LANCASHIRE LIGHTNING 166-7 BEAT LEICESTER FOXES 157 BY 9 RUNS
Tom Smith 50 Matt Boyce 47
Lancashire Lightning bounced back from their controversial Roses clash
to arch-rivals the Yorkshire Vikings last week and saw the Lightning hold their
nerve to see off a dogged Leicestershire Foxes side at the Emirates Old
Trafford, with them edging victory by just nine runs to see them remain at the
top two of the Northern section of the Natwest t20 blast competition with
victory.
It saw the Lightning win the toss and choose to bat first, much
like they have done over the entire campaign and where they have been very
successful in defending their totals throughout in all but one of their matches this season.
Tom Smith and Ashwell Prince were the opening duo for the home side and
between them, saw the pairing rotating the strike as they made a steady start to
the Lancashire Innings and was going well, that was till Richard Jones delivery
to Prince was hit to Matt Boyce in the field and where he took the catch to
remove the former South African batsman for just (12) runs after Three overs of
play.
Tom Smith carried on his fantastic t20 batting this year, with
the opener hitting a six off the bowling of Ben Raine to see the Red Rose
county 37-1 after four overs gone. Karl Brown then tried to take on Jones in
the next over, as after hitting him for a four the next delivery he faced saw
him edge behind to wicketkeeper Niall O`Brien and saw him depart for just (7)
runs.
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| PIC: ESPNCRICKET.INFO |
Smith and Captain for the T20`s in Paul Horton saw both Lancashire
batsmen`s help the hosts along to 82-2 after 11 overs of play, with Tom Smith edging
closer to his half century. It then saw
a mixture fortunes for Smith in the 12th over, when he smashed a Six into the
Old Trafford crowd to see him reach his fifty, but fell the very next ball as he
was given out lbw off the bowling of Rob Taylor.
The hosts were 91-3 when new
batsman Jos Buttler walked out to the middle and the England International
tried to help his side get going a bit in the match as they seemed to have slowed
down a tad in their innings.
Paul Horton went off the bowling of Jones for (40) as the Leicestershire
man claimed his second wicket of the Innings, to see the Lightning four down
and coming to a tricky part of their Innings.
Jos Buttler then shown glimpse
of his devastating batting power when he hit a big six off Anthony Ireland in
the 18th over with his recent 121 for England in the One Day International
against Sri Lanka recently it saw a new confidence installed in Buttler and was
playing like a new man since making the move from Somerset in the winter.
With the final couple of overs left in the hosts Innings, it saw Steven
Croft taking on Jones who he hit to the boundary and then fell the following
ball for just (7) runs scored, before Jos Buttler was soon joining him back in
the team dugout as he tried to played a creative shot but could only it flick
it up in the air and saw Jigar Naik take the easy wicket to leave Lancashire
145-6.
In the final over it saw Jordan Clark hit a six into the crowd
before then picking out Smith in the field with Ireland picking up a wicket too
see the home side 146-7. Then Aaron Lilley then rallied with a four and a six
to see the Lightning post 166 after their twenty overs.
Leicestershire in their reply to Lancashire`s total saw them requiring
167 runs for victory to see them topple the best defensive side in the
competition so far this year.
It started off very well for the Foxes with Josh Cobb striking a
Six and a Four in successive balls to see the visitors getting a good start to
their run chase. Cobb then hit Jordan Clark out the stadium with another six as
he was getting into the Lancs attack from the start.
Niall O`Brien then succumb to the bowling of Clark soon after, as
substitute fielder Alex Davies took the catch to see the Leicestershire man out
for just (9) runs scored.
Pakistani International Junaid Khan then came into the bowling attack
and had Josh Cobb caught out by Tom Smith, as the fast bowler applied some
pressure onto the Foxes Innings as they were 39 for 2 after Five overs gone in
their reply.
Kabir Ali then struck in the next over the Lightning, with the
bowler getting Greg Smith out for (6) with Paul Horton taking the catch to see
the Foxes man head back to the dugout at the end the over.
Matt Boyce then came to the crease to join Ned Eckersley at 46 for 3
and they both put on the second highest partnership of the match, as they helped
the Foxes in their run chase as they put on 41 runs between them to move
Leicestershire to 86 for 4.
Ned Eckersley was then brilliantly caught and
bowled off Stephen Parry for (12) as it seen Lancashire finally make the
breakthrough to break up the pairing.
As it got down to the final four overs of the Foxes innings, it saw
them needing another 46 runs off the remaining 24 balls. The only hope the
visitors had of getting close to the total was that of Matt Boyce who was doing
his best at the crease and was getting close to his half century.
However the second ball of Junaid Khan`s third over saw him
clean bowl Boyce to see the Lightning grab the advantage back in the game once
again. Tom Wells then put up the last resistance for the Leicestershire Foxes
as hit a six off Khan and then when trying to push on and put pressure back on
the home side in the final over, he fell short going for another huge hit and found
Jordan Clark ready to the catch and saw the end of his cameo for the away team.
Rob Taylor then struck a six the very next ball and with
the final over to be bowled by Kabir Ali, it saw Leicestershire needing 17 runs
from it to win the match.
But some good death bowling by the Lancashire
Lightning man saw them restricted to singles or threes, with the last ball of
the match saw Ali bowl Rob Taylor out for (20) and see the Lightning win the
match by 9 runs, but it was far from straight forward for the Lightning side.
Scorecard taken from : LCCC.CO.UK
Lancashire win by 9 runs
| LEICESTERSHIRE INNINGS | RUNS | BALLS | 4S | 6S | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.J. Cobb | c T.C. Smith | b J.M. Khan | 27 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 150.00 |
| N.J. O'Brien | c sub | b J. Clark | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 112.50 |
| G.P. Smith | c P.J. Horton | b K. Ali | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| E.J.H. Eckersley | c & | b S.D. Parry | 12 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| M.A.G. Boyce | b J.M. Khan | 47 | 35 | 6 | 0 | 134.29 | |
| T.J. Wells | c J. Clark | b J.M. Khan | 28 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 127.27 |
| *R.M.L. Taylor | b K. Ali | 20 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 166.67 | |
| B.A. Raine | not out | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 | |
| Extras | 2b 2lb 2w | 6 | |||||
| TOTAL | FOR 7 (20.0 OVS) | 157 | RR: 7.85 | ||||
Fall of wickets: 1-36 (N.J. O'Brien, 36), 2-38 (J.J. Cobb, 2), 3-46 (G.P. Smith, 8), 4-87 (E.J.H. Eckersley, 41), 5-122 (M.A.G. Boyce, 35), 6-140 (T.J. Wells, 18), 7-157 (R.M.L. Taylor, 17)
| BOWLER | O | M | R | W | ECO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.J. Croft | 3.0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 7.33 |
| K. Ali | 3.0 | 0 | 26 | 2 | 8.67 |
| J. Clark | 3.0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 8.00 |
| *J.M. Khan | 4.0 | 0 | 30 | 3 | 7.50 |
| A.M. Lilley | 3.0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 8.00 |
| S.D. Parry | 4.0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 |
| LANCASHIRE INNINGS | RUNS | BALLS | 4S | 6S | SR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T.C. Smith | lbw | b R.M.L. Taylor | 50 | 36 | 5 | 2 | 138.89 |
| A.G. Prince | c M.A.G. Boyce | b R.A. Jones | 12 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| K.R. Brown | c N.J. O'Brien | b R.A. Jones | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| P.J. Horton | c A.J. Ireland | b R.A. Jones | 40 | 40 | 3 | 0 | 100.00 |
| J.C. Buttler | c J.K.H. Naik | b R.A. Jones | 20 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 111.11 |
| S.J. Croft | c R.M.L. Taylor | b R.A. Jones | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 140.00 |
| J. Clark | c G.P. Smith | b A.J. Ireland | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 225.00 |
| A.M. Lilley | not out | 12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 400.00 | |
| *K. Ali | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Extras | 4lb 1w 4nb | 9 | |||||
| TOTAL | FOR 7 (20.0 OVS) | 166 | RR: 8.30 | ||||
Fall of wickets: 1-27 (A.G. Prince, 27), 2-41 (K.R. Brown, 14), 3-91 (T.C. Smith, 50), 4-123 (P.J. Horton, 32), 5-145 (S.J. Croft, 22), 6-145 (J.C. Buttler, 0), 7-154 (J. Clark, 9)
| BOWLER | O | M | R | W | ECO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J.K.H. Naik | 4.0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 4.75 |
| A.J. Ireland | 4.0 | 0 | 51 | 1 | 12.75 |
| *R.A. Jones | 4.0 | 0 | 34 | 5 | 8.50 |
| B.A. Raine | 2.0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7.00 |
| R.M.L. Taylor | 4.0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 6.50 |
| J.J. Cobb | 2.0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 9.00 |
Toss: Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat.
Lancashire: Tom Smith, Karl Brown, Steven Croft, Ashwell Prince, Paul Horton (cpt), Jos Buttler (wk), Jordan Clark, Arron Lilley, Kabir Ali, Stephen Parry, Junaid Khan
Leicestershire: Joshua Cobb (cpt), Niall O'Brien (wk), Greg Smith, Ned Eckersley, Matthew Boyce, Tom Wells, Rob Taylor, Ben Raine, Anthony Ireland, Jigar Naik, Richard Jones
Umpires: P Willey (On Field), M J D Bodenham (On Field)
* indicates the batsman on strike and the bowler currently bowling
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