Lancashire defeated by Leicestershire Foxes at Emirates Old Trafford despite late hope

Lancashire suffered their second defeat of the Vitality Blast with a two wicket loss to Leicestershire Foxes at Emirates Old Trafford.

Even with a score of 55 from teenager Joe Moores, Steven Croft’s side could only set a target of 145, with the 17-year-old being the only true shining light for the Red Rose with the bat.

After restricting the visitors, with the help of three wickets from Saqib Mahmood and two from George Balderson, Lightning’s defeat eventually came with one ball remaining.

After a bright Bank Holiday Monday, Matthew Hurst couldn’t replicate the same success, exiting in the first over, with Rishi Patel catching for a Liam Trevaskis wicket.

On his first Lancashire outing of the season after returning from the IPL, Liam Livingstone hit the first four of the contest - which proved to be the first of three in quick succession.

Captain Keaton Jennings soon joined in with a boundary of his own, but soon had his stumps smashed by Ian Holland, going for 10 runs off 11 balls.

Livingstone quickly followed, as he departed in the fifth over with a personal tally of 15, as Trevaskis took his second Lancashire player of the night, with Ben Mike providing the catch on this occasion.

Like Hurst and Jennings, Ben McDermott was also unable to replicate his strong batting display from the recent victory over Notts Outlaws, with just six runs coming his way before playing a shot into the hands of Holland for a Ben Green wicket.

Joe Moores and Chris Green were able to form a more substantial partnership, hitting 52 off 41 balls.

The visitors were hit with a blow in the 14th over, with a collision between fielders on the boundary resulting in Sol Budinger exiting on a stretcher.

Once play resumed, Moores continued to thrive, reaching a half century, which included three sixes and four fours, off 35 balls.

The teenager exited shortly after, with Ashton Turner claiming a wicket courtesy of a Trevaskis catch.

Green ultimately went for 28 after playing a shot into Nick Kelly’s hand, before Tom Hartley was caught by Ben Cox for a duck on the very next ball, as Josh Davey quickly collected two Lightning scalps.

Harry Singh was able to score eight before being run out, while George Balderson hit 14 as he closed out the innings with Tom Aspinwall, with Green taking his stumps on the final ball.

Mike led a strong start to the Leicestershire chase, but was soon stopped in his tracks on the third over.

Balderson was on hand with a catch for a Mahmood wicket, as the Foxes opener exited for 21.

Stevie Eskinazi was the next to go in the eighth over, with Hartley building on his strong evening against Notts, thanks to Moores collecting on the rope, to stop the Australian at 14 runs off 28 balls.

Patel proved to be the visitors’ strongest asset, scoring 40 by the time he fired a shot into the hands of Singh for a Livingstone wicket, to depart on 40.

With Leicestershire ticking over towards a win, three consecutive wickets at the end of the 17th over and the beginning of 18th were welcomed by the Red Rose.

Kelly was the first to go for 29, after having his stumps taken by Green, before Mahmood took both Turner and Green for ducks courtesy of catches from Hurst and Singh.

At the start of the 19th, the Lancs wicketkeeper caught another, this time to take Cox.

After picking up his first wicket of the night, Balderson soon had another, with Livingstone collecting on the rope to dismiss Trevaskis.

On the first ball of the final over, Holland hit a four off Aspinwall to put the win within touching distance for Leicestershire, with the Foxes eventually getting themselves over the line.