Lancashire pull off record chase

Lancashire 180 for 2 (Moore 54) beat Leicestershire 179 for 4 (Boyce 63*, Razzaq 61, Chapple 2-10) by 8 wickets
Scorecard

Lancashire batted nervelessly to clinch a comprehensive eight-wicket victory in a topsy-turvy Friends Life t20 clash at Old Trafford which left the reigning champions, Leicestershire, still seeking their first win.

Inspired by captain Glen Chapple and opening batsman Stephen Moore, Lancashire chased down 180 to win with one over to spare to secure their second North Division win in three matches, recording their highest successful Twenty20 chase at Old Trafford in the process.

Lancashire looked on course for victory as early as the sixth over when they reduced Leicestershire to 29 for 3 thanks to two wickets for the metronomic Chapple, who finished with immaculate figures of 2 for 10 from 4 overs, the most economical figures by a Lancashire bowler in Twenty20 history.

But Leicestershire, now without a win in their first four matches, made a stunning recovery to post 179 for 4 thanks to some power hitting from Abdul Razzaq, Matt Boyce and Wayne White.

Razzaq and Boyce shared 92 in 68 balls for the fourth wicket before Boyce and White crashed an unbroken 58 off just 21 balls for the fifth. Opener Razzaq finished with 61 off 51 balls and Boyce 63 not out off 38.

However, it was still not enough as Lancashire completed the double over their visitors after Friday's win at Grace Road.

Moore top-scored with 54 off 32 balls to record his sixth score of 50 or more in eight matches in either 20 or 40-over cricket this summer. He was helped out by Tom Smith's 42 before, with the game in the balance at 113 for 2 in the 13th over, Steven Croft and Karl Brown steered their side home in an unbroken stand of 67 in less than 7 overs on an excellent batting surface. Croft finished 41 not out off 29 balls and Brown, who hit the winning runs, finished with 39 off 23.

Chapple, playing only his fifth 20-over match since the end of the 2010 season, took the new ball and had Greg Smith caught on the third-man fence by Gary Keedy and trapped Ramnaresh Sarwan lbw.