SECOND XI REPORT: Lancashire suffer T20 double-header defeats
Lancashire Cricket’s Second XI were beaten at home twice by Nottinghamshire in a T20 friendly double header at Westhoughton CC.
The Red Rose lost by seven wickets in the first game, despite England international Saqib Mahmood taking two wickets as he builds up his workload. In game two, the visitors won by 87 runs.
The opening game of the day saw Lancashire bat first, though it was a struggle for the home side. They failed to get going, losing wickets at regular intervals and stumbling to 81 all out from just 16 overs.
Captain George Bell was the one player who offered some resistance. Batting at number four, he finished 26 not out, hitting two boundaries along the way.
The run chase lasted 14 overs, with the Midlands outfit knocking the total off for the loss of three wickets.
Mahmood was the pick of the Lancs bowlers. The England international, playing his first game of the domestic summer, took 2-13 from his four overs, dismissing Sam Seecharan and Travis Holland. Joe Moores played a key part in both dismissals, taking two catches on the boundary.
Harry Singh (1-15) and Charlie Barnard (0-15) also bowled well, keeping things tight with their spin, but Nottinghamshire got over the line with six overs to spare.
The visitors batted first in game two, and put an imposing score on the board, hitting 212-8 from their 20 overs. A brisk 76 from opening batter Seecharan was well supported by their middle order.
Charlie Parkinson was surely the pick of the bowlers for Lancs in the second game. In an innings where the away side scored at more than 10 runs per over, the opening bowler had a tight economy rate of 7.75 from his four overs.
He also picked up the wicket of Bryon Hatton-Lowe, leaving him with impressive figures of 1-31 from four overs. Fellow new-ball bowler Ollie Sutton and left-arm wrist spinner Sam Wisniewski picked up a couple of wickets apiece, too.
The Red Rose never really got going in their run chase. There were small starts for the likes of Kesh Fonseka (17), Moores (11) and Bell (10), but they struggled to really get going against a big total.
Opener Rocky Flintoff top scored for Lancashire in the second match. He struck 22 off 17 balls at the top of the order, which included hitting Rob Lord for four back over his head and hooking him for six down to fine leg in consecutive balls.
Despite those starts for Flintoff and some of his teammates, the chase never really got off the ground. Notts secured victory by 87 runs.
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