Lancashire beat UAE by one run in Airline Tournament

Lancashire Lightning advanced to the final of the Emirates Airline tournament with a tense one-run victory against UAE in dubai.

The home side hit a six off the last ball of the match, but were unable to chase the 145/7 set by Lancashire, with captain Steven Croft top-scoring with 38 not out after being put into bat first.

Laxman Sreekumar hit an unbeaten 61 from 52 balls for UAE, as they looked well set to chase 146. But crucial wickets at regular intervals ensured that Lancashire set up a final with either Yorkshire of MCC later today.

Had Lancashire been beaten, it would have been no shame, given that UAE have recently returned from the Asia Cup, a tournament which saw them beat the likes of Oman and Afghanistan. The Red Rose would have looked back at a scratchy powerplay as a difficult spell, with Tom Smith and Alex Davies struggling to time the ball in the early stages.

The duo added 41 runs for the first wicket, although Smith contributed the majority of the runs, hitting six boundaries in his innings of 33 before he departed to Mohammad Shahzad. Davies also made 33 at a run-a-ball, coming out of his shell after the loss of Smith, now accompanied by Karl Brown.

Davies and Brown shared another 36 runs, with conditions still taking ahold of their efforts to break free and score boundaries. A lack of spin bowlers was surprising, but pace proved to be the more effective route for UAE, until Rohan Mustafa (3-27) came into the attack.

He bowled Davies and had Brown out lbw for 10 in quick succession, which left Lancashire needing another strong partnership, but one which could also accumulate runs fast. Captain Croft attempted to galvanise the innings and he was responsible for the only six of the innings, which he clobbered straight down the ground.

Liam Livingstone was unable to carry his form from the warm-up game against Yorkshire yesterday, falling for nine as Mustafa collected his third scalp of the innings. Croft continued to accumulate runs at a good pace, but smart running between the wickets was vital, with timing and boundaries still hard to come by.

A flurry of run outs saw Jordan Clark return to the pavilion without facing a ball, with Luke Procter (13) and Arron Lilley also failing to get the better of intelligent fielding from UAE, as Lancashire could only muster 145/7.

The Lightning made a good start to their defence of 146, with George Edwards and Kyle Jarvis removing both opening batsmen in quick succession. Jarvis, the pick of the Lancashire attack with figures of 3-35, took the catch off Edwards to remove Shahzad for six, before the Zimbabwean bowled Mustafa for 11, as part of a wicket maiden in the fourth over.

Tidy bowling from the Lancashire spinners was inhabited by the dangerous Laxman, who continued to hit boundaries freely and keep UAE in line with the required rate. A much-needed breakthrough came for Lancashire when Shabbir Ahmed was trapped lbw by Stephen Parry (1-28) at 78/3, as the tourists started to apply pressure to the opposition.

Spin bowling might not have been crucial for UAE, but it is a cornerstone of Lancashire's Twenty20 game plan and today was no exception. Mohammad Usman became the fourth UAE casualty, after he was brilliantly caught by Livingstone off Procter (1-6).

Laxman continued to be the danger man for the home side, lofting Parry for six to release some of the pressure that had been applied by the loss of two quick wickets. Livingstone's fielding played a crucial part in the Lightning's slender victory, as his rocket throw from the boundary allowed Lancashire to run out Qasim with the score now at 107/5.

However, this wicket brought Amjad Javed to the crease and he hit his first two deliveries for six, the second of which came from a no-ball, which really put a dent in Lancashire's confidence. Economical bowling from Edwards in the penultimate over gave Lancashire renewed hope heading into the final six deliveries and Jarvis backed up his efforts with a tidy over of his own to take Lancashire over the line.

A thumping six from Mohammad Naveed left UAE just short of their target, although there was a degree of confusion about the score at the time, which caused many people in the ground to believe that the game had been tied.