Unbeaten start to the Blast ends at Edgbaston
Birmingham Bears extended their 100 per cent start to the Vitality Blast and ended Lancashire Lightning’s with a commanding seven-wicket victory in front of a sun-soaked 11,243 crowd at Edgbaston.
After choosing to bat, Lightning tumbled all out for 98 after losing their last seven wickets for 36 runs in 35 balls. They were spun to destruction as Danny Briggs took four for 15, Dan Mousley three for 13 and Jake Lintott two for 24. Only Steven Croft (22, 13 balls) passed 20 for the visitors.
Lightning desperately needed to strike early when the Bears replied but openers Alex Davies (51 not out, 39 balls - his maiden Blast fifty for the Bears) and Rob Yates (30, 24 balls) added an untroubled 50 by the seventh over to set up a victory stroll. The Bears reached 99 for three with 34 balls to spare. With Phil Salt ruled out by a back spasm, Josh Bohannon came into the Lightning side to open the batting but perished fourth ball, bowled through a mow at Glenn Maxwell. Luke Wells, scorer of a match-winning 66 against Derbyshire Falcons on this ground nine days earlier, fell in the next over to a superb return catch, clutched centimetres from the ground, by Mousley.
Croft bashed 18 from four balls from Henry Brookes to get the innings going momentarily but the bowler gained his revenge when he was waiting at square leg to accept a catch when Croft lifted a sweep at Mousley. That was 62 for three.
Mousley switched ends to bowl the dangerous Liam Livingstone first ball back. Chris Benjamin took a stinging slip catch to prevent Colin de Grandhomme damaging his former team. Mousley made a steepling catch at long off from Daryl Mitchell look simple and Rob Yates took a blinder at extra cover to oust Luke Wood.
Wood was the second of Briggs’ four victims as he plucked off the tail with three wickets in four balls and Lightning committed the heinous T20 crime of leaving 31 balls unused.
The Bears openers killed the game dead with a stand 50 of in 39 balls. Yates top-edged a sweep at Matt Parkinson to short fine leg and Maxwell’s home debut knock yielded only two from three balls before he missed an attempt to carve Hartley through the off side, but it was already game over.
Sam Hain reached the crease with 37 needed from 74 balls with eight wickets in hand. He was soon bowled by Wells’ third ball but Davies advanced smoothly to his 16th Blast half-century and the captain saw his side home.
Report by ECB Reporters Network
Photography by Luke Adams & Dan Adams