2008 Twenty20 Cup
# 2008 Twenty20 Cup

The 2008 Twenty20 Cup was the sixth running of the tournament, and saw Middlesex Crusaders winning the tournament after a thrilling climax to the final against the reigning champions, the Kent Spitfires. The tournament began on 11 June 2008 before culminating in Finals Day, held at The Rose Bowl, Southampton on 26 July. As always, the eighteen county sides were split into three groups of six, depending on the location of the counties in the United Kingdom.

## Group stage

### Tables

**Midlands/West/Wales Division**

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Warwickshire Bears | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0.694 |
| 2 | Northamptonshire Steelbacks | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0.431 |
| 3 | Glamorgan Dragons | 10 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 10 | −0.176 |
| 4 | Somerset Sabres | 10 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0.313 |
| 5 | Worcestershire Royals | 10 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 | −0.488 |
| 6 | Gloucestershire Gladiators | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −0.931 |

**North Division**

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Durham Dynamos | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0.984 |
| 2 | Lancashire Lightning | 10 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0.921 |
| 3 | Yorkshire $Carnegie^1$ | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | −0.312 |
| 4 | Nottinghamshire Outlaws | 10 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0.027 |
| 5 | Derbyshire Phantoms | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | −0.421 |
| 6 | Leicestershire Foxes | 10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 5 | −0.893 |

$^1$ The match on 27 June between Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire had no points awarded after it was found that Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player for the match; Yorkshire were also ejected from the competition.

**South Division**

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | NR | Pts | NRR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Middlesex Crusaders | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0.732 |
| 2 | Essex Eagles | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0.937 |
| 3 | Kent Spitfires | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0.640 |
| 4 | Hampshire Hawks | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | −0.505 |
| 5 | Sussex Sharks | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | −0.876 |
| 6 | Surrey Brown Caps | 10 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 4 | −0.905 |

## Knockout stage

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| M1 | Warwickshire Bears | 133/8 | | | | | | |
| S3 | Kent Spitfires | 175/6 | | | | | | |
| S3 | Kent Spitfires | 175/6 | S3 | Kent Spitfires | 173/7 | | | |
| | | | S2 | Essex Eagles | 159/8 | | | |
| S2 | Essex Eagles | 192/9 | S2 | Essex Eagles | 159/8 | | | |
| M2 | Northants Steelbacks | 115/7 | | | | | | |
| M2 | Northants Steelbacks | 115/7 | | | | S3 | Kent Spitfires | 184/5 |
| | | | | | | S1 | Middlesex Crusaders | 187/6 |
| S1 | Middlesex Crusaders | 176/7 | | | | | | | S1 | Middlesex Crusaders | 187/6 |
| N2 | Lancashire Lightning | 164/8 | | | | | | |
| N2 | Lancashire Lightning | 164/8 | S1 | Middlesex Crusaders | 141/2 | | | |
| | | | N1 | Durham Dynamos | 138/6 | | | |
| N1 | Durham Dynamos | 163/8 | N1 | Durham Dynamos | 138/6 | | | |
| M3 | Glamorgan Dragons | 119 | | | | | | |

Note: The draw for the semi-finals occurred after the quarter-finals.

### Quarter-finals

* 7 July 2008 Scorecard

| Yorkshire Carnegie | v | Durham Dynamos |
| - | - | - |

* Match cancelled without a ball bowled Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Umpires: Neil Mallender and Tim Robinson

The match at the Riverside was postponed in bizarre circumstances. The ECB received allegations about Yorkshire fielding an ineligible player in their final group game, against the Nottinghamshire Outlaws.

In an original meeting on 10 July, Yorkshire were summoned to Old Trafford and were told that they were to be ejected from the tournament, with Nottinghamshire to be reinstated in the draw. However, Yorkshire appealed and at a second meeting held on 14 July, their appeal was heard and rejected, but this time Glamorgan were placed into the draw on a superior run rate, because Nottinghamshire were not awarded the points for the 27 June game.

* 7 July 2008 Scorecard

| Essex Eagles 192/9 (20 overs) | v | Northamptonshire Steelbacks 115/7 (18 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| RS Bopara 47 (26) N Boje 2-29 [4] | | N Boje 58* (43) GR Napier 4-10 [4] |

* Essex won by 59 runs (D/L) County Ground, Chelmsford Umpires: RK Illingworth (Eng) and NJ Llong (Eng) Player of the match: GR Napier
* 8 July 2008 Scorecard

| Middlesex Crusaders 176/7 (20 overs) | v | Lancashire Lightning 164/8 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| DJ Malan 103 (54) A Flintoff 3-17 [4] | | A Flintoff 53 (41) TJ Murtagh 3-35 [4] |

* Middlesex won by 12 runs The Oval, London Umpires: RK Illingworth (Eng) and B Dudleston (Eng) Player of the match: DJ Malan
* 9,10 July 2008 Scorecard

| Kent Spitfires 175/6 (20 overs) | v | Warwickshire Bears 133/8 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| DI Stevens 69 (32) DL Maddy 1-7 [0.3] | | AG Botha 35 (19) Y Arafat 3-29 [4] |

* Kent won by 42 runs Edgbaston, Birmingham Umpires: RJ Bailey (Eng) and JW Lloyds (Eng) Player of the match: DI Stevens
* Reserve day used.
* 22 July 2008 Scorecard

| Durham Dynamos 163/8 (20 overs) | v | Glamorgan Dragons 119 (17.4 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| WR Smith 51 (38) JAR Harris 3-41 [4] | | JWM Dalrymple 32 (36) LE Plunkett 3-16 [3] |

* Durham won by 44 runs Riverside, Chester-le-Street Umpires: JW Holder (Eng) and RT Robinson (Eng)

Having waited fifteen days to play their quarter-final, Durham progressed to Finals Day after a 44-run win at the Riverside. Having been put into bat, the visitors took three early wickets, removing dangermen Phil Mustard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Paul Collingwood, with the score only on 26. After Michael Di Venuto fell, Durham looked to be in some trouble. However, a fifth wicket partnership of 53 between Will Smith and captain Dale Benkenstein pushed the score up. Smith made 51 as Durham set a target of 164, for Glamorgan to chase. It could have been somewhat lower had it not been for virtuoso innings by Gareth Breese, smashing 20 off just 9 balls, and Liam Plunkett who hit 12* off 3. James Harris took 3 wickets, but accounted for around a quarter of the runs conceded.

The Glamorgan reply could not have gotten off to a worse start, losing opener Richard Grant very first ball. David Hemp soon followed, becoming Plunkett's second victim, with only seven runs on the board. Glamorgan were always struggling with the run-rate, with most of the top-order recording strike rates of below 100. Only four players made it to double figures, with Jamie Dalrymple top scoring with 32, and had stern support from wicket-keeper Mark Wallace, who fired 26 off sixteen deliveries. However, Glamorgan fell a long way short with Plunkett, the pick of the Durham attack, taking 3-16 off three overs.

### Finals Day

**Semi-finals**

* 26 July 2008 Scorecard

| Kent Spitfires 173/7 (20 overs) | v | Essex Eagles 159/8 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Joe Denly 36 (27) Ravinder Bopara 3/36 (4) | | Mark Pettini 54 (47) Yasir Arafat 2/22 (4) |

* Kent won by 14 runs The Rose Bowl, Southampton Umpires: Rob Bailey and Jeremy Lloyds Player of the match: Azhar Mahmood
* 26 July 2008 Scorecard

| Durham Dynamos 138/6 (20 overs) | v | Middlesex Crusaders 141/2 (15.4 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul 48 (47) Tim Murtagh 3/29 (4) | | Tyron Henderson 59* (21) Gareth Breese 1/14 (2) |

* Middlesex won by 8 wickets The Rose Bowl, Southampton Umpires: Richard Illingworth and Neil Mallender Player of the match: Tyron Henderson

**Final**

* 26 July 2008 Scorecard

| Middlesex Crusaders 187/6 (20 overs) | v | Kent Spitfires 184/5 (20 overs) |
| - | - | - |
| Owais Shah 75 (35) Yasir Arafat 2/20 (4) | | Robert Key 52 (30) Shaun Udal 1/21 (4) |

* Middlesex won by 3 runs The Rose Bowl, Southampton Umpires: Neil Mallender and Jeremy Lloyds Player of the match: Owais Shah

## Statistics

### Runs

| Player | Team | Matches | Inns | NO | Runs | Balls | HS | S/Rate | 100s | 50s | Average |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Joe Denly | Kent Spitfires | 13 | 13 | 0 | 451 | 379 | 91 | 118.99 | 0 | 5 | 34.69 |
| Anthony McGrath | Yorkshire Carnegie | 9 | 9 | 2 | 392 | 296 | 72* | 132.43 | 0 | 4 | 56.00 |
| Murray Goodwin | Sussex Sharks | 10 | 10 | 2 | 345 | 273 | 79* | 126.37 | 0 | 3 | 43.13 |
| Robert Key | Kent Spitfires | 13 | 13 | 0 | 345 | 258 | 52 | 133.72 | 0 | 1 | 26.53 |
| Michael Carberry | Hampshire Hawks | 10 | 10 | 1 | 334 | 268 | 58 | 124.62 | 0 | 4 | 37.11 |
| Graham Napier | Essex Eagles | 12 | 11 | 1 | 326 | 167 | 152* | 195.20 | 1 | 0 | 32.60 |
| Michael Lumb | Hampshire Hawks | 10 | 10 | 0 | 315 | 209 | 63 | 150.71 | 0 | 2 | 31.50 |
| Marcus Trescothick | Somerset Sabres | 8 | 8 | 0 | 306 | 185 | 107 | 165.40 | 1 | 1 | 38.25 |
| Dawid Malan | Middlesex Crusaders | 12 | 10 | 5 | 306 | 220 | 103 | 139.09 | 1 | 1 | 61.20 |
| Phil Mustard | Durham Dynamos | 11 | 11 | 0 | 303 | 224 | 61 | 135.26 | 0 | 1 | 27.54 |

### Wickets

| Player | Team | Matches | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Best | Econ | S/Rate | 4/inns | 5+/inns | Average |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Yasir Arafat | Kent Spitfires | 13 | 44 | 341 | 23 | 4/17 | 7.75 | 11.48 | 2 | 0 | 14.82 |
| Tyron Henderson | Middlesex Crusaders | 12 | 47 | 349 | 21 | 4/29 | 7.42 | 13.43 | 1 | 0 | 16.61 |
| Andrew Hall | Northamptonshire Steelbacks | 9 | 34.1 | 271 | 20 | 6/21 | 7.93 | 10.25 | 0 | 2 | 13.55 |
| Danish Kaneria | Essex Eagles | 12 | 45.1 | 276 | 20 | 4/22 | 6.11 | 13.55 | 1 | 0 | 13.80 |
| Tim Murtagh | Middlesex Crusaders | 13 | 50 | 400 | 20 | 3/15 | 8.00 | 15.00 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Johann Louw | Northamptonshire Steelbacks | 11 | 39 | 325 | 17 | 3/18 | 8.33 | 13.76 | 0 | 0 | 19.12 |
| James Tredwell | Kent Spitfires | 13 | 41 | 264 | 16 | 3/9 | 6.43 | 15.38 | 0 | 0 | 16.50 |
| Graham Napier | Essex Eagles | 12 | 40.1 | 282 | 16 | 4/10 | 7.02 | 15.06 | 1 | 0 | 17.62 |
| Ian Salisbury | Warwickshire Bears | 10 | 32 | 175 | 15 | 3/14 | 5.47 | 12.80 | 0 | 0 | 11.67 |
| Abdul Razzaq | Surrey Brown Caps | 9 | 32 | 232 | 15 | 4/17 | 7.25 | 12.80 | 1 | 0 | 15.47 |
