Look North 36

OUT FOXED

Forget the cricket and dress like a banana!

Saturday 27th August 2011 t20 Finals Day at Edgbaston, Birmingham - preview


Semi Final 1


Foxes v Lightning
aka

The day can sometimes to too much for some.

The Paul Nixon farewell party MK2. Foxes will be boosted by the departure of Lancs' effective death bowler, Junaid Khan who's been called-up by Pakistan and by new England international, little Jimmy Taylor returning from Dublin for the game. Foxes have rested most of their squad prior to this fixture including key man Andy McDonald.


Semi Final 2


Hampshire Royal Flushes (from the Armitage Shanks of course) v Somerset  Ifwehaveanicknamewekeepitwellhiddenbuthaveawyvernonourbadgebutmightalsobenamedthesabresandhaveastrongaffiliationwithciderandciderdrinking.

As is the tradition at Finals Day there will be a busy schedule of important Sky TV interviews with friends of Mark Nicholas, Mascot Races, perhaps even the sight of a parachutist or two or a micro-lite aircraft landing on the outfield,  dancing from the Rubicon girls and boys and loads of mega-advertisements as well as three games of cricket that fill any of the small remaining gaps in the action packed running order. Never fear, if the weather turns nasty, none of the important events will be lost to the paying masses as these will be fitted in regardless because the games of cricket can always be shortened or curtailed to accommodate the important attractions.

SF 1

Parry 1/15 from 4 overs

Lancashire won the toss and chose to field with rain around the West Midlands.


Josh Cobb was out first ball of the contest as the Foxes tumble at half way to 74/4 with Jefferson 23 the best score to this point. Over 12 was a wicket maiden bowled by Parry. Rain stopped play at 84/5 after 12.3 overs.


Match reduced to 18 overs - to the advantage of the struggling Foxes.
Razzaq blasts 36 not out as Foxes post a below par 132/6


Rain then interrupted Lightnings innings
53/1 in 8.1overs


Duckworth and then Lewis both had their say and revised target of 80 from 11 overs was conjured up.


Lancs were well on course then, bottled it big time and only managed 79/6, thanks a last ball 6 by Cross that "tied" the teams.

Golden Zero to hero

Josh Cobb 2/6 bowling the penultimate over. 
This meant that the first Super-over in English senior cricket was required.
6 balls with 2 wickets maximum.
Lancs 13/0 from their over
Foxes 16/0 from five balls - ex-Outlaw Jefferson 15 of them


Leicestershire advance to the final.


With the time used for the tie-breaking perhaps more over could have been allocated and the result could have been decided by cricket rather than by luck and thunder.


S/F 2 was delayed by SF 1 and a rain interruption. Somerset won the toss and again chose to field.
A 16 over match was reduced to a One Man Show as Shahid Afridi smacked 80 from 42 balls, taking the game seemingly away from the South Westerners. When more rain arrived again the hawkish Royals had flushed out 138/4 from 15.5 overs.

Star turns in 2 innings

Somerset's revised target 95 from 10 overs - brings them back into the game at a stroke! 
At half way Somerset were 50/1 but then Tahir came on to bowl and after two balls of his first over Pollard and Tresco were back in the bus shelter.
Jos Buttler (32), yes him again, then took the Cidermen to the brink of victory but Trego and Suppiah failed to drag their team over the line, a tie the result again. Somerset 94/6


Another Super-over tie breaker.


Somerset; Kieswetter and Jos Buttler manage 16/0 off Afridi


Hampshire 5/1 from their over bowled by Alfonso Thomas.


Massive delays caused by the weather and the cricket but not too much as the mascot race took place at the time the final should have started.

0/14 from 4 overs

 Wyvern Sabres v Foxes in the Final
Foxes innings, after being put in by Tresco, 145/6 (20 ov)


Jefferson 35
Razzaq 33
Cobb 18


Pollard 2/24
Suppiah 2/27


Somerset Innings 127/9 (20 ov)


Another stumbling innings from Somerset, rarely up with the par throughout their innings. Some tactical use of the twelfth man (Boyce) fielding athletically on the boundary taking four catches in total too, on the field for the less mobile Jefferson to add to the mix by the wily Foxes. But Josh Cobb again was the hero with ball 4/22 as the Wurzels imploded under the lights.

4 catches

What will Nixon do now? Retire after the Champions competition next year?


North beat South by 18 runs.




NB: Foxes shied away from taking the Outlaws on this year, hiding behind the covers on both occasions after Notts had posted scores.