14 June 1999
Ruthless Lancashire keep up pressure on the Tykes
The Lancashire Evening Telegraph
Lancashire bounced back in style from their Championship
disappointment at Southport with a ruthless National League
demolition of Warwickshire at Edgbaston yesterday.
The Bears had no answer to the Lightning, as Peter Martin grabbed
five wickets to skittle them for 127, then Andy Flintoff smashed 45
from 35 balls to blast Lancashire home with more than half of their
45 overs to spare.
"It was just what we needed after Southport," said coach Dav
Whatmore, who will be looking for Lancashire to reproduce such form
in their next Championship game against Surrey which starts at the
Oval tomorrow.
Mike Atherton is set to make his first appearance of the season after
scoring 156 on his return from back problems for the second team at
Middlesbrough last week. Lancashire face a tricky decision on who to
leave out.
The CGU National League first division is fast developing into a
Roses showdown.
Lightning are second in the table with 14 points from six matches,
but Yorkshire Phoenix marched on at the top yesterday with a 27-run
victory over Hampshire at Basingstoke - their fifth in as many
matches.
Already Lightning's two floodlit games against the Phoenix, at
Headingley on August 12 and Old Trafford five days later, are shaping
as title deciders. Yesterday John Crawley won an important toss and
the Bears quickly slipped to 36-3 with a wicket each for Martin, Ian
Austin and Glen Chapple, making a welcome return from his side
injury.
But it was the introduction of Muttiah Muralitharan which really had
the Bears in a spin, as he conceded only 13 runs in his nine overs
and had Trevor Penney lbw.
Then Martin returned to mop up the tail, ending with figures of 5-28
- seven runs away from his best-ever performance in what used to be
the Sunday League, set at Old Trafford against Northants two years
ago.
Mike Watkinson made the early inroads into Lightning's modest target
with 21 before Flintoff came in to blast one six off Ashley Giles and
two more in a single over from Warwickshire's Championship hero Ed
Giddins which cost 20 in all.
Crawley then steered Lancashire home inside 22 overs with an unbeaten
34.
Source :: The Lancashire Evening Telegraph (https://www.reednews.co.uk/let/)