Twenty20 in England in 2005

Twenty20 cricket is played over 20 overs according to normal limited-over rules, the one exception being the rule for "timed out", where the time by which an incoming batsman must be at the crease ready to receive his first ball is reduced to 90 seconds after the outgoing batsman has been dismissed. This amendment to the rules helps speed up the game. Additionally, boundary ropes tend to be shorter in Twenty20 cricket than for normal limited over games.

2005 marks the third running of the Twenty20 Cup, which was won by Somerset when they beat Lancashire at the Oval on 30 July. It also saw England play their first Twenty20 International against Australia at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, and winning by 100 runs (see below).

There was also a further development, as Leicestershire won approval from the England and Wales Cricket Board to host an International Twenty20 competition at the end of the season, although they are having to call it 20:20 to get round trademark issues. It will be competed over 15, 16 and 17 September between Leicestershire Foxes, Somerset Sabres, Nashua Titans, a Lashings World XI, the PCA Masters and the Asian XI.

Australian tour

PCA Masters XI v Australians (9 June)

"The Australians beat the PCA Masters XI by 8 wickets"

The 2005 Ashes tour started with the Australians taking on a Professional Cricketers Association eleven at the picturesque ground at Arundel in a Twenty20 game. A crowd of 11,000 turned up to see the tourists win with one ball to spare, although in practice the result was always clear after an opening partnership of 131 between Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden. The Aussies got an ideal start as Stephen Fleming edged Brett Lee's first delivery to the slips and the Masters XI were 0 for 1, having been put in to bat by Australia. Darren Maddy made 70 in 57 balls and Paul Collingwood (38) and Mark Ealham (39) also scored runs, but the rest of the team made little impression as the PCA Masters XI made 167 for 6. The Aussies lost only two wickets in making their target. [http://live.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/AUS_IN_ENG/SCORECARDS/AUS_PCA-XI_09JUN2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]

England v Australia (13 June)

North Division

outh Division

Tie-breaker rules:

# Points (2 for a win, 1 for a no-result, 0 for a loss)
# Games won
# Head-to-head result(s) between teams
# Net run rate

Quarter-finals

Lancashire v Derbyshire (18 July)

"Lancashire beat Derbyshire by 17 runs to progress to the Semi-Finals of the Twenty20 Cup"

After Mal Loye's boundary-filled 73, off just 32 balls, Derbyshire Phantoms were probably happy that they escaped with conceding 189 runs in their game with Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford. Lancashire tried to employ pinch hitters such as Dominic Cork and Glenn Chapple to get the runs flowing quickly, but they disappointed slightly, hitting at just over a run a ball. Derbyshire's chase looked possible despite Gary Keedy taking the wickets of Michael di Venuto and Jonathan Moss, two danger men, early on - as they were 121 for 3 - but Keedy dug out another wicket, and that spurred a collapse to 139 for 8, part-time off-spinner Andrew Crook joining in with two for 35. Derbyshire needed some big hits from the specialist bowlers in the end, and crumbled to 172 with three balls remaining, James Anderson getting the honor of taking the last wicket. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/LANCS_DERBY_TWENTY-20_18JUL2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]

Leicestershire v Middlesex (18 July)

"Leicestershire beat Middlesex by 19 runs to progress to the Semi-Finals of the Twenty20 Cup"

Defending champions Leicestershire Foxes reached their third successive appearances in the Twenty20 Cup semi-finals, after a fiery spell of bowling from South African Charl Willoughby helped them defend a potentially low target. Batting first, all the Leicestershire batsmen made reasonable contributions, but no one exceeded 40. With the help of 17 extras, Leicestershire finished on 159 for 6. However, Willoughby snared out three early wickets - finishing his spell of four overs with three for 11, including a rare maiden over - as Middlesex Crusaders crumbled to 16 for 3. When Jamie Dalrymple and Scott Styris threatened to win the game back with a partnership of 87, another South African, Claude Henderson rapped out two more wickets, and despite Styris being unbeaten on 73, Middlesex could only scamper 140 for 7. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/LEICS_MIDDX_TWENTY-20_18JUL2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]

Northamptonshire v Somerset (18 July)

"Somerset beat Northamptonshire by four wickets to progress to the Semi-Finals of the Twenty20 Cup"

Northamptonshire Steelbacks failed to take full use of their home advantage, and Somerset Sabres escaped with a four-wicket win to reach their first semi-final of the Twenty20 Cup. Northamptonshire's batsmen made quick scores between 20 and 30, but Ian Blackwell's spell mid-match of three for 16 pegged Northamptonshire back to 118 for 6. Ben Phillips then made an unbeaten 27 to lift his team to 154 for 8, however, but he couldn't take a wicket while bowling. Despite three run-outs, Somerset made it through on the penultimate ball, as Matthew Wood recorded 58 and Blackwell a 16-ball 31 to lay the foundation before Keith Parsons set the pace late on with an unbeaten 38. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/NORTHANTS_SOMERSET_TWENTY-20_18JUL2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]

Surrey v Warwickshire (18 July)

"Match tied (D/L Method); Surrey won 4-3 in a bowl-out and progress to the Semi-Finals of the Twenty20 Cup"

In an incredible finish to the knock-out quarter-final between Surrey Lions and Warwickshire Bears, the match was tied, so the players had to resort to a bowl-off - cricket's version of a penalty shootout, in which five players have two attempts at bowling at unguarded stumps, and if the stumps fall down, that was one point for their team. Surrey opened the batting in this match at The Oval, having been put in to bat by the Bears' captain Nick Knight. It was a shaky effort, often interrupted by wickets, and part-timer Jonathan Trott snared two wickets for 19 - admittedly tail-enders Ian Salisbury and Tim Murtagh. Mark Ramprakash, however, hit an unbeaten run-a-ball 34 to guide Surrey to 149 for 8, well below a par score. Warwickshire's innings then began under heavy cloud cover that assisted the Surrey swing bowlers. After Neil Carter went first ball, Warwickshire struggled in the rain, and the bad weather eventually stopped play just before five overs was played - so that, if the players couldn't return, the match would be declared a no-result. However, the rain gave way reasonably quickly, and quick hitting from Trevor Penney in particular - who made 20 off 12 balls before being caught off a ball from Rikki Clarke closed down the deficit.

With five overs being cut off the Warwickshire chase, they needed 118 from 15 overs, and they had got to 115 for 8 with one ball remaining and Dewald Pretorius and an injured Heath Streak, who had not bowled, at the crease. The umpires consulted, and were uncertain about what would happen if Warwickshire scored two - which, in the event, happened. As the par scores under Duckworth-Lewis were level, the captains agreed to have a bowl-off (alternatively the umpires could have forced a bowl-off or decided the game on a toss of the coin). After five players had tried to get the stumps down, both teams had managed the feat twice, and now a sudden death style bowl-off followed. The next player from each side managed to get the stumps down once each, so the score was now 3-3, but Warwickshire's Heath Streak missed both his attempts and Tim Murtagh got the stumps down and won the match for the hosts by 4-3. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/SURREY_WARWICKS_TWENTY-20_18JUL2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]

emi-finals

On 30 July, The Oval:

Lancashire v Surrey (30 July)

"Lancashire won by 20 runs and qualified for the Twenty20 Cup final"

In the first of two semi-finals at The Oval on the Twenty20 Cup finals day, Lancashire Lightning lived up to expectations by smashing 217 for 4 in twenty overs against Surrey Lions - well helped by eleven wides and six penalty runs, although Lancashire's top five all contributed. Only Nayan Doshi came away with some face on the bowling side, taking two for 35, but with Andrew Flintoff making 49 and Andrew Symonds an unbeaten 52 the target quickly reached dangerously high levels - from a Surrey perspective, anyway.

Ali Brown and James Benning started well with an opening partnership of 93, as Dominic Cork and James Anderson were taken for runs, but Benning, Scott Newman, Brown and Rikki Clarke fell in quick succession to see Surrey struggle at 104 for 4. Mark Ramprakash and Azhar Mahmood upped the ante again, but when Flintoff and Anderson broke through with one wicket each, and Surrey crumbled to 195 for 7. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/LANCS_SURREY_TWENTY-20_30JUL2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]

Leicestershire v Somerset (30 July)

"Somerset won by four runs and progress to the Twenty20 Cup final"

Defending champions Leicestershire Foxes failed to take care of an excellent position against Somerset Sabres, as the second semi-final became a low-scoring, yet thrilling affair. After Dinesh Mongia had taken three for 30 to set Somerset back to 139 for 7 after Graeme Smith (with 29), Matthew Wood (38) and Marcus Trescothick (25) had lifted them to 89 for 1 at one point during the innings. Carl Gazzard, Somerset's young wicketkeeper, made 26 to lift them to a final total of 157 for 9.

In reply, Darren Maddy and HD Ackerman lifted Leicestershire to 74 for no loss after eight overs, requiring "only" 83 from the last twelve. However, Ian Blackwell took three quick wickets to send Leicestershire to 90 for 3, Richard Johnson (figures of 3-0-21-3), Keith Parsons (3-0-15-0) and Wes Durston (3-0-18-1) bowled tightly to frustrate the Leicestershire batsmen, and despite a last-ball six from Paul Nixon, Somerset won by four runs and qualified for the final, where they would be facing Lancashire Lightning. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/LEICS_SOMERSET_TWENTY-20_30JUL2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]

Final

On 30 July, The Oval

Lancashire v Somerset (30 July)

"Somerset beat Lancashire by seven wickets and won the 2005 Twenty20 Cup"

Somerset Sabres completed their run by springing the final upset to beat Lancashire Lightning in the Twenty20 Cup final. It should perhaps have been renamed Sixteen16, because rain earlier in the day delayed the schedule and meant that the final had been shortened to 16 overs a side, while the semi-finals had both been 20 overs. However, Somerset didn't mind - their strongest batsmen were their numbers one and two, Graeme Smith and Marcus Trescothick, and the more relative impact these two would have, the better for the Sabres. Their task was made easier, though, as Somerset fast bowler Andrew Caddick dug out a couple of early Lancashire wickets, which was followed a run-out and two wickets in two balls from Richard Johnson, as Lancashire crawled to 41 for 5.

Australian-born Stuart Law stood tall at the crease, defying the Somerset bowlers to make 59 before being run out on the very last ball, but Somerset only needed 115 from 16 overs - a run rate of 7.19. Smith and Trescothick started positively, before Trescothick's England team-mate Andrew Flintoff had him edge behind to Warren Hegg for 10. With two more wickets falling, Lancashire would perhaps have fancied their chances with the Somerset score on 65 for 3, but Smith defied them with an unbeaten 64, adding 53 in a fourth-wicket stand with young James Hildreth to guide Somerset to the target with seven wickets and eleven balls to spare. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005/ENG_LOCAL/TWENTY-20/SCORECARDS/KNOCK-OUTS/LANCS_SOMERSET_TWENTY-20-FINAL_30JUL2005.html (Cricinfo scorecard)]