Latest news with #LeusDuPlooy
The Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Jofra Archer stars as Southern Brave cruise past Birmingham Phoenix in Hundred
Jofra Archer claimed two for 16 to lead Southern Brave to a comfortable nine-wicket victory over Birmingham Phoenix in the men's Hundred. Phoenix were limited to 106 for seven, with New Zealand spinner Michael Bracewell adding to Archer's effort with three for 10, while the highlight for the visitors came via Joe Clarke's 36. Phoenix were undone by a fine display of attacking bowling as Brave ripped into them with England stars Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell and Liam Livingstone all falling in quick succession. James Vince then hit 41 from 30 balls, part of a 75-run opening stand with Leus du Plooy, as the home side delivered a dominant display. Former England opener Jason Roy hit 18 as Du Plooy finished with an unbeaten 48, seeing Brave to their target with 19 balls to spare. Victory in Southampton was enough to move them joint top of the early table with two wins from two, with Phoenix still awaiting a first success of the season. Brave completed a double over Phoenix after a 15-run victory earlier in the women's Hundred thanks to Danni Wyatt-Hodge's 59 and fine all-round work from Sophie Devine. England batter Wyatt-Hodge hit eight fours while Devine made 27 and South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt registered 28 as Brave set the visitors a target of 140. Phoenix captain Ellyse Perry put on stands of 36 with Sterre Kalis – who herself chipped in with 44 – and 37 with Amy Jones. England seamer Lauren Bell took three for 17 and New Zealand all-rounder Devine was also crucial to thwarting Phoenix's chase, taking Perry for 26 as a strong position for Phoenix in which they required 45 from 30 balls slipped away. Devine caught Jones for 20 before Ailsa Lister and Megan Schutt also went as Phoenix's lower order collapsed from from 95 for four to 124 all out, giving Brave their second win from as many matches. Northern Superchargers also have two wins from two in the women's competition after 18-year-old Davina Perrin hit an unbeaten 72 from 40 balls to inspire an eight-wicket triumph over Trent Rockets. Perrin's knock was her first half-century in the Hundred and set up a comfortable chase as Superchargers clinched victory with 21 balls to spare. Rockets were five for three after 18 balls before Ash Gardner made a spirited resistance, racking up 61 from 32 but Rockets were ultimately able to post only a disappointing 128. Phoebe Litchfield struck 22 from 10 balls in support of Perrin before Annabel Sutherland (18) finished things off by reverse-sweeping through the off-side.
BBC News
23-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Williamson hits debut ton as Middlesex pile on runs
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Northwood (day two)Middlesex 625-8 dec: Holden 151, Williamson 114, Du Plooy 105, Cracknell 73; Zaib 3-70Northamptonshire 126-4: McManus 39, Higgins 2-17Middlesex (6 pts), Northants (1 pt)Match scorecard Kane Williamson and Leus du Plooy scored centuries as records wanted and unwanted were set on day two of Middlesex's County Championship clash with Northamptonshire at Merchant Taylors' New Zealand Test skipper Williamson's 114 came on his Championship debut for the Seaxes, while Du Plooy's unbeaten 105 was his first in four-day cricket this and Max Holden (151) took their mammoth second wicket stand to 239, eclipsing the 222 of Sydney Brown and Bill Edrich at Lord's in 1949, and with Joe Cracknell adding a blistering 73 Middlesex reached 625-8 which is their highest ever score against the Zaib took 3-70 amid the run fest, but fellow spinner Yuzvendra Chahal returned 0-175 the worst return by a Northamptonshire bowler without taking a wicket in Championship history – all on his 35th 476 to avoid the follow-on, Northamptonshire reached 54 without loss before stumbling to 126-4 by the close, Lewis McManus top scoring with 39, Ryan Higgins taking moved smoothly from his overnight 88 not out to a century completed with two runs into the leg-side. Day one centurion Holden looked a little scratchy before two boundaries took him past 150. However, no sooner had he reached the landmark when Ben Sanderson trapped him lbw on the back so often with huge stands both protagonists fell in quick succession, Williamson pinned in front by Liam Guthrie in the next the double strike the hosts hardly missed a beat, Higgins and Du Plooy sharing a stand of 67 in only 13 overs. Higgins drove the ball crisply to make 35 before Zaib struck twice in two balls, first removing the all-rounder leg-before and then trimming Ben Geddes' Northamptonshire hopes of getting the hosts for under 500 were quashed either side of lunch with Cracknell, who made 100 in the reverse fixture a month ago playing a gem of a twice cleared the ropes and cut and swept with authority, playing the dominant hand in a stand of 124 with skipper Du Plooy. He eventually fell hooking one from Dominic Leach to Guthrie at long leg and when Zafar Gohar and Toby Roland-Jones fell cheaply there were fears Du Plooy would run out of partners before reaching three Plooy, who had earlier thrashed a full toss from Chahal back over the bowler's head for six, looked unperturbed, driving stylishly and stroking the ball into the gaps. His 10th four brought him to 100 in the shadows of Helm provided great support with two huge sixes in a sprightly cameo, allowing the hosts to declare at the began brightly, McManus unfurling a flurry of boundaries, Middlesex's left-arm seamer Noah Cornwell on the receiving end of the and Ricardo Vasconcelos rattled up a 50-stand, but the left-hander played a little skittishly before edging Higgins to Du Plooy at slip, who clung on at the second Sharma was dropped on nought by Holden at long leg to deny Higgins a second wicket, but his response was to trap McManus lbw with his next soon found the edge of James Sales' bat, and though Sharma threatened to make the most of his reprieve with some wristy cuts and fluent drives he too fell to Roland-Jones in the death throes of the day. Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Du Plooy named Middlesex captain
Middlesex have named Leus du Plooy as captain of the club's County Championship and T20 Blast 30-year-old has taken over the roles with immediate effect ahead of his side's Blast fixture against Hampshire Hawks on Eskinazi has stepped down as T20 captain due to personal reasons, while former red-ball skipper, Toby Roland-Jones, has left his role by mutual consent, Middlesex Plooy moved to Middlesex from Derbyshire ahead of the 2024 season and has scored 1,601 runs in 36 appearances across both formats for the club."I am extremely proud to have been asked to captain Middlesex in both formats and am very much looking forward to a strong finish to this season and to working with the leadership group ahead of 2026," he told the club's website, external."I've been lucky enough to be a part of the Middlesex playing squad since the start of last season and have high hopes for what this talented group of players can achieve."Alan Coleman, Middlesex's director of cricket, said Du Plooy had shown himself to be a "natural leader at all times" and a "terrific influence" on young players."Appointing Leus as captain allows us to build for the long-term, as we look to develop this group of players and continue to build a successful and winning team in all formats."
BBC News
29-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Robson hits ton as Middlesex make hay against Leics
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester (day one)Middlesex 336-5: Robson 133, De Caires 76, du Plooy 56; Walker 3-57, Green 2-40Leicestershire: Yet to batLeics 1 pt, Middx 2 ptsMatch scorecard After beating Middlesex at Lord's for the first time in 45 years last month, County Championship Division Two leaders Leicestershire were made to toil against the same opponents on home Sam Robson (133) posted his first championship hundred of the season as Middlesex finished on 336-5, after Josh De Caires - still looking for his maiden first-class century after 37 attempts - scored 76 in an opening stand of Du Plooy, captain in the absence of Toby Roland-Jones, who is sidelined by a gastric bug, was out for 56 in the penultimate a Leicestershire attack without four of the bowlers that forged that victory at Lord's, seamer Roman Walker took the first three wickets to fall and ended the day with career-best figures of pitch had a healthy covering of grass, but where the sight of a similar surface in April with a Dukes ball in hand would have had a bowler licking his lips, a Kookaburra on a bone-dry day in late June is a different made for another of the attritional days that are becoming familiar when the Kookaburra ball is in use - not perhaps the best day to have chosen for the supporter-led County Cricket Day initiative where Leicestershire, among others, offered free mindful of Monday's forecast for still hotter conditions, and how the contest might look on day four, Leicestershire captain Peter Handscomb handed Middlesex the chance to bat first. His side extended their lead by virtue of a draw with Glamorgan last week and may be happy simply not to lose this one, but Middlesex, next to bottom, desperately need a had 119-0 by lunch as Robson and De Caires completed half-centuries with boundaries off Logan Van Beek in the final over before the left the home attack wicketless in the opening session of a match for the first time this were without Tom Scriven, Rehan Ahmed, Ben Mike and Josh Hull to injury, while their leading wicket-taker, Ian Holland, is playing Major League Cricket for Washington Freedom. Nonetheless it was a disappointing session for the home attack, who failed to create a real added a further 100 between lunch and tea for the loss of two wickets. Almost all of the meaningful action from the hosts took place in the space of five deliveries as Walker, playing only his fifth Championship match in four seasons at Grace Road, dismissed De Caires and Max some movement off the seam with a ball 47 overs old, Walker had the former caught behind off an inside edge, and, bowling around the wicket to the left-handed Holden, straightened one enough to pass the outside edge and clip off stump, removing Middlesex's leading scorer for a 24-year-old ex-Glamorgan seamer - in the last year of his current contract - picked up his third wicket 10 overs after tea as Robson, whose hundred had come off 185 balls, for once failed to control his shot and was caught at was a decent catch by Sol Budinger, yet merely a warm-up for what might be the best of the 25-year-old's career - so far or still to come - five overs later as new batter Ryan Higgins flashed at Ben Green. Now at backward point, Budinger dived for a ball going past him to his left, six inches above the ground, and somehow caught it with his right hand. That left Middlesex 271-4. They would have been 286-5 had Green, at mid-off, not dropped a dolly chance offered by Ben Geddes off Van Beek on 11, although he at least partially atoned by having Du Plooy caught at second slip when looking well set for day Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay
BBC News
22-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Cracknell ton helps Middlesex recover at Northants
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, County Ground, Northampton (day one)Middlesex 397-8: Cracknell 106*, Du Plooy 66, Hollman 51; Guthrie 6-87Northamptonshire: Yet to batMiddlesex 3pts, Northamptonshire 2ptsMatch scorecard Joe Cracknell scored an unbeaten 106, his maiden first-class century, while Leus du Plooy struck 66 as Middlesex staged a spirited fightback against Northamptonshire on day one of this County Championship match at Wantage Cracknell, whose previous best was just 33, having largely played white-ball cricket to date, played a superbly-paced innings, facing 164 balls and striking 11 fours and a six to take the visitors to 397-8 at stumps. It was Cracknell's third century of the week after tons in each innings of Middlesex's Second XI game against Glamorgan at bounced back after Liam Guthrie, who took 6-87 with the Kookaburra ball, his first five-wicket haul for Northamptonshire, had the Seaxes reeling on 33-3 inside the first half an hour, removing the visitors' top Du Plooy started to revive Middlesex's fortunes, sharing two 60-run stands, first with Ryan Higgins (25) and then with Ben Geddes (27). When they fell, Middlesex were still in a precarious position at 160-6 before Cracknell and Luke Hollman (51) combined to add 103 for the seventh was then joined by Zafar Gohar and Toby Roland-Jones in stands of 81 and 53 at the end of a satisfactory first day in charge for Middlesex's interim men's first-team coach Dane Vilas. Earlier, left-armer Guthrie struck in the second over, coming round the wicket. Josh de Caires fell into the legside trap as he worked one off his hip straight to leg Max Holden was trapped lbw by a Guthrie delivery that moved in and straightened. When Sam Robson became Guthrie's third wicket, edging low to Calvin Harrison at second slip, the visitors were in real Plooy and Higgins rebuilt positively, keeping the scoreboard ticking as they put on 62. Du Plooy garnered boundaries off backfoot punches off the seamers and played Guthrie down the legside for four to take Middlesex past 50 in the 12th over before driving him sweetly through was proactive, strong on the reverse sweep against the spinners, but was adjudged lbw to a Justin Broad delivery that looked a little high as he stepped down the wicket aiming to play to Plooy joined forces in another confident stand worth 60 with Geddes who started positively, Middlesex passing 100 in the 23rd over before powering Broad through extra Plooy, meanwhile, punched Guthrie off the backfoot through cover point and then pulled leg-spinner Harrison for four to reach his half-century just before flowed quickly against the seamers after the interval. Geddes punched Guthrie off the backfoot, while Du Plooy drove Luke Procter for four before coming down the wicket and pulling him dismissively through mid-on. He had a rush of blood though, attempting to repeat the shot, failing to control it and instead top-edging to long-on where Rob Keogh took an excellent diving catch running back. Geddes drove Procter handsomely through extra cover but departed soon afterwards, edging behind off a Broad delivery which held its brought together Cracknell and Hollman who started briskly, Cracknell pulling and driving Broad for consecutive fielded four spinners and both batters took a liking to them with the ball offering little turn. Hollman hit Harrison back over his head, smashed him through the covers and swept behind square. He swept Lloyd Pope to the boundary too and drove his next ball through cover also tucked into the spinners, muscling Keogh down the ground before dispatching his next ball, a half-tracker, over midwicket for six to go past his previous highest tea, both batters reached their fifties and brought up the 100 partnership, but were parted next over when Hollman skied an attempted hook off Guthrie, Pope taking a good catch at deep-backward square continued to locate the boundary, driving Broad through extra, pulling a Pope half-tracker through midwicket and pummelling Guthrie through extra (34) offered strong support as Cracknell neared three figures, taking consecutive boundaries off Procter with the new ball before Guthrie got one to lift, Gohar fending it to Ricardo Vasconcelos at smashed Guthrie through extra cover and then worked Broad into the off-side to take him to three figures and a well-deserved celebration before some Roland-Jones fireworks ensured Middlesex rounded off the day positively. Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay
