Spitfires reached an imposing total of 218 to chase after the visitors were bowled out for 217 with one ball remaining.

Robert Key (44) and Joe Denly (48) got the Spitfires off to a lightning start thanks to a opening partnership of 84 before Key was bowled by James Franklin in the 8th over.

Denly soon followed but Martin van Jaarsveld (26) and Alex Blake (33) added important contributions as the Spitfires punished the Gladiators bowlers.

In reply the Gladiators got of to a good start with William Porterfield (43) and Chris Taylor (67) offering the biggest threat but the home side lost wickets at regular intervals to end the game short of the Spitfires total.

Steelbacks claim victory at Headingley

The Northants Steelbacks claimed a 14 run Duckworth Less victory over Yorkshire Carnegie after heavy rain washed out their clash at Headingley.

Having set Yorkshire a total of 152 to chase for victory the Steelbacks picked up four early wickets to leave the home side 51-4 as the rain started to fall.

With the rain continuing to fall the umpires called the game off at 17.15 to hand the victory to the Steelbacks who have now won two games in a row.

Having won the toss the Steelbacks decided to bat first with Lou Vincent (38) and Chaminda Vaas (20) getting the visitors off to a good start before a middle order collapse left the visitors short of a competitive total.

Adams century hands victory to Royals

The Hampshire Royals bounce back from their stunning collapse against the Somerset Sabres on Friday night to record a 10 run victory over the Surrey Lions.

Having won the toss the Royals batted first with Jimmy Adams starting with the bat after scoring an unbeaten century from just 64 balls which included 7 fours and four sixes.

Adam was supported by Sean Ervine (54) to help the Royals reach 201-2.

In replay Mark Ramprakash (61) lead the way for the Lions with another impressive innings from the veteran batsman but with only support from Andrew Symonds () the Lions slipped to their third defeat of the campaign.

Troughton innings in vain as rain wins the day

Jim Troughton hit an impressive 66 from just 37 balls for the Warwickshire Bears but heavy rain during the Lancashire Lightning’s innings forced the game to be abandoned.

Having won the toss the Lightning put the Bears into bat with the home side reaching 196-8 thanks to Troughton’s innings.

In replay the Lightning had reach 3-0 at the end of the first over before the rain started to fall causing the game to be abandoned after more then an hours wait.

Falcons games washed out by heavy rain

The Derbyshire Falcons game against the Durham Dynamos was washed out after heavy rain forced the game to be abandoned.

With the Falcon entering the last over the rain started to fall at the County Ground leaving the home side 172-3 with 19 overs gone.

With play held up for over 90 minutes and no let up in sight the umpires had no choice but to abandoned the match.