Chris Lynn’ s hundred heaps extra woe on Leicestershire
Northamptonshire 168 for two (Lynn 110* ) beat Leicestershire 164 for 8 (Kimber 41, Sanderson 3-25, Tye 3-30) by eight wickets
Chris Lynn made a spectacular return to Vitality Blast type with a blistering 106 not out to energy a rejuvenated Northamptonshire Steelbacks to a complete eight-wicket win over a Leicestershire Foxes who’ve now misplaced their first 5 matches.
The Australian who smashed an unbeaten century in opposition to the identical opposition final season had managed simply 66 runs in 4 innings to this point this 12 months however he put the Foxes to the sword earlier than a packed Wantage Road as Northants confirmed indicators of a season gaining momentum.
Lynn plundered 5 sixes and 13 fours, and shared an 81-run stand in 8.5 overs with skipper David Willey because the Steelbacks reached their goal of 165 with seven balls to spare.
Chris Lynn scored a century in opposition to Leicestershire Foxes off 66 balls for the second 12 months operating – his T20 third century for the membership general. No different Steelbacks batter has scored a couple of. “It wasn’t our most polished performance, but we’re building,” he mentioned. “The boys have just lacked a little bit of belief so far, but there are some good signs.”
Earlier, Ben Sanderson made a shocking return to the Steelbacks aspect taking three for 12 in his first two overs in his first T20 recreation this season. Sanderson took a wicket off the second ball of the sport and conceded only a single in his opening over to place the strain firmly on Leicestershire.
Louis Kimber hit a spirited 41 off 27 balls to assist push Leicestershire into three figures. Although the Foxes misplaced 4 wickets for 48 of their final seven overs with Andrew Tye taking three for 30, Naveen-ul-Haq clubbed 25 off simply eight balls to make sure they posted a aggressive whole, albeit round 15 to twenty runs under par.
Sanderson (3 for 25) was Northants’ main T20 wicket taker final season and he opened his account this 12 months by bowling Nick Welch earlier than having Rishi Patel caught at mid-on and knocking over Colin Ackermann’s stumps three balls later.
Lewis Hill (31), dropped off Sanderson on 8, hit Willey over lengthy on for 4 and took on the hook shot, garnering a six and two fours by means of balls which flew behind the stumps. His innings ended although with the introduction of Freddie Heldreich’s spin who had him effectively stumped by Lewis McManus.
Kimber led a restoration with helpful assist from Rehan Ahmed in a stand value 47 in 5.4 overs. Kimber dented Sanderson’s figures by swinging him for an enormous six over deep midwicket and pulling him for 4 in the identical course earlier than dispatching Heldreich over lengthy on and lengthy off for 2 maximums. He supplied a steepling caught and bowled likelihood on 31 however James Sales couldn’t maintain on. He lastly perished trying a giant swing in opposition to Tye with the Foxes 103 for 5 after 13 overs.
Ahmed (16) fell when he superior down the pitch and tried to hook Willey solely to high edge the ball for the Steelbacks skipper to take a easy catch. Tye then chipped in to knock over Callum Parkinson’s (16) stumps earlier than Harry Swindells supplied him a steepling catch off his personal bowling within the remaining over which ended with Naveen-ul-Haq blazing consecutive sixes.
When Northamptonshire batted, Emilio Gay (13), opening rather than the in-form Ricardo Vasconcelos who’s nursing a wrist damage, performed some engaging pictures earlier than he was the primary wicket to fall caught behind off Naseem Shah.
Lynn, although, quickly powered by means of the gears concentrating on Parkinson with a pair of fours off the third over. He smashed Naveen-ul-Haq by means of additional cowl and minimize him barely squarer for an additional boundary earlier than dispatching Ackermann and Parkinson for sixes over cow nook and introduced up his half-century off 42 deliveries.
He was particularly extreme on Josh Hull’s second over, taking 20 runs from it, together with a giant six over the household stand at deep midwicket.
Willey was dropped within the deep off a troublesome likelihood off Ahmed on 8. He hit the younger England leg-spinner out of the bottom over deep midwicket for six however lastly fell to a boundary catch off Naveen with the Steelbacks needing 45 from 41 balls.
Saif Zaib (15*) broke the shackles with a few boundaries earlier than Lynn swept Parkinson for six and hit him for 4 down the bottom to enter the 90s. He reached his century and introduced up the Steelbacks’ win by clubbing Rehan for six and two fours off consecutive deliveries.