Foxes keep cool to land back-to-back Twenty20 wins

Date: Friday 05 June 2009

Derbyshire Phantoms (0 pts) 130-5 (Smith 43, Sadler 29*, Henderson 2-21, Harris 2-26, Gurney 1-21) lost to Leicestershire Foxes (2 pts) 144-6 (Boyce 33, Allenby 31, Nixon 29, Taylor 22, Dippenaar 17*, Park 3-29) by 14 runs.

Leicestershire Foxes showed nerves of steel to register their third Twenty20 win of the season against Derbyshire Phantoms by 14 runs.

After the near-perfect win against Notts Outlaws less than 24 hours earlier, it was always going to be difficult to reach those high standards and register consecutive wins.

The Foxes rose to the challenge though, and built on their wondeful display against Notts with another all-round impressive team performance and two more points to boot.

Although the margin of victory sounds as though the team won with a bit to spare, the Phantoms were never out of the game chasing 145 to win under the floodlights.

Despite the home side never being in front of the rate, they were only ever one substantial over away from hauling themselves into contention.

However, AJ Harris (2-26 off four), Claude Henderson (2-21 off four), Wayne White (0-21 off two) and Jigar Naik (0-22 off three) bowled superbly at the death to ensure the Phantoms did not get the 55 runs required from the final five overs.

Harry Gurney (1-18 off four) and Jim Allenby (0-18 off three) also bowled well in a real team effort both with the ball and in the field, as the team strangled the life out of the Phantoms reply.

The home side had dragged themselves back into the game, as County, who had threatened to post around 160-170 at one stage, ended on 144-6 after some good bowling at the end of the innings.

The Foxes were well set at 115-2 after 15, but scored only 29 runs for the loss of four wickets in the final five overs of the knock.

A sway in momentum can often prove crucial in Twenty20 cricket, but County squeezed brilliantly from word go to ensure the win.

Earlier, a low sun greeted Foxes’ openers Matthew Boyce and Allenby to the crease after Boeta Dippenaar won the toss and elected to bat, and the all-rounder picked up where he left off against Notts yesterday evening.

Allenby struggled to get the strike early on, but made hay when he did, scoring two fours from his first two balls en route to 31 from 16 balls.

Boyce found scoring a bit more difficult on the slow pitch, but crucially hung around to post the innings’ top score of 33.

The pair provided a solid base for the innings, with Allenby finding the boundary regularly early on.

Boyce notched the first four of the innings over mid-on, and Allenby then played a beautiful square drive for four to open his account.

The batsman flashed a shot past keeper Jamie Pipe to register his second four in the third over, and also struck a six over mid-wicket and a fine late cut in his breezy knock.

Allenby was in such good form that it was somewhat of a surprise to see his mode of dismissal. The all-rounder missed a low full toss from leg-spinner Mark Lawson to fall leg-before with the score on 55.

James Taylor (22 from 19) came to the crease and was a good ally for Boyce, with the pair running hard to take a number of twos to big boundaries.

Boyce was quick to seize on anything short, and Taylor was his usual inventive self as the pair put on 30 for the second wicket.

The left-hander fell in the 12th over, which bought Paul Nixon (29 from 22) to the crease.

The Foxes’ keeper played two super sweeps in the 14th over off Greg Smith – one reverse and one conventional – and also hit a four and six in the wide mid-wicket/long-on region to give the innings some real momentum.

Taylor also played nicely, but both were dismissed in quick succession to put a halt to the team’s charge.

After being 115-2 after fifteen, Taylor fell on the lap sweep in the 16th, and Nixon holed out to Chris Rogers at deep mid-wicket in the next to leave the team on 126-4 after 17.

The closing overs were then a struggle because no-one had managed to bat through the innings, but skipper Dippenaar marshalled proceedings with a sensible unbeaten 17 from 15 deliveries.

He lost Jacques du Toit and White to catches on the boundary as Garry Park picked up 3-29 in all, and the home side will have been happy with their fightback.

However, the Foxes had the runs on the board, and a chase under lights on a sluggish wicket with large boundaries was never going to be easy.

The start was always going to be important, and the wicket of dangerman Rogers was always going to be the key one if County were to defend their total.

Rogers needed no introduction to County fans, having demonstrated his talents at Grace Road both as a Leics player and as an opponent in the past.

It was a massive blow to the hosts early on as Harris dismissed the Australian, who absolutely nailed a pull to du Toit at deep mid-wicket but fell to a quite brilliant low catch in the fading light.

Fellow countryman Stuart Law came to partner Smith at the wicket, and he was fortunate to survive when a catch went begging down at third man in the fourth over.

Smith looked in fine touch in helping to take 15 off the sixth over of the innings and Law was also getting settled, so it was important that Gurney dismissed the Aussie in his final over.

Law played an unusually rash pull that went straight up in the air, and Nixon held the steepling catch to ensure the left-armer had his man and finished with super figures of 1-21 off his four overs.

Gurney - who has been hugely impressive in all Twenty20 games so far this summer - and Harris both bowled well up front, and were backed up superbly by Henderson and Allenby in the middle overs.

The duo took the pace off the ball and made boundaries hard to come by in the middle overs, which was ideal from County's perspective.

Allenby went for just 18 in three overs and Henderson was particularly impressive, conceding just 21 in three economical spells, and he bowled the game-changing 14th over.

The slow left-armer claimed the vital wickets of Wavell Hinds and Smith (43 from 36 balls) while conceding just three runs, and it meant the Phantoms went from 83-2 after 13 to 86-4 after 14.

It changed the whole complexion of the game. The Phantoms went from requiring 62 from seven overs with two batsmen set to needing 59 from six with two new men at the crease.

Hinds had been unusually quiet up to that point but is always able to tee off, while Smith had batted with fluency - a precious commodity in the conditions - and needed removing before he guided his side home.

Hinds fell to a good low catch by Allenby at backward-point, while Naik held a stunner running in from long-off to remove the increasingly-dangerous Smith.

The wickets were vital, and meant Park and John Sadler had little time to find their bearings.

Allenby did not allow the pair to settle and went for just four and Naik conceded seven in the 16th, the match was now in the Foxes’ favour with 48 needed from 4.

Ex-Fox Sadler is always a threat though, and he hit Henderson for six from the first ball of the 17th to keep his side in with a shout.

However, the canny bowler restricted the Phantoms to a further four runs, which meant that even though they had a good over, they were still behind the rate.

With Foxes’ fans worrying that their old player may come back to haunt them, it was fitting that County’s former Derbyshire bowlers then sealed the win.

The experienced Harris and up-and-coming White sent down three excellent death overs between them for 23 runs when 38 were required.

Harris conceded only three runs from the first five balls of the 18th, but Sadler deposited his last ball for six over mid-wicket to ensure the champagne was still on ice.

However, White, who had conceded 15 runs in his first over earlier in the night, showed real strength of character in returning to give away just six runs from the penultimate over of the game.

That, simply, left the Phantoms with too much to do, needing 23 from the last over.

Park holed out to du Toit at mid-wicket to give Harris a deserved second victim, and although Sadler finished on 29* from 19 balls, the Foxes had notched back-to-back wins in the format to give themselves a real chance of qualifying.

The impressive feature of the wins this term is that the team has shown they can win in different circumstances.

At Durham, the side held their nerve in a run chase, while against Notts, the Foxes showed they can trailblaze with the bat and take a game away from their opponents.

And, although the team also bowled and fielded brilliantly yesterday, there is naturally always greater pressure with a lower target.

Here, the team eked out a competitive total and then put in a fantastic performance in the field when the heat was really on.

It was a magnificent effort and reminiscent of wins from County’s glorious past in Twenty20, which is a great sign from a young and developing side.

It means the side are in outright third position in the North Section with six points, and there is all to play for when Twenty20 resumes later this month, which is a good achievement after losing three of the first four matches.