Essex Eagles v Sussex Sharks
Vitality Blast
The Cloud County Ground
Friday 17 June, 7pm start
Essex Eagles will be looking to follow up on another commanding victory at home as they take on Sussex Sharks at Chelmsford this Friday.
Last week, the Eagles extended their winning record at home to three games as another impressive home performance saw them comfortably beat Middlesex by 61 runs.
Feroze Khushi starred with the bat in his second T20 outing of the season. His 67 from 40 balls and Paul Walter’s swashbuckling 58 underpinned an above-par total of 186-6 for the Eagles.
In response, Middlesex’s chase never really threatened with Sam Cook and Matt Critchley taking three wickets apiece and Middlesex eventually being bowled out for 125.
Squad:
Opposition:
Sussex Sharks are always there or thereabouts when it comes to T20 cricket and last year was no different. After finishing third in the South Group Table, they made it as far as Finals Day before being knocked out by Kent in the Semi-Final.
However, their start to this year’s tournament has been hit and miss. After losing their first two games by a decent margin, they bounced back with a pair of victories over last year’s finalists Kent and Somerset and followed that up with a win over Middlesex.
However, since then they have lost three on the trot, including a horrible collapse of 8 for 23 to lose last time out against Gloucestershire.
Despite overseas talent in the form of Josh Philippe, Tim Seifert and Mohammad Rizwan, it’s Tom Aslop who leads the run-scoring charts with 223 runs at an average of 55.75 and an impressive strike rate of 168.93.
Obed McCoy was signed by the Sharks to cover for Rashid Khan while he is unavailable and has made a big impact. His 14 wickets have come at an average of 12 and an impressive strike rate of a wicket every 8.3 deliveries.
Head to Head:
Last time out:
The Eagles last played Sussex Sharks in Hove during the latter half of the 2021 Vitality Blast group stages.
Sussex won the toss and elected to field, a choice that was vindicated as they restricted Essex to 146. Tom Westley returned to the top of the order after a six-game hiatus and top-scored with 53 runs. Michael Pepper gave him some support with 38 off 26 balls, however, a collapse from 121-4 to 146-9 left the Eagles short.
Essex got off to the dream start as Luke Wright was dismissed for a golden duck in the first over of the innings, Aron Nijjar claiming another victim in the first over of the innings. A constant stream of wickets in the first half of the Sussex innings left them 67-4 at the halfway stage and the game in the balance, but half-centuries from Delray Rawlins and Ravi Bopara led the Sharks to a successful chase.
Despite a good day out for Essex’s spinners Nijjar and Harmer, who took 3/34 in 8 overs between them, Sussex Sharks completed the victory with 9 balls to spare.
How to Watch:
There will be a Live Stream of the match from The Cloud County Ground available. You can watch the game via the Essex Cricket TV YouTube channel or the Essex Cricket Matchzone, which also includes a live scorecard, statistics and key clips of the action.
Access via the Essex Cricket Matchzone is available here.
Tickets:
Tickets for tomorrow night’s game have now sold out, however there is still a chance to see some cricket this weekend when the Eagles take on Somerset on Sunday 19 June.
