Lancashire end 16-year wait for a domestic trophy after winning Natwest T20 Blast
Lancashire ended their 16-year long wait for a domestic trophy by lifting the domestic T20 title, ESPNCricinfo reports. The Old Trafford-based side’s score of 166/7 batting first proved enough as they pulled off a 13-run victory over Northamptonshire in the final of the NatWest T20 Blast.
Shahid Afridi produced a brilliant all-round display for Northamptonshire with figures of 4-0-14-3 before shining with the bat scoring 26 of 18 balls. However, his effort went in vain as his side could only muster 153 in their 20 overs.
Alex Davies was awarded the Man of the Match for his innings of 47 from 26 balls that set Lancashire on their way with a flying start. The 21-year-old’s opening partnership with South African veteran Ashwell Prince fetched 77 runs in just nine overs.
Karl Brown soon followed Davies to the pavillion but Jos Butler stepped up the scoring a further few notches well supported by Prince who continued playing the anchorman role for Lancashire. Butler had an underwhelming Ashes series but looked in superb touch yesterday scoring 27 from just 15 balls.
David Willey dismissed the pair in quick succession before Afridi ran riot and at one stage it seemed as if Lancashire would struggle to reach the 150 run mark. However, Arron Lilley’s knock of 22 helped them achieve 166 at the end of 20 overs.
Northamptonshire made a solid start in their reply with their openers Richard Levi and Willey adding 32 of the first four overs. But the pair were guilty of not converting their starts into big scores as both were dismissed by Australian all-rounder James Faulkner. Josh Cobb did make a solid 44, but with the knock coming in 37 balls, Northamptonshire began to lose sight of the required run rate.
Afridi’s quickfire knock did give them a glimmer of hope but once he was dismissed in the 18th over, their hopes of a victory quickly faded away. Gavin Griffiths picked up two wickets for Lancashire while spinners Lilley and Stephen Parry did the important job of curtailing the opposition scoring.