Mitchell stars as Foxes slip to defeat
Fri 29 May 2015
Daryl Mitchell turned in a man-of-the-match performance as Worcestershire Rapids beat Leicestershire Foxes by six wickets in the NatWest T20 Blast at New Road.
The Foxes, unchanged from the side that beat Durham Jets last night, were asked to bat first by Mitchell and found it hard going when pace was taken off the ball on a pitch that had been covered for most of the day.
Although there were a number of contributions including 33 from Grant Elliott, Mitchell returned superb figures of 1-13 from his four overs and spinners Brett D'Oliveira and Sachithra Senanyake also bowled tightly as the Foxes posted 147-6.
Mitchell then made 58 from 47 deliveries as the Rapids paced their chase well. The Foxes battled all the way on only their third NatWest T20 Blast appearance at the venue but ultimately lost with 14 balls to spare after a late flurry of boundaries.
Play was able to start on time despite a lot of rain throughout the day and captain Mark Cosgrove (27 from 24 balls) cracked a couple of fours through the off-side in the first over.
He then lost opening partner Ned Eckersley (2) at the start of the third over as the batsman, who generally scores well against Worcestershire, picked out Tom Kohler-Cadmore at mid-wicket off Jack Shantry.
The in-form Kevin O’Brien pulled a four and six as eleven came off the next over before an eventful fifth over from Ed Barnard. The skipper was put down at deep mid-wicket by Colin Munro and picked up two in the process, and then collected 11 off the next three balls. There was also four leg byes before Kevin O’Brien (12 from 9) was trapped leg before.
Ben Raine was promoted to bat at four and he clouted a six and four in the final powerplay over to help take the score to 56-2.
Mitchell introduced spin from both ends as soon as the restrictions were lifted, and that move served the Rapids well. Raine (11 from 5) went to D’Oliveira’s first ball, picking out Ross Whiteley in the deep, and Cosgrove drilled Senanayake to D’Oliveira (4-0-28-1) at cover.
A rebuild occurred through Elliott and Niall O’Brien, who put on exactly 50 in 7.5 overs. The ‘keeper pulled Senanayake (3-0-18-1) to the mid-wicket boundary as the score moved to 73-4 at the halfway mark and Elliott hit the leg-spinner for a trio of fours before his spell came to an end.
O’Brien (26 off 25) pulled Senanayake for four after he switched to the New Road End but the left-hander departed to the delivery after the 50 stand was registered. Mitchell, whose medium paced cutters proved extremely tricky to get away, had him caught by Rich Oliver just inside the mid-wicket boundary.
Mitchell put down a caught and bowled chance at the end of the over when Elliott was on 28 but he went after adding five more when edging Barnard to Senanayake at short third man. Once Mitchell had finished, Wells’ hard-hit innings of 26 not out off 14 balls -which included a four and two maximums - ensured the Foxes ended with momentum.
Oliver struck a couple of fours in moving to 13 before he hit Taylor to Wells at mid-off and the youngster took another catch, a beauty running backwards at mid-on, as Raine dismiss Kohler-Cadmore (4) in the 5th.
The last over of the powerplay was fruitful as Munro smashed his first ball for six and Mitchell struck a brace of fours. There were 16 runs gathered as the Rapids moved to 50-2 by the end of the over but the dangerous Munro was snared in the 8th, Jigar Naik having him expertly stumped by Niall O’Brien.
Leicestershire put the squeeze on but the game turned as the Rapids, who did not score a boundary for 45 balls, then hit five fours in the space of seven deliveries.
Mitchell got the ball rolling with a pull off Naik (4-0-29-1) and Ben Cox also found the fence at the end of the 14th over. Two late cuts by Mitchell raced away, the first of which brought up a 43-ball fifty, and Cox (30 not out) paddled the third four of the 15th over down to fine leg.
The Foxes needed a wicket and it came as Taylor put paid to the 54-run alliance, Niall O’Brien taking a fine catch standing up to see off Mitchell (58). But a Cox four at the end of the over kept the Rapids in control, taking the target down to 26 off 24 balls. Whiteley (26 not out) then hit three sixes and a four in the closing stages as the Rapids recorded their first win of the tournament.
Leicestershire Foxes next NatWest T20 Blast game is against Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Trent Bridge next Friday evening (5.30pm start), while an LV=CC trip to Essex awaits on Sunday (11am).
Bowling figures: Pinner 1-0-6-0, Raine 2.4-0-26-1, Taylor 3-0-32-2, McKay 3-0-23-0, K O'Brien 2-0-9-0, Naik 4-0-29-1, Elliott 2-0-20-0.
