McDonald full of praise for Foxes
Sat 6 Jun 2015
Leicestershire Foxes Head Coach Andrew McDonald was delighted with the calmness shown by his side during the excellent NatWest T20 Blast victory at Nottinghamshire Outlaws last night.
England opener Alex Hales got the Outlaws off to a good start but McDonald was pleased with the way the bowlers stuck to their task in front of a big crowd at Trent Bridge.
Clint McKay excelled with a career-best 4-24 while Ben Raine (4-0-27-0) also bowled well at both ends of the innings after Jigar Naik (4-0-23-1) had applied the brakes in the middle period.
Atif Sheikh (4-0-30-1) had bowled a hostile spell up front to set the tone and all in all, it was a fine effort against a batting line-up full of international players.
McDonald then praised Umar Akmal, who hit a stunning 49-ball 76 not out, and Matthew Boyce (21 not out) for the way they applied themselves during the matchwinning unbroken partnership of 99.
“We pulled it back nicely,” said McDonald. “At one stage it looked as if Notts’ score might have got a bit out of hand and they might have got up to 160 or 170. That would have been a difficult chase but we were able to keep them below 150, which was our plan.
“We read the wicket quite well and we didn’t panic in the run chase. It could have easy to sit down and say we’re four down early but we had some specific plans for the middle there and Boycey (Matthew Boyce, who scored 21 not out) played a pivotal role in that.
“Umar was sensational, some of those sixes were so cleanly hit, we know he can do that because he’s an international player but Boycey’s role was equally important.”
* Umar Akmal will be in action at Grace Road in the NatWest T20 Blast next Friday against Northamptonshire Steelbacks. His Pakistan international team-mate Shahid Afridi is expected to be in action for the Steelbacks so it promises to be a wonderful night of action.
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