Cosgrove & Ackermann half-centuries in vain for Foxes
Sun 3 Jun 2018
RESULT | Royal London One-Day Cup game 7: Warwickshire 211 for 1 beat Leicestershire Foxes 207 by 9 wickets
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo
REACTION | Assistant Coach John Sadler spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Richard Rae after the game
HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season
POINTS | Warwickshire 2, Leicestershire Foxes 0
REPORT | Mark Cosgrove and Colin Ackermann posted half-centuries but Warwickshire kept alive their hopes of finishing at the summit of the Royal London One-Day Cup North Division following a nine-wicket success against Leicestershire Foxes.
Cosgrove struck a fourth successive 50 in sharing 104 for the fourth wicket with Ackermann but the Foxes were dismissed for 207 as Olly Stone and Aaron Thomason each took three wickets.
Jonathan Trott then steered Warwickshire home with a typically measured unbeaten 102 (121b) at Edgbaston. It was a second 100 on the trot in this format for Trott, who passed 10,000 List A career runs during today’s innings.
The Foxes showed three changes to the side that lost to Lancashire as Zak Chappell, Gavin Griffiths and Lewis Hill came in for Ned Eckersley, Varun Aaron and Ateeq Javid.
Captain Paul Horton (4, 11b) won the toss and elected to bat first but was the first wicket to fall in the third over after edging Keith Barker to Ian Bell at second slip.
Paceman Stone claimed the second wicket in the following over as Neil Dexter (1, 5b) received a good delivery that bounced and ended up back in hands of the bowler.
Cameron Delport (22, 16b) clattered four consecutive boundaries as 17 runs were gathered in the sixth but the opener departed at the start of the next offering, pulling a short Barker delivery high to a diving Henry Brookes at short fine-leg.
That left the Foxes at 31 for 3 before a quality partnership developed between Cosgrove and Ackermann.
Cosgrove was unforgiving on anything that was fractionally overpitched or short, generally striking the ball cleanly down the ground or smashing it through mid-wicket in reaching a 47-ball half-century (9x4).
He was nicely complimented by Ackermann, who was particularly determined not to let Jeetan Patel settle. The No.5 used his feet well, rotated the strike, and picked up boundaries when the opportunity arose, including a deft sweep at the end of the 22nd over.
Like his colleague, Ackermann was quick to latch on to anything loose - whether it be spin or seam - on a true surface. The stand moved into three figures off 99 balls but Stone ended it as Cosgrove drove to Barker at mid-off.
Ackermann progressed to 50 off 60 deliveries (7x4) before clouting Thomason for the first maximum of the day over mid-on as the Foxes appeared set to kick on.
But the Bears kept up picking wickets to ensure that the Foxes could not make the most of their platform. Thomason took three of the next four wickets to fall, starting with Ackermann (57, 68b), held at mid-on attempting a similar stroke.
The all-rounder then trapped Hill (21, 31b) lbw with an in-swinger that flicked his pad before the bat, and also enticed Chappell (3, 12b) into playing at a bouncer that looped off the edge to Trott at short mid-wicket. Tom Wells (13, 15b) was pinned in front by Patel between those dismissals.
The Foxes, who had been 135 for 3 at one point, were now at 188 for 8 in the 37th over. The innings came to an end as the impressive Stone yorked Dieter Klein (5, 7b) before Callum Parkinson (11, 23b) was bowled by Brookes.
Openers Ed Pollock (33, 18b) and Trott put on 52 for the first wicket before Chappell bowled the left-hander with an excellent full delivery. It was to prove to be the only breakthrough as Trott and Sam Hain shared an unbroken 159.
The Bears were 73 for 1 after the powerplay and the 100 came up at the end of the 18th over before Trott recorded 50 from 66 balls (5x4).
Former England batsman Trott went on to reach his notable List A landmark in a controlled display of batting as his alliance with Hain, who would go on to reach 50 from 63 balls (4x4), passed 100.
Trott then recorded his 23rd List A hundred from 117 balls (9x4) with Hain ending unbeaten on 69 (87b) as the Bears got home in the 38th over.
Today's result, coupled with Worcestershire's win against Northants, means that the Bears and Pears will battle it out for top spot when they meet at Edgbaston on Thursday. The winner is guaranteed a home semi-final, while the loser - at this stage - would have to hope results go their way in order to secure a play-off position.
TEAM | Delport, Horton (capt), Ackermann, Cosgrove, Dexter, Hill (wk), Wells, Chappell, Parkinson, Griffiths, Klein.
FIGURES | Ackermann 2.4-0-20-0, Klein 8-1-39-0, Chappell 8-1-54-1, Parkinson 10-0-51-0, Griffiths 4-0-26-0, Wells 5-0-20-0.
PHOTO | Thanks to John Mallett for the photo of Colin Ackermann batting.
* Our final Royal London One-Day Cup group fixture is a floodlit game at home to Durham on Thursday, June 7. Advance tickets are available for £12 adults & £3 for under 16s HERE
