North Group: Leicestershire 174-7 (Raine 48) beat Yorkshire 120 (Rhodes 45; Raine 3-7) by 54 runs
The Leicestershire Foxes showed exactly how to play a T20 match as they triumphed over hosts Yorkshire Vikings by 54 runs.
Ben Raine starred for the visitors with both bat and ball as he scored career-bests with both implements: Firstly he chalked up 48 from 43 balls including two fours and two sixes and then took an astonishing 3-7 with the ball.
The wickets he took weren’t the tail-enders either, he secured the prized scalpsof bats one and three (Adam Lyth and Adil Rashid respectively) and then the final wicket of the match Ben Coad to close the game out with an over and two balls to spare.
Yorkshire’s performance in the field left something to be desired when, in the first five overs, at least four tough chances went begging and then some late sloppy fielding meant two catches were put down when they should have been taken.
Leicestershire however, despite being 72-3 at the halfway point, played well and hit a total of nine sixes in their innings. Those runs proved invaluable as their final score of 174-7 was considered to be around 20 runs more than they really should have scored.
A combination of those runs and then serious pressure with the ball allowed the Foxes to limit Yorkshire to just 48-4 at the halfway mark and continue to take wickets until the hosts’ 100 came up from a wide delivery from Kevin O’Brien.
This particular O’Brien brother took credit for three Yorkshire wickets for the cost of 27 runs but also for the only blemish on the Foxes’ fielding card: Wides. Nine extras were conceded in Yorkshire’s innings and seven of those came from wide deliveries.
They held onto every catch that they had half a sniff at however and ultimately it was those catches that secured Leicestershire their first win of the season.
