INTERVIEW: Jennings reflects on record-breaking day at Taunton
Lancashire Cricket batter Keaton Jennings praised his side for an “absolutely fantastic” performance at Taunton against Somerset, on a record-breaking day for the Red Rose in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
Jennings scored a List A career-best of 156 from just 127 balls, putting on a superb stand of 214 alongside Rocky Flintoff, who hit his maiden professional century, a destructive 123. They helped Lancs reach their best List A total, 443-6.
Lancashire made light work of the Somerset batters to secure a resounding 174 run win. Tom Aspinwall (4-42) and George Balderson (4-58) both took career-best figures to bowl the hosts out for 269.
Jennings was quick to praise the performance from the Red Rose on an unforgettable day.
“Awesome. To play back-to-back games, obviously to lose, I don’t actually know what day we lost against Warwickshire, but to lose that game, and then you have a day off, big [day of] travel.
“To come and play today, and put in the performance that we did, I think was absolutely fantastic, and to get the home quarter final is massive. [I am] looking forward to a packed Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground come Friday.
“Really chuffed with the lads. They’ve played some really good cricket over the last, sort of, 10 days, two weeks. We’ve had some really tight games, so to get that home tie, I think it’s really important.”
Jennings batted for over three hours for his century, with a large part of that alongside the impressive Flintoff. The 18-year-old batted for 76 balls for his maiden ton, hitting 10 fours and a remarkable seven maximums on his way to 123.
The experienced opening batter was full of praise for the way the teenager played at Taunton.
“I thought today he was absolutely fantastic. His tempo from ball one was absolutely awesome, attacked the game, played really strong shots all the way through, took his risks at the right time, to the right side.
“I thought he read the game absolutely, superbly well today. He was fantastic. I think as a template for batting and for applying pressure, I thought that was absolutely outstanding.”
That partnership with Flintoff, hitting a career-best score in List A cricket and securing a home quarter-final, meant Jennings had an unforgettable day out at Taunton.
“It was awesome. I think it kind of reminds you, when you bat with a young lad starting out his career, how fun batting is. To see the enjoyment on Rocky’s face, I was quite angry with myself that I wasn’t there when he went over to a hundred.
“But yeah, look, it was a really enjoyable day. Nice to contribute towards a team win, and hopefully we have three really big games now in this competition to try and lift some silverware.”
Lancashire’s emphatic win meant they qualified in second place in Group A of the One Day Cup. It sets up a clash with Durham at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground on Friday.
Looking ahead to the game, the 34-year-old expressed just how much excitement there is in the group.
“Yeah, [we are] absolutely buzzing. To get a home tie and play more games at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground is absolutely fantastic. So, look, I think the group really deserves it, the group has played some good cricket.
“Hopefully, we can rest up nicely and come hard on Friday. As a group of players, you earn the right to go and play knockout cricket, and to go and enjoy those moments.
“So, hopefully, the boys do that as well. You don’t play a lot of knockout games at home, so hopefully the boys really enjoy this sort of occasion, the pressure, and go and absolutely smash it.”
Tickets are available for our knockout clash with Durham at Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground on Friday. Don’t miss out, get them here.
;