A victory for Warwickshire in a rain-affected match denied Lancashire the chance of securing a knockout stage place at Edgbaston. A brilliant partnership between Sam Hain and Liam Banks set a platform for Alex Mellor’s heroics at the conclusion.
Warwickshire got off to a dream start as Olly Hannon-Dalby grabbed a wicket with his second ball, in the second over of the innings, trapping Haseeb Hameed LBW to get Lancashire 0/1.
There were two solid partnerships for Lancashire, with a 56 run partnership between Steven Croft & Keaton Jennings, and a 40 run partnership from Croft and Dane Vilas. Both were subsequently broken by Warwickshire, the first by Jeetan Patel when Jennings was bowled for 31, and the latter when George Panayi bowled Croft for 45, as they reached 124/3 off 25 overs.
Alex Thomson shone for Warwickshire throughout his spell, as he restricted the middle order well and took three wickets in the back end of his spell to give him his best List A figures of 10-1-27-3. He took the next three wickets for Warwickshire by breaking the impressive 80-run partnership between Lehmann and Vilas, as Lehmann clubbed one to mid-off for 23. Two balls later, Jones went without scoring as he was caught at gully.
Finally, he got the crucial wicket of the confident looking Vilas for 83 to take Lancashire to 192-6 in the 38th over.
There was then another strong partnership for Lancs, as Mahmood and Bohannon put on 83 runs, guiding Lancashire to 275-7 in the 49th over, before Mahmood skied one straight back into the hands of Hannon-Dalby for 45, to give him his second wicket.
Lancashire added 2 in the last three balls, and finished on 277-7 off their 50 overs.
With Warwickshire needing 278 to win at this point, Dom Sibley was bowled by Jimmy Anderson for 8 off 22 balls in the 9th over, taking Warwickshire to 41/1 off 9. During the first 10 overs Pollock fired away, reaching 38 off 34 balls, although he was caught behind off Anderson’s bowling, 4 balls after Sibley.
Hain was then joined by Wil Rhodes at the crease, who was out for 9, as Anderson collected his third wicket from an excellent delivery, Warwickshire reaching 62/3 off 14 overs.
It was Hain and Banks who put Warwickshire into the winning position, as they made a 107 run partnership, with them both passing 50. Hain’s 50 came off 73 balls, with him not scoring a boundary until the 87th ball of his innings. Banks’ half-century came of 73 balls, however his innings came to a close when Mahmood broke the partnership and Banks departed for 61 as he was caught at extra-cover.
Through this period, there were three rain breaks that accumulated to the loss of 5 overs, meaning the target for Warwickshire was revised to 255 off 45 overs.
It was a tight affair going into the conclusion of Warwickshire’s innings as they needed 50 from the remaining 5 overs. It was a crucial time for Warwickshire, which was not aided by Chris Woakes smashing one to mid on for 20 off 16 balls, with Warwickshire requiring 37 runs off 24 balls.
Alex Mellor came to the crease and took the game away from Lancashire, as his innings off 30 off 13 balls secured victory for Warwickshire in the final over, with two balls to spare in what was a thrilling match.
The hosts therefore collect their second win of their campaign, even though they will not progress it is a positive in what has been a disappointing campaign for them. Whereas, Lancashire will need results to go their way now on Monday if they are to progress.
