Superb David Wiese & Will Beer performances not enough as Eagles prevail

The Sussex Sharks lost only their second game in this season’s Vitality Blast when they were beaten by an Essex Eagles side who had virtually given up all hope of qualifying for the quarter finals after just two wins in ten outings.

The table-topping Sharks, chasing 169 at The 1st Central County Ground, got off to a stuttering start when they lost their big-hitting trio of Phil Salt, Luke Wright and Alex Carey in the opening four overs.

With the ball not coming onto the bat, scoring was not easy. But the Sharks innings was revived by a fourth wicket stand of 65 in just 7 overs between Laurie Evans and David Wiese which ended when Evans hit a high full-toss from Walter to Harmer at mid-off for a 30-ball 35.

Sussex were without Delray Rawlins, who is on international duty with Bermuda, and it left a hole in their middle-order. There was always hope for the Sharks while the long-hitting Wiese was the crease.  The South African reached 2,000 career runs in T20 cricket as he raced to his fifty from 26 deliveries, with eight fours and a six.

But when Wiese was lbw to Harmer for a magnificent 36-ball 66 you could hear the groans from another sell-out home crowd, although a run-a-ball 19 from Chris Jordan briefly kept the flame alive. Mohammad Amir took four wickets for 29 runs.

The Essex innings  revolved around a fifth wicket partnership of 82 in eight overs between Dan Lawrence (59 not out) and Ravi Bopara (45).  They came together in the 12th over and were only parted in the last, when Chris Jordan took a magnificent tumbling catch at long-off to dismiss Bopara.

Lawrence hit both Danny Briggs and Wiese for successive sixes and there were two fours too in his 43-ball innings.  Bopara’s 24-ball effort gave him a strike rate of 187.50.  He saved the best to last, hitting Reece Topley over extra-cover for an effortless six in the final over. There was another six and four fours as he and Lawrence rescued the Eagles’ innings from the doldrums of 84 for four in the 12th over.

The Sussex attack was missing not only Jofra Archer – who was taking six for 45 for England at Headingley – but also the injured Tymal Mills and the departed Rashid Khan. New signing Jason Behrendorff, the Australia World Cup bowler, made his debut for the Sharks and soon made an impact with an early catch and a run-out, but his wicketless four over stint went for 34.

Will Beer was the pick of Sussex's bowlers. His four overs of leg-spin accounting for Westley & ten Doeschate and costing just 19 runs. 

Speaking after the match, Sharks captain Wright said: "“I thought Ravi Bopara played beautifully. We were three down in the powerplay and then David Wiese played beautifully to get us as close as he did.  But we kept on losing wickets at the wrong time. 

"It’s a tough group.  Surrey are a team of international players and they’re second from bottom. We’ve got to wrestle the momentum back and we can do that on Saturday. We’re a changing team at the moment but we still have some quality players and we must stick together.”