Inglis ton leads Foxes to first Blast victory

BLAST 6 | Northamptonshire Steelbacks 166 for seven v Leicestershire Foxes 200 for two “ Foxes won by 34 runs

SCORECARD | Available from Cricinfo HERE

POINTS | Northamptonshire Steelbacks 0, Leicestershire Foxes 2

REPORT | Josh Inglis posted his maiden century in T20 cricket after carrying his bat on 103no as the Running Foxes set the Steelbacks a chase of 201.

The bowlers responded by claiming seven Steelbacks’ wickets as the Running Foxes break their duck in the 2021 Vitality Blast.

Inglis began the fixture leading from the front, claiming the first boundary of the afternoon for Mohammad Nabi’s final ball of the first over.

The Australian continued the boundary push into the second over claiming another four and the first maximum of the afternoon off the bowling of Sanderson. Two threes were also posted “ one from each batsman “ as the wet outfield held the ball up on what, on a normal day, would have been two fours.

The first Foxes wicket fell in the third over, as Steel (12, 8b) did not get hold of Taylor’s delivery and sliced it straight to Nabi at mid-on who took the grab.

The fifty came up for the Foxes from the first ball of the final ball of the powerplay, as Lilley thick-edged Parnell’s delivery down to third man for his first boundary of the day.

The Running Foxes’ powerplay came to an end on 60 for one with Lilley posting his first two boundaries of the afternoon.

Lilley then struck back-to-back maximums off White in his first over, with the second ending up in the back garden of one of the nearby residents on Clarke Road.

The halfway mark of the Foxes innings came up with two solid overs for the Steelbacks, with Nabi restricting Inglis and Lilley to five, followed by Taylor’s tight over of six.

After 10 overs, the Running Foxes sat on 93 for one.

The second wicket fell in the next over as Lilley looked to send White for the second maximum of the over, over long on. Taylor ran in from the boundary to take the catch of Lilley for a 29-ball 44.

Inglis brought up his second half-century of the campaign as he sent White for a straight six back towards the pavilion, with his fifty coming in 33 balls, including four fours and three sixes.

The overseas man showed no signs of slowing down as he soon surpassed his career-best of 82 set at Emerald Headingley last week.

In the eighteenth over, Inglis joined Lilley in leaving a parting-gift for a resident on Clarke Road as he sent Taylor’s delivery into one of the gardens backing onto the County Ground.

The final over of the innings saw Inglis bring up his maiden century in T20 cricket as he ramped Sanderson down to fine leg for his thirteenth four of the afternoon. The century came from 59 balls and included 13 fours and four sixes.

Captain Ackermann also finished not out on 31 from 22 balls, as the Foxes set Steelbacks 201 for the win.

The Foxes got off to a good start with the ball, as Parkinson and Ackermann held them to a combined total of nine from the first two overs.

Parkinson then came back on and claimed the first wicket of the innings, as Rossington (6, 5b) sliced his drive and was caught by Patel at backward point.

Naveen claimed the second wicket, as he delivered a snorter of a yorker that landed on Vasconcelos’ toes and saw the South African dismissed for a 7-ball 10.

The powerplay for the hosts then came to a close, following Griffiths’ first over of the afternoon. The Leicestershire man went for just five as Steelbacks recorded 42 runs for two wickets in their first six overs.

The Foxes kept up the pressure and earned their rewards with the big wicket of Levi in the eighth over.

Ackermann claimed the scalp as he flighted a delivery into the batsman who played over the top of it and saw the ball crash into the batsman’s middle peg for a 27 ball 30.

Two wickets fell in the next over as the Steelbacks’ innings reached the halfway mark.

Griffiths was the man to claim the scalps of Parnell (15, 12b) as the batsman sent one straight to the hands of Lewis Hill on the long off rope. Two balls later and Griffiths also saw off Zaib (0, 1b) as he found the edge which Inglis comfortably caught behind.

Steelbacks were 69 for five after 10 overs.

Ackermann then brought his four to an end with the twelfth over of the innings, finishing with figures of 4-0-32-1.

The hosts sat on 118 for six as we headed into the final five overs, with Parkinson claiming the big wicket of Nabi. The former-Fox was pinned infront for 32 (26b) as Parkinson wrapped up his four overs with figures of 4-0-19-2.

Naveen claimed his second wicket of the innings with his final delivery of the fixture, as Taylor (11, 14b) guided on straight to Ackermann at mid-on who took the comfortable catch.

Although the hosts ended their innings with a flurry of expensive overs, the Running Foxes still cantered to a comfortable 34-run victory, claiming their first of the Vitality Blast campaign.

FIGURES | Nabi 4-0-26-0, Sanderson 3-0-38-0, Parnell 4-0-29-0, Taylor 4-0-44-1, Buck 2-0-20-0, White 3-0-36-1

Parkinson 4-0-19-2, Ackermann 4-0-32-1, Naveen 4-0-43-2, Griffiths 4-0-23-2, Steel 1.2-0-11-0, Mike 2.4-0-34-0

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

STEELBACKS | Levi, Rossington (C, wk), Vasconcelos, Parnell, Nabi, Zaib, Keogh, Taylor, White, Buck, Sanderson

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