Garton gets Sussex home again to set up quarter-final clash with Lancashire

Sussex Sharks beat Essex Eagles to seal a spot in the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast after a man of the match performance from George Garton helped rescue them for the second time in the space of three days.
George Garton won it for Sussex with another sparkling all-round display / Picture: GettyGeorge Garton won it for Sussex with another sparkling all-round display / Picture: Getty
George Garton won it for Sussex with another sparkling all-round display / Picture: Getty

Garton produced a superb bowling display, taking 4-21, and along with standout performances from Ollie Robinson (2-25) and Mitchell Claydon (2-25) helped reduce Essex to 136/9 with Paul Walter (76) the only batsman to offer major resistance.

However, in reply Sussex collapsed to 59/5 and looked to be on the verge of heading out of the competition with quarter-final candidates Somerset and Durham both looking good.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Garton again managed to pull another heist as good work from him and Callum MacLeod (40) managed to take Sussex within five runs of victory before the all-rounder hit the winning runs to seal a spot in the last eight.

After winning the toss and sticking the hosts into bat, Sussex got off to a dream start thanks to Garton as he had Cameron Delport caught by Phil Salt off the first ball of the match. Three balls later he bowled Feroze Khushi for a duck with an inch-perfect yorker to leave the hosts 0/2 from the opening over.

After their Eagles early losses, Varun Chopra began to counter-attack, hitting the first boundary of the game off Garton before smashing Robinson for six back over his head. However, the opener played one shot too many as he was bowled by Robinson for 15 as he attempted another big shot down the ground as Sussex continued their excellent start in the powerplay.

The Sharks continued their incredible start with the ball the following over as Claydon bowled Michael Pepper for six to leave the hosts at 22/4.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Walter and Simon Harmer ensured Essex got through the powerplay without any further losses and set about repairing the damage, adding a 43-run partnership.

Sussex thought they had broken the partnership twice through Danny Briggs, Salt convinced he had Harmer stumped when he was on four before claiming he had the South African off-spinner caught down the leg-side - but both appeals were denied.

The Sharks' frustration was eventually ended when Harmer was dismissed for 12 by David Wiese, the Essex captain caught by Salt to leave the Eagles struggling at 65/5.

Walter was joined by debutant Robin Das and the former helped push the Eagles scoring rate along by adding a 42-run stand in just three overs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Das’ debut came to a swift end when Garton returned to dismiss him for seven,having the 18-year-old caught on the boundary by MacLeod.

Garton ended his spell by picking up his fourth wicket, bowling Jack Plom for five, the left-armer continuing his good form, after a stellar performance against Middlesex just two days prior.

Essex’s hopes of a competitive total laid with Walter, but the all-rounder continued to lose partners with Aron Nijjar falling for three after chipping a simple return catch to Claydon to leave the hosts at 117/8.

Walter continued to put a dent in an otherwise perfect bowling performance from Sussex, as he smashed a four off the final ball of Claydon’s spell before launching Robinson for six in the final over to take Essex past 130.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The all-rounder was eventually dismissed for a career high score of 76 off the penultimate ball of the match as he was bowled by Robinson as he attempted to scoop a ball off the opening bowler.

A single off the final ball from Ben Allison meant that Essex Eagles finished on 136/9, the joint lowest T20 Blast score at Chelmsford this season.

In reply, the Sharks collapsed to 59/5 in just 7.2 overs as their quarter-final hopes began to fade, Luke Wright the first to go for just one after he chopped a ball from Plom on to his stumps.

Delray Rawlins departed for four an over later after the Bermuda star skied a ball from T20 debutant Allison and was caught by Shane Snater.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Salt managed to repair things as he began to pile on the runs with Ravi Bopara to take Sussex past 50 inside five overs.

However, Bopara was dismissed for four in the fifth over courtesy of a stunning catch by Allison. The 20-year-old dived to grab a ball before sliding inches short of the boundary rope after Bopara had leathered a short ball from Snater.

Snater soon had two wickets in the over when Salt was caught by captain Harmer after the opener had attempted to recreate the same shot the brought him four runs two balls prior. The Sharks collapse continued just two overs later when Wiese was trapped leg-before by Harmer for one to leave them at 59/5.

MacLeod and Garton faced an uphill battle but the pair were able to stem the flow of wickets by taking them to 75/5 at the halfway stage.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The pair struck just five boundaries in their partnership but by milking singles, in a field that was stretched by the target Essex were defending, the pair were able to take Sussex within touching distance of victory.

MacLeod was unable to see Sussex home as he was dismissed for 40, caught by Allison off the bowling of Plom to end a 73-run partnership between the Scotsman and Garton.

The game was finished by Garton as he dispatched Delport for four as he once again managed to rescue Sussex from a dire situation to see the Sharks win by four wickets and to qualify for the quarter-finals in which they will be at home to Lancashire.

Skipper Wright said “We never make things easy for ourselves and I was just worried that the defeat that we had at Hove against Kent recently would come back and bite us. We made a bit harder work of it than we should have done and I thought actually we should have kept their score down more although credit to Walter who batted really well.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Even so at the start of the match we would have taken the score that we restricted them to but then there was some batting from our players that we wouldn’t have been overly proud of but we got over the line and that was the important thing.”