Rain is a royal pain for Worcestershire.
Worcestershire Royals were put in to bat by Lancashire captain Steven Croft and were immediately on the back-foot when Moeen Ali was trapped LBW to Mahmood playing across the line of the ball for just 3. Vikram Solanki took the initiative inside the powerplay to find the boundary and soon reached his 50 from 41 balls, with 3 fours and 3 sixes. The Dangerous Aussie, Phil Hughes, was able to structure a slower innings and accompanied by Solanki, Worcestershire brought up the 100 in the 19th over. The hundred partnership between Solanki and Hughes soon followed Lancashire opener, Stephen Moore (above)
coming from 99 balls. guides his side to victory with his fourth
consecutive fifty.
Lancashire’s bowlers were frustrated by this impressive partnership, but remained relatively economical during the middle period of the innings. Hughes brought up a steady 50 from 71 balls, containing 3 fours and 1 six. The Royals took the batting powerplay at the start of the 30th over and sought to utilise it to their advantage. Phil Hughes lived up to expectation hitting Ajmal Shahzad for three consecutive boundaries. Vikram Solanki was comfortably making his way through the powerplay and soon brought up his 13th one day hundred for Worcestershire from 96 balls, hitting 7 fours and 3 sixes. The powerplay served its purpose as Worcestershire collected 40 runs from 4 overs and they soon reached 200 in the 34th over. Likewise the 200 partnership followed between the Solanki and Hughes as they brought up the record 2nd wicket partnership for Worcestershire in one day cricket.
Solanki’s innings finally came to an end when he was cleverly bowled by youngster Stephen Parry for 121 from just 107 balls, leaving Worcestershire strongly poised on 212-2 with over 5 overs left. The destructive power of Hughes was joined by a short stay from Gareth Andrews who was caught behind by Gareth Cross off the bowling of Gary Keedy for 5. James Cameron was bowled by Shahzad for 3 and Mitchell was caught by Shahzad off the bowling of Mahmood for 0, as Worcestershire stumbled losing 4 wickets for 32 runs.
Hughes was starting to run out of destructive batting partners but he worked his way towards his century, which came from 109 balls and contained 8 fours and 2 sixes. In the last over of the innings, Hughes was caught behind off the bowling of Shahzad for a magnificent 104, leaving Worcestershire on 258 for 6. Ben Scott fell first ball, LBW to Shahzad and Kervezee was caught by Moore off the bowling of Shahzad for just 4. A desperately attempted single from the last ball, ended in the demise of Choudry who was run out by the direct hit of Captain Steven Croft. Shahzad finished with impressive figures of 4 for 51 as Worcestershire posted a demanding total of 259 for 9.
Lancashire’s chase started as light rain fell but Stephen Moore and Ashwell Prince were professional in their effort to chase 260 as they reached 59 for 0 from 8 overs. Stephen Moore led Lancashire’s pursuit and he soon reached his 50 from 40 balls striking 8 fours in the process. Ashwell Prince was bowled by Moeen Ali the very next ball for 14 as Lancashire reached 66 for 1 from 10 overs.
The first official interruption for rain occurred after 11.4 overs, with Lancashire on 69 for 1 and they were ahead on the Duckworth Lewis method. Initially 17 overs were lost for rain and Lancashire needed a revised target of 162 from 23 overs. But rain continued to fall and and even more overs were lost meaning Lancashire needed 131 from 19 overs.
As play resumed, Stephen Moore and Steven Croft knew they would need to bat in 20/20 fashion to chase the revised total of 131. Captain Croft took the initial responsibility scoring three quick boundaries as Choudry’s first over leaked 14 runs. Further rain delayed Lancashire’s chase but they remained ahead of the Duckworth Lewis method by 12 runs. Eventually rain got the best of the game, but Lancashire were victorious as they won by 12 runs on the Duckworth Lewis method.
Few people can question the decision to award Vikram Solanki the man of the match for his superb effort of 121 runs. The key to Lancashire’s success was down to the effort of Stephen Moore who was 60 not out at the close of play. It was Moore’s fourth consecutive 50 in the pro 40 campaign and he is proving to be vital in Lancashire’s chances of qualification as the Lightning move to 2nd in Group A.
In a post match interview, Lancashire coach, Peter Moore’s was keen to credit Solanki and Hughes, saying that “they batted superbly” but he believed his bowlers “were always on task” and Stephen Moore’s form with the bat was “essential under the circumstances”.
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