Flintoff grabs two wickets as Lancashire ease to victory

Lancashire 246 (Chilton 45, Nash 3-27, Smith 3-29) beat Sussex 137 (Adams 49, Keedy 3-37) by 109 runs
Scorecard

	Freddie's back ... in action during his two-wicket spell © arabiancricket.com

Andrew Flintoff returned to action as a bowler after a six-month gap and took wickets with his ninth and 12th deliveries in an encouraging, if brief, three-over spell. He later returned for two more overs, finishing with figures of 5-1-9-2. The sight of Flintoff bowling overshadowed a match which Lancashire coasted, beating Sussex by 109 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, to maintain their unbeaten record in the Pro ARCH Trophy.

Sussex, chasing 247 to win on a used pitch, got off to a shocker in losing two wickets inside the first two overs, and they were still only 18 for 2 when Flintoff came on for his first spell - in his second over he pinned Chris Nash leg before and then bowled Ben Brown.

Gary Keedy took three wickets, aided by two stumpings and a catch from Luke Sutton, to leave them 88 for 8 before Sussex captain Chris Adams ensured some respectability with 49.

Lancashire posted a respectable 246, with eight of their batsmen getting double figures - Stuart Law, Mal Loye and Mark Chilton all passed 30 - without any going on to play a major innings. Flintoff started impressively, getting off the mark with a straight six and following with two straight drives for four, but he perished for 15 when he gave left-arm spinner Tom Smith the charge and was stumped.