KING OF THE ROSES
LANCS BEAT YORKS TO BOOK T20 QF SPOT
LANCASHIRE saw off Yorkshire England skipper Joe Root to complete a Vitality Blast double over rivals Yorkshire and secure their place in the quarter-finals with two games to spare.
The England Test captain’s 2-25 from four overs of off-spin helped to stymie a blistering Red Rose start at 132-2 in the 15th over, with them ending on 167-6.
Root then hit a memorable third 50 in four North Group innings this summer, 64 off 39 balls with eight fours and a six.
But the Red Rose spinners took control of the game as Yorkshire went from 115-1 after 13 overs to 160-6 after 20, failing to get 12 off the last over as Lancashire claimed a seven-run win to follow their victory at Headingley earlier in the week.
Yorkshire are still without a Blast Roses win since August 2017 and haven’t won at Emirates Old Trafford now since 2014.
Lancashire opener Liam Livingstone top-scored with 69 off 43 balls and Steven Croft almost matched him with 58 off 45, but Root’s off-spin contributed significantly to the loss of five wickets for 16 runs.
Second-wicket pair Livingstone and Croft shared 130 - the Red Rose side’s record partnership in Blast games against Yorkshire.
They united for 14.1 overs after the early departure of Alex Davies and shared all seven sixes in the innings.
Livingstone reached his 50 first off 34 balls before Croft’s came off 39.
With five-and-a-half overs remaining, Lancashire were eyeing close to 200. But then came the quite remarkable collapse of five wickets for 16 runs, including two wickets apiece for Root and seamer Jordan Thompson.
Thompson had Livingstone caught at long-on at 132 for two in the 15th over before Root had Croft caught at short fine-leg sweeping (135 for four in the 16th).
In all, Lancashire only added 35 runs for the loss of five wickets in the final 33 balls, with 13 overs bowled by spin through an innings which saw no other home batsman reach 20.
Adam Lyth (44) viciously cut Luke Wood for six over backward point in the third over of Yorkshire’s reply reply, only for Dawid Malan (eight) to miscue a pull against Danny Lamb to mid-on in the fourth as the score fell to 24-1.
Root then pulled Wood for six over mid-wicket in the fifth over and also added four boundaries in his first 12 balls.
He and Lyth shared 91 inside 10 overs, before a White Rose collapse to match Lancashire’s saw Lyth, Root and Will Fraine all run out coming back for two and Harry Brook trapped lbw as the score fell to 148-5 in the 18th.
The target became 19 off two overs, with Matthew Parkinson getting Thompson caught at longon before Saqib Mahmood defended 12 off the last against Jonny Tattersall and debutant Matthew Revis.