OLD TRAFFORD (Lancashire won toss): Yorkshire beat Lancashire by three wickets
EVEN a partisan home crowd stood to applaud Michael Vaughan when he completed a wonderful hundred. Unknowingly, in some cases, they were cheering one of their own, for Vaughan was born in Manchester and has a distant family link to the Tyldesleys. That formidable Lancashire dynasty would have approved from above.
Vaughan’s unbeaten 116 from 109 balls carried Yorkshire to a target of 287 with 14 balls to spare and was sublime in every sense — for conception, style and occasion. It means that Yorkshire will face Gloucestershire in the semi-final of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, while Lancashire can ponder a fifth defeat in 12 days in all competitions.
With Sajid Mahmood bowling fast, full and straight, they restricted Yorkshire to 85 for four with almost two-fifths of the innings gone. However, Vaughan, all grace, found an ally in the more unorthodox Darren Lehmann and Lancashire’s standards in the field started to drop as the partnership realised 149 in 24 overs.
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When Mahmood returned to find Lehmann’s outside edge, Yorkshire still required 53 from 51 balls. Richard Blakey followed in the next over, but Vaughan accepted the extra responsibility as though it was merely the weekly shopping list. A pair of sixes, the second pulled with a familiar pirouette, must have eased the anxiety of his colleagues.
Vaughan will be here again a week today to lead England against New Zealand in the NatWest Series but, as he said, this one was all about his county. “I always enjoy coming back to play for my club,” he said. “It was just one of those days where everything came out of the middle of my bat.”
Lancashire’s cricket committee agreed on Tuesday night that injuries have been a significant factor behind the recent slump. The management gambled on the fitness of Peter Martin here, without comeback, but almost found themselves a bowler light when Craig White struck Carl Hooper on his damaged right thumb.
On a good batting pitch, with enough pace to please the strokemakers, they still needed a late blast of 54 from 20 balls from Dominic Cork to embellish what threatened to be a below-par total. Cork, though, suffered himself later on when Vaughan hit three fours in an over which proved to be pivotal.
While Lancashire scored 158 in the last 20 overs and 61 in the final five, they will know that they could have better utilised the first half of their innings. When the fielding restrictions were lifted they had only 44 on the board. There was a little movement for Matthew Hoggard and Tim Bresnan, but nothing untoward.
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The introduction of Chris Silverwood prompted a flurry of boundaries and Stuart Law seemed unburdened by his back problem in striking successive straight fours against White. At the other end, Mal Loye looked increasingly assured until tickling one from Silverwood that rose and left him.
Silverwood struck again six overs later when Law failed to get his weight over an attempted cut and saw Richard Dawson take a diving catch at backward point. It completed a good recovery from the bowler, but Law was entitled to feel annoyed with himself as Hooper and Alec Swann sought to recover ground.
Lehmann can now be considered a genuine all-rounder in the one-day format, so reliable is his low arm spin. If he is hit — as he was by Hooper over long-off — then he just wanders back to his mark without a care in the world. Dawson, his partner in turn, suffered greater punishment.
Hooper completed his fifty from 55 balls, and the departure of Swann proved a greater setback to Yorkshire than his own side as Cork took command. There was a degree of posturing and lip about Cork’s brief tenure, but some mighty clubbing too as bowlers failed to hit yorker length. After a second contemptuous six off Bresnan from the final ball of the innings, he turned on his heels as if to say: “Job done”. But, of course, it wasn’t.
SCOREBOARD
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LANCASHIRE
M B Loye c Blakey b Silverwood 50
M J Chilton c Wood b Bresnan 3
S G Law c Dawson b Silverwood 48
A J Swann run out 38
C L Hooper lbw b Hoggard 66
D G Cork not out 54
*W K Hegg not out 3
Extras (b 6, lb 5, w 7, nb 6) 24
Total (5 wkts, 50 overs) 286
P J Horton, P J Martin, S I Mahmood and J M Anderson did not bat.
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FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17, 2-82, 3-113, 4-195, 5-261.
BOWLING: Hoggard 10-0-54-1; Bresnan 10-1-45-1; Silverwood 8-0-50-2; White 8-0-45-0; Dawson 4-0-30-0; Lehmann 7-0-32-0; McGrath 3-0-19-0.
YORKSHIRE
M J Wood c Cork b Mahmood 15
*C White c Hegg b Mahmood 43
M P Vaughan not out 116
P A Jaques b Martin 5
A McGrath run out 0
D S Lehmann c Hegg b Mahmood 62
R J Blakey c Chilton b Anderson 4
R K J Dawson b Anderson 4
T T Bresnan not out 3
Extras (lb 20, w 11, nb 4) 35
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Total (7 wkts, 47.4 overs) 287
C E W Silverwood and M J Hoggard did not bat.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-54, 2-75, 3-84, 4-85, 5-234, 6-245, 7-269.
BOWLING: Anderson 10-0-56-2; Cork 8.4-0-50-0; Martin 8-0-40-1; Mahmood 10-0-56-3; Hooper 9-0-51-0; Chilton 2-0-14-0.
Man of the match: M P Vaughan.
Umpires: J W Holder and B Leadbeater.