Round-up for the week ending 10th December

We start our round-up in Durban on South Africa’s east coast where David Wiese took the field for Titans in their final group match of this year’s Ram Slam T20 competition against Dolphins on Sunday. In an attack that also included Morne Morkel, David was the most economical of the Titans bowlers, conceding just 23 runs from his four overs and picking up a wicket for good measure. Chasing 169 for victory, Titans were dismissed for just 79, with David making three. Nonetheless, Titans topped the group and will take on Warriors at Centurion Park on Wednesday for a place in Saturday’s final.

From one Titan to another. This time in Bangladesh, where Jofra Archer was another of Sussex’s players to put in a good performance with the ball only to end up on the losing side. Jofra’s Khulna Titans side came up against the Rangpur Riders in Friday’s Bangladesh Premier League eliminator match. Batting first, Titans made 167-6 in their 20 overs, with Jofra finishing the innings unbeaten on six from three balls. He was by far the pick of the Titans bowlers taking the only two wickets of the Riders’ innings and going for 30 runs from his four overs. A stupefying 126 not out off 51 balls from Chris Gayle saw the Riders secure their place in the semi-finals with nearly five overs to spare, however.

Next up for Jofra is a stint with Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League in Australia, which is where we make our next stop on this week’s Winter Watch. George Garton made two appearances for England Lions last week. Firstly, George picked up a wicket in the 50-over match against Western Australia in Perth on Wednesday that the Lions went on to lose by six wickets. Then, on Thursday, George bowled four reasonably tight overs in the T20 match against the same opposition. George took 0-30 Western Australia were restricted to 156-4, before the Lions batsmen knocked off the runs required for the loss of just one wicket.

Michael Burgess is in fine form for Adelaide University CC in South Australian Premier Cricket. He started his two-day match last weekend with two catches during West Torren’s first innings before making 72* - the top score in the match – as AUCC secured a first innings win. Michael now has 190 runs from just two innings in the two-day competition.

Over in New South Wales, it was another busy weekend for Delray Rawlins who played for Sydney in a first grade 50-over match on Saturday and the quarter final of the Kingsgrove Sports Twenty20 Cup on Sunday. In the first of those fixtures, Delray bowled ten tidy overs of left-arm spin, taking 1-36, and executed a run-out as Bankstown reached 233-9 in their allotted overs. With the bat, he was was only able to make one during Sydney’s chase, which ultimately fell 31 runs short of victory. Delray had more luck with the bat on Sunday, scoring 34 from 32 balls – having earlier taken 2-34 during his four overs - as Sydney tied a thrilling T20 quarter final with Gordon. It was Sydney who prevailed in the ensuing super over, meaning that Delray will be making an appearance at the Sydney Cricket Ground for Finals Day this Sunday.

Ollie Robinson also made a first grade 50-over appearance on Saturday. His St. George side romped to a 70 run win over North Sydney. Ollie sacrificed himself at the end of St. George’s innings, scoring two runs as he looked to hit out, before bowling seven overs for 40 runs.

Abi Sakande was in third grade 50-over action for Mosman against Penrith on Saturday. Opening the bowling, Abi’s ten overs went for 21 runs and brought him a wicket as Penrith were dismissed for 116 with five overs of their innings remaining. He wasn’t required to bat as Mosman cruised to a seven wicket win in the 23rd over.