Lancashire v Essex - Clydesdale Bank 40 - Group A – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lancashire-c806 exhibit dominance -Match Recap
Lancashire 258/9 v http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783 230/10 - Lancashire won by 28 runs
In their Clydesdale Bank 40 - Group A match, Lancashire exhibited phenomenal play in their clash against Essex as they secured a win by 28 runs on successfully defending a total of 258 at Old Trafford, Manchester.
On winning the toss, Lancashire skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Steven-Croft-c2583 without any hesitation chose to bat first on a smooth surface where he knew his batsmen would have a mighty chance of prevailing against the bowlers.
However, the side suffered the loss of their first wicket with only 19 runs on the board, when opener, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AG-Prince-c949, got his stumps demolished by GR Napier.
Croft then took the field and provided opener SC http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Moore-c77694 a solid support as the batsmen became a daunting force against the bowling attack they were up against.
The duo made batting look exceptionally easy as they smashed some of the finest batting shots in modern-day cricket, bolstering their dominance against the fielding side.
Essex needed to break the partnership in order to make a comeback in the match, and finally with 130 runs on the board, the fielding side managed to nab the wicket of Moore, who departed after crafting a handsome innings of 62 runs.
Later on the second delivery of the 21st over, the skipper also faltered after hammering an innings of 53 runs off 46 deliveries, leaving his team standing on a total of 146 runs.
This triggered a mild batting collapse, as a run later Lancashire saw the demise of their fourth wicket with KR Brown getting caught by Pettini on a delivery bowled by Masters after scoring 15 runs.
This was the time when Essex could have enforced their superiority by grabbing a couple of more wickets, however, PJ Horton batted aggressively alongside wicketkeeper/batsman, GD Cross to take the score to 197 runs before Cross was dismissed by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mills-c76321 after scoring an innings of 17 runs.
In the end, Lancashire managed to amass an impressive tally with Horton clobbering 54 runs before finding his way back to the pavilion.
From Essex, DD Masters was the best bowler with four wickets to his name in eight overs.
Essex then launched a daunting run chase as openers ML Pettini and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Petersen-c1028 staggered 40 runs together, before suffering the fall of their first wicket, with Petersen perishing after smashing 24 runs.
Pettini was then the next to follow as he lost his wicket after scoring an innings of 17 runs. At the time of his wicket, the side had amassed 52 runs.
Nonehttp://www.senore.com/Cricket/David-John-Goodchild-c529407# (44) and GR Napier (51) to come closer to the required target, however, Essex still fell short of touching the finish line as they could bolster only 230 runs.
G Keedy was the best bowler from Lancashire with three Essex scalps in his bag.
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