Foxes Second XI Share the Spoils in Durham T20 Double Header

In the first match, Leicestershire bowled well to restrict Durham to 159 but a middle order collapse resulted in them falling 12 runs short of the target, having required only 24 runs to win from the last 18 deliveries with 6 wickets in hand.

In the second match, Leicestershire batted first and without meaningful contributions from any players, they only managed 132/9 in twenty overs. However, Durham struggled even more with bat in hand and fell to 102 alll out, as Rayner took a fifer, losing by 30 runs.

Stepping in to captain the side, Wood won the toss for Leicestershire and elected to field first.

In the third over, Sumerauer broke the opening partnership by removing Mustard’s middle stump for 5. Wood had Rhodes caught by Hill for 8 a couple of overs later.

Drissell and Symington rebuilt the Durham innings, putting on 63 for the third wicket partnership before Drissell holed out to Wood at long-on off the bowling of Rizvi, departing for 30.

Symington fell just short of a deserved half century for 48 as he missed a ramp against Wood that flicked the top of the bails. Minto edged a flashy drive through to Maddy behind the stumps later in the same over. In the following over, Bowman was caught and bowled by Wallis for 2.

Bushnall and Ghafari smashed 25 and 18 respectively at the end of the innings, taking Durham to 160/6 after their twenty overs.

A slow start in the first couple of overs was compounded by Hill being caught for 2 by Symington at short fine-leg ramping a Bushnell delivery. Halfway through the seventh over, Backhouse removed Dunk LBW for 18.

Gumbs and Fraine came together and put the Foxes back into the game, requiring 36 runs to win in the last five overs. However, the stumping of Fraine for 31 and Gumbs being caught for 71 in the same Ghafari over brought the hosts back into contention.

With 18 needed in the last two overs, Maddy holed out to Bushnell sweeping a Ghafari delivery for 1, before a superb throw from Bowman saw Madan run out for 1. Wood edged the final delivery of Ghafari’s over to Symington at short third man on 6, leaving the Foxes with 16 runs to win in the final over.

Minto bowled Sumerauer for a golden duck with the second delivery of the last over, as Durham won the first game by 12 runs.

________________________________________________________________________________________

In the afternoon, Wood again won the toss for the Foxes, but this time elected to bat first.

Hill and Fraine got Leicestershire off to a steady start, scoring 43 in the power play without losing a wicket. The partnership was broken by Ghafari when Fraine was stumped having missed a reverse sweep for 29 in the seventh over.

In his next over, Ghafari picked up another stumping as Wallis advanced down the wicket and missed a wild drive, departing for 6. Hill was dismissed LBW for 21 by Bushnell in the tenth over as the visitors were 68/3 at the halfway stage in their innings.

In the thirteenth over, Ghafari took another wicket by removing Gumbs LBW for 8. Drissell bowled Wood for 1 in the following over. Backhouse found the edge of Maddy’s bat an over later as he departed for 5 – Leicestershire struggling at 96/6 with five overs remaining.

Madan had been batting through the collapse, but he did eventual fall caught and bowled to Drissell for 18 in the sixteenth over, before removing Sumerauer LBW for 3 later in the same over.

Rayner chopped a Minto delivery onto the stumps, departing for 5 as Leicestershire scraped to 132/9.

Durham also struggled with bat in hand, ending the powerplay 27/1 after Bowman drove a Rayner delivery to Hill at mid-off on 8. Mustard top edged a Wallis delivery high into the air and was caught by the bowler for 9 in the seventh over.

Wallis picked up another wicket in the ninth over as Drissell holed out to Dunk in the leg side for 2, before Rhodes edged a Rizvi delivery to Maddy behind the stumps in the following over, falling for 13. At the halfway point, Durham found themselves well behind the match on 46/4.

In the fourteenth over, Bushnell ran past a Rayner delivery and was stumped by Maddy for 10. Symington was given out LBW for 1 two balls later – Rayner picking up his third of the afternoon.

Rizvi picked up the wicket of Minto for 16 as he was the second man to be stumped by Maddy of the game. Ghafari miscued a Wood delivery that found Dunk in the offside, falling for 12, before Hogg was bowled by Rayner for 8 at the start of the eighteenth over.

Rayner took his fifth wicket to end the game as Backhouse edged a cut through to Maddy behind the stumps – The Foxes winning the second match of the day by 30 runs.