Foxes Men 2nd XI win one of two 2 T20s against Notts Men 2nd XI

Leicestershire batted first in the opening match of the day and mostly struggled apart from Gumbs’ 79 not out and 28 from Trevaskis that gave the hosts a competitive 165/9. In reply, Nottinghamshire made a fast start and looked to be in control of the match at the halfway stage. The removal of both set batters Rogers and Lord in the fourteenth over brought the Foxes back into contention and thanks to a great start to the final over from Green, the match went down to the last ball. Ahmed needed to 2 to win the game for Nottinghamshire but he edged it and was caught by Tattersall, meaning Leicestershire won the first match by 1 run.

In the second of the two matches, the Foxes once again batted first but they lost consistent wickets and despite a fantastic 80 in 44 balls from Scriven, they only managed 139/8. Rain reduced Nottinghamshire’s reply to 11 overs, but they soon reached their adjusted target of 87, chasing it down in 8.4 overs to win by seven wickets.

In the first match, visiting captain Seecheran won the toss for Nottinghamshire and elected to bowl first on a tricky batting wicket at Kibworth CC.

At the end of the first over, a top edge from Mike resulted in him being caught and bowled by Hayes for 1. Lord had Hill caught by Seecheran later in the powerplay for 10, as the Foxes ended the first six overs 48/2.

Gumbs and Trevaskis settled the innings down with a partnership of 75 that ended halfway through the thirteenth over when the latter drove a Martindale delivery to Seecheran on 28. In Martindale’s following over, he had Trevaskis caught by Rogers at long off for 16.

Wickets started to fall quickly in the last four overs, starting with Scriven who flicked a Croom delivery to Rogers in the leg side for 12. In the next

over, Wood flashed a cut into the leg side, finding Croom who took the catch – Hayes dismissing him for 2. Lord returned to the attack in the nineteenth over and removed both Patel and Hull for 1 and 0 respectively. On the penultimate ball of the innings, Green fell for 3, top-edging a Hayes delivery to Hatton-Lowe.

However, Gumbs batted through the entire innings, keeping Leicestershire in the match with his 79 in 56 deliveries that took the Foxes to 165/9 after 20 overs.

Green made a quick start with ball in hand, taking two wickets in his first over. His first wicket came thanks to an edge from Seecheran that found Hull at third man who fell for 0, before James flashed a drive to Farooq at point, departing for a golden duck.

Martindale hit a fast 28 in 11 balls – his innings ending as he cut a Green delivery to Trevaskis at backward point. In the seventh over, Holland was caught by Gumbs at cow corner for 13 as Trevaskis took his first of the afternoon.

After Rogers and Lord had calmed the innings down it looked like they would see Nottinghamshire home to victory, but in the fourteenth over Trevaskis dismissed both of them. Rogers fell first stumped by Tattersall for a well-made 55 before Lord holed out to Scriven for 19.

With Nottinghamshire requiring fifteen runs for victory in the last two overs, both sides had a good chance of victory. Hull brought it back into Leicestershire’s favour by removing Hatton-Lowe for 16, however a six from Ahmed later in the over meant the visitors only needed six to win in the final over.

An economic start to the over from Green resulted in Ahmed needing to hit two from the final delivery. Ahmed came down the pitch but could only get the edge of his bat on the ball and Tattersall was able to cover the ground to take the catch, meaning Leicestershire won by 1 run.

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In the second of the two matches, no toss was contested and Leicestershire batted first. Gumbs couldn’t replicate his runs from the first match as he edged the second ball of the first over from Fletcher to Patterson-White, falling for 4.

Coming into the side for the second game, Maddy fell for 4, edging a Pocklington delivery high to Ahmed. Two overs later, Mike was caught by keeper Butcher having top-edged a pull shot, falling to Hatton-Lowe for 11.

With the Foxes struggling at 37/3 after the first over, their poor start was compounded by Patterson-White dismissing Tattersall LBW for 8 in the seventh over.

In the tenth over, Wood picked out Seecheran driving a Fletcher delivery for 4, before Patel was caught and bowled by Ahmed for 5 an over later.

Scriven started to dig Leicestershire out of the hole they found themselves in, and whilst Rayner was with him at the crease, he only managed 13 in 15 balls before he was caught and bowled by Pocklington at the end of the sixteenth over.

Scriven continued his swashbuckling innings, making 80 in 44 balls to give Leicestershire a chance in the match. He was dismissed by Hatton-Lowe with the penultimate delivery of the Foxes’ twenty overs, scything the ball outside the off-stump but only as far as Seecheran. Green picked up a single off the last ball, taking Leicestershire to 139/8.

After only eight balls of the Nottinghamshire response, the rain came down and their innings was reduced to eleven overs with their target adjusted to 87.

Green took the first wickets of the innings in the fourth over, as Seecheran mistimed a cross batted shot and picked out Wood on 18, before Patterson-White played a flamboyant shot to Mike at mid-on, departing for 2.

However, Nottinghamshire were 49/2 by the end of that over and so victory never looked in doubt. Green dismissed Rogers caught behind for 1, attempting to flick a leg-side delivery down to fine leg in his next over. Despite this, Martindale and Lord saw their side home to a comfortable victory by 7 wickets, scoring 44 and 14 respectively.