Leicestershire Vs. Lancashire FLt20.

McClenaghan boundary gives Lancs tie.

McClenaghan took 2-29 before hitting a
four off the final ball to tie the match.

In a heated encounter at Grace Road, Lancashire managed to salvage their second tie of the FLt20 campaign, thanks to a last ball thriller, which saw Mitchell McClenaghan paddle the ball to the vacant long-leg boundary.

Facing bottom of the table, many expected Lancashire to win today, but a point will do no harm to their qualification prospects, with Nottinghamshire losing to Derbyshire, resulting in run rate separating Lancs and Notts at the top.

After hitting 84 in the reverse fixture, Greg Smith replicated his fine form against the Lightning, leading the innings with a brisk 45. This lone effort stood out amongst the other Leicestershire efforts, with captain Josh Cobb out for an 8-ball duck.

Bangladesh international, Shakib Al Hasan, added 23 from 16 balls as the Foxes battled their way towards a semi-competitive score. The lancashire spinners, Arron Lilley and Simon Kerrigan proved to be as economical as ever, with neither affording more than a run-a-ball.

Kabir Ali (3-23) also proved to be a key figure in the match, taking the vital wicket of Rob Taylor, who smashed 29 off 15 deliveries, including 3 sixes, to help the Foxes post 139-9.

Lancashire's response began in a manner which suggested that Leicestershire had under-achieved, as the visitors hit 48 runs in the power play overs. Stephen Moore hit a quick-fire 20, but runs proved to be difficult to acquire for the remainder of the innings, with many batsmen falling after making starts.

There can be no doubt that Taylor earned the man of the match today, as he finished with figures of 4-23 after he had hit Leicestershire back in to the match earlier in the evening. The loss of wickets at regular intervals and an ever-increasing run rate hit Lancashire hard, who soon faced a daunting task in a match they could not afford to lose.

The efforts of Gareth Cross (28) proved valuable, but he was unable to see enough of the strike to make good of his hard-hitting approach. His departure on the penultimate delivery left Lancashire needing 5 to win, with the hosts in the ascendancy.

It therefore took the nerves of an international player to pick one of the few gaps available, as McClenaghan defied his number eleven status to snatch a tie with a cool four off the final ball.