MATCH REPORT: Livingstone blast helps seal 17-run victory against Derbyshire
A blistering 75 by Liam Livingstone, who hit five sixes and shared a record-breaking third wicket partnership with Dane Vilas, helped Lancashire to the top of the Vitality Blast North Group table after a 17-run victory over Derbyshire Falcons extended the Lightning’s unbeaten home record to ten games.
The Lightning maintained a run rate in excess of ten runs per over throughout their innings to post 219-6 and the Falcons responded with a fine effort to chase down their target before coming up just short despite half centuries for Luis Reece and Leus du Plooy.
The total of 421 runs scored is the second-highest runs aggregate in a Lancashire T20 match and was thoroughly enjoyed by another good crowd at Emirates Old Trafford.
Vilas had no hesitation to bat first after winning the toss and watched on as his opening pair of Keaton Jennings and Phil Salt raced away to put 45 runs on the board off 26 balls.
Salt drove the first two balls of the match from Aussie left-arm all-rounder Hayden Kerr for boundaries but it was Jennings who then took the opening attack to the Falcons.
The left-hand opener pulled George Scrimshaw for the game’s first six into the second tier of the stand at the Statham End to become the third-fastest batter to reach 1,000 T20 runs for Lancashire.
And Jennings also hammered five fours in his 21 balls at the crease, ended when he top edged Connors to Scrimshaw running back from short third man.
Livingstone continued the assault with two fours plus a six off Sam Connors that landed on the back row of the same top tier that Jennings had reached earlier as Lancashire romped their way to 70-1 at the end of the six over powerplay.
Salt fell for 19 when he hit Scrimshaw high to Wayne Madsen at mid-on in the eighth over but Vilas combined with Livingstone in a third-wicket best for Lancashire against Derbyshire of 91 off 8 overs as the Falcons’ attack struggled to contain the scoring.
Livingstone pulled former Lancashire bowler Mark Watt into the building site at midwicket when the left arm spinner dropped short in an over costing the Falcons 16 runs and he next swung Mattie McKiernan over midwicket for six more as the hundred arrived from 55 balls.
Vilas pulled Kerr for six over midwicket to keep the building site ball retrieval team on their toes as the fifty partnership arrived from 25 balls.
Livingstone hit another big six off Connors to reach a 28-ball fifty in the 13th over and followed that with an even bigger blow later in the over onto the Media Centre TV gantry.
It was stunning stuff but the partnership was finally broken when Vilas was stumped by Brooke Guest off McKiernan for 34 from 22 balls in the 16th over aiming another big hit and Livingstone followed two runs later caught at deep extra cover by Connors off Kerr for an outstanding 75 off 40 balls.
David and Croft piled on the runs over the closing overs, Croft pulling Connors for six over midwicket and becoming the first Lancashire player to score 4,000 runs in T20 when hitting his second maximum in the final over before departing for 28 off 10 balls.
David was caught in the deep by Madsen off Scrimshaw for 22 from the last ball of the 20th over with Lancashire finishing on 219-6 – their fifth highest total in the competition.
The Derbyshire reply started badly when skipper Shan Masood was run out for 8 by Croft from cover but Luis Reece and Harry Came hit back quickly with a flurry of boundaries to reach the end of the powerplay strongly on 59-1.
Lancashire responded by bowling spin from as early as the sixth over and it paid off when Came was stumped by Salt off Livingstone for 21 after stepping down the wicket to the spinner to leave Derbyshire 68-2 in the 8th over.
Reece, whose first two balls were a couple of short-pitched snorters from Luke Wood, struck two nicely timed sixes in his 50 from 31 balls as Derbyshire reached the halfway point still fairly well placed on 88-2, needing 119 off the remaining 60 deliveries.
Then Reece drove Tom Hartley fiercely into the hands to David at long-off to fall for 58 at the start of the 11th over and Madsen pulled Hartley to Croft at deep midwicket for 13 as the pressure mounted on the visitors, now 117-4 after 13 overs.
Former Red Rose wicketkeeper Brooke Guest and Leus du Plooy fought back valiantly with a rapid partnership of 78 off 45 balls with du Plooy hitting consecutive sixes off Wood in the 18th over to bring the target down to 36 off 2 overs.
Gleeson then closed down the runs with an excellent 19th over that saw just six runs scored and Wood sealed the victory with the wicket of Guest, caught at deep midwicket by Livingstone for 35 with du Plooy left unbeaten on 59 and Derbyshire on 202-5, but 18 runs short of their target.
“It was a good game of cricket,” agreed Liam Livingstone.
“The pitch was a bit interesting to start with, but it as the ball got a bit older it became a really good surface.
“We had a short side to defend when we were bowling and a short side to attack when we were batting.
“We would probably have liked to close it out a bit better, but all in all it was a a good win,” he said.
And Livingstone is thrilled to be back playing in a Lancashire shirt.
“I love coming back here to play,” he added with a smile.
“It’s always nice to be able to affect games for Lancashire.
“It has been a day for the batters, but I guess you can look at our bowling and say we’ve done well to restrict them to that.”
Once again it was spin that worked well for the Lightning through the middle overs and Livingstone added:
“Since I’ve been playing we’ve always been spin heavy, and it works for us. We go hard in the powerplay, try and get as many runs as we can after that and rely on spin in the second innings.”
Livingstone has come straight back from IPL duty in India and dived straight into the T20 competition.
“I would have ideally liked a four or five-day rest,” he revealed, “but they don’t come around in T20 cricket.
“I wanted to come back here and play at home. Four of our first five games are at home, I wanted to play. I love playing at Emirates Old Trafford and for Lancashire.”
Livingstone was one of four Lightning players selected for England’s forthcoming tour to the Netherlands and he added:
“I want to try and win as many games and leave the team in a great place before I go off again.
“That’s ultimately my goal for the next four games. It’s nice to go off and play for England, but I love playing for Lancashire.”
Ken Grime
Photos: George Franks & Luke Adams