Yorkshire vs Lancashire
Led by another vintage performance from Dawid Malan, Yorkshire beat Lancashire by 15 runs at Headingley on Thursday (June 1). Malan continued his prime form this season with a classy half-century that was the backbone of Yorkshire’s batting performance as they got to a competitive total after being put into bat. Malan almost batted right through the innings with cameos at the other end although the hosts would have loved to breach the 200-run mark. Lancashire’s New Zealand duo of Daryl Mitchell and Colin de Grandhomm produced standout spells which stifled the run flow.
In reply, Lancashire were dented early as Jos Buttler fell to Dom Bess. Taking a cue from their opponents’ bowling performance, Yorkshire took pace off and choked the daunted Lancs line-up as the chase never gained any serious momentum. Tom Hartley and Luke Wood dished out cameos at the end but by then, the result was a foregone conclusion. For the second game in a row, Yorkshire’s bowlers were able to hold their own against an imposing batting line-up.
Brief scores: Yorkshire 195/6 (Malan 83, Lyth 32; de Grandhomme 3-24) beat Lancashire 180/8 in 20 overs (Hartley 39; Mike 2-31, Wiese 2-31) by 15 runs.
Leicestershire vs Derbyshire
Grace Road, Leicester saw a thrilling finish as Derbyshire sealed a nervy two-run win over Leicestershire. Wayne Madsen produced a cracking century to set up the visitors’ innings as he single-handedly got the total to competitive levels with some support from Thomas Wood and Brook Guest. This was after Callum Parkinson’s twin strikes had given Leicestershire the perfect start to the game. But Madsen, who got going from the start, was unstoppable as he took the bowling apart.
Leicestershire’s chase wasn’t quite full throttle but Colin Ackermann and Rishi Patel kept them in the hunt with a steady partnership. Rehan Ahmed also weighed in with a cameo late on but Derbyshire held their nerves to get across the line.
Brief scores: Derbyshire 189/5 in 20 overs (Madsen 109*, Wood 37; Ahmed 2-20) beat Leicestershire 187/5 in 20 overs (Ackermann 59, Patel 44; Chappell 2-39) by 2 runs.
Sussex vs Essex
Essex registered their second successive victory with a convincing 25-run win over Sussex at County Ground, Hove. On a typically tricky pitch, the visitors got to a workable score thanks to the early flourish from Feroze Khushi and a partnership between Simon Harmer and Robin Das. For Sussex, Shadab Khan and Tymal Mills excelled with the ball as the duo used the conditions to good effect.
Sussex’s chase never took off as they fell to 15/4 in no time and from then on, they were always playing catch-up. Harmer provided the early breakthroughs while Matthew Critchley did the damage later on. James Coles and Oliver Carter fought a bit but all they could do was limit the damage.
Brief scores: Essex 163/7 in 20 overs (Khushi 55, Das 31*; Shadab 3-28) beat Sussex 138 in 20 overs (Coles 35; Harmer 4-28, Critchley 3-28) by 28 runs.
