Foxes off to a flyer in QC

The Oval: Surrey 20, Leicestershire 21-1 - Leicestershire won by four wickets

Hassan Azad and Leicestershire Foxes got off to a perfect start in the Quarantine Cup at a sun-drenched Oval as Sophia Dunkley’s Surrey were routed by four wickets with three overs to spare.

Dunkley’s pre-tournament boast about her proficiency on Nintendogs came back to bite her with more ferocity than an irritated rottweiler as Azad stormed to a victory which will send a statement to the rest of the field.

Surrey, for some reason opting to go into the game without any of their white-ball England internationals, showed the durability of a pigeon in a propeller as they collapsed to 20 all out, and eventually went on to lose by four wickets.

The rules of the game are that each side bats for five overs with five wickets meaning a team is all out, and Leicestershire Foxes soon got into their stride in the field.

The tone was set from the second ball of the innings, Will Jacks nudging a straight drive to mid-off and calling through Mark Stoneman for a single which wouldn’t have been achievable had both batsmen had the leg-speed of Billy Whizz.

Stoneman, whom one can only assume had recently stolen Jacks’ lunch from the Surrey team fridge, was quickly put into reverse by his teammate but stood no chance. Harry Dearden couldn’t miss from 10 yards away. Surrey were 1 for 1.

By the end of the first over, the home side were two down. Ben Foakes, elevated to No.3 in the order, lasted just one ball before scooping a catch to the irrepressible Dearden at mid-off. Callum Parkinson wheeled away in celebration.

Things only got worse for Dunkley and Surrey in the second over. Jacks, of whom much was expected given his 10-over ton in Dubai last year, flopped a meagre back-foot drive to Ben Mike, running around to mid-off, to give Dieter Klein a wicket.

And though Jamie Smith picked Klein for consecutive boundaries, there was no coming back from the brink for Surrey.

Smith chipped a catch to wide mid-on from Mike’s first delivery and the hosts’ innings was all over after just 19 balls, when Rory Burns returned a catch to captain Colin Ackermann.

Twenty all out. Not a Quarantine Cup low, but my oh my. The chase did not last long.

Azad, who only bought a PS4 eight days before his opening fixture in the Quarantine Cup, treated the Surrey bowling with disdain.

Mark Cosgrove (11,10b) clipped a boundary four through mid-wicket from his first delivery, played a near identical shot from his third and took Leicestershire to within two shots of their target halfway through their first over.

Surrey needed a miracle, so they turned to Mark Stoneman. The opening batsman, with just one career wicket to his name in 13 years, was thrown the new ball by Dunkley and tied Cosgrove in an almighty knot.

To be fair to Cosgrove, there is absolutely no way he could have prepared to face the *checks notes* off-spinner. With his fourth ball of the over, Stoneman struck.

Cosgrove got a thick edge on another short delivery and Foakes showed extraordinary reactions even for his high standards, leaning several feet to his left to claim the catch.

Unfortunately for Surrey, Dunkley and Stoneman, it was not a prelude to drama.

Instead, Arron Lilley arrived to bash a straight six down the ground from his first delivery, then took advantage of a dreadful dropped catch at mid-off to steal two runs and bring up victory for Leicestershire in the most anticlimactic circumstances imaginable.

A quarter-full Oval was certainly not amused.

The Foxes now have a virtual home match to look forward to on Saturday (2pm start) against Glamorgan.

FOXES | Cosgrove, Malan, Lilley, Ackermann (capt), Dearden, Hill (wk), Mike, Klein, Parkinson, Davis, Griffiths. 

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