TAJ MARVEL
Cas rally halted by Catalans Sweet taste of victory for Rilee Plunkett: Playing in India will help me beat the Indians
DARYL POWELL saw Castleford’s resurgence come to an abrupt halt in Perpignan as Josh Drinkwater steered Catalans to seventh.
The Tigers coach had seen his injury-ravaged squad take seven points from matches against Warrington, Wigan and Hull KR twice to cement their top-four spot.
But they came unstuck in the sweltering south of France as former Leigh man Drinkwater scored a hat-trick of tries and kicked six goals.
Steve Mcnamara’s side had lost five out of six games when Drinkwater arrived from Australia in April.
But their gradual improvement has seen them climb above champions Leeds with just four games left until the mid-season split.
This was a disappointing loss for Cas, not least because Powell was able to recall three key forwards in Liam Watts, Jesse Sene-lefao, Oliver Holmes.
There was little indication of what was to unfold when Tigers’ tries from James Clare and Quentin Laulu-togaga’e cancelled out Drinkwater’s opening score.
But by half-time the Tigers were 30-10 behind.
Greg Bird – who set up Drinkwater’s opener – powered over, as did Louis Anderson and Julien Bousquet, while Drinkwater grabbed his second.
After the break Drinkwater proved their nemesis again, kicking for Kenny Edwards to touch down.
Paul Mcshane responded with a smart effort, but Drinkwater raced 70 metres to complete his treble before Lewis Tierney wrapped it up. RILEE ROSSOUW proved a bite of all right as his stunning century powered Hampshire to victory in the Royal London One-day Cup Final. The South African fired a match-winning 125 in Hampshire’s record one-day final total of 330 for seven – just 12 days after losing four teeth in the semi-final. Rossouw underwent emergency dental surgery after being struck in the face (below) as Hampshire beat Yorkshire on June 18. And yesterday his innings – which included nine fours and three sixes, drove the South Coast outfit to a 61-run win. Rossouw said: “It started very well with the bat. “Luckily this is going to taste so sweet tonight. “Tommy Alsop played the situation unbelievably well. “He played good cricket shots and it wasn’t necessary for me to try and take the initiative. Credit to Tommy for playing as well as he did.”
Daniel Bell-drummond’s fine 86 looked in vain from the start of Kent’s reply, and so it proved as Hampshire coasted home.
Kent captain Sam Billings also hit 75, but those two solid knocks were simply nowhere near enough to deny Hampshire. LIAM PLUNKETT believes his Indian Premier League spell will give England the edge when they face Virat Kohli’s tourists this week. England are on a high after following up their 5-0 ODI series whitewash of Australia with a comprehensive win in their one-off T20 against the same opposition at Edgbaston last week. Plunkett starred with the ball, the Yorkshire bowler taking eight wickets at 19 in the ODIS and another two in the T20 clash in Birmingham. But India, ranked second in the world in both limitedovers formats, will be a step up in class for Eoin Morgan’s men across the three T20s and three Royal London ODIS over the next fortnight. Things start with a T20 at Old Trafford on Tuesday and Plunkett, who made his IPL debut when playing seven matches for Delhi Daredevils earlier this year, is hoping his time in India will give him the inside knowledge he needs to prosper against Kohli’s men.
Chess
“It’s good because you see what they are capable of, see where they hit, see as a bowler where the batsman’s strong, where they’re weak, how they get out,” he said.
“It strips a little bit of the mystery away because you play against them. Sometimes it’s a little game of chess isn’t it? You try to outsmart the batter. Especially someone as good as Kohli.”
India captain Kohli is currently regarded as the best batsman in the world across all formats and the master at leading his team home in run chases. “Sometimes you’ve got to be brave,” said Plunkett. “You’ve got to try something new even though it could be Kohli and you know his strength. “But you can get everyone out on the day. At the top of my mark I’m always thinking I can get a wicket.” Plunkett earned a £200,000 deal with Delhi as a last-minute injury replacement for South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada. Although he started with a haul of 3-17 on his debut against Kings XI Punjab, things were tougher for Plunkett after that as he took just one more wicket in the six games that followed.
The experience, though, proved invaluable for a player who will be pivotal in England’s World Cup campaign next summer.
“It is tough,” said Plunkett. “You can get taken down by a good batsman, good wicket, short boundary, and you have to learn new skills. You just try to pick a lot of people’s brains.
“Crowds are amazing and it’s a great atmosphere. I would love to do it again.
Challenge
“You’re playing against the best players in the world. I enjoyed the challenge of turning up and thinking ‘I can win this game’.”
Meanwhile, Dawid Malan (left) has been added to England’s squad for Tuesday’s first T20 at Old Trafford as cover for Tom Curran, who is recovering from a side strain.