Leicestershire’s four-day record may be one of the worst in
Championship history, but their pedigree in the Twenty20 format is one which
every county is envious of.
The Foxes have won the tournament three times, more than any
other county, a record which will make particularly difficult reading for
Lancashire, who have the highest win percentage of any side, without ever
lifting the trophy.
Contests between these two sides are usually evenly fought
and this year has been no exception to that rule. Steven Croft hit the final
ball of the reverse fixture for four to take Lancashire home by five wickets at
Old Trafford, the Lightning’s first win of the 2015 campaign.
Leicester have not only lifted the trophy three times, but they
have also been responsible for eliminating Lancashire semi-finals at Finals Day
in 2011. The Foxes emerged victorious in a super over after Gareth Cross hit
the final ball of a rain-affected game for six.
Both sides are still very much capable of qualifying for the
knockout stages of the tournament, with ten points apiece, but both camps will
therefore place added significance on this fixture. If Lancashire can win, they
would be able to forge daylight between the top-four and the chasing pack, but
a win for the Foxes could go a long way towards securing a spot in the
quarter-finals.
Key Players:
Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove is a hard-hitting batsman who has experienced a strong campaign, accumulating 269 at an average of 29.98. The Australian batsman recorded his highest score of the tournament in Leicestershire last Twenty20 match, scoring 74 off 56 balls against Birmingham Bears at Grace Road last week.
Ashwell Prince is
Lancashire’s leading-run scorer in Twenty20 cricket this season having
accumulated 318 runs in ten T20 matches. The South-African batsman recently
admitted that it took him a while to adopt the shortest format of the game, but
there is no denying that he has the ability to be a match-winner for Lancashire
on a regular basis.
Prince recorded a career-best 78 against Durham in the early
stages of this campaign, recording another half-century in the reverse fixture
at Chester-le-Street to secure a six-wicket victory on a drizzly evening. The
38-year-old then thumped 59 off 30 balls, recording his third fifty in ten
innings to guide Lancashire to their highest ever Twenty20 score of 231/4.
Team News:
Leicestershire 15-man
squad: Mark Cosgrove (c), Andrea Agathangelou, Aadil Ali, Matthew Boyce, Ned Eckersley (w/k), Grant Elliot, Ollie Freckingham, Lewis Hill, Clint McKay, Jiagr Naik, Neil Pinner, Ben Raine, Rob Sayer, Atif Sheikh, Tom Wells.
Lancashire 13-man
squad: Steven Croft (c), Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Steven Croft, Alex Davies (w/k), James Faulkner, Paul Horton, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Stephen Parry, Luke Procter, Ashwell Prince.
Match Information:
Weather and
conditions: Dry and sunny, becoming cloudier later on in the evening. Wickets at Leicestershire tend to produce lower scores than you might expect and the tight results between these two sides in recent years suggests that this could be another nail-biter. For a full weather forecast click here.
Ground: Grace
Road
Start time:
5.30pm
Umpires: Neil Bainton, Martin Saggers
Match odds (SkyBet): Leicestershire 11/10, Lancashire 8/11
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