Magnificent Nabi keeps qualification hopes alive
Fri 3 Aug 2018
RESULT | Vitality Blast game 10: Leicestershire Foxes 194 for 5 beat Lancashire Lightning 190 for 5 by 5 wickets
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo
REACTION | Debutant Harry Swindells spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Ian Stringer after the game
HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season
POINTS | Lancashire Lightning 0, Leicestershire Foxes 2
REPORT | Mohammad Nabi played a sensational innings as Leicestershire Foxes kept their Vitality Blast qualification hopes alive with a superb win at Emirates Old Trafford.
Ben Raine (44, 30b) and Colin Ackermann (45, 25b) shared 77 in 8.2 overs to keep the Foxes on track to chase their target of 191, but Lancashire Lightning leg-spinner Matthew Parkinson dismissed both batsmen in successive deliveries to leave the score at 92 for five in the 11th over.
Nabi dominated from this point, smashing a 22-ball half-century - the joint fourth-fastest in the Foxes' history - and ending on a magnificent unbeaten 86 from 32 balls that included eight towering maximums.
He shared an unbroken 102 in just 7.5 overs with Ateeq Javid, who finished on 15* from as many deliveries, which will enter the competition record books as Leicestershire CCC's highest sixth wicket stand.
Earlier in the evening, Alex Davies batted through the innings for an excellent unbeaten 94 (56b, 11x4, 2x6). Taking pace off proved effective for the Foxes, as Ackermann took one for 23 off three overs, while Nabi (4-0-31-0) and Callum Parkinson (4-0-36-0) deserved greater reward.
There was two changes to the Foxes side as Harry Swindells and Gavin Griffiths came in. Swindells was making his competition debut for the Foxes, and the hosts also handed bows to Josh Bohannon and Mark Watt.
Lightning won the toss and elected to bat first on a surface that had seen a competitive Kia Super League game between Lancashire Thunder and Western Storm earlier in the afternoon.
The hosts scored 77 for two off the powerplay, led by openers Karl Brown and Davies, who got the hosts off to a flyer by sharing 50 in 3.3 overs.
There was an eventful fourth over from Zak Chappell with 17 runs scored and a brace of wickets taken. Brown (29, 15b) struck the first three balls to the fence before punching a short ball to Swindells at cover point, while Arron Lilley (4, 2b) lost his off stump to the paceman.
Davies flicked a four before clubbing a maximum in the fifth, taking the score to 71 for two after five before Chappell, Parkinson, Nabi and Ackermann clawed things back superbly.
Opener Davies reached 50 (28b, 6x4, 2x6) from the second ball of the 11th over but the Foxes kept plugging away.
Captain Ackermann continued his tidy spell from the James Anderson End, having Bohannon (23, 22b) held at short mid-wicket by Javid to end the 58-run alliance, while a sharp piece of work by Nabi off his own bowling accounted for the run out of home skipper Dane Vilas (4,4b). Neil Dexter (2-0-13-0) also made a valuable contribution.
After a flying start, Lightning had been restricted to 65 runs in the next ten overs, but Davies and Steven Croft (26, 18b) got the scoreboard moving as 54 came from the last five.
The chase got off to a tough start as Croft and Davies combined to positive effect again, the in-form Dexter (0, 2b) sweeping the off-spinner to deep mid-wicket, before Croft took a blinder at backward point to dismiss Mark Cosgrove (2, 4b) off Toby Lester.
Slow left armer Watt then took a wicket with his second ball in county cricket as Chappell (1, 3b) was held at mid-on, leaving the Foxes at 15 for three in the third over.
Raine looked strong in the region between mid-wicket and mid-on, hitting two fours and a six in the powerplay, while Ackermann also found the ropes on a couple of occasions as the score moved to 40 for three after six.
Spin was exclusive between overs seven to 14 as Watt, Matthew Parkinson and Lilley bowled in different combinations, and Raine continued to pepper the mid-wicket area as the partnership reached 50 in 34 balls.
Ackermann then launched a straight maximum before two well-placed sweeps also raced away for four in the ninth over.
But Ackermann fell in the 11th when lofting Matthew Parkinson to Brown in the covers, and the same combination accounted for Raine next ball, the catch taken at mid-wicket on this occasion.
It paired newcomers Javid and Nabi at the wicket with the asking rate above tens, and after the duo wisely used a few balls to get themselves in, the Afghanistan star opened his boundary account with a sweep off Matthew Parkinson.
Nabi smashed two sixes and brace of fours as 23 came from a match-turning 14th over, and the batsman hit a crucial maximum at the end of the 16th to leave a target of 45 off 24 balls.
His fourth shot that cleared the ropes - again by some distance - recorded 50 off just 22 balls (3x4, 4x6), and Nabi went on to double his sixes tally in an astonishing assault on the bowling.
Javid swept the winning four as the Foxes won for a tenth time in 12 away group games with eight balls to spare to pick up a crucial two points ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Durham Jets.
TEAM | Dexter, Cosgrove, Raine, Ackermann (capt), Nabi, Javid, Eckersley (wk), Swindells, Chappell, Parkinson, Griffiths,
FIGURES | Nabi 4-0-31-0, Raine 3-0-40-0, Griffiths 2-0-21-0, Chappell 2-0-25-2, Parkinson 4-0-36-0, Ackermann 3-0-23-1, Dexter 2-0-13-0
PHOTO | Thanks to Chris Roe for the photo of Mohammad Nabi batting
* Our next Vitality Blast home game is against Worcestershire Rapids on Friday, August 10! The best value tickets are available in advance – adult tickets cost just £16 ahead of the game. Secure your seat at the Fischer County Ground today HERE
