LANCASHIRE V YORKSHIRE TWENTY 20

Lancashire won the toss and chose to bat, Yorkshire struck early when Gough had the dangerous Jayasuriya for 5. What followed proved to be the decisive partnership of the match. Loye and Hodge put on a rapid 65, they were checked in the later stages by Wainwright who bowled a terrific first spell in Twenty 20 cricket. He was unlucky not to have Hodge caught when Pyrah misjudged a skier. Using clever flight he put the home batsman under pressure. Pressure that was maintained by Pyrah who dismissed Loye for 38 (26 balls). Pyrah also got rid of Law and Gough sent back Hodge for 57 (49 balls). Gillespie and Gough bowled superbly in the closing stages and backed up by good fielding Yorkshire restricted the home side to 143 for 9, only Loye and Hodge in double figures. All Yorkshire’s bowlers came out of the innings with great credit; Gillespie 2 for 27, Gough 2 for 32, Pyrah 2 for 25 and most economical of all Wainwright whose four overs went for 22.

Yorkshire never got to grips with the Lancashire total, pace bowlers Newby, Hogg and notably Smith put a check on the Tykes in the early stages, Smith finished with the impressive figures of 3 for 15. Brophy 19 and Bresnan 15 made double figures but the only other batsman to make any contribution was Jacques Rudolph who made a very good 48 not out (38 balls, 3 fours and a six), no one else hung around for long as Yorkshire were bowled out for a paltry 113. Darren Gough could not hide his anger at the way the game was thrown away in his after match interview of Sky.