Report: Leicestershire v Warwickshire, One Day Cup

Warwickshire made it two wins out of two in the Metrobank One Day Cup with an emphatic eight wicket victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road.

Skipper Ed Barnard continued his outstanding form in the competition by taking four quick wickets, including that of India Test star Adjinkya Rahane, after putting the Foxes in to bat, reducing the home side to 40-4.

Craig Miles picked up three wickets, and Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Will Rhodes and Jake Lintott one apiece as Leicestershire subsided to 88 all out in just 25.4 overs.

Although former Bear Chris Wright then took two quick wickets when the visitors began their reply, Rhodes and Hamza Shaikh put together an unbeaten partnership of 85 to steer their side home with 32.4 overs in hand.

Warwickshire gave starts to Kai Smith, the teenage wicketkeeper fit again after six weeks out with a broken hand, and another 18-year-old in spinner Taz Ali.

Barnard chose to bowl first after winning the toss, but can hardly have anticipated what would follow, on the same pitch on which Leicestershire had scored 369-6 against Notts.

The first five overs were relatively uneventful, albeit Foxes opener Harry Swindells played and missed at several outswingers, but fellow opener Sol Budinger appeared untroubled, hitting three crisp boundaries. There was movement off the seam though, particularly for Barnard, and soon after bringing one back to bowl the struggling Swindells, found the edge of Budinger’s bat with a fine delivery which left the left-hander.

Opposite number Hill was his third victim, edging a lifting delivery to the wicket-keeper, but his fourth wicket, the key one of Rahane, had an element of fortune about it, coming off a low leg side full toss which the batsman tried to help down to long leg only to turn the bat too soon. The ball struck the back of the bat and looped gently back to the grateful if slightly startled bowler.

Leicestershire’s second overseas batsman, Peter Hanscomb, also went caught and bowled, in his case chipping a full straight delivery straight back to Rhodes for a duck.

The procession continued, Liam Trevaskis edging a delivery pushed across him from Hannon-Dalby low to Rhodes at slip, before a stand of 34 between Ben Cox and Ben Mike gave Leicestershire’s disbelieving supporters faint hope of posting some sort of score.

The hopes were quickly and decisively extinguished as Cox chipped a simple catch to midwicket, Mike top edged an ambitious pull for Ali, running back from mid-on, to take a good catch, a catch made to look ordinary when Rhodes took a really fine diving catch at slip off Jake Lintott to see the back of Scriven.

Wright was last to go, bowled off the inside edge, but the seamer at  least enjoyed some measure of revenge, trimming Barnard’s bails with a beauty and then winning a leg before decision against Theo Wylie to reduce the Bears to 7-2. Thereafter however Rhodes and Shaikh played with increasing comfort to see their side over the line in double quick time.

Hamza Shaikh said: “It was a lovely game for us. To get a performance like that from the bowlers, well, you can’t really ask for much more. When it came to batting we lost a couple of quick wickets, but it was a decent pitch and a very fast outfield,  and it was a case of batting time, because though the pitch had a bit in it, once you got in the ball flew around. It certainly wasn’t a terror track, maybe a bit two paced, but it was all about good bowling and catching.

“It’s been an exciting summer for me one way or another, captaining England Under 19 and now playing with Warwickshire and getting some time out in the middle for my county. This is a big competition for us and for me, I feel the role batting at four suits me, and anything I can do to help the side win, I’ll try and do. If I can do well in the One Day Cup maybe I’ll get more chances in the championship.”