Tag Futebol

Participation levels in recreational cricket across England and Wales have fallen over the last year according to figures released by the ECB. The number of players aged between 14 and 65 dropped from 908,000 in 2013 to 844,000 this year, with more than 5% of games conceded because at least one of the clubs was unable to field a side.The figures were obtained through 37,500 responses from recreational cricketers to this year’s National Playing Survey together with detailed analysis of more than 1.2 million scorecards.While there is some mitigation – 70% of amateur cricket is played on Saturdays and only 15 Saturdays were rated “dry” in 2014 compared with 20 in 2013; there was also a football World Cup in 2014 – the figures will fuel the suspicion that the game is losing relevance and popularity in England and Wales.The results come weeks after it emerged that the average attendance for the relaunched NatWest T20 Blast had fallen despite a marketing drive designed to double spectator numbers. Crowd figures at the Royal London One-Day Cup were hardly overwhelming, either.These new figures may also increase pressure on the ECB and Sky to review the current broadcast arrangements for professional cricket. The ECB’s strategy over recent years has been to compensate for the lack of cricket on free-to-air TV by investing heavily in grassroots scheme and development programmes. The survey results would suggest that method is not working as planned.The last broadcast deal covered the period up to the end of 2017 and provided Sky an option for a further two years. As part of current discussions, the possibility of some cricket being shown on free-to-air TV or free of charge on the internet is believed to be gaining traction. It is probably relevant that, during the last Ashes series in 2013-14, Sky showed some coverage on their free-to-air Pick channel, which has traditionally been used to promote new shows.While several counties believe the TV issue is crucial to the declining participation numbers, there are probably many factors involved.The relative lack of success of the England team – the significance of a winning England side was at the centre of many of the reforms at the ECB in the era of Lord MacLaurin – could be an issue, along with anecdotal evidence suggesting further disillusionment as a result of the Kevin Pietersen debacle, as well as high ticket prices and an international schedule that prioritises quantity over quality. In short, the period in which the benefit of short-term decisions can be felt has now expired.Equally, the demands of time made on club cricketers may be incompatible with modern society, where men are expected to take a more active role in family life and where working patterns more often encroach on weekends.Further analysis of the survey’s findings revealed that:

• 247,000 were “core” players who play at least twelve weeks of a 26 week summer season.
• 405,000 were “occasional” players who play between three and eleven weeks of a 26 week summer season.
• 192,000 were “cameo” players who play one or two weeks of a 26 week summer season.

Males represented 93% of the participation base, with 7% female – the same gender breakdown as in 2013. The survey also revealed that 30% of grassroots cricketers are drawn from ethnic minorities and 53% of cricketers would like to play the game more often.”The ECB recognised the participation challenges that have been facing all team sports and we were determined to gain a greater insight into those issues and find long-term solutions,” the ECB’s chief operating officer, Gordon Hollins, said. “To do that the ECB changed the way in which it measured participation last year and introduced the new National Cricket Playing Survey as part of our wider efforts to gain a greater understanding of what drives grassroots cricket participation.”Thanks to an excellent response, the ECB now has a much clearer picture than ever before of who plays recreational cricket, what type of cricket they prefer to play, when they want to play it and we are now setting about finding ways in which we can best address their needs going forward.”

Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya has said the five-match ODI series in India would help Sri Lanka to try out the fringe players before the World Cup

Sa'adi Thawfeeq19-Oct-2014Sri Lanka’s chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya has said the five-match ODI series in India would help Sri Lanka to try out their fringe players before the World Cup. The series was confirmed by the BCCI and SLC the day West Indies players decided to pull out of their tour to India.”This is an ideal opportunity for some of the bowlers who have been around to grab their chance by performing against a top team like India,” Jayasuriya said. “These players have been in the system for some time and thrown into the deep end we can see how they cope with the pressures.”Three of Sri Lanka’s seam bowlers have been recuperating from injuries. Lasith Malinga is recovering from surgery on his ankle, Suranga Lakmal has just begun rehabilitation work after a stress fracture to his ankle sustained during the South Africa series in July and Thisara Perera is recovering from a hamstring injury picked up during the Champions League T20 last month, when he represented Kings XI Punjab.”Malinga has already begun rehabilitation work, and with 16 weeks left for the World Cup, we are hopeful he will be fit. Perera is not training at present,” Jayasuriya said.Jayasuriya added the series would also benefit batsmen like Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella, who have been performing well for Sri Lanka A in the ongoing unofficial Test series at home against West Indies A.”It is high time these batsmen took on the responsibilities and performed without leaving everything to the experienced players,” he said. “At the moment apart from the players involved in the Sri Lanka A series with West Indies A, the rest of the players are undergoing physical training. They will need at least 5-6 strenuous batting sessions to be prepared for the Indian series.”However, a tweet from Kumar Sangakkara suggested that the sudden decision to hold the tour may not have gone down well with some players. “Our 6 weeks of pure fitness work ends abruptly. Have a week to do a months requirement of skill work before India. Planning ahead anyone?” Sangakkara tweeted.Sri Lanka finished their last international series in August, against Pakistan at home, and did not have any international cricket till mid-November when England are due to play seven ODIs.

Our 6 weeks of pure fitness work ends abruptly. Have a week to do a months requirement of skill work before India. Planning ahead anyone?

— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) October 18, 2014

ScorecardNaman Ojha ended with 320 runs in the game•Getty Images

Naman Ojha and Ambati Rayudu struck hundreds on the last day as India A drew their first four-day game against Australia A in Brisbane.A draw was the most likely end to the game after the record 371-run stand between Mitchell Marsh and Sam Whiteman on the third day put Australia A in the lead. However, for a brief period during India A’s innings, the remote possibility of a result emerged after fast bowler Chadd Sayers’ three wickets reduced India to 5 for 86 with a lead of only 27. The unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 199 between Ojha and Rayudu steered the game towards the draw.Rayudu, who had batted at No. 4 earlier in the game, came in at No. 7. He had scored a duck in the first innings and took 24 balls to get off the mark in the second but he gradually began playing his shots. He accelerated as the innings progressed, entering the 90s with a six off Peter Forrest, and brought up the hundred three overs later with a four through the off side.Ojha carried the fluency of his double hundred into this innings to finish with a match aggregate of 320. His first and last deliveries went for four and six respectively and book-ended a knock that ensured India would finish the game on a strong note. He was the more aggressive of the two batsmen, hitting five sixes off which four came against the medium-pace of Forrest. Like the first innings, he brought up his 15th first-class hundred with a six.Earlier, Australia A’s last-wicket pair added 12 to their overnight total of 9 for 522. Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Boyce for 27 to finish with 5 for 132, his third five-for in first-class cricket.The second and final unofficial Test starts from July 13.

ScorecardMatt Sprigel made good use of his Championship opportunity•Getty Images

Paul Collingwood is faced with picking the right moment to declare 12 months on from a decision that almost had a significant bearing on the title. He may have been unlucky in seeing his side lose to Yorkshire last April but that result with doubtless affect his thinking here.Durham, who have bolstered a thin squad by signing Kumar Sangakkara for a month before he joins Sri Lanka’s tour of England, secured a handy first-innings advantage of 74 and then rolled along at above four-an-over on the third afternoon to give themselves an outside chance of victory.The wicket remains in good shape and the forecast for day four is again excellent but they took seven wickets in a session-and-a-half earlier in the day and some signs of indifferent bounce suggest Northamptonshire could have to work hard to save this game.In their third match of last season, Collingwood set Yorkshire 336 to win on the final day at Chester-le-Street and was left to curse the decision as Joe Root made 182 to steer his side to a record chase on the ground. But Root might have been out twice well before his match-winning total and to make over 300 in the final innings at Durham was a statistical anomaly.Collingwood’s decision here will factor in far better conditions for batting than could be envisaged in April, as well as the fact that Northants are not likely to be title rivals later in the season, and that the teams with Championship ambitions will see victory over the regelation favourites as a necessity. Quick runs on the fourth morning should put Durham in a safe position but last April they were seemingly well in the clear too.”It could be difficult to judge the declaration,” Durham’s head coach Jon Lewis said. “We’ll learn a little about how Northants went about their first innings so we’ve got a bit more of an idea about their batters and the way they go about scoring. It is quite short in the one corner as well so that’s makes it more difficult to judge what runs per over is gettable. We’ll need a few more because they scored quite quickly in the first innings.”Collingwood showed a positive intent by helping Durham to press on late in the day. His innings featured consecutive pulls for four off Steven Crook and a six over long-on off James Middlebrook, who had initially stemmed Durham’s progress with three wickets and a catch at slip. He added Collingwood’s wicket shortly before the close.Middlebrook’s catch gave Northants an early strike and a wicket for Maurice Chambers, who bounded up the hill in a quick opening five over spell where he went for only 13 and removed Mark Stoneman for 1; a rare double failure for Stoneman, Durham’s second-leading run scorer in 2013.Their leading run scorer last year was Scott Borthwick. If he has an international future, his batting is most likely to earn him selection. His provided some further evidence why that is likely on the third day at Wantage Road with an indifferent spell with the ball and an effective innings with the bat.Borthwick’s Test debut came almost by default in Sydney after Graeme Swann had abdicated and all confidence in Monty Panesar was lost but he was given a role he could be asked to fulfil against Sri Lanka in June as a slow option alongside four seamers. Moeen Ali is his greatest rival.In such a position, Borthwick’s batting would need to justify selection. He made over 1000 runs in the Championship last season at No. 3 with two of his three centuries coming at Chester-le-Street. He also topped the Durham averages. For England Lions in Sri Lanka, he was back down the order and had some success with the bat and a handful of wickets.Here he played a punchy innings of 47 in 68 balls as Durham achieved a healthy scoring rate. He struck four boundaries in seven balls shortly after tea but to the second ball he faced of Middlebrook’s new spell, rocked back to cut and edged behind.His earlier spell with the ball featured, like the first innings, a full toss outside off to start, and two other long hops which were cut for four by Steven Crook. But in-between he flighted the ball nicely, lured Rob Newton to drive off an edge to slip and had Matt Spriegel dropped at short leg. He can certainly take wickets and could yet help Durham to victory on day four.Had Spriegel been taken on 33, Northants could have been following on before the close but instead he took advantage of the miss to make only his second first-class fifty for Northants, the county he joined from Surrey at the end of the 2012 season.He has mainly been used in one-day cricket and would not have played in this match but for injuries to David Sales and Rob Keogh but he proved his ability against the red ball and steered his side to a fourth batting point, reduced the deficit below a hundred and took some more overs out of the game.But Spriegel too suffered from centuryphobia – being the eighth player to pass fifty in the match and the eighth player not to make three figures. Michael Richardson could have another go on day four after going to an 85-ball half-century in the last hour of play.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:00

Video report – Port Elizabeth not a Mitch Pitch

The opening day at St George’s Park was less traumatic for South Africa than the four in Centurion as Dean Elgar shone on his return to the side, but loose strokes in the evening session left them vulnerable. They avoided the sort of performance that could have handed the series to Australia on a plate – and which threatening to develop during a rough first half an hour – only to slip as the light faded on an overcast day to close on 214 for 5.A third-wicket stand of 112 between Elgar and Faf du Plessis provided the cornerstone of the innings. However they will rue the strokes played by Elgar who, having fought for nearly five hours and 193 balls, tried to clear the in-field against Nathan Lyon and then debutant Quinton de Kock who became the latest batsman to fall to a Steven Smith full toss. AB de Villiers, the only batsman to counter Australia in the first Test, remained unbeaten 51 as he made it a world record of 12 consecutive Tests with at least a half century.South Africa have lengthened their batting order for this Test – Elgar was in line for a recall and de Kock was called in when Alviro Petersen was ruled out ill – so they still have the chance to post something around 350 and challenge Australia with scoreboard pressure which has been rare in the last few months.The opening exchanges did not bode well for South Africa. The lead-up to the toss was chaotic with uncertainty over Vernon Philander’s fitness to go alongside the three team changes. Some hasty scribbling eventually put Philander on the team-sheet, but it was perhaps no surprise that Graeme Smith departed early when he played around a full, swinging delivery from the probing Ryan Harris on a muggy morning.In the next over, from Mitchell Johnson, Hashim Amla was firstly beaten by a ball that swung in from outside off and then trapped lbw by another delivery that did the same but had been pitched straighter. It gave Johnson his 50th Test wicket since the beginning of the Ashes and few would have bet against him quickly adding No. 51, but that is not how the day unfolded.

Smart Stats

• AB de Villiers completed 7000 Test runs during his innings. He is playing his 151st Test innings and is the second-fastest South Africa batsman after Graeme Smith to reach the landmark. Smith took 148 innings. Including De Villiers, only four South Africa batsmen have scored 7000 or more Test runs. Click here for a list of batsmen fastest to 7000 Test runs.

• De Villiers has now scored fifty or more runs in 12 consecutive Tests for South Africa. This is the longest such consecutive sequence by a batsman in Tests. Viv Richards, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag held this record previously, having scored fifty-plus in 11 consecutive Tests.

• Dean Elgar’s 83 was his second fifty-plus score in Tests and his first fifty against Australia. Elgar, who bagged a pair on debut against Australia at the WACA in 2012-13, is playing his second Test against them. Elgar scored his maiden Test century also at this venue, against New Zealand in 2012-13, and has now scored 186 runs from two innings at this venue.

• South Africa’s batsmen were made to toil hard for their runs by Australia’s bowlers. The partnership between Elgar and De Villiers scored at 2.20 an over. This is the fifth-slowest fifty-plus run stand at this venue and the slowest to come in the first innings of a Test here.

• This was also only the second time when South Africa’s third and fourth wickets added fifty or more in the same innings at this venue. The last such instance came way back in 1948-49, against England.

Elgar was still on nought by the time Smith and Amla departed. On his only previous appearance against Australia, on his debut in Perth, he bagged a pair and it took him 20 deliveries and 43 minutes for him to score his first run against this opposition.However, during that wait to open his account he had not appeared ruffled. His composure was further evident when he slog-swept Lyon for six to register his first boundary and he later deposited the offspinner straight down the ground. Between those grand shots there was good judgement around off stump, the occasional punchy cover drive, plenty of nudges into the leg side and no little bravery as he was willing to take blows around the body from Johnson.Nathan Lyon again picked up valuable wickets when life was tougher for the quick bowlers•AFP

There was also the occasional edge – when he was 15 a combination of soft hands and the slow pitch meant a nick fell short of Brad Haddin – but, by and large, he was in control as he brought up a 112-ball half-century.Du Plessis played equally impressively and it was he who eased the early shackles imposed by Australia’s bowlers with a brace of cover drives off Peter Siddle. He, too, used his feet against Lyon and shortly after lunch clipped him over deep midwicket for six.Two boundaries in three balls against Johnson, the second a well-controlled pull, took him to his fifty from 117 balls but he fell moments later to the curse of the drinks break when he prodded forward against Lyon and popped a catch to short leg. A soft dismissal which emphasised the absence of the ruthlessness with the bat that characterised South Africa’s rise to No. 1However, it had been a rare occasion of Australia having to work for a wicket: this was only the second century stand they have conceded since the beginning of the Ashes. The other belonged to Kevin Pietersen and Joe Root during the second innings in Adelaide. Their bowling rarely wavered and Johnson remained a threat despite the slowness of the pitch.Without Shane Watson’s medium pace, the value of Lyon in keeping the scoring rate down and chipping key wickets was priceless for Michael Clarke. He continued to use Harris and Johnson in short spells, and both were primed for late bursts before the light closed in. Moments earlier Smith had done his job when, in a first over the largely consisted of long hops and full tosses, de Kock came down the pitch to a one that did not land and heaved an ugly mow to mid-off.De Villiers reached his half-century from 124 balls – an indication of how hard the batsmen were made to work – when he pulled another half-tracker from Smith. That was enough for Clarke who, when told he could not use his quicks, was content to leave the field. South Africa know what will hit them in the morning.

MatériaMais Notícias

Na tarde desta quinta-feira, foram definidos os confrontos das oitavas de final da Copa do Brasil, em sorteio realizado na sede da CBF, no Rio de janeiro. Nesta fase do mata-mata, os clubes da Libertadores entraram na competição, além do campeão da Série B, da Copa Verde e o campeão do Nordeste.

Destaque para duas partidas entre clubes que vivem boa fase: Corinthians x Flamengo e Atlético-MG x Santos.

RelacionadasPortuguesaPortuguesa anuncia Zé Maria, ex-jogador do clube, como novo técnicoPortuguesa02/05/2019Galeria PremiumVeja os jogadores que sofreram com problemas cardíacos na carreiraGaleria Premium02/05/2019VascoCom muitas mudanças, Vasco não rende e peca por falta de eficiênciaVasco02/05/2019

Confira os jogos das oitavas de final da Copa do Brasil (em negrito, os times que definirão o confronto em casa):

Internacional x Paysandu
Flamengo x Corinthians
Atlético-MG x Santos
Grêmio x Juventude ou Vila Nova-GO
Palmeiras x Sampaio Corrêa
Athletico-PR x Fortaleza
Cruzeiro x Fluminense
São Paulo x Bahia
​
As datas base dos jogos são 15 de maio, 22 de maio, 29 de maio e 5 de junho.

Nas quartas de final, a CBF realizará novo sorteio para definição dos confrontos. Os participantes dessa fase já terão conhecimento prévio sobre quem poderão enfrentar nas semifinais. Assim como em 2018, igualdade no placar agregado, independentemente do número de gols feitos por um time como visitante, levará a decisão para os pênaltis.

Palmeiras, Santos, Flamengo, Cruzeiro, Bahia, Paysandu, Grêmio e Athletico-PR definirão em casa os jogos das oitavas.

North Zone lead East Zone by 559 runs in the first semi-final of the Duleep Trophy thanks to four of their batsmen scoring centuries.

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2013North Zone led East Zone by 559 runs in the semi-final of the Duleep Trophy after the third day, thanks to four of their batsmen scoring centuries. Unmukt Chand, the first to reach the mark, was joined by Ian Dev Singh, Rajat Paliwal and Nitin Saini before captain Harbhajan Singh furthered North’s advantage by removing East’s opener Pallavkumar Das two overs before stumps.Ian Dev, who had retired hurt on 95 on the second day, returned to the crease after Mandeep Singh’s dismissal in the morning session. He seemed to have shrugged off his discomfort as he charged Shahbaz Nadeem to loft him over extra cover for his 12th four, which took him to a seventh first-class century.He had good support from Paliwal, who reached a half-century, but should have been out lbw soon after to Basant Mohanty. The seamer, however, had overstepped and East were made to pay as Paliwal and Ian Dev added 107 runs for the fourth wicket. Paliwal’s innings suffered a roadblock in the 149th over when a bout of cramps caused him to exit the field. His replacement, Saini, was breezy throughout his knock, picking up four sixes and eight fours.North’s search for quick runs resulted in a period when they lost five wickets for 40 runs, including Ian Dev who mistimed a slog against offspinner Sunny Gupta, who finished as East’s best bowler with 4 for 182 after 46 overs.Paliwal limped back to the crease in the third session, and during a 70-run stand for the ninth wicket with Saini, completed his fifth first-class century. Saini was the more dominant of the two, though he too benefited from a reprieve in the 166th over when a hoick off a full toss was dropped at long-on. He continued attacking the bowlers, striking Gupta for two consecutive sixes in the 190th over and the declaration came on the stroke of Saini’s 137-ball ton, a few overs later.The East openers Das and Rameez Nemat were highly circumspect at the start, scoring only nine runs in seven overs. But just as they were looking comfortable, Harbhajan lured Das out of his crease with a tossed up delivery and wicketkeeper Saini did the rest.Centuries from Abhinav Mukund and B Aparajith and strong middle-order contributions helped South Zone take a mammoth 258-run lead against Central Zone in Chennai. With only a day to go in the match, South Zone are almost through to the final.Mukund and Aparajith, the two overnight batsman, thwarted the bowling and added 190 runs for the third wicket, taking South well past Central’s first-innings score of 209. Mukund’s was a more sedate innings, but Aparajith brought up his second hundred in consecutive matches, hitting three sixes in his innings. Both were dismissed with the score on 263, but Manish Pandey and CM Gautam added 147 runs for the fifth wicket, reaching their respective half-centuries along the way.At the end of the day’s play, South were still left with a wicket in hand. Piyush Chawla picked up four wickets, but leaked 159 runs in his 43 overs. Umesh Yadav picked up just one wicket in his 25 overs.

Middlesex moved back to the top of the Friends Life t20 South group after a six-wicket win over Sussex at Hove

16-Jul-2013
ScorecardDawid Malan extended his lead as the tournament’s leading run-scorer•Getty Images

Middlesex moved back to the top of the Friends Life t20 South group after a six-wicket win over Sussex at Hove.Although Middlesex did not secure victory until the fourth ball of the final over, they always looked in control chasing a target of 149. Dawid Malan continued his outstanding form with 41 to take his competition aggregate this season to 335 runs while Joe Denly weighed in with 53.Middlesex needed just a single run off the final over to claim victory but after failing to score from the first three balls, Adam Voges sealed their fourth group win when he chipped Dwayne Smith over midwicket for a boundary as the Panthers reached 152 for 4.Earlier, Sussex skipper Chris Nash had held the hosts’ innings together with 61 off 46 balls but he lacked the necessary support as the Sharks finished on 148 for 7. Nash made his first half-century in this season’s tournament, coming in during the fourth over after Sussex had been reduced to 31 for 2.Smith was caught behind wafting across the line at the first ball of the match from Kyle Mills and Rory Hamilton-Brown picked out midwicket in Gareth Berg’s first over after briefly prospering with four boundaries in his 18. Opener Matt Machan looked in good touch with 27 off 17 balls including six fours but when he holed out to long on in offspinner Ollie Rayner’s first over it was left to Nash to steady the ship.Nash lofted the first of three sixes over the pavilion roof in the sixth over off Mills, having been hit on the collar bone earlier in the over. Then in the 18th over he twice cleared the ropes off Gurjit Sandhu. Nash also hit five boundaries, adding 45 for the fourth wicket with Scott Styris (24) in the most productive stand of the Sussex innings.Berg picked up two wickets at the end to finish with 3 for 19 but Sussex’s total was immediately put into context when debutant Lewis Hatchett’s first over in the format disappeared for 26. His first delivery went for four leg byes and he then conceded four boundaries and a six, 22 of the runs scored by Paul Stirling.Andy Miller, in his first T20 game for two years, knocked back Stirling’s off stump in the second over but an asking rate of seven an over was never going to inconvenience a strong Panthers’ outfit on a good pitch and fast, parched outfield, especially with the form Malan is enjoying.Malan and Denly put on 80 in 12 overs for the second wicket with Malan continuing his impressive form with 41 at a run-a-ball while Denly’s 53 from 46 balls, which included four sixes, was his second T20 half-century this season. Denly was bowled coming down the pitch to Styris, whose four overs cost just 19, and Malan drove to extra cover in the 17th over when 18 runs were needed.Adam Rossington drove Chris Liddle to point but Middlesex comfortably avenged their earlier defeat at Lord’s which remains Sussex’s only win so far.

كشفت تقارير صحفية بريطانية، أن نادي تشيلسي، رفض عرضاً للاعب فريق كرة القدم الأول، الدولي الإنجليزي ماسون ماونت من مانشستر يونايتد.

ويتبقى لماونت عام في عقده مع تشيلسي وقد يفتح النادي الإنجليزي الباب لرحيله، حيث يتطلع لبيع لاعبين لمحاولة البقاء ضمن قواعد اللعب المالي النظيف.

طالع أيضًا.. يوفنتوس يحدد سعر بيع فلاهوفيتش بعد اهتمام تشيلسي

وأفادت تقارير أن ماسون ماونت مطلوب من قِبل ليفربول ومانشستر يونايتد، إلى جانب مانشستر سيتي ويوفنتوس وبايرن ميونخ.

صحيفة “تيليجراف” البريطانية، أكدت بأن مانشستر يونايتد، قدم عرضًا لـ تشيلسي مقابل 40 مليون جنية إسترليني، من أجل الحصول على خدمات ماسون ماونت، لكن البلوز رفض العرض.

وأشار الصحفي مات لو، المقرب من نادي تشيلسي، إلى أن البلوز لا ينوي رحيل ماونت بأقل من 70 مليون جنيه إسترليني للاستفادة المادية من بيعه.

Williamson finishes on losing side in maiden appearance as Robinson three-for seals victory

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay29-May-2025Sussex 202 for 4 (Coles 77*) beat Middlesex 186 for 7(Geddes 51, Higgins 44, Robinson 3-27) by 16 runsJames Coles smashed a career-best unbeaten 77 from 44 balls to set up a winning start to the Vitality Blast for Sussex Sharks as they held off Middlesex at Lord’s.The 21-year-old’s destructive knock, which included five sixes and five fours, underpinned his unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 88 from 47 with Tom Clark and ensured that last year’s Blast semi-finalists totalled 202 for four.That proved to be enough as the home side fell just short at 186 for seven in reply, despite a maiden T20 half-century by Ben Geddes (51 from 37) and Ryan Higgins’ fearless late display of hitting to rack up 44 from 16.Middlesex made an early breakthrough after winning the toss and opting to bowl, with Noah Cornwell’s opening delivery dragged on by Harrison Ward before John Simpson (22 from 12) and Daniel Hughes really got the scoreboard moving.Hughes began to open up after Simpson’s departure, flaying Henry Brookes for successive leg-side sixes but the Australian’s knock of 38 from 20 came to an abrupt end as Tom Helm’s fingertips deflected Coles’ drive onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end.Luke Hollman’s astute spell of one for 38 prevented Sussex from gaining greater traction – although the legspinner’s figures were dented by a trio of sixes from Coles, who advanced to his third T20 half-century by drilling Cornwell over his head for four.With Clark (26 from 21) taking on a supporting role, Coles scooped Higgins for another maximum as the pair accelerated during the death overs, taking 29 from the final nine balls of the innings to clamber above 200.Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, making his Middlesex debut, provided brief fireworks at the start of their reply, hitting two sixes in 14 from 12 before he fell to Ward’s smart diving catch on the point boundary.But, although Geddes pummelled both Tymal Mills and Brad Currie over the fence, Sussex’s seamers achieved a degree of accuracy that had eluded the home bowlers and the required run-rate soon soared.Stephen Eskinazi (34 from 30) shared a partnership of 58 from 45 with Geddes before he fell to another boundary catch off Currie (two for 38), while Leus du Plooy and Jack Davies both departed cheaply as Sussex turned the screw.However, a flurry of boundaries from Hollman (20 from nine) lifted the tempo and Higgins took up the baton, hammering Mills for two enormous sixes and two fours in the penultimate over to keep Middlesex’s faint hopes alive.But Ollie Robinson (three for 27) kept his cool to send down a near-flawless final over, having Geddes caught in the deep and then yorking Higgins to seal Sussex’s victory