Academy Stars Past and Present Inspire 2s To Durham Win
Tue 4 Jun 2024
By Pete Johnson
Leicestershire played host to Durham in a SET20, at Kibworth CC, the first of back-to-back games taking place on Monday and Tuesday.
Leicestershire won the contest by five wickets. Left-arm spinner, Ali Farooq - a member of Leicestershire’s Academy - turning in an impressive performance on debut for the 2nd X1 with figures of 4-0-23-1.
Harry Swindells skippered County, his opposite number Ben McKinney won the toss, and chose to bat. Durham posted 151-7 from their allotted 20 overs. Graham Clark (32) 28b being top scorer.
Matt Salisbury 2-21, Roman Walker 1-23, Farooq 1-23, and Sam Wood 1-42, in the wickets. Walker also catching the eye in the field with two catches, in addition to being involved in executing a run out.
Special mention must be given to Farooq. After being called in as a late replacement, he bowled four overs unchanged, sending down 12 dot balls in his spell. An excellent effort by the 17-year-old.
Leicestershire reached their target with eight balls remaining, winning by five wickets. Back-to-back boundaries from Walker (8*) 3b, sealing victory.
Former Surrey man Nico Reifer posted a partnership of 51 (38b) for the 4th wicket with Swindells, their 50 alliance coming up from 35b. Reifer (37) 33b was top scorer for the Foxes, closely followed by Swindells (35) 24b.
Jack Lees weighed in with (25) 20b, and Sam Evans (18) 11b was fast out of the traps at the top of the innings. Paul Coughlin returning impressive figures of 2-8 from his four overs for Durham.
The second match between the two sides at Kibworth CC begins on Tuesday at 11:00am.
A full scorecard from game one can be viewed HERE.
