MATCH REPORT: Lancashire lose last ball thriller at Blackpool
Glamorgan clinched a thrilling Vitality Blast match off the last ball to win by two wickets at Stanley Park. It was a sensational finale as ninth wicket pair Chris Cooke and Timm van der Gugten scored 41 off the last 11 balls to steer their side to a victory that had looked unlikely moments earlier.
Cooke, who made 44 off 15 balls, hit three consecutive sixes in the 19th over off George Balderson and added another in the final over from Luke Wood as the pair scored the 17 runs required, van der Gugten reverse pulling a four from the final delivery to seal a stunning win.
Liam Livingstone’s 3-13 looked to have turned the game the Lightning’s way after Glamorgan had raced away to be 75-1 by the end of the six over powerplay in pursuit of 202. The loss of three wickets for 19 runs midway through their innings halted that progress but a hard hitting 44 from Sean Dickson just about kept the visitors alive as wickets fell steadily.
At 161-7 with two overs left, those hopes looked to have been more or less extinguished when Nathan McAndrew was run out off the first ball of the 19th over but Cooke and van der Gugten hit out to take Glamorgan through to a sensational win.
The Lightning total of 201-7 was largely down to a scintillating innings from Livingstone after Keaton Jennings and Marcus Harris had laid a good foundation with an opening partnership of 50 in the powerplay. Livingstone hit eight sixes in making 81 off 37 balls with Harry Singh contributing a useful 26 at the back of the innings.
Lancashire made a fast start after being put in with Jennings caught at backward square leg off Dan Douthwaite having struck 28 off 19 balls to end an opening partnership of 50 from 32 balls, while fellow opener Harris perished for 25 off 18, caught at mid-off off Jimmy Neesham.
Livingstone drove his first ball for four and pulled his fifth off McAndrew for six out of the ground. Livingstone then hammered consecutive sixes off Douthwaite who struck back to bowl Ben McDermott for 3 as Lancashire reached the ten over mark on 93-3.
The excellent Neesham (3-24) accounted for Matty Hurst (4) and Joe Moores, who reverse swept Ben Kellaway into the adjoining park, for 8 but Livingstone continued to blast away, reaching his fifty from 28 balls and hitting a total of 8 sixes – to equal Luke Wells’ Lightning record.
Twenty-one runs came from the 16th over from Douthwaite as both Livingstone and Singh struck sixes, but Livingstone perished when caught at long-on off McAndrew in the 17th over with Lancashire 166-6.
Singh and George Balderson added 35 off 20 balls with Singh hitting his third six off the penultimate ball of the innings before being out off the last for a 16-ball 26 as Lancashire reached 201-7.
The Glamorgan reply began in explosive fashion as Kiran Carlson and Will Smale took 25 off Wood in the second over, hitting a combined three sixes, before Carlson hoisted Balderson into the hands of McDermott at midwicket for 18 in the third with the score on 36.
McDermott took a second catch when Smale perished for 26 to the same spot, this time off Tom Aspinwall and when Henry Hurle hit Livingstone’s fifth delivery to Tom Hartley at midwicket for 6, Glamorgan were 84-3 after 8 overs.
Hartley backed that up with some tight overs as the visitors reached halfway needing a further 112 runs and their quest was hit when Kellaway slapped Livingstone to Jennings, who took a great diving catch at mid-off, for 32.
Sean Dickson kept Glamorgan on course with 44 off 31 before finding Singh at long-on to give Livingstone a third wicket during a rare maiden over, the 15th, and when Neesham hit Wood to Livingstone at long on in the following over, Glamorgan were 142-6 needing 60 off 23 balls.
Hartley picked up the wicket of Douthwaite for 4, McAndrew was run out for 1 and that looked to be that. Fortunately, for Glamorgan, Cook and van der Gugten had other ideas.
“I honestly don’t know,” was Liam Livingstone’s reaction when asked about today’s defeat at Stanley Park.
“The plans that we had were to stick to length and pretty much the whole way through that had worked. To be fair to Baldy, I don’t think he bowled a bad over. They obviously got a couple out of the middle.
“It was a disappointing day, and there’s no time to reflect on it. We are straight up to Durham and go again on Tuesday.
“The game’s all about winning and if you don’t win it doesn’t really matter what you do. I’d rather have bowled two overs for 50 and got a duck to be honest.
“We can’t make any excuses – we should be winning these games of cricket, that’s the simple fact. We’ve got to get better.
“It’s been nice to be playing cricket to be honest,” he added. “To come back into a place that feels like home for me. India was a long time away, but a chance to make a few changes and make my game better than it was at the start of the year.
“It would have been nice to have made a contribution to a win.”
Ken Grime
Photos: Luke Adams & Dan Adams