Durham Cricket Match Preview - 13/6/21

Leicestershire Foxes are still in search for their first victory of the 2021 Vitality Blast campaign after falling to defeats at the hands of both Lancashire Lightning (June 11), and Derbyshire Falcons (June 12).

Batsmen Josh Inglis and Rishi Patel have both impressed for the Running Foxes so far, with both recording explosive performances against both the Lightning and Falcons, despite Leicestershire falling short.

Inglis has posted 58 runs with a strike-rate of 175.75, with Patel leading the run scoring charts for the Running Foxes so far with a total of 67 at a strike-rate of 186.11.

Durham have won their one and only fixture of the campaign so far after Brydon Carse’s 51 from 31 balls at number eight led them to a 20-run victory over Yorkshire Vikings at Emirates Riverside.

Watch the Running Foxes Live Through Our Online Streaming Service

Every ball of the Leicestershire Foxes’ home 2021 Vitality Blast campaign will be available to watch via our live streaming service, free of charge.

This season, the Club has worked tirelessly to enhance its live streaming service for all Running Foxes Members and fans that want to tune in and follow Leicestershire throughout the 2021 season.

This year’s live streaming service will include up to six cameras, BBC commentary, graphic overlays and will be available to watch on PC, mobile, tablet, games consoles and TVs via the Club’s social media channels.

Last Time We Met

We met Durham twice in the North Group last season in the Vitality Blast, with our first meeting taking place at a neutral venue at Headingley. Gareth Delany and Arron Lilley hit high strike rate innings of 68 and 69 respectively to steer us to 177-6 in our 20 overs. We then restricted our opponents to 147-8 with Alex Lees top scoring with 36(29b). Callum Parkinson (3-21 from four overs) and Will Davis (2-32 from four overs) were the main wicket takers for the Running Foxes.

Durham got their revenge on us at their home ground, Chester-le-Street, keeping us to 130-9 batting first in our 20 overs, with Lilley’s 45(31b) again impressing against the North-East county before being out to one of our new recruits, Scott Steel. Graham Clark started positively for the home side, hitting 35(14b) before being out lbw to Colin Ackermann, but former fox Ben Raine 50(34b) saw Durham home for the loss of just four wickets with 28 balls to spare.

Head to Head

Scott Steel vs Ben Raine

The clash between all-rounders Steel and Raine is fascinating given that they will both be playing against their former teams on Sunday.

Steel joined the Running Foxes during the off-season after two first-team seasons with Durham, and his breakthrough season in 2019 was highly impressive, scoring 369 runs at a strike rate of 136.67, hitting 28 fours and 15 sixes across 270 balls faced.

That season for Steel wasn’t hugely dissimilar to Raine’s final season for the Foxes, when he hit 332 runs from 197 balls, just about outscoring Steel with fours and sixes, although Raine - particularly in 2019 - has struggled to replicate those numbers with the bat.

Both players have contributed with the ball, although Steel has shown an edge in this area.  From 2018 onwards, Raine has taken 11 wickets at a cost of 43.91 with an economy rate of 10.69 runs per over.  During the same time period, Steel has taken 11 wickets as well, but at a lower cost at just 6.85 economy and taking wickets every 21.82 balls.

With both players capable of match-winning contributions with bat and ball, and facing their former counties, the story of Steel v Raine on Sunday will have a decent bearing on the eventual outcome.

Leicestershire Squad

Paul Nixon names an unchanged 14-man squad for the visit of Durham Cricket.

Leicestershire Foxes from 14: Colin Ackermann (C), Ed Barnes, Will Davis, Gavin Griffiths, Lewis Hill, Josh Inglis (wk), Louis Kimber, Arron Lilley, Ben Mike, Naveen, Rishi Patel, Callum Parkinson, Scott Steel, Harry Swindells (wk)

Match Sponsor

Thanks to Wasteline Services for sponsoring the 2021 Vitality Blast fixture against Durham Cricket.