Falcons T20 Match Preview - 28/05/2022
Fri 27 May 2022
Match Sponsor:
A huge thanks to our match sponsor - Invent Learning - a Wigston-based education business.
When we last met:
The two teams last met at the Incora County Ground, Derby, last season, in a fixture which saw the Running Foxes finish as 42-run winners.
Having been inserted into bat, Leicestershire posted 174-8 from their 20 overs, with Scott Steel (46, 34b) and Louis Kimber (53, 28b) doing the bulk of our scoring.
In response, we dismissed our hosts for 132 with eight balls to spare, with the wickets being shared around. Steel (2-23 from four overs) produced a superb all-round display, while Callum Parkinson replicated those exact numbers with the ball. Naveen also impressed, taking 2-17.
Head to head: Hamish Rutherford vs Shan Masood:
Foxes man Rutherford will be keen to put his debut on Thursday behind him and begin to open his run account for the club, and there’s strong evidence that the New Zealander can do so. He’s scored 1,250 runs in the Blast during his career at an average of 29.06 and strike rate of 153.37 - superb numbers.
Opposition opener Masood - also a left-hander - needs no introduction to Foxes fans after his epic innings against us in the County Championship. He’s yet to make his Derbyshire debut in T20, likely to be doing so tonight against Birmingham Bears, but in the PSL he’s been a prolific runscorer, averaging 32.78 at a strike rate of 136.10, so it will be fascinating to see which left-handed overseas opener hits the ground running quickest for their team.
Head Coach Paul Nixon names an unchanged 14-man contingent.
Squad: Ackermann *, Ahmed, Davis, Griffiths, Hill +, Kimber, Lilley, Mike, Naveen, Parkinson, Patel, Rutherford, Steel, Walker.
