No result at Grace Road
Fri 12 Jun 2015
Bad light forced the umpires to call off a shortened NatWest T20 Blast match before a positive result was possible, so Leicestershire Foxes and Northants Steelbacks took a point apiece at Grace Road.
Foxes skipper Mark Cosgrove won a delayed toss but only seven balls were possible when the game started at 5.40pm before heavy rain arrived.
Umpires Jeff Evans and Nick Cook inspected at 7pm and when play resumed 20 minutes later, in drizzle and increasing gloom, the match had been reduced to 11 overs a side.
Richard Levi (17) and Josh Cobb (13) put together a partnership of 31 for the Steelbacks before Foxes left-arm fast bowler Atif Sheikh (3-0-13-2) dismissed both with successive balls.
The openers hit towards deep mid-wicket where Tom Wells took two excellent catches, running across an outfield that had taken a lot of water and sliding to hold the ball on the full.
Alex Wakely (12) was bowled by Jigar Naik but Ben Duckett picked up the pace for the Steelbacks, hitting two straight sixes in going to 39 off 23 balls.
Clint McKay produced a career-best performance in the win at Nottinghamshire Outlaws last Friday and he followed that up with a last over maiden tonight, which is amazing in any circumstances, let alone a reduced game.
The overseas seamer bowled a series of slower balls of varying lengths, the dangerous Shahid Afridi (11 not out of 8 balls) and Duckett only managed to scramble a solitary bye as the Steelbacks ended on 98-3 from 11 overs.
The Foxes were set 101 to win after D-L calculations and with the light worsening rapidly, the team lost a wicket to the first ball of their innings as Ned Eckersley edged a Rory Kleinveldt delivery to Wakely at first slip.
Kevin O’Brien (12) was bowled by Mohammad Azharullah to leave the score on 25-2 after just 3.1 overs and the umpires decided that the light was too bad to continue. Cosgrove was 9 not out and Niall O’Brien hadn’t faced a ball at that stage.
Bowling figures for Leicestershire: Sheikh 3-0-13-2, Raine 2-0-19-0, McKay 2-1-9-0, Wells 2-0-28-0, K O’Brien 1-0-12-0, Naik 1-0-15-1.
