Vikings T20 Match Preview - 03/07/2022
Sat 2 Jul 2022
When we last met:
The Running Foxes travelled to Headingley just over a month ago hunting for their first win of this year's Vitality Blast season, and gave a dominant team performance to ease past the home side by 31 runs.
Batting first, twin fifties from Colin Ackermann (56, 33b) and Rishi Patel (57, 37b) helped Leicestershire recover from a poor start which saw them 51-4 after 47 balls. A quickfire cameo from Ben Mike (16 not out, 10b) was also vital in our total of 188-7 from our 20 overs.
Adam Lyth (24, 14b) decided that the best form of defence was attack, with the Yorkshireman starting rapidly, but Ben Mike took his wicket and then Naveen dismissed Tom Kohler-Cadmore quickly afterward. Dawid Malan and Joe Root then decided that the best form of attack was defence, and the required rate climbed hugely, which left Harry Brook (29, 17b) too much to do as our hosts closed on 157-9 from their 20 overs. Mike (3-16 from four overs) and Naveen (4-34) wreaked havoc on the home side, and we will again need to bowl well against Yorkshire again if we are to win what is now a must-win match in terms of qualifying from the North Group.
Head to Head:
Ben Mike vs Jordan Thompson:
Ben Mike again showed that he's the man for the big occasion against Northants on Friday night, shrugging off some brutal treatment at the hands of Jimmy Neesham and Chris Lynn to close out the final ball of our win with Northants needing a boundary to defeat us. His 15 from 7 balls with the bat was also a vital cameo innings again, illustrating quite how important those high strike rate innings are.
This season in the Blast, Mike has scored 213 runs at a strike rate of 160 - simply stunning numbers and showing his potential as one of the best hitters around in English domestic cricket. He's also taken 15 wickets at a cost of 23.40 runs per wicket, and at an economy rate of 8.77 runs per over, which is very solid indeed considering that he's bowled far more in the Powerplay and death overs this season than in previous years.
Rival pace-bowling all-rounder Thompson impressed for Yorkshire in our previous meeting, taking 3-34 from four overs, and went into this tournament with a higher reputation, having picked up a Hundred deal, plus played in the Big Bash and PSL during the winter. However, Mike has eclipsed Thompson so far this season with the bat in particular. With the ball, Thompson has one more wicket at a similar bowling average, but his overs have cost around one run per over more.
With both all-rounders key players for their teams, and always looking to feature in the game whether with the bat, ball or in the field, the battle of Mike vs Thompson will be vital to the outcome on Sunday.
Squad: Ackermann *, Ahmed, Davis, Griffiths, Hill, Kimber, Lilley, Mike, Mulder, Naveen, Parkinson, Patel, Swindells +, Welch.
