India's slipshod slips

Ravindra Jadeja's drop of Alastair Cook was indicative of the challenge India face in establishing a reliable cordon

Jadeja's dropped chance at third slip with Cook on 15 proved very costly

It is early in the morning, the pitch is fresh, the ball is seaming around a little, Alastair Cook is uncertain, he pushes at a wide delivery from debutant Pankaj Singh, and the edge is taken. Yet another failure for Cook, yet another early entry for No. 3 Gary Ballance, yet another early breakthrough for India.

Hold on, though. The ball has gone knee high, to Ravindra Jadeja's left at third slip, and has spilled out of his hands. Cook, who was only 15, goes on to score 95, India take only two wickets in the day, and you are left to wonder how the day would have panned out had India taken that catch.

This is not the first time a catch has been dropped in the slips, nor is this the first time the reprieved batsman has made a team pay, but India have now dropped eight in the slip in their last seven matches. And that's only off the fast bowlers. Spinners have suffered too. Losing four big batsmen around two years ago, almost all in one go, was a big challenge for India. This new breed of batsmen has been impressive with the bat, but that slip cordon still looks bare.

It has been 19 Tests since Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman retired. India have tried five different first slips over that period, which means the cordon has been rejigged at least five times in 19 Tests. Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, M Vijay and now Shikhar Dhawan have spent time at first slip. That they are being changed so often is clear indication there is something wrong.

It will obviously take some time for those who are not natural slip catchers to get used to fielding there, but there haven't been clear signs of improvement. There have been some really good catches taken: Ashwin almost turned 90 degrees to adjust to a late swerving catch at the Wanderers, Dhawan dived to his right to send back James Anderson in Nottingham, but there have been some glaring errors.

Kohli failed to stay down for long enough when at leg slip to spin at Trent Bridge. When MS Dhoni chose to not go for one between him and first slip at Lord's, Dhawan made no effort either. It was the keeper's catch all right, but good slip fielders are always diving behind the keeper on these occasions to be there, just in case. Pujara once stood there with shin pads on, and couldn't get to a low offering from Cook in Kolkata. Cook then scored 190. Jadeja, who got up too early today, will be thankful he got Cook out for half that score.

There is no fixed right way to go about slip catching, it is mostly about what you are comfortable with, but there are wrong ways. One of the wrong ways is to have legs too far apart in your stance. Mark Taylor says shoulders' width is ideal with the knees pointing in, almost like a skier. Jadeja's stance is at least twice as wide, which makes moving difficult. Another wrong way is to get your hands too far between your legs because than they can get stuck in your knees when you are going for a catch to your side. Jadeja does that. And, obviously, the India slip fielders are getting up too early.

India's slip cordon are mostly excellent athletes and thus very good outfielders. Slip catching, though, is completely different, and much more crucial. You want your bowler to feel confident when running in that all he has to do is just produce the edge. Right now the India quicks can't be confident of that.

The challenge for Trevor Penney, the fielding coach, is huge. The Dhoni-Dhawan no-go is a clear sign of a raw cordon, which is still feeling its way in. They practise really hard during training sessions and take a lot of catches almost every day. They take some sensational catches too. However, it is different when someone is throwing full tosses at Duncan Fletcher from 10 yards and he is opening the face towards the fielders.

We don't know whether India have locked in on a combination now or if there will be a change soon. We don't know if India think they are headed the right way. We don't know if the fielding coach is happy with the cordon's technique and their positioning vis-à-vis each other or if he is struggling to get it right. India don't like to, or are not allowed to, discuss these things. Bullishly Joe Dawes, the bowling coach, said he is happy with the progress, and that Taylor and Mark Waugh used to drop catches occasionally.

What India wouldn't give for a couple of slips men who are half as good as Taylor and Waugh, even at their current age.

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Loyal crowd wills Cook forward

Alastair Cook was under the greatest pressure of his career, but the Southampton crowd was determined to will him forward

#politeenquiries: Do runs solve Cook captaincy issue?

In the late 1960s, with flower-power and hippiedom at their peak, a large group gathered in central London determined to prove the power of positive thinking. If they all concentrated on the same thought at the same time, they believed they could move a building an inch to its left.

It was a similar story at The Ageas Bowl on the first day of the third Investec Test. You could feel the goodwill for England's captain around the ground. You feel the desperation among the spectators, among his teammates, among the coaching staff and even among the majority of the UK media, that Alastair Cook would end his run drought and register his first Test century since May 2013.

Yet, just as the hippies were unable to move that building, so Cook was unable to complete his century. All the goodwill, all the desperation, all the positive thinking was unable to take him the extra inch.

But this innings was no failure. There is too much emphasis on personal milestones in this team game and, just as an innings of 100 would have been celebrated as much as an innings of 105, so this innings of 95 still demonstrated many of Cook's admirable qualities, not least his well-organised batting, his determination and his leadership skills.

It was a brave decision to bat first. A weaker captain, a weaker man, might have seen the green-tinged wicket and used it as an excuse to delay his examination. Cook could easily have chosen to bowl first - as the captain had in the last 10 first-class games at the ground - and hidden behind the explanation that he wanted to give his seamers first use of the wicket. But he knew, deep down, that was the wrong decision for the team and, as ever, he put the team first.

Then, despite a tangible lack of confidence and, as he put it, "under the greatest pressure he had ever been under" he produced the innings his side so desperately required. It was not pretty, it was not smooth and it was not without mistakes.

There were times, with Cook thrusting his hands towards the ball as if trying to remember how he used to bat, when he timed the ball so horribly that you could almost feel the jarring sensation in his arms. And there were times, with the ball making a dead sound after a stroke, when it appeared he might be playing with a piece of driftwood rather than a finely-crafted bat. It was, for the most part, a desperate struggle.

But Cook was never a batsman that you would fall in love with; he was a batsman you could rely upon. And it is reliance, not romance, that England need now.

It would be wrong, though, to suggest this innings answers all the criticism of Cook. It has done little to prove him a good tactician; it has done little to prove him an inspirational leader; it has done little to suggest he is at the start of a golden run of form.

Many county batsmen, if granted 28 consecutive opportunities, would contribute a sizeable innings every so often. The worth of a good Test batsman is contributing consistently. Cook still has to build upon this innings. It if takes another 20 innings for him to contribute, he will have failed. Only Mike Brearley has played more consecutive innings as an England captain and failed to score a century.

There was enduring evidence of some of his technical frailties, too. On a quicker pitch, he might have been caught in the slips from his first ball; instead the edge dropped short. On another day, he would have been caught in the slips on 15; instead Ravi Jadeja put down a relatively simple chance. And on another day, on 29, he might have been caught off the thick edge that flew through gully to the boundary. Luck will always play a large part in this game and Cook also benefited from a slow-paced wicket, a slight off-day from India's seamers and some modest fare from the support bowlers.

But he earned the short balls and wide deliveries. By leaving better outside off stump, by playing straighter, by retaining his patience and composure despite the pressure, he forced the bowlers into attempting different methods of attack and, gradually, they began to feed his strengths. Not one ball was driven to the boundary in the V between mid-off and mid-on, but he cut and pulled often. He will always be a limited player, but when he plays within those limitations he is a mightily effective one.

And, if the runs alone were not enough to remind onlookers of his worth, Cook also passed Kevin Pietersen and David Gower in the list of England's highest run-scorers in Test cricket. He is just 29, remember, and only Alec Stewart and Graham Gooch have scored more than him now.

This was not the end of Cook's journey, but it was a step in the right direction.

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India hopeful on Ishant fitness for Old Trafford

India's bowling coach, Joe Dawes, is confident Ishant Sharma will be fit by the time the fourth Test begins, in Manchester on August 7. Ishant, Man of the Match at Lord's for his seven-wicket haul in the second innings, had to be withdrawn from the Southampton Test in what seemed to be a last-minute move. MS Dhoni said he would have played Ishant had this been a one-day match, but he didn't want to risk him over five days.

Pankaj Singh, Ishant's replacement, was put on standby Saturday night, according to Dawes, which suggests India were not confident of Ishant's availability. Dawes said Ishant has "a bit of a sore leg", further tests on which are yet to be done. "There are eleven days or so to the next Test, and I am confident that he can pull through," Dawes said.

Pankaj might have been given the message to stay prepared for a debut, but the final call wasn't made until the teams got to the ground an hour before toss. Ishant tried bowling, but pulled up a little sore. However, Dawes saying that they hadn't made the decision right until toss time is a bit of an exaggeration. Ishant had been in a warm jacket and doing nothing for about 20 minutes leading up to the toss, which was a clear indication.

Pankaj had a mixed day in the field. He was desperately unlucky in having Alastair Cook dropped off his bowling, and then missing out on what looked like a pretty straightforward lbw decision against Ian Bell. Towards the end of the day, though, he took a bit of tap, getting pulled, cut and driven off the toes.

"After ten years, it was a dream come true," Pankaj told Star Sports. "Really happy to make my debut, but I would have liked to get a wicket for my team. Hopefully I get some tomorrow. It's an unbelievable feeling. Can't put it in words. Tried my best, but things haven't happened. Hopefully tomorrow that changes."

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Red Steel romp to nine-wicket win over Zouks

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel 137 for 1 (Lewis 77, O'Brien 55*) beat St Lucia Zouks 136 for 9 (Sammy 46*, Badree 2-13) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Evin Lewis and Kevin O'Brien flayed a hapless St Lucia Zouks bowling unit as the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel recorded a nine-wicket win at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. The pair erased the CPL first-wicket partnership record set 24 hours earlier by Martin Guptill and Lendl Simmons of the Guyana Amazon Warriors by adding 129 at the start of the Red Steel chase.

The Red Steel reached the target of 137 with 32 balls to spare, just one ball short of equaling the fastest chase of CPL 2014 made by the Jamaica Tallawahs who were set 97 to win against the Antigua Hawksbills on July 17. Lewis and O'Brien came within eight runs of notching the first 10-wicket win in CPL history before Lewis fell for 77 in the 14th over to a catch in the deep off Shane Shillingford.

O'Brien brought up his own half-century two balls later and should have been dismissed with three needed to win when he was stumped giving Garey Mathurin the charge only to be called back to the crease when replays revealed the left-arm spinner had overstepped and a no ball was called. O'Brien sealed the match with a two off the free hit that followed and finished unbeaten on 55 off 44 balls.

The brief chase was set up by a disciplined bowling and fielding display in response to the Zouks decision to bat first upon winning the toss. Legspinner Samuel Badree set the tone by removing both openers, Johnson Charles stumped for 15 after being beaten in flight coming down the track and Andre Fletcher for 4 swinging across the line to a full delivery to mark Badree's 100th wicket in Twenty20 matches. He finished with a typically tidy 2 for 13 in four overs including a maiden.

The Zouks struggled to piece together a decent partnership with their best stand of the day coming courtesy of Tonito Willett and Darren Sammy, who added 27 runs for the fifth wicket. Sammy's efforts to provide a late surge were stunted by three runouts in the final overs. He still motored ahead to finish with an innings-high 46 not out off 35 balls including four sixes but the final total of 136 for 9 was never going to be enough against a stacked Red Steel batting lineup on a pitch that held few demons.

The Red Steel reclaimed sole possession of first place with the win, moving two points clear of the Amazon Warriors with 10 points on five wins. Meanwhile, the Zouks remain entrenched in the winless column and will be aiming to turn their fortunes around on July 31 when the CPL caravan arrives at Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia. The Zouks play their first home game of the season that evening against the Barbados Tridents.

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Beaton's final over leaves Tridents stunned

Guyana Amazon Warriors 173 for 5 (Simmons 64, Guptill 55*) beat BarbadosTridents 166 for 4 (Smith 104*) by seven runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A CPL record 148-run second-wicket partnership between Dwayne Smith and Shoaib Malik was trumped by Ronsford Beaton's spectacular final over to give the Guyana Amazon Warriors a seven-run win over the Barbados Tridents at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The Tridents seemed certain to overhaul a target of 174 thanks to Smith's second century in three matches and entered the final over needing 11 to win with Smith on strike on 101 having already hit eight fours and six sixes. Beaton was the same man who conceded a last ball six to Darren Bravo two nights earlier in a heartbreaking loss to the Red Steel, but Guyana captain Denesh Ramdin kept faith in the 21-year-old Beaton to defend those 11 runs and he did it with room to spare.

Fortune appeared to be shining on Smith and the Tridents after Smith tried to slog a yorker only for the ball to deflect off his pads and knock into leg stump without dislodging the bails. Beaton speared in three more yorkers to Smith that resulted in a two, a dot and a single to put Jonathan Carter on strike needing eight off the final two to win. Beaton fired in a wide yorker to combat Carter's premeditated scoop shot resulting in another dot ball to effectively seal the match with one ball remaining. Another dot off the final ball served as the icing on the cake.

Despite plenty of wickets in hand for the Tridents, the foundation for the tight finish was laid in the 17th when the 148-run second-wicket partnership was broken after Malik was caught short trying to steal a single for Smith. Lendl Simmons circled around and connected with a direct hit from backward point to send Malik on his way for 50.

Five balls later, Beaton struck with a full inswinger to bowl Kieron Pollard for a duck and then finished the 18th by running out Jeevan Mendis off his own bowling. Smith dug out a yorker and tried to scamper a single but Beaton charged down the pitch in his follow through and underhanded into the striker's end stumps to leave 16 needed off 12 with six wickets in hand. Krishmar Santokie conceded five singles in the 19th before Beaton's final over sealed it for the Amazon Warriors as the Tridents ended on 166 for 4.

Earlier in the day, Simmons and Martin Guptill provided contrasting half-centuries from the top of the order for the Amazon Warriors after being sent in to bat. The pair produced a record stand of their own by adding 103, the best first-wicket partnership in the CPL and sixth best for any wicket. Simmons fell on the final ball of the 12th over for 64, caught on the boundary attempting to slog Mendis' legspin for his fifth six. Guptill dropped anchor afterward and let his fresh partners slog away around him.

Mohammad Hafeez was particularly effective, smacking two fours and three sixes to make 30 off 10 balls before he was dismissed by Pollard two balls into the 20th. Guptill wound up carrying his bat as Guyana finished on 173 for 5 with Guptill unbeaten on 55 off 51 balls and his patience was vindicated by the end of the day. The Amazon Warriors now sit on eight points alongside the Red Steel at the top of the CPL table while the Tridents fall back in a tie for third with the Tallawahs on six points.

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Red Steel hand Tallawahs first loss

Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel 183 for 5 (Lewis 72, Russell 2-23) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 170 for 6 (Gayle 60, O'Brien 4-22) by 13 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Opening batsman Evin Lewis' belligerent assault paved the way for a 13-run win for the Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel over the Jamaica Tallawahs at a vibrant Queen's Park Oval on Saturday. Lewis' 72 off 43 balls left the Tallawahs stunned in the field and resulted in their first loss on the season while the Red Steel moved past the Tallawahs on the CPL points table with their fourth win of CPL 2014.

After Chris Gayle won the toss and elected to field first, Kevin O'Brien got the Red Steel innings off to a brisk start with three fours and two sixes to bring the Red Steel to 40 for 0 after four overs. Andre Russell pulled things back in the field for the Tallawahs with a double-strike in the sixth over, cleaning up O'Brien for 32 with a yorker before dismissing Ross Taylor first ball courtesy of a well-timed leaping effort by Rusty Theron at mid-off that resulted in a one-handed catch to make it 45 for 2.

After eight overs, Lewis had yet to hit a boundary and sat on 8 off 20 balls but erupted in the ninth, targeting Gayle's offspin for two fours and a six. Gayle remained in the crosshairs to start the 11th when Lewis launched him for back-to-back sixes over long-off. The captain replaced himself with Vettori to start the 13th for some left-arm spin but the result wasn't much different with Lewis tonking three sixes in the over, two playing with the turn over midwicket followed by another back over Vettori's head.

Theron eventually claimed Lewis in the 15th but not before he had hit eight of the Red Steel's 15 sixes. Three more came in the final over from Dwayne Bravo and Jason Scantlebury-Searles to boost Red Steel's total to 183 for 5.

The Tallawahs got off to a methodical start in the chase with Gayle's half-century anchoring the innings. They comfortably reached the halfway mark at 82 for 1 but a few overs later O'Brien's spell turned the match back in the Red Steel's favor. He struck four balls after his arrival in the 12th over, inducing a skied chance to cover to remove Jermaine Blackwood for 28.

After Gayle smashed O'Brien over extra cover for six two balls into the 15th, he tried repeating the shot but a miscued drive was claimed by Taylor a yard inside the boundary. Adam Voges crossed to get on strike for the following delivery but quickly joined Gayle in the pavilion when he produced a leading edge back to O'Brien to leave the score 121 for 4 after 15. O'Brien pushed Lewis out of the way for the Man-of-the-Match award by trapping Owais Shah on the back foot with an offcutter at the start of the 17th and finished with figures of 4 for 22 in three overs.

The Tallawahs entered the final over needing 33 to win and Carlton Baugh was run out trying to steal a bye off the first ball to mathematically clinch the win for the Red Steel. Russell smacked sixes off the final three balls of the match to make the result appear more flattering for the Tallawahs but the day was dominated by the Red Steel behind Lewis and O'Brien's impressive performances.

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Six Canadians in Americas U19 squad

Canada allrounder Nikhil Dutta has been named as part of a 14-man ICC Americas U19 squad that will take part in the West Indies Cricket Board Regional U19 50-over competition which takes place in Guyana from August 4-15. This will be the third time an ICC Americas composite team featuring players from Canada, Bermuda and the USA will be taking part in the WICB U19 tournament.

Dutta was part of the ICC Americas U19 team in 2012 but was omitted in 2013, despite sweeping honors for Best Batsman, Best Bowler and Tournament MVP of the 2013 ICC Americas U19 championship, in order to be available for selection for the Canada senior team's WCL Championship and Intercontinental Cup contests last August. He made his ODI debut in March 2013 against Kenya in the UAE. Dutta is one of six Canada players in the ICC Americas squad, including three others who return from the 2013 ICC Americas team: Abraash Khan, Farhan Malik and Armaan Kapoor.

Bermuda's Tre Manders and Delray Rawlins are also returning to the ICC Americas U19 team from last year and are two of four players chosen from the island. Manders and Rawlins have been promising prospects for the last several years. Manders made his senior team debut as an 18-year-old for Bermuda at the ICC Americas Division One T20 championship in Florida in March 2013. He scored 64 at number three in his 50-over debut in a win over Italy two months later at ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda and opened the batting in November at the 2013 World T20 Qualifier in the UAE.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Rawlins played against USA in a series of warm-up matches in March 2013 before making his official senior team debut that May at age 15 against USA at ICC WCL Division Three in Bermuda. He took 1 for 39 in a solid performance that was part of a five-wicket win, Bermuda's first over USA in a live contest since 2005.

Like Bermuda, USA also have four representatives in the squad. Among them is Keifer Phill, the 2014 Wingate Award winner as the most outstanding senior in the New York PSAL (Public Schools Athletic League) high school cricket competition. The selection is a homecoming of sorts for Phill and fellow USA player Trevis Ross. Both are originally from Guyana and developed much of their cricket there before migrating to New York City.

The coaching staff will be led by ICC Americas High Performance Consultant Tom Evans. An Australian native, Evans joined the ICC Americas Office last year after spending three years as the ICC East Asia-Pacific Regional Development Officer and has previous experience with Cricket Victoria. One coach each from the three countries will also be part of the coaching staff: Canada's Errol Barrow, Bermuda's Allan Douglas and USA's Linden Fraser.

"This is very much a coach development initiative as it is a player one," Evans told ESPNcricinfo. The squad will arrive in Georgetown on August 1 before attending WICB development seminars on August 2 and a training session on August 3 before the team's first match against Trinidad & Tobago U19 at Demerara Cricket Club on August 4. ICC Americas will play a total of six group games. Last year's ICC Americas U19 squad had a respectable showing in the WICB U19 tournament, defeating Leeward Islands by three wickets and scoring 209 in a chase against Windward Islands that ended in a tie.

ICC Americas U19 squad: Nikhil Dutta, Aniket Joshi, Armaan Kapoor, Abraash Khan, Farham Malik, Arjun Parikh (Canada); Onias Bascome, Tre Manders, Delray Rawlins, Micah Simons (Bermuda); Vibhav Altekar, Arsh Buch, Keifer Phill, Trevis Ross (USA).

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India irate at England's testimony

Though Ravindra Jadeja was found guilty of an offence lesser than the one he was charged with - Level 1 instead of Level 2 - India are adamant their allrounder did no wrong and should not have been fined 50% of his match fee. ESPNcricinfo understands that at the hearing England witnesses, Ben Stokes and Matt Prior, suggested to match referee David Boon that Jadeja had turned threateningly towards James Anderson, and the England fast bowler had acted in self defence. Anderson's case - a hearing into a Level 3 charge - will be heard on August 1.

ESPNcricinfo has learned that Prior contended Jadeja's bat was raised dangerously when he turned towards Anderson, and Stokes suggested Jadeja had pushed Anderson first. India claim Jadeja neither touched nor swore at anyone.

The incident happened on day two of the Trent Bridge Test. Anderson had a caught-behind appeal against Jadeja turned down in the last over before lunch, and as the players walked off, past the field and the narrow staircase between the pavilion and the field, more words were believed to have been exchanged.

There is another narrow passage inside the pavilion, which both teams have to take before parting ways to their dressing rooms, and the incident happened there as opposed to the popular view that it happened in the staircase.

Sources claim England's case at the hearing centred on Jadeja allegedly instigating Anderson by turning around. India claimed Jadeja only turned around after he was allegedly sworn at once again. Dhoni specifically said in the press conference before the third Test that Jadeja's bat had stayed tucked under his arm all through. The stewards present claim not to have seen the push and India were unhappy about the security cameras not working on that day.

India's unmoving stand in this case is fascinating because it could possibly threaten the newly formed alliance between the BCCI and ECB. This tour has been amicable on the administrative front - the ECB has not, for example, mentioned DRS even once. The team sees this incident in isolation.

India see a minor victory in Jadeja's hearing, in that England in effect agreed that Anderson did push Jadeja. On the eve of the third Test, Dhoni called Boon's verdict hurtful and negligent. In his verdict, Boon had said he was "not comfortably satisfied" that Jadeja's role amounted to a Level 2 charge, and punished him for a Level 1 offence. The allrounder was found guilty of "conduct contrary to the spirit of the game."

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Tridents squeak by to keep Hawksbills winless

Barbados Tridents 130 for 9 (Carter 35, Brathwaite 2-17) beat Antigua Hawksbills 129 for 8 (Samuels 66, Rampaul 4-15) by one wicket
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Antigua Hawksbills' luckless 2014 Caribbean Premier League campaign continued with a one-wicket defeat at the hands of Barbados Tridents Friday night at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. Akeal Hosein shook off a kamikaze run-out - which consumed his partner Rayad Emrit, the ninth Tridents wicket - on the third ball of the final over by calmly flicking a two through midwicket with the field spread to scamper to a win with two balls to spare.

The loss keeps Hawksbills winless from five games and only a dramatic turnaround in their final four games will give them a chance at advancing into the CPL playoffs. The Tridents win ensures they keep pace at the top of the CPL table with Tallawahs, Red Steel and Amazon Warriors as all four teams currently sit level on six points.

Tridents captain Kieron Pollard sent the Hawksbills in to bat and Danza Hyatt's runout three balls into the match set the tone for a poor start by the visitors. Ravi Rampaul made further inroads by striking three times before the end of the power play to leave the Hawksbills 24 for 4 at the six over mark.

Marlon Samuels pieced together a responsible 66, including a 51-run fifth-wicket stand with David Hussey in a bid to salvage the innings. Any hopes of a late charge were scuttled when Kieron Pollard fooled Samuels with a slow bouncer on the first ball of the 18th over to send a catch to Ashley Nurse at mid-off to make it 111 for 6. Rampaul claimed Sheldon Cottrell with a yorker in the 19th to cap off a Man-of-the-Match effort with figures of 4 for 15 as Hawksbills finished on 129 for 8.

One match after smashing an unbeaten 110, Dwayne Smith fell without scoring in the first over of the chase after mistiming an attempted pull off Cottrell to midwicket. Tridents recovered to reach the halfway stage of the chase on 70 for 3, needing a run a ball the rest of the way with Jonathan Carter well set on 25.

Even after Kieron Pollard fell for 14 hooking Carlos Brathwaite to deep square leg, Tridents seemed on course for an easy win. But Carter ran himself out for 35 as he attempted a needless second in the 16th over. It sparked a slide as three wickets fell in 10 balls to turn the match in Hawksbills favour.

Hawksbills inched even closer when Nurse went for a reckless heave in the 19th over and skied a catch to point, making it 119 for 8. Tridents entered the final over needing 10 to win with two wickets in hand.

A single on the first ball of the 20th turned to three, thanks to a poor collection by the wicketkeeper that allowed a second run which was then compounded by a sloppy overthrow. Emrit reverse swept the next ball for four before the final frantic two balls produced hope and then more heartbreak for Hawksbills.

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Wright makes record 153 in huge chase

Sussex 226 for 3 (Wright 153*) beat Essex 225 for 3 (Westley 109*, Ryder 75) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Luke Wright produced an incredible innings as he smashed an unbeaten 153 from 66 balls to lead Sussex to a seven-wicket triumph over a shell-shocked Essex side at Chelmsford.

It represented the highest score in English domestic Twenty20 cricket, eclipsing the unbeaten 152 by Graham Napier when the sides met on the same ground six years ago. Wright's astonishing effort contained 12 fours and 11 sixes, the last of which came off Napier to equal his mark, and he followed it up by pushing the allrounder for a single to set a new record.

Sussex looked down and out in the face of a daunting target of 226 when they srrived at the five-over mark with only 48 on the board and two wickets down. They lost another soon afterwards, that of Harry Finch, but then Matt Machan joined Wright in a partnership that yielded 159 runs in 12.1 overs.

Wright had a packed crowd taking evasive action as he repeatedly sent the ball into orbit, with none of Essex's six bowlers able to stem the flow of runs.

Wright's heroics came after Chris Nash was bowled by David Masters without a run on the board and Napier had breached the defences of Craig Cachopa with the total on 14.

Essex must have thought then that they were poised for an easy triumph but the brilliant Wright had other ideas. Machan was content to play the supporting role in the unbroken fourth-wicket stand, although his 41 came from only 26 balls.

It must have all left the table-topping home side wondering what they had to do to finish victorious after Tom Westley and Jesse Ryder had helped post what had appeared a winning score.

Westley struck a competition career-best 109 not out from only 58 balls after arriving when Mark Pettini was run out by Cachopa from short cover with a direct throw in the opening over. Westley was soon making the Sussex attack pay dearly for some wayward bowling as he struck five sixes and 12 fours, reaching his half-century and moving into three figures with strokes that sailed high into the packed crowd.

Earlier this month, he had struck 105 against Kent in the same competition but it was Ryder who set the tone for the onslaught. The New Zealander followed three successive fours in Matt Hobden's opening over with three sixes in the fast bowler's next as he went on to complete his half-century from just 21 deliveries.

Ryder went on to make 75 from just 37 balls which included eight fours and four sixes before he was caught on the long-on boundary off the bowling of Nash. He and Westley had put on 124 in only 11 overs as skipper Nash also used six bowlers in a vain attempt to stop the flow of runs.

Following Ryder's departure and the cheap dismissal of Ravi Bopara for 4, skipper Ryan ten Doeschate came in to smash 30 from 15 balls, 20 of them in boundaries, in an unbroken stand of 75 with Westley from 32 deliveries. That included 52 from the final three overs to set Sussex a daunting task but it was a target that they achieved with some degree of comfort as they eased home with nine balls to spare thanks to Wright's phenomenal innings.

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