Essex 2nd XI v Hampshire 2nd XI
Second XI T20 – South Group
Billericay CC, Tuesday 07 June, 2021
Match One
Team News:
Essex 2nd XI: Varun Chopra, Will Buttleman, Michael Pepper (wk), Josh Rymell, Jimmy Neesham, Feroze Khushi, Shane Snater, Aaron Beard, Aron Nijjar (c), Jamie Porter, Matt Quinn.
Hampshire 2nd XI:
Tom Prest, Toby Albert, FS Middleton, Joe Weatherley, James Fuller, Tom Scriven, Harry Broderick, George Metzger†, Ryan Stevenson, Mason Crane (c), Ajeet Dale
Match Details:
Umpires: C.M. Watts & P.H. Richardson
Toss: Hampshire 2nd XI won and elected to bowl first
Result: Essex 2nd XI won by 38 runs
Will Buttleman blasted an unbeaten century from 63-balls that included 4 sixes and 10 fours as Essex beat Hampshire by 38 runs in the first of two Second XI T20 matches with Hampshire at The Cloudfm County Ground.
Buttleman’s fireworks helped the home side to post a challenging total of 184 for 4 after being put into bat and when Hampshire replied, Aron Nijjar and Aaron Beard shared 6 wickets as the visitors were restricted to 146 for 8.
Opening the innings, Buttleman carried his bat for 102 during which he and the impressive Josh Rymell put on 133 for the third wicket having started their partnership with the home side 29 for 2.
The duo clubbed, carved and drove strongly on both sides of the wicket to flay the visitors attack. Their half-century stand arrived from 30 balls whilst the next 50 took a further 23 balls.
Buttleman’s personal half-century took 34 balls whilst Rymell needed only 30 balls to reach the milestone before the latter was eventually bowled for 58 in the penultimate mate over of the innings.
That saw the arrival of Overseas signing Jimmy Neesham but the New Zealander only scored 4 before he holed out to long-on.
Jamie Porter made early inroads into the visitors’ reply with two wickets in his first two overs with just 18 on the board before Toby Albert and Joe Weatherley took the score onto 85 before Nijjar struck twice in five deliveries to remove both batsmen who had each scored 40.
Beard who had started his spell conceding two sixes responded positively removing James Fuller and Tom Scriven with successive deliveries as Hampshire recoiled to 118 for 6 in the 16th over before Nijjar and Beard each added another victim.
Nijjar finished with figures of 3 for 17 from his 4 overs that included two stumpings for Buttleman, Beard returned 3 for 29 from 3 overs and Porter 2 for 11 from 3 overs.
Match Two
Team News:
Essex 2nd XI: Tom Westley, Adam Wheater (wk), Michael Pepper, Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate, Jimmy Neesham, Simon Harmer (c), Jack Plom, Aron Nijjar, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter.
Hampshire 2nd XI:
Tom Prest, D’Arcy Short, Toby Albert, Tom Scriven, James Fuller, Fletcha Middleton, Scott Currie, Chris Wood (c), George Metzger (wk), John Turner, Kamran Khanna.
Match Details:
Umpires: C.M. Watts & P.H. Richardson
Toss: Essex 2nd XI won and elected to bat first
Result: Essex 2nd XI won by 66 runs
Jimmy Neesham and Michael Pepper both scored half-centuries as Essex beat Hampshire by 66 runs with the visitors reaching 121 all out in reply to the home side’s 187 for 8 under the lights at Chelmsford.
Neesham served notice of his potent threat with the bat reaching his fifty from only 24 balls courtesy of 9 boundaries that included 2 sixes whilst Pepper top-scored with 59 from 39 balls including three sixes and 4 other boundaries.
Although Tom Scriven and Tom Prest put on 74 for the third wicket to offer the visitors some hope, the dismissal of Prest who was bowled by Neesham for 39 effectively ended Hampshire’s interest.
Neesham and Pepper struck the ball powerfully and cleanly to ensure the run-rate was kept at an agreeable rate. The hundred came after 12.4 overs and it took only a further 4.4 overs to add a further fifty.
Pepper was had been dismissed in the 15th over when caught at deep extra cover to become a victim of pace bowler Scott Currie who took 4 for 42 but Pepper’s departure with the score on 115 for 5 paved the way for an exhilarating partnership between Neesham and Simon Harmer.
They raced to a 50 partnership in 23 balls with Neesham the main contributor with 38 of the runs.
The stand ended when Harmer was caught in the deep for 16.
Left-hander Neesham had arrived at his half-century when steering the ball to the cover boundary but his innings came to a close soon after when a mix-up with Aron Nijjar saw him run out.
Hampshire lost Australian international D’Arcy Short for a single to the third ball of their innings when Aron Nijjar took a return catch before Jamie Porter struck eleven balls later to leave the South Coast county 12 for 2.
Scriven and Prest provided resistance but five wickets went down for 18 runs 5.3 overs starting with the fall of Scriven was bowled by Nijjar for 41.
Currie made 19 until skying a catch to Adam Wheater off a leading edge against Jack Plom and the last two wickets quickly followed as Hampshire were bowled out in 18.1 overs.
All seven Essex bowlers used (Porter, Sam Cook, Harmer, Neesham, Plom, Nijjar and Paul Walter) were amongst the wickets with the most successful being Cook and Nijjar with 2 for 16 and 2 for 32, respectively.
