Stephen Moore and Andrea Agathangelou
opened for the Lightning, who were hoping to make a noteworthy start to their
season. In a sense, this is exactly what they did, but only because Moore
played-on to his own stumps off Hatchett, resulting in a golden duck. Stand-in captain, Steven
Croft faces a great deal of responsibility this season and when he smashed
Jordan for six it seemed that he was going to live up to this expectation. But
shortly afterwards he was caught by Hamilton-Brown at point, rewarding Jordan
for his efforts with the ball.
Already 12-2 in the fourth over, Lancashire
had it all to do, but Agathangelou and the new batsmen, Jordan Clark were able
to steady the innings. They were able to add 44 runs for the third wicket, but
Clark (13) was eventually caught at point attempting to reverse sweep Rippon.
Things went from bad to worse when Reece was caught in the deep, attempting to
pull James Anyon. Agathangelou was now under a lot of pressure, due to
Lancashire’s poor start, but he was able to make 42 off 34 balls. After hitting
four 4’s and a six, it may be fair to say that his dismissal was brought about
by the aggressive attitude of the t20 format, as he was stumped in the middle of Lancashire's innings.
Former youth player, Alex Davies, and
winter signing, Wayne White, now stood at the crease, with the score at 68-5
and 8 overs remaining. Both batsmen proved to be capable additions to
Lancashire’s roster, with the man from Leicestershire making the biggest impact.
After Davies was eventually out, Oliver Newby joined White, but he shortly
followed, as the Lightning edged their way to a semi competitive total. White finished
on 29 from 19 balls, impressing the Lancashire faithful, hitting 2 sixes in the
process. The innings closed on 118-9, which, considering the strength of the
oppositions batting, was felt to be exceedingly under par.
Chris Nash and Michael Yardy were set to
establish the chase of 119 runs for victory and they did so, as Sussex got off
to a faster start than Lancashire, scoring 30-0 after 4 overs. The breakthrough
finally came for the Lightning when the star batsmen, Agathangelou, caught
Yardy to give Clark his first wicket. Sussex slowed down after this wicket, as
Nash and the new batsmen; Hamilton-Brown appeared to be struggling for runs.
The pressure appeared to be mounting and when Simon Kerrigan ran out the
latter, Sussex stumbled to 48-2 in the 8th over. But with the help
of Joe Gatting (20*), Chris Nash was able to see Sussex home, scoring 76 from
59 balls, as Lancashire lost by 8 wickets in the 18th over.
There were few positives in this match for
the Lighting, with the efforts of Agathangelou and White standing out amongst
an unsuccessful all-round display. With a busy schedule in Dubai, Lancashire will
have plenty of chances to establish themselves, but it is fair to say that the
2013 season has not started well. They face a Fly Emirates XI tomorrow, which
will see them challenge their new sponsorship partners and hopefully come up
with a better performance than they did today.
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