Leicestershire 192 for 7 (Delany 64, Ackermann 58, Fisher 3-35) beat Yorkshire 188 for 6 (Lyth 71) by three wickets
Leicestershire moved ahead of Yorkshire into third place in the North Group after a thrilling last-ball Vitality Blast victory at the Fischer County Ground.
The home side started slowly in pursuit of 189 to win before half-centuries from Gareth Delany and Colin Ackermann swung the contest round to the extent that victory seemed a formality with 26 needed from the final three overs.
A flurry of wickets – four in the space of three overs – then left the outcome in the balance with nine required from the last six deliveries, which looked to have been just too many for the Foxes until Ben Mike went for broke off the final ball, launching Adam Lyth over his head for six to win the contest.
Lyth earlier had given the Vikings innings the platform for a substantial total with 71 off 46 balls with three sixes after he and skipper David Willey had added 70 in 41 deliveries for the second wicket. The innings lost some momentum in the middle overs but Jordan Thompson flung the bat and rode his luck with 44 off 19 balls, with four maximums as he and Jonny Tattersall added 64 off the final 31 balls of the innings. Seamer Will Davis and legspinner Delany claimed two wickets each.
Having been asked to bat first when the Foxes won the toss, the Vikings had an excellent Powerplay, piling on 67 runs for the loss of only wicket, thanks largely to a 24-ball half-century from one-time England opener Lyth that included five fours and two enormous sixes behind square on the leg side. The only casualty was Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who chipped straight to extra cover.
Davis was the successful bowler, striking with his first delivery, and it was the brisk right-arm seamer who made the second breakthrough in the 10th over as Willey fell for a useful 27 off 17 balls, chopping on to a slow yorker. Willey had survived a very difficult caught-and-bowled chance when he drove down the ground to Delany’s legspin, before Lyth picked up his third maximum, just clearing the fielder at deep midwicket. The Vikings were 98 for 2 at halfway.
A couple of tight overs from spinners Callum Parkinson and Ackermann then put the brake on the scoring rate before Delany claimed the vital wicket of Lyth for 71, this time holing out to deep backward square. A smart piece of fielding by Ackermann then ran out Will Fraine at the non-striker’s end before the batsman had faced and after Delany claimed a second wicket with Harry Brook caught at long-on the Vikings were 126 for 5 after 15.
But new batsman Thompson started the scoreboard moving again with consecutive sixes off Parkinson before repeating the trick off Davis. Tattersall also picked up his first maximum, the sixth-wicket pair giving the card a much better look for Yorkshire, adding 64 off 31 balls before Thompson skied the last delivery of the 20 overs, eventually caught by wicketkeeper Lewis Hill for 44 off 19 deliveries.
The task facing the Foxes was to score at 9.45 runs per over. The requirement was up to 10.14 at the end of the Powerplay, despite Lilley laying into both Ben Coad – playing in his first domestic T20 for three years – and Matthew Fisher with the first sixes of the innings after Harry Dearden was caught at long-on.
Delany clubbed six over long-on in Jack Shutt’s opening over as Willey turned to his spinners but the offspinner then had some good fortune when Lilley smacked a waist-high full toss straight to deep midwicket. But Delany was in the mood to take the initiative.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo