Raine secures vital point for Foxes
Fri 26 Jun 2015
Ben Raine was Leicestershire’s hero as a brilliant final over secured a tie against Yorkshire Vikings following a low-scoring NatWest T20 Blast thriller at Grace Road.
The Vikings, led by impressive young seamer Matthew Fisher (4-0-22-1), kept the Foxes to 142-7 despite a bright 40 off 26 balls from Andrea Agathangelou.
Jack Leaning’s superb 48 not out from 30 got Yorkshire into a position where five runs off the final over would have landed them two points.
Raine had other ideas, and after the Vikings pulled level with a ball to go, the on-song trapped England international Adil Rashid leg before to finish with 3-23 and secure a vital point for the Foxes.
It was due reward for a fine performance with the ball and in the field, Ollie Freckingham also excelling with 2-21 as the Vikings ended on 142-8 in front of a sizeable crowd.
“It feels like a win, to be honest, because we felt we were ten to 20 runs short of a competitive total,†said Raine. “But we fought to save every run and took some brilliant catches, and it just goes to show you should never, ever give up.â€
The Foxes showed two changes to the side that beat Birmingham Bears as Grant Elliott and Kevin O’Brien returned for Umar Akmal and James Sykes, the spinner being ruled out through injury.
Andrew Gale won the toss on an overcast evening and elected to bowl on a pitch that had been under the covers for most of the day because of a number of sharp showers.
Five wides came off the first ball but it was generally a disciplined opening from the Vikings seamers. Skipper Mark Cosgrove (4, 6b) cracked a four through the covers but he was held by Leaning in that region off Fisher.
Kevin O’Brien (10, 10b) started with two fours off his first three balls and Ned Eckersley (28, 30b) found the ropes at mid-on but the former departed before the powerplay was out courtesy of a terrific catch by Glenn Maxwell at deep mid-wicket off Will Rhodes (2-0-22-1).
Eckersley smashed a four through the covers as the Foxes moved to 35-2 after six overs and Richard Pyrah was a little unfortunate to see a ball move off the seam and fly away for five wides in the 7th.
There was then a throwback to the England-New Zealand series as Adil Rashid bowled to Grant Elliott (3, 6b) in the next over and the bowler won the battle as Elliott chipped a return catch.
A lofted drive from Niall O’Brien went for four to record the 50 in the 9th before the left-hander was put down in Rashid’s second offering as Leaning couldn’t hold onto a difficult chance in the deep.
Leicestershire were 61-3 at halfway and needed to kick on, so an inside edge for four off Eckersley’s bat was welcome. Pyrah was not perturbed by his lack of fortune and bowled Eckersley (28, 30b) off the last ball of the 11th over.
It was a good battle between bat and ball as Niall O’Brien and Agathangelou tried to get Pyrah (4-0-26-1), Rashid (4-0-27-1) and Maxwell (2-0-15-0) away. A powerful sweep from Niall O’Brien off Rashid split two boundary riders and Agathangelou hit a couple of delightful cuts off the spinners for four as the 100 came up at the end of the 15th over.
Agathangelou upped the tempo with a six over mid-on, a four over extra and a ramped boundary off the first three balls of the 16th over but the Vikings kept picking up wickets.
Niall O’Brien (25, 24b) was run out by Jonny Bairstow attempting to scamper a single for his teammate off the next ball and Tom Wells (0, 4b) departed in the next over as Pyrah took a diving catch at long-on from the bowling of Steven Patterson.
Agathangelou, who was put down by Rhodes at long-off in the 18th over, was run out in the same instance. The fielder threw to bowler Fisher, who chucked to Bairstow, who did a piece of highly athletic work to hit the stumps to end the batsman's career-best T20 knock.
Clint McKay (10 not out, 9b) clattered a straight four as eleven came off the penultimate over from Patterson (4-0-25-1) but only five were scored off Fisher’s last “ and two of those were fielding extras.
The Foxes needed a tight start and got it from Raine as just three came off the first over and McKay (4-0-29-1) built on his colleague’s good work by pinning fellow Victorian Finch (2, 7b) leg before.
There was nearly a second wicket in the over as an inside edge by Andrew Hodd just evaded a tumbling Niall O’Brien but the Foxes didn’t have to wait long for another success as the number three batsman was trapped lbw by Raine in the next over.
Raine had a couple of early appeals against Bairstow but he survived and although the light started to deteriorate rapidly, runs started to come more freely as the in-form England international added 52 in 6.1 overs with his captain.
The Vikings moved from 16-2 after four to 64-2 in the ninth over with Gale hitting a couple of boundaries and Bairstow smashing a trio of fours and the same number of maximums.
The Foxes picked up the key wicket of Bairstow (37, 22b) as Raine clipped his stumps with a beauty but Maxwell hit an audacious reverse sweep for four off Kevin O'Brien as the Vikings moved to 73-3 at halfway.
Two crucial wickets pegged back progress as Freckingham had Maxwell (10, 8b) brilliantly caught by Naik at mid-wicket and Gale (23, 25b) was neatly held by Niall O’Brien standing up to his brother, who finished with 1-27 from his allocation.
Leaning and Rhodes then got Vikings back on track through an intelligent stand of 26 with plenty of ones, twos and threes and they progressed the score to 105-5 with five overs to go.
Freckingham returned and not only did he concede just three, he landed another important blow as Rhodes (11, 12b) was well pouched by a diving Naik at cover.
Leaning hit a six in the 17th as eleven were gathered to leave a target of 24 off three overs. Another strike in the long-on region brought Leaning four more but he lost Pyrah (3, 8b), who hit Elliott to Wells at long-on.
With 15 needed off two overs, McKay bowled a dot before Leaning struck two consecutive fours behind square to tip the balance in Yorkshire’s favour. But McKay only conceded two off the next three balls to keep the Foxes in it.
It still needed something very special - and Raine came up with the goods. Four singles came off the first five balls of the final over, with Raine displaying great nerve to bowl a bouncer with the fourth ball that whizzed through to Niall O'Brien. Then came the dramatic final ball that saw the Foxes celebrate a tie that felt like a win.
Leicestershire now have ten points from nine games and face a crucial double-header with a match at Durham Jets next Friday evening followed by a home encounter with Birmingham Bears at 2.30pm on Saturday, July 4 at Grace Road.
* Thanks to Ed Melia for the photo of the scene at the end of the game.
