Birmingham Bears | T20 Match Preview - 19/07/2024

It all comes down to this. Win at Edgbaston on Friday evening and the Foxes are through to the Vitality Blast quarter-final stages.

Table toppers Birmingham Bears stand in Leicestershire’s way of passage into the last eight, with the sides set to meet for the first time this season in the group stage’s climax.

The Foxes enter the game in third place on the back of two crucial victories last weekend, while the Bears have won nine from 12 ahead of Thursday’s round of fixtures.

"There's no reason why we can't beat them." | Watch Ben Mike's pre-match chat HERE.

FAMOUS FIXTURE:

Leicestershire’s largest ever victory margin came in 2018’s meeting with the Bears, winning by 100 runs thanks to Ben Raine’s blistering 113.

The all-rounder fired 113 from 45 balls (the Foxes’ second highest T20 score) to take the team to 229/5 “ Leicestershire’s highest T20 team total.

Callum Parkinson (4/20) and Raine (2/28) helped skittle the Bears out for 129 inside 16 overs in response, earning a whopping 100-run victory in the Second City.

DECISIVE DUEL:

Lewis Goldsworthy is having a special competition for Leicestershire with both bat and ball. His spin has reaped 14 wickets at just 17.21, while his career-best 67 last time out showed his prowess with the bat.

A left-arm spinner, the Somerset loanee has kept things tight in the middle “ conceding his runs at 7.77 per over, and forming a vital spin partnership with Rehan Ahmed.

He’ll face another formidable all-rounder in Dan Mousley. The Bears dangerman has 364 runs at 40.44 this term, striking at 140. With the ball, his right-arm off-breaks have added 12 wickets at 22.91 “ going at just 6.66 runs per over.

SQUAD:

The Foxes name an unchanged 14-strong squad for Friday’s trip to Birmingham.

Leicestershire Foxes: Ahmed, Budinger, Cox+, Currie, Goldsworthy, Handscomb*, Hull, Kimber, Mike, Neesham, Patel, Scriven, Swindells, Wood.