SECOND XI REPORT: Lancashire and Durham split T20 doubleheader
Lancashire and Durham split the T20 doubleheader at Hartlepool with Michael Jones making an unbeaten 61 and Kesh Fonseka 51 in the second game as Lancashire hunted down the hosts’ 177-4 to win by eight wickets with seven balls to spare after Durham had prevailed by 33 runs in the first.
It was an excellently judged run chase after Durham had posted a score that was 16 runs higher than their total in the first match.
Lancashire had failed to get close in the first match but made no mistake in the second thanks to three scores of 45 or more from the top three batters in their line-up.
For the second time in the day, Jack Lees and Kesh Fonseka got the innings off to a good start with an opening partnership worth 78 runs. Fonseka hit 2 sixes and 6 fours until caught at long on off Nathan Sowter for 51 off 37 balls from the second ball of the 10th over.
Lees hit Callum Parkinson for six in the 13th over but left hander found Sowter at deep midwicket off Mitch Killeen having made 45 from 34 balls with 66 needed from 37 balls.
Jones took charge, hitting Parkinson for six and taking 19 off the 17th over bowled by Rhodes and 14 from the next by Scott Borthwick in an explosive innings of 61 not out off 31 balls against his former county that included 5 sixes.
That onslaught meant 13 were needed from the last two overs but Jones and Harry Singh (18 not out) achieved it from the next five balls.
Rhodes and Haydon Mustard had hammered a 100-run partnership from 9.4 overs following two early wickets for Jack Blatherwick with Rhodes making 63 from 36 balls and Mustard 55 from 42 to set Lancashire a target of 178 after skipper Rhodes had opted to bat.
But Jones and co were up to the challenge.
TEAMS - Match 2
Lancashire: Kesh Fonseka, Jack Lees, Michael Jones, George Harris, Harry Singh, Jack Blatherwick, Tom Aspinwall (capt), Jack Carney (wkt), Joe Chapple, Charlie Barnard, Hassan Mughal.
Durham: Wilf La Fontaine-Jackson, Luke Symington, Will Rhodes (capt), Robbie Bowman (wkt), Paul Coughlin, Haydon Mustard (wkt), Mitch Killeen, Stanley McAlindon, Callum Parkinson, Nathan Sowter, Scott Borthwick.
MATCH 1
Wilf La Fontaine-Jackson batted through the Durham innings in the first match with his 74 and 93-run partnership with Paul Coughlin for the fourth wicket taking the hosts to 161-4 despite the best efforts of Charlie Barnard who took 3-11 from his four overs.
Opener Luke Symington top edged a catch to wicketkeeper Jack Carney off Barnard for a three-ball duck, and the left arm spinner returned to bowl both Will Rhodes (36 off 32 balls) and wicketkeeper Robbie Bowman with consecutive deliveries to leave Durham 68-3 at the halfway stage of the innings. La Fontaine-Jackson and Coughlin (40 not out off 30 balls) produced a decisive alliance to post a challenging 162 run target.
Jack Lees and Kesh Fonseka responded with an opening partnership of 57 but once Lees departed off the last ball of the powerplay for a run-a-ball 14 followed seven balls later by Fonseka who made 45 off 27 balls, the innings began to falter with wickets falling at regular intervals.
The only other contribution of note came from Harry Singh who hit one six and 3 fours in making 24 off 19 balls. When he departed with the score 101-5, 62 runs were required off 43 balls, but Coughlin’s good day continued with the ball (4-31) as he and Nathan Sowter (3-19) struck repeatedly to ensure a comfortable victory for the hosts.
TEAMS – Match 1
Lancashire: Kesh Fonseka, Jack Lees, Rocky Flintoff, Harry Singh, Jack Blatherwick, Tom Aspinwall (capt), Jack Carney (wkt), Joe Chapple, Josh Boyden, Charlie Barnard, Mitch Stanley.
Durham: Wilf La Fontaine-Jackson, Luke Symington, Will Rhodes (capt), Robbie Bowman (wkt), Paul Coughlin, Haydon Mustard (wkt), Mitch Killeen, Stanley McAlindon, Callum Parkinson, Nathan Sowter, Scott Borthwick.