Finch and Maxwell to light up UK T20 league
Nine Australians headline England’s new domestic T20 competition, including the format’s number-one ranked batsman, Aaron Finch.
Finch, coming off his first Indian Premier League season with Sunrisers Hyderabad, played his first game with Yorkshire Vikings on the weekend, making 19 from 17 balls in his side's comfortable eight-wicket win.
Joining Finch are Victorian team-mates Glenn Maxwell (Hampshire) and John Hastings (Durham), the former named IPL's most Valuable Player despite registering a first-ball duck in an electrifying final that saw his Kings XI Punjab fall short to Kolkata Knight Riders.
Hastings played just the one game for Chennai Super Kings, taking 1-29 and dismissing David Warner for 90 in a gripping last-over loss to Finch’s Sunrisers.
Both Finch and Maxwell are yet to turn out for their new franchises, but Derbyshire’s Marcus North has already made his mark on the tournament, posting an exhilarating 90 from only 47 balls against Leicestershire early in the season.
Dan Christian’s Middlesex hasn’t had the best start to the new competition, currently winless after five attempts.
Christian’s performances have progressively improved, starting the season with a first-ball duck against Essex, but he has bounced back with four wickets in as many matches.
The Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors newest recruit Michael Klinger is leading Gloucestershire, averaging 14 in what’s become a lean start to the English summer for the veteran.
Klinger’s side fell to Somerset, led by Sydney Thunder spearhead Dirk Nannes, who took 4-21 to continue his sterling form in cricket’s shortest format.
Nannes has seven wickets from three games, suffocating batsmen with his rapid pace and awkward left-arm trajectory.
Another fiery left-arm seamer plying his trade is Doug Bollinger. The Hobart Hurricanes opening bowler is representing Kent, and has five wickets from two matches after feasting on Nannes’ Somerset with three victims and generally bustling in with the aggression and purpose that saw his selection in Australia’s successful Ashes squad last summer.
Finally, right-arm county pro Michael Hogan is amongst the wickets for the Welsh Dragons. Hogan's 3-30 against Essex wasn’t enough to prevent his side from going down, but he returned with figures of 2-41 in a thrilling final-ball win over Sussex.
CA
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