Levi powers Steelbacks to vital win

Richard Levi was in devastating form as Leicestershire Foxes suffered a costly nine-wicket NatWest T20 Blast defeat at Northants Steelbacks.

In a game that was reduced to 10 overs per side because of rain, Grant Elliott and Ben Raine led the way as the Foxes put 111-4 on the board.

The New Zealand international hit 56 off 29 balls and Raine made a career-best 32 not out off 19 in a fourth wicket stand of 72 off 39 balls.

It looked to be a good score but Levi had other ideas as he shared an opening partnership of 50 with former Leicestershire all-rounder Josh Cobb and an unbroken 65 for the second wicket with Ben Duckett.

Opener Levi smashed nine fours and two sixes in a score of 67 not out off just 28 balls as the Steelbacks got home with nine balls to spare in a match the Foxes realistically needed to win to have a chance of making the knockout stages.

The Foxes still have a mathematical chance to qualify but it will take a lot of things to go their way over the next couple of weeks.

Leicestershire can now record a maximum of twelve points and the top three, including the Steelbacks, are out of reach. Fourth placed Lancashire Lightning already have twelve points - and a superior run rate - with three games to play.

A deluge and a further heavy shower prevented the game from starting until 4.50pm and all credit must go to the Northants groundstaff for ensuring that Wantage Road was fit for play at that time.

The toss took place at 3.15pm with a view to starting a 19-over game at 3.45pm but rain arrived almost immediately after Alex Wakely asked the Foxes to bat first.

By the time the rain had relented and a second mopping up operation was well underway, umpires Steve OÔÇÖShaughnessy and Alex Wharf declared that the match would now be ten overs per side.

Leicestershire handed debuts to Zak Chappell and Lewis Hill, and Ollie Freckingham also returned to the side in place of Andrea Agathangelou, Atif Sheikh and Rob Sayer.

The Foxes lost a couple of wickets before the score was into double figures as Aadil Ali (4, 3b) played a Rory Kleinveldt delivery on to leg stump and Ned Eckersley (5, 4b) lofted Olly Stone high to Josh Cobb at mid-off.

Leicestershire were 13-1 after two overs before Elliott got the scoreboard moving. He smoked a four and six to deep mid-wicket ÔÇô the maximum being a sweet strike that just avoided the pick ÔÇÿn mix stall ÔÇô while Cosgrove carved a boundary over backward point as 17 came off the final over of the shortened powerplay.

The captain then lofted Graeme White to the boundary between two fielders at deep mid-wicket and long-on but perished to the next ball as Wakely, fielding on the edge of the circle at mid-wicket, took the catch.

Raine took no time to settle as he smashed the slow left armer for a massive six over deep mid-wicket first up, the Foxes moving to 44-3 after four overs.

The team then picked up 45 from the next three overs with some impressive hitting. An improvised paddle by Elliott off Steven Crook flew for four before a powerful pick-up went for a maximum behind square on the leg-side.

Raine was fortunate to see an inside edge off Cobb go for four at the start of the sixth over but there was nothing fluky as the left-hander then hit a huge six into the old bowling club.  

Elliott greeted StoneÔÇÖs reintroduction by getting down on one knee to sweep a big maximum and he replicated that stroke later in the over to pick up a four that took the alliance to 50 off just 20 balls.

The next two overs went for six apiece as Crook and Kleinveldt did a good job for their side. Elliott recorded a 26-ball 50 (3x4, 3x6) in the last over and also smashed a wonderful stroke over mid-off for another boundary.

The Kiwi international was then run out off the last delivery as he drove back to Mohammad Azharullah, who whipped the bails off.

ChappellÔÇÖs first over for the Foxes was an impressive one that yielded just five but 42 came off the next twelve balls as Levi flicked three fours and a six behind square on the leg side in the second and Cobb (22, 10b) struck five fours in the third.

The 50 partnership came up from the second ball of the fourth over but Cobb then drove Tom Wells (2-0-17-1) to Ali at long-on.

That wicket was timely but the Foxes were still not able to build any pressure. Levi hit another quartet of leg-side fours and a maximum over mid-wicket in recording an astonishing 19-ball 50 that took the Steelbacks to 75-1 at halfway.

Duckett pulled, cut and scooped boundaries as the 100 came up after 7.5 overs, and the left-hander then struck the next delivery through backward point for four.

It left seven runs to get and Levi finished the job in the next three balls, glancing a two before driving a four through backward point and clipping another four down to fine leg.

The final group game for Leicestershire Foxes is another Midlands derby against Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Grace Road on Friday, July 24 (5.30pm start).