T20 Blast 2019, Day 9: Round-up

Rain gods greeted the spectators who turned up to watch the T20 Blast games on the 9th day. Both the matches that were to be played were impacted. While one game had to be cut down to 11-overs per side, the other match was washed out without even the toss taking place.

There were some good performances in the match between Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. Arron Lilley performed brilliantly both with the bat as well as the ball. On the other hand, Essex and Gloucestershire shared one point each.

Here is how things progressed on the day:

Nottinghamshire vs Leicestershire – North Group

Nottinghamshire had no doubts about bowling first after they won the toss. Usually, in such shortened games, chasing can be an advantage. But at times, due to the pressure, it can go against you as well. The team only realised this in the latter half of the innings. Leicestershire lost its opener Harry Swindells for a golden duck. However, the other opener Mark Cosgrove took the onus and tried to play the anchor.

He remained unbeaten on 37 off 23 balls at the end of 11 overs. However, the best knock of the innings came from Arron Lilley who accelerated his way to 66 from only 30 balls. Captain Colin Ackermann scored 18 runs off 12 balls towards the end as Leicestershire got to 125/3. Luke Wood, Imad Wasim and Harry Gurney picked up a wicket each.

Nottinghamshire batsmen tried to go too hard in the chase. In the process, they ended up losing their top four batsmen very cheaply. After 7.5 overs, the team was down to 68/4 and the target was getting more and more out of reach. At this stage, Tom Moores played a small cameo and kept everyone in the ground entertained.

However, that wasn’t enough to take the team over the line and he didn’t get much support from the other end either. The wicket-keeper remained unbeaten on 44 off 19 balls as his team could only get to 104/6 at the end of 11 overs and they fell short of the target by 21 runs.

Brief Scores:

LEIC: 125/3 in 11 overs (Arron Lilley 66, M Cosgrove 37*, Imad Wasim 1/19)

NOTTS: 104/6 in 11 overs (Tom Moores 44*, Dan Christian 18, Gavin Griffiths 2/22)

Result: Leicestershire won by 21 runs (Match reduced to 11 overs per side due to rain)

Essex vs Gloucestershire – South Group

[Match abandoned due to rain (no toss)]