Vitality T20 Blast 2019, Day 15: Round Up

James Faulkner's brilliant final over helped Lancashire pull off a thrilling win at the Old Trafford.

Published - 04 Aug 2019, 05:05 IST | Updated - 04 Aug 2019, 05:05 IST

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Just one game took place on Saturday in the Vitality T20 Blast and that turned out to be a pretty thrilling affair. The game went down to the final over with two Australians taking centre stage on either side and eventually, it was James Faulkner who had the upper hand for the Lancashire side, disallowing 12 runs in the final over to Daniel Christian.

Luke Wood provided a solid start to the Nottinghamshire, picking up a wicket off the game’s first ball. Another wicket fell in the same over as Steven Croft too found his timber disturbed. Imad Wasim then struck a big blow to dismiss Liam Livingstone, which left a humongous amount of responsibility on the shoulders of Glenn Maxwell.

Maxwell added a fantastic partnership with Dane Vilas and despite struggling at 35/4 at one point, Lancashire went on to achieve a more than competitive total towards the end courtesy Maxwell’s sensational 46-ball 73. Vilas scored a 36-ball 46 and added 107 runs for the fifth wicket with Maxwell. They set a 152-run target for the Notts.

Skipper Christian drags the game to the final over

Just the way it happened in the first innings, there was a wicket which fell off the first ball. Alex Hales was in free-flowing mode and got some vital runs in the powerplay, but Matthew Parkinson picked his wicket at a crucial juncture to disturb the momentum of the innings. Samit Patel played a decent hand in the middle order, but he had very little support.

It seemed like the Notts had the game under control at 96/3 in 12.4 overs, but Samit Patel and Tom Moores fell in a span of 6 deliveries to put the pressure back on the batting side. Imad Wasim and Luke Wood too followed the suit as the captain Daniel Christian kept watching the drama unfold from the other end helplessly.

Christian tried to take the game deep and held his composure till the 19th over. He smashed three sixes off Saqib Mohammad and accumulated 21 runs in that over, which meant only 12 runs were needed in the final over. James Faulkner picked up two wickets and gave away just two runs in the first four deliveries, which proved decisive enough. Although Christian hit a four off the final ball, Lancashire emerged victorious by 3 runs.