Kevin O’ Brien blitz takes Gloucestershire to triumph over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Middlesex-c817 – Friends Life T20
A stunning century from the Irish middle-order batsman, Kevin O’ Brien, helped http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gloucestershire-c785 beat Middlesex convincingly in a match of the Friends Life T20 tournament, on June 26, 2011.
Both sides needed a win to give their campaign some momentum, as they have struggled in the South Division season so far.
It took just 44 balls for O’ Brien to register his century, which included an incredible 11 sixes and 7 fours. He was well supported by his opening partner, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hamish-John-Hamilton-Marshall-c61362, who also posted a well crafted century himself.
The two allowed the Gladiators to post a daunting target of 254, which was never going to be easy to chase, considering the struggling state of Middlesex Panthers this season.
The innings rekindled memories of the famous century that O’ Brien scored against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World Cup 2011, which lives in the mind and heart of every Irishman.
It took the explosive all-rounder just 23 deliveries to post his half century after having been dropped on two occasions by the Panthers. This proved to be extremely costly as he moved on to score a blistering 100.
The pair shared a record opening partnership of 192, before Kevin O’ Brien was dismissed on 119. He received a great reception from the crowd, which was left in complete admiration. The match would also be remembered for being the first where two openers
scored a century each, in this competition.
O’ Brien’s opening partner, Hamish Marshal, then took the limelight by hitting three consecutive boundaries to bring up a well deserved century. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gordon-James-Muchall-c60376 applause as he walked to the pavilion after having hit 4 sixes and 11 fours in his
innings of 102 off 54 balls.
The Gladiators posted a mammoth total of 254, which was going to test the resilience of the Panthers.
However, the contest was over in the 4th over, when Middlesex were reduced to fifteen for three down. There was some stability offered by the stand-in Captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dawid-Johannes-Malan-c53323, who made 32, followed by John Simpson’s 38 and an unbeaten 36 by Tom
Smith.
The Panthers fell well http://www.senore.com/Cricket/John-William-Lewis-c68989, who took three wickets in his four overs.
The win pulls out the Gladiators from the bottom of the division at the expense of Middlesex, whose season is surely over after this heavy defeat.
Prior to this game, Kevin O’ Brien had never been able to manage a fifty in this competition, but this innings surely proved that he is a top performer.
Ironically it was against the mighty England, where he first stamped his name on the International arena, smashing the fastest century in World Cup history. It took him just 50 balls to complete his ton, which left the English players in utter shock and
disbelief.
With innings like these, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Griffith-c919 Irishman has surely increased his reputation as a hard hitting, explosive batsman and a true crowd pleaser.
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