Match report: Lancs v Leics in Twenty20 2004

Match report: Lancs v Leics in Twenty20 2004 by Neil Adams

Scorecard:

Summary

Lancashire suffered another confidence sapping defeat in their first match of the twenty 20 cup this year, when Leicestershire beat them by 8 runs.

Lancashire won the toss and elected to bowl first. It came as no surprise to watch the ball flying to all parts of the ground in the opening 5 overs - after all that is what this competition is all about. Hegg turned to spin early in the piece, and was rewarded with 2 wickets in 2 overs from Keedy (87-2). The bowling became increasingly difficult to score from as Mongia, Keedy and Schofield all gained assistance from the pitch. Leicestershire's innings stalled badly in the final 9 overs. Only 51 runs were added to their score for the loss of six wickets. A target score of 140 from 19 overs presented Lancashire with the perfect opportunity to gain victory

Mal Loye and Steven Crook blasted 49 runs from 4 overs. A target of just 91 runs from 15 overs with 10 wickets in hand seemed a mere formality despite the turning ball and the fading light. Crook (19) needlessly ran himself out in the 5th over, attempting a suicidal quick single despite the ball going straight to Dakin at short third man (49-1). Loye (28) was bowled behind his legs by Henderson in the 7th over (56-2) and one already sensed a close contest. Stuart Law's nightmare season continued as he was stumped by Paul Nixon for just 3 runs (58-3). Cork and Mongia added 26 runs for the fourth wicket before Cork (7) was bowled by Snape (84-4).

Lancashire's run rate in the final 7 overs was 7.71 per over with Mongia unbeaten on 21. Unfortunately, in a similar manner to that of the Foxes, run scoring became progressively more difficult as the innings came to a close. Chris Schofield was totally unable to score enough runs (4 runs from 17 balls). With the pressure mounting on Dinesh Mongia, the Indian batsman top edged a delivery from Gibson to Nixon with 47 runs to his name (117-5). Warren Hegg was bowled by Cleary in the final over for 7 (124-6). Mark Chilton was faced with the impossible task of hitting 3 consecutive boundaries to save the game. On this form, a trip to Edgbaston later in the season seems highly unlikely. By the time Lancashire play their only other remaining home game, one suspects there will be little to play for except pride.

Lancashire's man of the match was Dinesh Mongia who scored 47 runs and finished with 3 for 19 - he also run out Dakin for no score

Key Notes of the Day

Lancashire won the toss and elected to bowl
51 for 0 in the 5th over - Maddy 35* Sadler 10*
50 Maddy from 24 balls (5 x 4 & 2 x 6) - 67 for 0 in the 6th over - Sadler 11*
Maddy bowled Keedy 51 - 74 for 1 in the 7th over - Sadler 16*
Sadler caught Schofield bowled Keedy 22 (Deep extra cover boundary) - 87 for 2 in the 9th over - Hodge 7*
Hodge lbw bowled Newby 8 - 88 for 3 in the 10th over - Nixon 0*
Nixon caught Loye bowled Mongia 3 (Backward square leg) - 99 for 4 in the 12th over - Stevens 8*
101 for 4 in the 12th over - Stevens 10* Snape 0*
Snape 6 dropped by Crook at long-on (Catch taken but forced to drop the ball as momentum taking Crook over the rope) - 108 for 4 in the 14th over - Stevens 11*
Stevens stumped Hegg bowled Mongia 16 - 117 for 5 in the 16th over - Snape 10*
Dakin run out 0 (Mongia) - 124 for 6 in the 16th over - Snape 16*
Snape caught Chilton bowled Schofield 21 (Deep mid-wicket) - 131 for 7 in the 17th over - Gibson 2*
Gibson bowled Schofield 2 - 131 for 8 in the 17th over - DeFreitas 0*
Henderson stumped Hegg bowled Mongia 2 - 134 for 9 in the 18th over - DeFreitas 1*
139 for 9 from 19 overs - DeFreitas 3* Cleary 3*

Lancashire required 7.37 runs per over
Crook run out 19 (Dakin from short third man) - 49 for 1 in the 5th over - Loye 23*
51 for 1 in the 6th over - Loye 25* Law 0*
Loye bowled Henderson 28 (Behind legs) - 56 for 2 in the 7th over - Law 2*
Law stumped Nixon bowled Snape 3 - 58 for 3 in the 8th over - Mongia 1*
Cork bowled Snape 7 - 84 for 4 in the 12th over - Mongia 20*
101 for 4 in the 16th over - Mongia 33* Schofield 3*
Mongia caught Nixon bowled Gibson 47 - 117 for 5 in the 18th over - Schofield 4*
Hegg bowled Cleary 7 (Stepped across and bowled behind legs) - 124 for 6 in the 19th over - Schofield 4*
131 for 6 from 19 overs - Schofield 4* Chilton 7*
Leicestershire beat Lancashire by 8 runs