Yorkshire's woes continue
Yorkshire's Friends Life t20 woes continued at Headingley, as they lost by 18 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system to Leicestershire
06-Jul-2011
Yorkshire's Friends Life t20 woes continued at Headingley, as they lost by 18 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system to Leicestershire who made sure of making it through to the quarter-finals from the North Group alongside Nottinghamshire. A slightly revised target of 193 in a match reduced to 19 overs a side by rain proved just out of the reach of a spirited Yorkshire, who slid to their seventh defeat of the season in the competition.
Most of their batsmen made cameo contributions to the chase. But the best stand of the chase came courtesy a sixth-wicket assault of 42 in 3.5 overs by Gary Ballance and Jonny Bairstow, which was abruptly ended by Jigar Naik who took three wickets in four legitimate balls. The offspinner came on for the 16th over with 48 required and had Ballance stumped first ball by Paul Nixon for 25. He then bowled a wide before getting Richard Pyrah caught by Joshua Cobb. Two balls later Adil Rashid holed out to Andrew McDonald.
Naik was withdrawn from the attack after his solitary over had brought him three wickets for three runs and Bairstow was dismissed by Abdul Razzak, also for 25, as Yorkshire closed on 174 for 9.
Leicestershire, sent in to bat, maintained a healthy run-rate through their innings, thanks to a splendid unbeaten 96 from their Australian opener McDonald, who cracked nine fours and three sixes off the 57 balls he received on his way to his highest Twenty20 score. Rashid suffered most from the visitors' positive approach, the legspinner taking the new ball and finishing with no wicket for 58 runs off his four overs.
Cobb and McDonald got Leicestershire off to an explosive start with a six apiece off Rashid's first over, which cost 18, and the pair repeated the pattern in the following over from Ryan Sidebottom that also leaked 18 runs. The openers rushed to 50 off 23 balls, but at 58 in the sixth over, Cobb skied Pyrah to mid-off where he was held by Sidebottom for 26 from 15 deliveries.
A heavy burst of rain caused a 45-minute interruption at 88 for 1 in 9.3 overs, but on resumption Will Jefferson drove Pyrah for six and four before falling to another well-judged catch by Sidebottom off David Wainwright. The left-arm spinner, who would have been on a month's loan to Derbyshire but for a hamstring injury to Azeem Rafiq, was easily the pick of the Yorkshire attack with 1 for 24 from his four overs.
McDonald lost partners in Razzaq and Jacques du Toit, but was assisted in a late flourish by Wayne White, the pair adding 28 in the final two overs. McDonald would almost certainly have completed his century, but for the over lost to rain.