Pettini powers up as Leicestershire make a flying start
NORTH ROUND-UP
LEICESTERSHIRE may be rank outsiders for the One-Day Cup but if Mark Pettini continues to play like a man possessed, then they might just continue to surprise.
Pettini plundered 159 off 135 balls – the highest List A score by a Leicestershire batsman against a firstclass county – as Warwickshire were battered by 103 runs at Grace Road.
Ably assisted by Tom Wells (67) and Aadil Ali (52), the man who had the one-day captaincy taken away from him over the winter helped his side to a mammoth 363-7 from their 50 overs – their highest-ever score against a firstclass county.
And while Grace Road may have been just that – a road – the home bowlers did more than enough to wrap up the comprehensive victory, despite Sam Hain’s classy century, as Wells (3-44) and Gavin Griffiths (3-35) both took career-best bowling figures.
That pasting of last year’s champions followed an impressive three-wicket triumph in their North Group opener against Lancashire and a narrow, but valiant, 42-run defeat to Worcestershire two days later.
Two wins from three is a start beyond Leicestershire’s wildest dreams but both Worcester and Yorkshire were 100 per cent from their opening two fixtures.
Three days before triumphing in Leicester, Steve Rhodes’ troops began their campaign with a five-wicket Duckworth-Lewis victory over Nottinghamshire.
Michael Lumb’s 104 helped Notts set a competitive total of 273-6 but, needing 168 from 22 overs after a rain delay, Worcs got over the line with 12 balls to spare – thanks largely to Ross Whiteley’s unbeaten 41 from just 19 balls.
Yorkshire also cruised past Nottinghamshire in their opener at Trent Bridge as Joe Root’s unbeaten 75 easily saw them chase down a measly 186, and they followed that up with perhaps the sweetest victory of all – a Roses triumph over Lancs by 79 runs.
Meanwhile, Durham followed up a no-result against Derbyshire with a 72-run win at Warwickshire, Derby then beat Northamptonshire and lost to Notts, while Northants also suffered a tenwicket, Duckworth-Lewis loss to Warks.