Northamptonshire Steelbacks Match Preview - 29/6/21

Leicestershire Foxes head into the latest tie of the 2021 Vitality Blast campaign as they welcome Northamptonshire Steelbacks to the Uptonsteel County Ground.

The Running Foxes go into the tie on the back of a defeat against Worcestershire Rapids, which ended their three-game winning streak.

Lewis Hill posted his maiden 2021 T20 half-century, as well as his career-best T20 score of 59 from 33 balls as he finished with a flourish to help the Foxes post a competitive score after a difficult batting innings at New Road.

The Steelbacks head into the tie, also on the back of a defeat, after plummeting to an 82-run defeat at the hands of Yorkshire Vikings, with Keogh top-scoring for them with a 28-ball 36.

Both teams occupy the bottom two places of the North Group and will be looking for victory to have any chance of qualifying for the Quarter Finals.

Last Time We Met

The two teams last met on June 20 this year in Northampton, with the Running Foxes defeating their rivals by 34 runs in a comfortable victory.

Josh Inglis’ stunning maiden T20 century (103, 62b) helped us post 200-2 from our 20 overs, with Arron Lilley (44, 29b) and Colin Ackermann (31, 22b) also contributing to our strong start. 

Our hosts lost regular wickets and were never realistically in the hunt for the victory after they were reduced to 69-5 in their reply. Our spinners impressed, with Callum Parkinson and Colin Ackermann combining for 51-3 from their eight overs, while there were two wickets apiece for Naveen (2-43) and Gavin Griffiths (2-23).

Head to Head

Callum Parkinson v Mohammad Nabi

Both spinners have impressed from an economy perspective this tournament, with Callum’s 36 overs costing 7.33 on average so far in the competition. Steelbacks’ Nabi - a former Fox himself - has bowled 20 overs costing just 6.20 runs per over on average, which shows how tight his bowling has been so far this season.

Nabi has taken just three wickets in those 20 overs, while Parkinson has managed 12 wickets in his 36 overs and is taking wickets every 18 balls, and this season is his fifth consecutive season where he has taken at least 10 wickets in the T20 Blast. However, Nabi has taken 72 wickets in T20 internationals for Afghanistan, at 22.47 balls per wicket, so our batters must be aware of the threat that he poses with his right-arm off-spin.

Leicestershire Foxes Squad

Paul Nixon sticks with the same squad as he has done for the entirety of the 2021 Vitality Blast season so far, as the Running Foxes look to bounce back at home.

Leicestershire Foxes from 14: Colin Ackermann (C), Ed Barnes, Will Davis, Gavin Griffiths, Lewis Hill, Josh Inglis (wk), Louis Kimber, Arron Lilley, Ben Mike, Naveen, Rishi Patel, Callum Parkinson, Scott Steel, Harry Swindells (wk)

Match Sponsor

Thanks to Begbies Traynor for sponsoring the 2021 Vitality Blast fixture against Northamptonshire Steelbacks.