Essex v Warwickshire
Metro Bank One Day Cup
The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford
Wednesday 24 July, 11:00am
Team News
Essex: Nick Browne, Tom Westley*, Feroze Khushi, Robin Das, Charlie Allison, Luc Benkenstein, Noah Thain, Jamal Richards, Ben Allison, Aaron Beard, Simon Fernandes+.
Warwickshire: Rob Yates, Ed Barnard*, Will Rhodes, Hamza Shaikh, Michael Burgess+, Chris Benjamin, Theo Wylie, Jake Lintott, Michael Booth, Craig Miles, Oliver Hannon-Dalby.
Match Details
Umpires: Neil Bainton & James Tredwell
Match Referee: Peter Such
Scorers: Paul Parkinson & Mel Smith
Toss: Warwickshire won the toss and elected to bowl first
Result: Warwickshire won by seven wickets
Scorecard: View here
Match Highlights
Match Reaction: Nick Browne
Match Report
Ed Barnard hit a masterful 173 not out as Essex fell to an opening day seven-wicket Metro Bank One Day Cup loss to Warwickshire at The Cloud County Ground.
Barnard hammered his runs off 140 balls and found valuable support in wicketkeeper Michael Burgess’ unbeaten 59 from 42 as the visitors, chasing 328, condemned the Eagles to defeat.
Charlie Allison and Nick Browne had both struck half-centuries, with the latter’s 75 the top score of the Essex 324-7, while the 19-year-old former once again displayed prodigious timing to hit a 72-ball 69.
However, Barnard’s mammoth knock underpinned the chase and saw Warwickshire home with 2.2 overs to spare.
An opening partnership of 51 between Browne and Feroze Khushi, brought up in just 52 balls, had thoroughly belied the fact that Essex had been put in to bat after the Bears had won the toss.
With the match just 1.1 overs old, Browne hit a gloriously straight driven four off Oliver Hannon-Dalby, before Khushi, in the two balls before being bowled for 22, pummelled Ed Barnard for four and six.
Khushi was deeply unlucky to become the victim of an inswinging jaffa from Barnard, but Tom Westley replaced him with aplomb, as he took the score to 64-1 after ten overs with three fours in a row.
That was as far as it got for Westley though, as Barnard struck again to have him lbw for 15, though the better news was that the rate kept motoring along at close to a run a ball.
At a rate of knots, Browne and Robin Das added 71 for the third wicket, rotating the strike efficiently and benefitting from some wayward lines from the Bears bowlers to post a 50 stand in 65 balls.
That partnership included Browne’s individual 50, brought up from 60 deliveries via a single off Michael Booth, though it was ended five overs later when Will Rhodes bowled Das for 35.
Shepherded by the experienced Browne, though, the churn of young talent continued, as Allison was one half of another half-century partnership that took the Eagles to the brink of 200.
Browne pulled Craig Miles to Hamza Shaikh to end his 90-ball stay with the total one shy of that mark, but some stylish hitting from Luc Benkenstein, who hammered 44 off 27, saw the hosts breeze past it.
The England Under-19 duo of Benkenstein, who hit two sixes, and Allison, who became the second half-centurion of the innings in just 58 balls when he jogged a single off Jake Lintott, added 50 in ten overs.
Hannon-Dalby ensured Warwickshire fought back somewhat in the latter stages as he saw Allison caught by Lintott in between having Benkenstein caught behind and Noah Thain held by Rob Yates.
Those three wickets left the hosts 288-7 with 20 balls remaining, but Allison’s elder brother Ben hammered the nine of them he faced for 22 runs in an exhibition of hitting at the death.
In conjunction with Jamal Richards, who made an unbeaten 14 off 12, Allison hit four of those nine deliveries to the boundary to haul Essex to 324-7.
In response, Barnard and Yates subjected the Eagles to similar treatment that they had earlier dished out with an opening stand of 97, before Westley scored the breakthrough in trapping Yates lbw for 42.
However, a century stand between Will Rhodes, who made 41, and the evergreen Barnard broke the back of the chase, carrying the Bears past 200 with 16.3 overs still to go.
Within that was contained Barnard’s century, which he posted in 89 balls via turning Westley’s spin into the leg side.
The young Eagles attack did hit back twice in quick succession as Richards saw Rhodes caught behind by Simon Fernandes, before Benkenstein had Hamza Shaikh held by Robin Das for a four-ball duck.
That was, though, to be the last ounce of joy for the hosts from the game, as Barnard passed 150, bringing the milestone up in 120 balls via an almighty straight six, as the Bears cantered to the target.
Victory, which was ultimately inevitable for most of the innings, was eventually secured in the 48th over, shortly after Burgess, playing the supporting role, had smashed a 34-ball half-century.
School’s out, cricket’s in: 50-over cricket in Chelmsford this summer
White-ball action at The Cloud County Ground continues into July and August as the Metro Bank One-Day Cup gets underway.
The competition has not only recently proven itself to be wide open and highly competitive, but also a breeding ground for the next generation of elite cricketers.
With all matches set to take place during the school summer holidays, each fixture makes a perfect family day out in the heart of Chelmsford.
Wednesday 31 July, 11:00am: Essex v Leicestershire Foxes – buy here
Sunday 04 August, 11:00am: Essex v Glamorgan – buy here
Friday 09 August, 2:00pm: Essex v Surrey – buy here
Alongside the offering of men’s Metro Bank One Day Cup action, The Cloud County Ground will also host two Women’s London Championship matches during the summer holidays.
Friday 26 July, 11:00am: Essex Women v Kent – buy here
Wednesday 14 August, 11:00am: Essex Women v Sussex – buy here
