Ten Doeschante downs Saltires

Essex 368/7 (40/40 ov) Rutherford 110, ten Doeschate 180, beat Scottish Saltires 243/8 (40.0/40 ov) by 125 runs

A warm and sunny County Ground in Chelmsford welcomed the Scottish Saltires on Sunday as they faced up to Essex for the second time in this year’s Yorkshire Bank 40 competition.
There were debuts for New Zealand pair Tom Latham for the Saltires and Hamish Rutherford for Essex in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

Preston Mommsen won the toss and elected to field first against a strong Essex line up, with only Alastair Cook missing from what would have been considered a full strength home side.
Calum MacLeod opened bowling from the River End for the Saltires and took four deliveries before rattling the pads of Tim Westley to claim the first wicket of the day, and give the Scots the perfect start.
Hamish Rutherford opened his run account with Essex following a boundary down to fine-leg in the second over. He and Mark Pettini moved the score onto 25/1 after the initial 6 overs, with both Goudie and MacLeod bowling good tight lines and mixing up their pace.
Calvin Burnett was introduced into the attack in the 10th over and immediately made an impact as Pettini looked to hook, only to sky the ball down to fine-leg for Drummond who took the catch.
Owais Shah, returning from the Indian Premier League, didn’t last long as he hit then popped a Drummond delivery into the hands of a stretching Ewan Chalmers.
The Saltries now had their tails up in the field as Burnett teased an edge from Rutherford, only for the catch to go down as wicket-keeper Cross dived to his left.
Rutherford then looked to take advantage after his let off, as he hit Burnett over long-on for a maximum, followed by another boundary next ball to push Essex onto 72/3 after 14 overs.
Michael Leask came onto bowl and new batsmen Ryan ten Doeschate immediately despatched him out of the ground over long on for the first of his many sixes.
Back-to-back boundaries by Rutherford took him to his half century on debut - his 50 coming from 48 balls which included 7x4s 2x6s.
Essex had 100 on the board in the 19th over as Drummond continued his economical spell from the River End.
Burnett retuned for a second spell and was sent back over his head by Rutherford in the 22nd over, and his overstep proved costly as the resulting free hit was sent for 6 straight down the ground.
Moneeb Iqbal came in to bowl the 23rd over and the two set Essex batsmen looked to accelerate the score - Rutherford sending his first two deliveries for two big sixes into the off-side.
Ten Doeschate survived a scare as he swept in the air, resulting in a tough chance for Leask who diving forward on the leg-side boundary, seemed to have control, until he hit the ground and the ball popped back out.
Rutherford brought in his maiden 100 in Essex colours in style, smacking Goudie over long-on for a maximum - his 100 coming from 83 balls and included 8x4s and 6x6s.
The boundaries were now coming thick and fast for the home side as the Saltires looked to have been knocked off their stride with the destructive hitting of the Essex batsmen.
The pair then looked to heap the pressure on the Saltires as the first four balls of the power-play found the rope - ten Doeschante hitting 21 runs from the over as he swiftly moved into the 90s.
There was no-where to hide for the young Saltires as ten Doeschante hit the ball to all parts as 33 runs came from the 32nd over. Burnett had to be removed from the attack as he bowled two waist high no balls.
Rutherford then perished looking to go big from the bowling of Drummond, hitting the catch to MacLeod in the deep for 110, which ended a remarkable 4th wicket stand of 230 runs from only 22.1 overs.
Ten Doeschante was in imperious form, looking to target the short boundary at every opportunity. Eventually his explosive innings came to an end as Michael Leask bowled him for 180. An impressive innings featured 8x4s and 15x6s -recording his highest score for Essex.
Sajid Mahmood didn’t last long as he became Drummond’s third wicket of the day, having his leg-stump uprooted by the former Saltire captain for 3.
James Foster came in to finish the innings with a flourish to ensure hosts posted their highest total in a 40 over match – 368/7.
Tom Latham and Freddie Coleman got the Saltire reply underway, and it got off to the worst possible start as Latham was bowled in the first over by the spin of Philips for 3.
Coleman came down the track to hit the spinner for the first maximum of the Saltire innings, however, a mix up between the wickets resulted in Goudie being run out.
It got worse for the Saltires as Coleman became Napier’s first victim of the day, a well-directed yorker striking the batsmen on the toe in front, as the umpire raised the finger.
Chalmers and MacLeod looked to restore respectability to the score. However, MacLeod was caught in the slips as he guided the ball to Owais Shah from the bowling of Mahmood in the 10th over leaving the visitors on 55/4 in the 10th over.
Tymal Mills was introduced in the 13th over and his pace and bounce beat the batsmen on a number of occasions.
Mommsen struck the first Saltires boundary in 8 overs during the 17th, hitting Mills through mid-wicket for 4. The captain struck another in the following over - this time off the back-foot through the covers - as they moved onto 85/4 in the 18th over.
The Saltires captain wasn’t to make his half century however, as he was out LBW to ten Doeschante for 42, and was soon followed by Ewan Chalmers who offered Mills a catch at fly-slip after making 34.
Iqbal provided the Saltires with an entertaining cameo of 30 until an excellent bit of fielding, culminating in a direct hit saw his innings come to an end.
Cross wasn’t finished as he crashed a Napier delivery through the covers in the 35th over and then another through point from the last ball of the same over.
Burnett had the opportunity to get his own back on ten Doschante going down the ground to register a big maximum, and then pulled the same bowler to the fence the next delivery.
Cross went on to reach his maiden half century for the Saltires, coming from 43 balls as he showed a glimpse of his potential. Eventually Essex registered a 125 run win after the Saltires had finished their 40 overs, with Cross finishing on 54* and Burnett 31*.
This will have been a tough lesson for the Saltires; after such a positive start to the game they will be left thinking about might have been had they taken their chances when they came along.
The many spectators that came along witnessed a real master class of hitting by ten Doeschante, with the obvious class of Rutherford, which effectively took the game away from the visitors.
They will be hoping for a vast improvement when Australia A come to Edinburgh on Friday for a 4-day friendly as they prepare for the Ashes.