Foxes suffer cruel defeat
Fri 31 Jul 2015
Young batsmen Aadil Ali, Michael Burgess and Rob Taylor batted brilliantly but Leicestershire Foxes were edged out of a high-scoring thriller in the Royal London One Day Cup against Gloucestershire.
A total of 629 runs were scored in a brilliant advert for the 50-over game but sadly the Foxes were one short of Gloucestershire’s 315-9 when they are dismissed off the last ball at Grace Road.
Clint McKay led the way in returning figures of 10-0-31-2 but Gareth Roderick scored his maiden one-day century as the visitors set a stiff target.
The Foxes were struggling on 128-5 before Ali and Burgess came together. Ali made a brilliant 84 off 86 balls and Burgess scored 49 off 44 deliveries as part of a dazzling sixth-wicket stand of 96 in 13.3 overs.
Leicestershire still required 46 off 28 balls when their ninth wicket fell but Rob Taylor smashed 42 not out off 23 balls and McKay (18 off 16) offered terrific support.
The target came down to nine off the last over and three off the final ball but Michael Klinger dived to stop the ball at cover and then kept his cool to run out McKay as he looked for a second to condemn the Foxes to the cruellest of defeats.
Leicestershire made one change to the side that lost to Northants as Taylor came in for Charlie Shreck. Mark Cosgrove won the toss and asked an unchanged Gloucestershire side to bat first.
There was hardly a cloud in the sky when the visitors got underway and Gloucestershire openers Chris Dent and Klinger progressed the score to 30-0 after seven overs.
An inspired change by Cosgrove did the trick as off-spinner Rob Sayer took a wicket with his very first delivery by getting one through the defences of Dent (23, 27b).
Roderick then came in and shared 105 and 124 for the second and third wickets with Klinger (50, 73b) and Geraint Jones (87, 64b) respectively.
The ‘keeper played well in moving to 50 from 56 balls (6x4) in the 24th over while Klinger registered his own half-century with a maximum off the third ball of the 28th over (72 balls, 4x4, 1x6).
The skipper fell two deliveries after reaching his half-century as Tom Wells exacted revenge by having the batsman caught down the leg side by Niall O’Brien.
Leicestershire would have hoped the wicket would stall progress but another stand of substance developed between Roderick and Jones.
While the former England ‘keeper raced to 50 from 41 balls (5x4, 1x6), Roderick made steady progress, hitting three fours and taking 58 deliveries to move from 50 to 100.
Roderick (104, 118b) was then bowled by Wells as he looked to play a lap sweep but Jones and Benny Howell took the score to 300 with 13 balls of the innings remaining.
The duo added 42 in 25 balls before Jones, who struck ten fours and two sixes in his fine innings, holed out to Robson at long-on from the bowling of McKay. The Australian seamer then held a high return catch to dismiss Jack Taylor (0, 2b) to cap another good day with the ball.
There was also a wicket off the penultimate ball as Kieran Noema-Barnett (3, 3b) clouted Raine to Wells at long-on but Howell (28* off 17 balls) smoked the last ball for six to set Leicestershire 316 to win.
Robson and Cosgrove got the innings off to a good start with three fours apiece in the first eight overs but the Foxes then slipped to 68-3.
The skipper was caught by Taylor at cover off Miles having scored 17, Robson was caught and bowled by Smith for 27, and Ned Eckersley (13) was held by Dent at extra off Howell.
Ali played well in partnerships of 32 and 28 with O’Brien (14, 17b) and Wells (18, 17b) but the Ireland international and the all-rounder were bowled by the impressive Smith (8-0-45-3) as the Foxes struggled to 128-5 in the 28th over.
Ali continued to impress with nice straight hits for six and four, and Burgess also settled quickly as a much-needed alliance developed.
A single at the start of the 37th over took Ali to 50 from 62 balls (2x4, 1x6) and, all told, 13 came off left arm seamer David Payne. Burgess then recorded his fourth boundary, a crunching drive through mid-off, to take the stand beyond 50 while Ali also struck a beautiful four down the ground before the over was out.
Burgess hit another couple of balls to the fence as the Foxes went past 200 but the youngster was cruelly denied his first Foxes 50, being run out by Taylor as he looked for the two that would have taken him to the milestone.
Sixes from Ali and Raine in the 42nd over helped move the Foxes to 239-6 and a clean strike down the ground at the start of the next over brought Ali a four that took him into the eighties. Raine then perished as he struck Howell to Klinger at deep mid-wicket.
The Foxes required 70 off the final seven overs but the team suffered a big blow in the next over when Ali was caught off an inside edge by Roderick off Payne.
Taylor hit a four and also clattered a no-ball for six as 16 were gathered off the 45th over but he lost Sayer in the next over, caught by Fuller at long-off off Payne. McKay was a terrific man to have coming in at eleven and he and Taylor kept believing.
Another maximum followed from Taylor as 15 came off that 46th over, the Foxes now requiring 32 off 24 balls. Twelve were scored off the next two overs and another six from Taylor helped reduce the target to nine off the last over.
The duo scored six off the first five balls so McKay needed to score three off the last delivery. He hit Payne cleanly enough but Klinger took the pace off the ball and then orchestrated a run out to ensure his side claimed the two points.
Leicestershire now have back-to-back away games in the competition on Monday and Tuesday at Yorkshire and Derbyshire respectively before returning to Grace Road to tackle holders Durham on Thursday (10.30am start).
Foxes bowling figures: McKay 10-0-31-2, Raine 10-0-81-1, Sayer 10-0-68-1, Taylor 9-0-53-0, Wells 5-0-45-2, Cosgrove 4-0-14-0, Ali 2-0-13-0.
* Thanks to Ed Melia for the superb photo of Aadil.
