Adam Lyth and Dawid Malan get the party started at Headingley as Yorkshire march on

EVER have the feeling that you’ve turned up at the wrong party?

After all, a Vitality Blast match between Yorkshire and Leicestershire does not quite have the same lustre as the opening day of an Ashes series.

While that was proceeding some 120 miles south, where the party was in full and predictable swing, not least in the Hollies Stand, these sides were preparing for and playing their ninth fixture in the 14-game group stage.

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At the end of a high-octane evening of swishing and smashing, biffing and bashing, it was Yorkshire who were cracking open the metaphorical champagne and celebrating an eight-wicket triumph that took them second in the table - some transformation after they had lost their first three matches before embarking on what is now a club record-equalling run of six straight T20 wins.

Running up the records: Adam Lyth, left, and Dawid Malan shared a record first-wicket partnership for Yorkshire in T20 cricket.Running up the records: Adam Lyth, left, and Dawid Malan shared a record first-wicket partnership for Yorkshire in T20 cricket.
Running up the records: Adam Lyth, left, and Dawid Malan shared a record first-wicket partnership for Yorkshire in T20 cricket.

Adam Lyth and Dawid Malan were the heroes, the former emerging from the shadows of an underwhelming competition by his standards, the latter now its leading run-scorer and in scintillating form.

After Leicestershire scored 195-5, Louis Kimber striking an unbeaten 59, Lyth hit an unbeaten 90 from 50 balls with 12 fours and two sixes, and Malan 79 from 45 deliveries with nine fours and three sixes, two stylish left-handers at the top of their game.

Their stand of 158 in 14 overs was a Yorkshire first-wicket record in T20, beating the 131 between Lyth and Phil Jaques against Derbyshire at Headingley in 2012, and only one shy of Yorkshire’s highest T20 stand for any wicket – set only seven days earlier by Malan and James Wharton, for the second wicket, against Worcestershire at Headingley.

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Malan’s fifth half-century in his last six T20s took him top of the national chart with 488 runs from nine innings at 69.71; certainly Yorkshire could not have turned things around as they have without his outstanding contribution.

Dom Bess, Yorkshire's most economical bowler with figures of 0-22 from four overs, wheels away against Leicestershire.Dom Bess, Yorkshire's most economical bowler with figures of 0-22 from four overs, wheels away against Leicestershire.
Dom Bess, Yorkshire's most economical bowler with figures of 0-22 from four overs, wheels away against Leicestershire.

The party at Headingley might not have been the hottest ticket in cricket on this particular Friday, another beautiful day of unbroken sunshine, but it was lively nonetheless, with the stands well-populated and the atmosphere vibrant. The only downside was the three pitch invaders who interrupted the Yorkshire chase; what a pity that the death penalty in this country no longer exists.

Shan Masood won the toss for the 10th time in 11 games since joining Yorkshire as captain, and the pitch was situated towards the West Stand side of the ground, making that boundary inviting.

As Leicestershire reached 63-0 in the powerplay, a fine effort on a night when Yorkshire were not at their best collectively with the ball and in the field, it was certainly to the liking of opener Nick Welch, who pulled Ben Mike out of the ground towards the houses that line the gloomy ginnel that runs alongside the stadium.

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It took the introduction of Jordan Thompson, aka ‘The Man Who Makes Things Happen’, to do exactly that as he struck in the seventh over with his third delivery. This time, Welch got elevation but not distance as he sent a full and wide ball outside off to Dom Bess at deep cover, with Bess and Thompson the pick of the Yorkshire bowlers.

Mike conceded 17 in his first over, the third of the powerplay, but hit back with two wickets in two balls to leave his former club 82-3. First, Rishi Patel was the victim of a stunning relay catch when David Wiese - beyond the boundary at long-on - somehow palmed the ball back to the waiting Masood; then Colin Ackermann was smartly caught at deep square-leg by Thompson, who had grassed one in the same position off Mike when Harry Swindells had nine.

As Masood rotated his bowlers intelligently, Swindells was fourth out in the 13th over when he fetched a slower delivery from Wiese from outside off to deep mid-wicket, where Lyth judged a good low catch. Malan missed a straightforward chance at cover off Thompson when Kimber had 20, which would have left the visitors 123-5, only to personally see to it that it didn’t matter.

Kimber and Wiaan Mulder shared 53 from 31 balls, Mulder twice launching Mike over leg and into the West Stand. Mulder picked out Mike at deep square-leg off Matty Revis, but Leicestershire hit 61 of the last four overs.

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Lyth and Malan paced the chase perfectly. Malan lofted Josh Hull over the West Stand en route to a 31-ball fifty, Lyth reaching his first in this year’s competition from 28 deliveries. Malan holed out to deep cover and Wharton skied behind, but Yorkshire won emphatically with 11 balls left.