Buttler Serves Up Lightning Victory

LANCASHIRE LIGHTNING 187-3: Buttler 58*       (Middlebrook 2-26)

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STEELBACKS: Spreigel 32   (Khan 3-16)

LANCS WON BY 55 RUNS 

Lancashire Lightning proved to be too hot to handle for their opponents on Friday evening when the Northamptonshire Steelbacks was dismantled by the Red Rose County with both bat and ball, namely in the form of Lightning`s Junaid Khan with the ball and Jos Buttler with the bat. It saw Lancashire go joint top once more with the leaders Worcester Rapids in the Natwest t20 Blast Northern section, with the Lightning beating last year`s tournament champions by a massive 53 runs and saw the hosts never allowing the opposition to get any kind of foothold in the match at the Emirates Old Trafford on way to victory.

It saw Lancashire win the coin toss and elect to bat first, which has been an advantage to the Lightning side in this year`s competition and saw openers Tom Smith and Ashwell Prince start out for the home side in their twenty overs. 
  The hosts opening wicket of their innings went down, when Tom Smith who has had a stunning t20 campaign so far for the Red Rose County, saw Smith sky his shot up in the air from a David Willey delivery and had James Middlebrook take the catch to see him out for (2).

  This led to Prince and Karl Brown then putting on a 90 run partnership between the pair for the Second wicket as the Lightning moved onto 99-1, before both batsmen departed in quick succession with Karl Brown being the first to go, when he was caught out by Keogh off the bowling of Middlebrook for (46).

South African Ashwell Prince then followed suit next ball, as Middlebrook took his second wicket with former Lancashire player Steven Crook taking the catch to see Prince return to the dugout for (43).  James Middlebrook was now on a hat-trick and with it saw him unable to take three successive wickets in a row and that was as good as it got for the visiting Steelbacks.
  It saw Steven Croft and notably England International Jos Buttler go on a scoring streak and move Lancs past the three figures before motoring the home side to a fairly high total score at the Emirates Old Trafford this season in the t20 Blast.

  

Steven Croft made (29) runs from 20 balls in his innings, which saw him record four Four`s on his way to his total, while his partner at the other in Jos Buttler saw the Wicket-keeping batsman for the Lightning make an impressive and game changing (58) from his 26 balls, that saw the talented England International smash three 4`s and three 6`s to help his side reach a difficult 187 for 3 from their twenty overs to put pressure on their opponents.

Northampton had been set a tough a target to try and knock off by the hosts, with history not on their side either. With no side scoring over 187 to beat Lancashire in a run chase at Old Trafford in t20 history. 
  In truth, the reply for the Steelbacks never remotely got started at all saw and it didn`t help their cause either when Northamptonshire found themselves two wickets down in their second over. They lost Richard Levi for (3) thanks to some superb work by Ashwell Prince in the field to the Lightning man pick up the ball and throw down the stumps to run out Levi, when it seemed certain the batsman would make it home for the single.

Fast bowler Junaid Khan then got in on the act in the same over when he showed his pace, as he clean bowled the danger man for the Steelbacks in David Willey and he went for (1).  It saw the scoreboard make dismal reading for Northamptonshire after 1.3 overs gone their innings, with them two down for just three runs in their run chase.

  David Sales and Rob Keogh then put on a stand of 42 to see the Steelbacks try their best efforts to get back in the contest and despite Sales hitting two Sixes in his inning of (25), even he couldn`t help but see his shot find Karl Brown in the field and the Lightning man was happy to take the catch as Aaron Lilley picked up first wicket of the match.

Steven Crook then went for (14) off the bowling of Stephen Parry with Ashwell Prince catching him out and when Rob Keogh fell for (28) lbw to Lilley, it seemed that it was just a matter of time now before the rest fell like a house of cards.

  However the Lightning then found Ben Duckett and Matt Spriegel difficult to move from the crease as it saw the Northamptonshire duo put on a good little partnership of 50 between them. Unfortunately for Duckett he was out for (17) as Prince took the catch from Kabir Ali`s bowling to see them 124 for 6 and then it was Spriegel sent packing, as he was run out by Prince for (32) as they lost quick wickets.

James Middlebrook came to the crease and was out shortly after for just (1) when Junaid Khan knocked over his stumps to see him head back to the Steelbacks dugout. It saw Oliver Stone make a quick return himself, as he was out for a duck to see Khan on a Hat-trick for the hosts, but the new batsman Azharullah came in to face the hat trick ball off the Pakistani International and seen him manage to survive the delivery.

It saw Lancashire Lightning one wicket away from winning the match and in a phrase coined by Sky commentator and former Lancashire coach David Lloyd, it was very much the case of 'Start the Car!' as the Steelbacks were outplayed in this contest from the off and were eventually bowled out for a miserable 134 all out.
  It saw Kabir Ali taking the final wicket of the match when he got Graham White out for (6) with Steven Croft claiming the catch to see the Lightning rolling along to a 53 run victory and seen them move closer to progressing to the quarter finals of the competition.

Lancashire won the toss and decided to bat Lancashire Innings187 for 3 (20.0 overs) Northamptonshire Innings134 all out (18.5 overs)

Lancashire Innings187 for 3 (20.0 overs)

			Runs	Minutes	Balls	4s	6s
Smith	c Middlebrook	b Willey	2	4	4	0	0
Prince	c Crook	b Middlebrook	43	47	33	7	0
Brown	c Keogh	b Middlebrook	46	41	38	6	0
Buttler	not out		58*	28	26	3	3
Croft	not out		29*	27	20	4	0
Extras	2nb 2w 3b 2lb		9
Total	for 3 (20.0 ovs)		187

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Spriegel	1.0	0	8	0
Willey	2.0	0	12	1
Stone	4.0	0	37	0
Crook	2.0	0	17	0
Azharullah	3.0	0	38	0
White	4.0	0	44	0
Middlebrook	4.0	0	26	2

Fall of Wicket
9	Smith
99	Brown
99	Prince
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Northamptonshire Innings134 all out (18.5 overs)

			Runs	Minutes	Balls	4s	6s
Levi	run out (Prince)		2	4	6	0	0
Willey		b Khan	1	6	3	0	0
Sales	c Brown	b Lilley	25	24	24	2	1
Keogh	lbw	b Lilley	28	36	28	1	0
Crook	c Prince	b Parry	14	10	11	0	1
Duckett	c Brown	b Ali	17	20	15	1	0
Spriegel	run out (Prince)		32	19	16	4	1
Middlebrook		b Khan	1	3	3	0	0
White	c Croft	b Ali	6	7	4	0	0
Stone		b Khan	0		1	0	0
Azharullah	not out		3*	3	3	0	0
Extras	2nb 3w 0b 0lb		5
Total	all out (18.5 ovs)		134

Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Croft	4.0	0	17	0
Khan	3.0	1	16	3
Ali	3.5	0	37	2
Parry	4.0	0	36	1
Lilley	4.0	0	28	2

Fall of Wicket
3	Levi
3	Willey
45	Sales
71	Crook
74	Keogh
124	Duckett
124	Spriegel
128	Middlebrook
128	Stone
134	White

SMITH & KHAN OUT 'FOX' LEICESTERSHIRE

 

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.

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