Essex v Sussex
Andy Bichel turned in another match-winning performance as Essex easily defended 196 for six to crush Sussex by 87 runs in Wednesday night's Twenty20 clash at Chelmsford.
After taking eight wickets on his Essex championship debut in last week's victory against Derbyshire, the 35-year-old Australian helped destroy the top order with four for 23.
All his successes came after Darren Gough had uprooted the stumps of Michael Yardy and Chris Adams with successive deliveries in his opening spell.
Bichel's salvo accounted for Matt Prior, Murray Goodwin, Carl Hopkinson and Sean Heather - and left the C&G Trophy finalists in total disarray at 39 for six.
The only time Sussex bat dominated Essex ball was when Yasir Arafat and Ollie Rayner joined forces to gather 46 in four overs for the eighth wicket and carry the total into three figures.
But such heroics never threatened to deny Essex - and fittingly it was Bichel who brought Sussex's response to an end when he held a catch on the boundary edge to get rid of Arafat whose 34 arrived from 19 balls and included four fours and a six.
The Essex innings was a curious mixture.
Thanks largely to the explosive batting of Mark Pettini, the first five overs yielded 61 - but only a further 21 came from the next five.
Pettini's dismissal for 46 from 25 deliveries - an effort which included five fours and three sixes - led to the innings subsiding to 90 for five after 12 overs.
But Essex were to be revived by Ryan ten Doeschate and James Middlebrook in a partnership which plundered 93 from seven overs.
On four occasions Middlebrook sent the ball disappearing into the crowd as he struck 43 from 21 balls, before he was caught behind.
Ten Doeschate finished unbeaten on 49 with the help of three fours and three sixes.
Leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, celebrating his 36th birthday, was by far the pick of the visiting bowlers and claimed the wickets of Ronnie Irani and Ravinder Bopara in
a four-over spell costing 19.
But it was that man Bichel who was to steal the show.
Twenty20 Cup, 2006, South Division
Essex v Sussex
County Ground, Chelmsford (day/night)
28 June 2006 (20-over match)
Result: Essex won by 87 runs
Points: Essex 2, Sussex 0
Toss: Sussex
Umpires: JF Steele and P Willey
Essex innings R M B 4 6
ML Pettini c Yardy b Wright 46 28 25 5 3
*RC Irani b Mushtaq Ahmed 26 37 26 3 0
A Flower run out 5 18 11 0 0
RS Bopara b Mushtaq Ahmed 0 1 1 0 0
+JS Foster c Kirtley b Wright 6 4 6 1 0
RN ten Doeschate not out 49 38 28 3 3
JD Middlebrook c Prior b Yasir Arafat 43 34 21 1 4
AJ Bichel not out 3 0 3 0 0
Extras (b 1, lb 12, w 3, nb 2) 18
Total (6 wickets, 20 overs) 196
DNB: TJ Phillips, GR Napier, D Gough.
FoW: 1-67 (Pettini), 2-79 (Irani), 3-80 (Bopara), 4-87 (Foster),
5-90 (Flower), 6-183 (Middlebrook).
Bowling O M R W
Yasir Arafat 4 0 36 1
Kirtley 4 0 42 0 (1nb, 1w)
Wright 4 0 26 2 (1w)
Mushtaq Ahmed 4 0 19 2 (1w)
Yardy 3 0 39 0
Rayner 1 0 21 0
Sussex innings (target: 197 runs) R M B 4 6
MH Yardy b Gough 1 2 3 0 0
+MJ Prior lbw b Bichel 6 16 9 1 0
*CJ Adams b Gough 0 0 1 0 0
MW Goodwin b Bichel 5 2 4 1 0
CD Hopkinson c Irani b Bichel 11 23 16 1 0
SA Heather c Foster b Bichel 8 7 8 2 0
LJ Wright c Foster b Napier 20 12 9 2 1
Yasir Arafat c Bichel b Phillips 34 25 19 4 1
OP Rayner lbw b Bopara 11 11 8 0 1
Mushtaq Ahmed c Flower b Bopara 0 0 2 0 0
RJ Kirtley not out 1 3 2 0 0
Extras (lb 7, w 5) 12
Total (all out, 13.3 overs) 109
FoW: 1-2 (Yardy), 2-2 (Adams), 3-7 (Goodwin), 4-18 (Prior),
5-28 (Heather), 6-39 (Hopkinson), 7-59 (Wright),
8-105 (Rayner), 9-105 (Mushtaq Ahmed),
10-109 (Yasir Arafat).
Bowling O M R W
Gough 2 0 8 2 (1w)
Bichel 4 0 23 4 (1w)
Napier 4 0 38 1 (2w)
Middlebrook 2 0 29 0 (1w)
Bopara 1 0 2 2
Phillips 0.3 0 2 1
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