SECOND XI REPORT: Lancashire lose twice in T20 double-header
Lancashire Cricket’s Second XI were beaten twice by Durham in a T20 double header at the Banks Homes Riverside, Chester-le-Street.
The home side won both games chasing. They took victory in the first match by six wickets, despite a half-century from George Bell and two wickets for Jack Blatherwick. Durham won by eight wickets in the second game.
The Red Rose began the opening game well after losing a wicket off the first ball. Rocky Flintoff (23) hit two huge sixes in back-to-back balls off Kasey Aldridge, including a wonderful shot down the ground.
He and skipper Bell put on 62 for the second wicket, with the Lancs captain batting for much of the innings. He eventually fell for a well-made 55, the highlight being an excellent reverse sweep for six against spinner Shafiqullah Ghafari.
Others chipped in to get Lancs up to a competitive score of 158. Blatherwick was the second top scorer, hitting a quickfire 28, which included two sixes of his own.
The fast bowler also picked up a couple of wickets in his first game of the season since injury. He dismissed the dangerous Graham Clark just two balls into Durham’s innings and later removed David Bedingham. But the home side’s overseas star had already done serious damage at that point. When Blatherwick had Bedingham caught on the boundary, he had scored 79 off just 26 balls.
Thanks to knocks from he and Alex Lees (63), Durham were able to get over the line with eight overs to spare. Charlie Barnard (1-21) and Harsh Parmar (1-31) were also amongst the wickets.
Game one scorecard & videos
Lancs once again batted first in the second game of the day. Things did not go quite as well in the powerplay, though. The Red Rose were three wickets down inside the first six overs, with both Flintoff (10) and Bell (20) falling.
Wickets tumbled at a quick rate, with Kesh Fonseka (46) the only man to provide resistance. He hit three fours and two sixes, dispatching Colin Ackerman over the ropes twice. The latter of those was a sweetly struck shot back over his head. Fonseka was eventually dismissed as the Red Rose were bowled out for just 97.
Durham chased the total inside the first 10 overs, though Barnard and Parmar (1-29) did manage to pick up a wicket each.
Left-arm spinner Barnard, who opened the bowling, was surely the pick of the bowlers. With the new ball in hand, he took the wicket of Clark in the third over, and ended with figures of 1-34 from four overs, the only Red Rose bowler to go at under 10 runs per over.
Yet, those two wickets were not enough. The home side eventually got over the line quickly, winning by eight wickets.
Game two scorecard & videos