Inglis hits ton to secure third successive win

 BLAST 14 | Leicestershire Foxes 171 for three v Worcestershire Rapids 169 for six “ Foxes win by seven wickets

SCORECARD | Available from Cricinfo HERE

POINTS | Leicestershire Foxes 2, Worcestershire Rapids 0

REPORT | Callum Parkinson became Leicestershire County Cricket Club’s leading wicket taker in T20 cricket as Josh Inglis' second 2021 Vitality Blast ton spearheads the Running Foxes to a successful 170-run chase.

The news from the middle of the Uptonsteel County Ground was the visitors won the toss and opted to bat on a sun-soaked Sunday evening in Leicestershire.

Callum Parkinson opened the bowling from the Pavilion End with Haynes and D’Oliveira opening the batting for the Rapids, who were in search of a vital victory to take them through to the 2021 Vitality Blast quarter-final stage.

An early wicket fell for the Running Foxes as Haynes (7) lofted a Naveen delivery high into the sky to mid on where Ben Mike was on hand to pouch.

The first wicket of the evening confirmed that Naveen had claimed wickets in every 2021 Vitality Blast group stage game, as he goes to 25 for the season.

Libby joined D’Oliveira in the middle with Rapids on nine for one after 1.4.

Gavin Griffiths came in for his first over of the evening and claimed the big wicket of D’Oliveira for 20 as Louis Kimber was under the batsman's leg side flick on the boundary. Rapids were 36 for two after 4.4 as Mitchell joined Libby in the middle.

Worcestershire’s powerplay then came to a close with an over of seven from Naveen, with the visitors two wickets down with 49 runs on the board.

Parkinson came back in for his third over of the evening and claimed the record-breaking wicket which left him top of the wicket taker’s list in T20 cricket for Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

Arron Lilley helped his teammate after catching Mitchell at long off for 14, with Rapids now on 67 for three with captain Cox making his way to the middle.

Lilley then came back in to claim his first wicket of the evening, after a superb piece of bowling as he fired one into Libby (35) who was charging down the track and left Josh Inglis a simple stumping.

The Rapids’ fifth wicket fell soon after, but at some cost for the Running Foxes, as an impressive piece of improvisation from Ackermann saw the Foxes’ skipper deflect Whiteley’s straight drive onto Cox’s stumps to run out his opposite number for 12.

Leicestershire’s captain, though, immediately sprinted off the field of play and looked in some discomfort. We wish the skipper well in his recovery and hope it is not too serious as it first seemed.

Scott Steel replaced his skipper, but will not be allowed to bat or bowl throughout the remainder of the innings.

The fifteenth over saw Worcestershire record their first maximum of the evening as Whiteley drove Parkinson into the Bennett End, as the Rapids record double figures in an over for just the second time in the innings.

The visitors highest scoring over came from their nineteenth, as a 7-ball over from Griffiths conceded sixteen runs from it, with Barnard recording multiple boundaries.

The Rapids’ innings came to a close on 169 for six, as Naveen claimed his second wicket of the innings from 19.5.

Whiteley looked to pull the Foxes man away for six, but some impressive fielding from Mike saw the ball plucked out of the air on the rope before smashing into the manual scoreboard.

Mike’s catch saw Whitelely off for 31 as Ben Dwarshuis (0, 0b) brought the innings to a close alongside Barnard (43no, 24b) with the Running Foxes requiring 170 for the win.

Josh Inglis and Rishi Patel got off to a quick start from the first over, as Patel perfectly guided Dwarshuis’ delivery down to third man for the first four of the evening for the Foxes, which was quickly followed up by Inglis’ first four.

Patel found himself heading back to the pavilion in the next over as Dwarshuis caught the leg side flick at backward square leg for 7(7b), off the bowling of Pennington who went on to record a wicket maiden from the second over of the powerplay.

Lilley then accounted for the lost runs in the second over, in the third, after recording four successive fours off the bowling of Morris with 17 coming from the third.

Inglis (14no) then rode his luck slightly in the fourth over, as he was dropped by Mitchell at extra cover off the bowling of Dwarshuis.

The very next ball saw Inglis send his fellow Australian over mid on for the first Foxes’ maximum of the evening.

County lost Lilley (18, 11b) in the final over of the powerplay after sending Pennington high into the sky and into the hands of Sodhi at mid off.

The Foxes powerplay came to an end on 49 for two, with Inglis and Hill in the middle.

Hill’s stint in the middle only lasted nine minutes before after chipping one in the air which Mitchell caught superbly, one-handed diving to his right to record a caught and bowled against the Foxes man. Hill departed for 2 (5b) as Swindells joined Inglis in the middle.

Inglis continued his impressive form as he was spearheading the Running Foxes’ response with boundaries from the overs of Mitchell and Sodhi as County reached the halfway point of their innings on 79 for three.

The Foxes opener soon went on to record his second half-century for Leicestershire, with back-to-back maximums pulled way off the bowling of Pennington. The fifty came up in 33 balls and included five fours and three sixes.

Inglis’ fifth maximum, off D’Oliveira, saw the fourth wicket partnership record their fiftieth run after 32 balls together in the middle.

The Australian then recorded the 87 runs required to reach the 500 T20 run mark for the Running Foxes with a combination of 4-6-4 off the bowling of Barnard.

The next over saw Inglis record his second century of the season for the Running Foxes, coming as he ramped D’Oliveira away for his eighth four. The ton came in 55 balls and included eight fours and seven sixes.

The fourth wicket’s 100 came up four balls later, coming in 56 balls as Swindells recorded his first boundary of the innings after ramping Dwarshius down to fine leg.

Heading into the eighteenth over, the foxes required seven runs to win. The victory was confirmed by the man of the moment, as Inglis hit his tenth four of the evening off Morris to lead the foxes to a seven wicket victory and back-to-back T20 wins.

Inglis' tenth four of the innings brought an emphatic run chase to a close on 17.5 with the Australian ending with a new career best T20 score of 118no (61b), accompanied by Swindells (22no, 23b) with the Foxes ending on 171 for three.

FIGURES | Parkinson 4-0-33-1, Naveen 4-0-32-2, Ackermann 2.5-0-22-0, Griffiths 4-0-45-1, Lilley 4-0-23-1, Mike 1.1-0-10-0

Dwarshuis 3-0-39-0, Pennington 4-1-29-2, Morris 1.5-0-24-0, Sodhi 4-0-24-0, Mitchell 1-0-8-1, D'Oliveira 3-0-30-0, Barnard 1-0-17-0

FOXES | Ackermann (C), Griffiths, Hill, Inglis (wk), Kimber, Lilley, Mike, Naveen, Patel, Parkinson, Swindells

RAPIDS | Haynes, D’Oliveira, Libby, Mitchell, Cox (C, wk), Whiteley, Barnard, Dwarshuis, Sodhi, Pennington, Morris

IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallet of Outside Off for supplying images throughout the game.

MATCH SPONSOR | We would like to thank MEC for sponsoring our Vitality Blast fixture against Worcestershire Rapids.