Foxes see final RLODC game abandoned
Mon 1 Aug 2016
Royal London One-Day Cup Matchday 8: Derbyshire Falcons v Leicestershire Foxes
Derbyshire Falcons and Leicestershire Foxes suffered a disappointing end to the Royal London One-Day Cup, a final day abandonment meaning they exited the competition.
The Foxes squeezed hard in the middle overs but Neil Broom made a Derbyshire one-day best of 90 off 86 balls to ensure his team put a competitive 260-6 on the board from 50 overs after electing to bat first.
Wickets were shared among an economical visiting attack with Ben Raine (10-0-62-3) the leading wicket-taker and Rob Sayer (9-2-35-1) the tightest bowler on show.
County were yet to score off two balls when rain arrived and no further play was possible, meaning both sides had to settle for a point apiece.
That outcome was of no use to either team because of the situation they faced going into the final game of the North Division.
Given the first tie-breaker for qualification was wins recorded, that put Durham (4 wins, 8 points) out of the reach of both Derbyshire and Leicestershire (2 wins, 6 points) along with Yorkshire and Northants, who had 9 points.
The two teams were therefore competing for one spot alongside three teams on 7 points: Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
Notts and Worcestershire were meeting on the final afternoon at Trent Bridge, so the only outcomes in that game that gave Leicestershire a chance of progressing was a washout or a tie.
The Falcons and Foxes also needed a favour from Yorkshire - Warwickshire’s opponents - and if all of that happened, one of the sides would need to win by a margin that would greatly improve the net run rate.
It was a fairly improbable set of circumstances and while the players were off the field, Worcestershire completed ten overs to ensure that there would be a result at Trent Bridge, effectively ending both teams’ interest in the competition. That would be confirmed later in the evening.
The Foxes made three adjustments with Mark Cosgrove, Clint McKay and Dieter Klein returning for Michael Burgess, Ollie Freckingham and James Sykes.
There was a tidy start by McKay and Klein and that led to an early breakthrough. Ben Slater, who scored a career-best 148 not out at Northants yesterday, drove back to McKay having scored just 3 on this occasion.
Godleman latched on to anything with a hint of width, twice driving Klein towards the dressing rooms for boundaries before hitting Sayer and Raine over mid-off for six and four respectively as the score moved to 50 in the 11th over.
Durston’s third boundary, a lofted straight drive off Sayer, recorded the 50-run partnership in 11.2 overs, but the skipper was the next man to depart for 30 in the 19th.
He pulled a short ball from Raine at head height to Cameron Delport at mid-wicket, the fielder parrying the ball up before taking the catch.
A nicely constructed half-century was registered by Godleman from 57 balls (6x4, 1x6) but the boundaries dried up during the second powerplay as Pettini cleverly rotated his impressive spinner and tidy seamers around.
Pressure was building and Sayer beat an expansive drive from Godleman to hit the off stump to leave the Falcons at 117-4 in the 30th over.
Broom and Alex Hughes then developed an important partnership that yielded 74 in 12.5 overs. Progress was initially steady - a boundary from the latter off Raine in the 37th was the first time the ball had crossed the rope for 21.4 overs - before Broom put his foot on the gas.
After being content to knock the ball around in the first 47 balls, Broom struck six fours and two maximums in his next 39 deliveries.
His maiden four arrived after cutting Kevin O’Brien and the New Zealander then struck a further three boundaries in quick succession in progressing to a 59-ball half-century.
Hughes (30) had offered useful support but perished when driving the returning Raine straight to Cosgrove in the covers.
Neesham and Broom then gave it the long handle, recording their 50 partnership in 32 balls including a six apiece with good connections to the on-side.
Broom’s innings came to an end in the final over as Raine beat an attempt to haul one to deep mid-wicket, Neesham remaining unbeaten on 26 off 20 deliveries.
Pettini and Paul Horton opened for the Foxes but only two balls had been bowled when umpires Jeremy Lloyds and Martin Saggers were forced to take the players off the field.
A restart was agreed for 7.20pm, with a revised target of 230 in 38 overs, but the rain returned just as the players got back to the middle. This time it was not to relent, meaning Leicestershire’s white ball cricket ended in the most frustrating of manners.
Bowling figures for Leicestershire: McKay 10-1-53-1, Klein 10-0-52-0, Sayer 9-2-35-1, Raine 10-0-62-3, Delport 1-0-7-0, K O’Brien 10-0-46-1.
