Yorkshire Vikings Match Preview - 15/6/21

Leicestershire Foxes travel to Leeds as the search for their first victory of the 2021 Vitality Blast campaign continues.

The Running Foxes fell to defeat at the hands of Durham Cricket last time out, following an aggressive ninth wicket partnership of former-Fox Ned Eckersley and Liam Trevaskis. The duo posted a 37-ball 62 to grab a victory from the jaws of defeat at the Uptonsteel County Ground.

Durham coincidentally, earned a victory over today’s opponents, Yorkshire Vikings, in their last outing, this time, thanks to an explosive innings from number eight; Brydon Carse, posting 51 from 31 balls.

Elsewhere, the Vikings won their opening fixture away at Edgbaston against Birmingham Bears with a comfortable nine balls remaining.

Last Time We Met

The Running Foxes were scheduled to meet Yorkshire twice in the Vitality Blast last season but the first clash at Headingley was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain.

Our second match against Yorkshire was one that will live long in the memory, with Ben Mike’s six from the last ball winning the match for Leicestershire. Batting first, Yorkshire posted 188-6 after a rapid start (they were 98-1 after 9.5 overs) with Adam Lyth’s 71(46b) and Jordan Thompson’s 44(19b) doing the most damage. There were two wickets apiece for Will Davis (2-32) and Gareth Delany (2-26).

Leicestershire’s chase looked like being a formality at 149-2 from 14.2 overs, needing a further 40 to win from 34 balls with eight wickets in hand. However, a collapse saw us in a perilous position at 164-6 with just 14 balls to spare, needing 25 more to get over the winning line. Enter Ben Mike, who smashed 22 from nine balls including that match-winning six to leave the Running Foxes celebrating a memorable victory. Earlier in our innings, Delany (64, 41b), Arron Lilley (30, 14b) and skipper Colin Ackermann (58, 34b) impressed as well.

Head to Head

Josh Inglis v Jonny Bairstow

A key meeting for this match will be the battle of the wicket-keepers who open the batting. Both very attacking players, either batter can give their team a destructive start at the top of the order.

For the hosts, Bairstow is a world-class operator who has hit over 20% of his balls faced for boundaries from 2018 onwards, in conjunction with offering strong stability at around 28 balls per dismissal. These numbers accurately illustrate his quality, and while he hasn’t played a lot of T20 Vitality Blast in recent years, his performance levels in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and on the International stage for England clearly show he’s an extremely dangerous batter. So far in this year’s Blast, Bairstow has hit 101 runs from 72 balls at a strike rate of 140.27, including 10 fours and four sixes, and is a key wicket for the Running Foxes to take.

Our overseas batter Inglis has shown his attacking prowess so far in a Foxes shirt, scoring 12 boundaries (11 fours, one six) in just 39 balls faced so far - a 30.77% boundary percentage so far in his Leicestershire career.  Foxes will need a big innings from the Australian against Yorkshire  considering the a strong opposition batting line-up, and he is more than capable - he’s hit over 800 runs in the last two editions of the Big Bash at an average of 31.46 and a strike rate of 146.59.

Leicestershire Squad

Head Coach Paul Nixon sides with consistency, as the same 14-man squad from the other three fixtures so far this campaign head up to Leeds.

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).