Northants vs. Birmingham T20 picture blog

Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs. Birmingham Bears, Natwest T20 Blast, County Ground, Northampton, 29 May 2015

In an entertaining match which ended up going down to the last ball, Birmingham Bears won a narrow victory by 5 wickets. Northants made 146-7 from their 20 overs. Birmingham were looking comfortable winners for much of the chase, but suffered a late batting crisis. One run was required for Birmingham, from the last ball, bowled by Azharullah, which ended up going past the wicket-keeper for 4 byes!

From a fan's perspective, the game was slightly marred by the intermittently working scoreboard, ineffective stewards and very inaccurate tannoy updates and announcements.

The scoreboard was regularly beset with technical issues

                                     

Recordo Gordon returned figures of 2-33

Richard Levi scored 58 off 48 balls

   

Shahid Afridi played a bright and breezy innings of 16

Pictures from around the lovely Northants County Ground

Pictures from around the lovely Northants County Ground

Pictures from around the lovely Northants County Ground

Pictures from around the lovely Northants County Ground

Oliver Hannon-Dalby closed the game down well to claim 2-35

The Northants mascot, Steeler

It was so cold, Steeler warmed his hands in front of the T20 boundary flame!

During the break between innings, there was a "hit the ball into the bin" competition. No slam dunks, unfortunately! Cheerleaders are great and all - more in 1990s USA though! 

William Porterfield scored 55 off 54 balls

Shahid Afridi bowling his lebreak/ googly spinners

Azharullah took 3-30 but it wasn't quite enough for Northants

More assorted pictures:

Further reading

A full scorecard for the game can be seen here

http://www.espncricinfo.com/natwest-t20-blast-2015/engine/match/804497.html

BBC article on Northants' attempts for Shahid Afridi to connect with the local Asian community

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/32798732

First post - Picture blog of 2nd day of 1st Investec Test Match, England vs. New Zealand at Lord's

(Updated 25 May 2015, see Addendum below)

This is the first post in what I hope will be a series of brief report from my visit to sports venues (well let's face it, football and cricket!).

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So England opened up the day on 354-7 after Jos Buttler fell the night before, with Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad making their way out.

Moeen Ali scored a few more runs...

But Trent Boult removed both Ali and Broad. England only put on an extra 35 runs for their remaining 3 first innings wickets.

New Zealand opened with Martin Guptill (above) and Tom Latham.

Stuart Broad opened England's bowling....

...with Jimmy Anderson

Tom Latham frustrated England for long periods

Debutant Mark Wood was unlucky not to claim his first victim as he was adjudged to have bowled a no-ball

NZ got off to a strong start with a 148 run opening partnership. I took a video of Guptill getting his 50.

Martin Guptill scores 50. Apologies for the shoddy camerawork and focus! Amateurs eh...

As NZ progressed, England started to look more dejected in the field

A frustrated Ben Stokes toiled hard for no reward

Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad took a wicket apiece, but overall England toiled in the field, and had a disappointing day, taking no further wickets.

Kane Williamson (above) played very well for NZ.

 

Ross Taylor overcame his lack of fluency with sheer determination

Anderson and Buttler of England discuss their bowling problems

NZ finished on 303-2, only 86 runs behind with 8 first innings wickets in hand.

Remember you haven't been to Lord's until you've had some beer spilt on you, and your view of the match obstructed by some entitled grey-haired toff in a suit!

Hopefully I'll have some more picture blogs coming up as it's very much something I want to continue.

Addendum (25 May)

Well, after that intriguing second day the match moved on quickly and somehow resulted in a remarkable win for England. Although there were many useful contributions with bat and ball, including from Broad, Root, Wood and Moeen Ali, the highlights came from a long and massive century from Cook in England's second innings, and an incredible performance from Stokes, who followed up his first innings 92 with 101 in the second at record-breaking pace (85 balls) and topped it off by taking 3 vital wickets in NZ's final innings. 

Antipodean fans may be left wondering  how exactly, after scoring 523, NZ managed to lose this game. Normally even 423, 100 runs less, would be considered enough to ensure at least a draw. But this match kept going right to the last, with a grand total of 1610 runs and 40 wickets crammed into the 5 days. England are left celebrating the return to form of their captain and the (rare) positivity of ushering in of what seems to be something of a new era, with Stokes at the forefront, and a new coach to be imminently announced.

If only I had the time and money to visit more often!


Full scorecard:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-new-zealand-2015/engine/match/743939.html


Further reading: 

Review of the Test Match:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-new-zealand-2015/content/story/880951.html

An interesting take on Cook's powers of concentration:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/880905.html