Leicestershire v Yorkshire Carnegie: No point proven as Yorkshire thwart Hoggard

The former England pace bowler left the county at the end of last summer after failing to agree an extended contract.

Hoggard wanted a three-year contract and a better salary than Yorkshire were prepared to pay, while the club proposed a two-year deal with the option of a third year based on performance. So Hoggard upped sticks and went to Leicestershire, where he was given the captaincy and a three-year contract.

One of Hoggard's principal dissatisfactions at Headingley Carnegie was that he was consistently overlooked for one-day cricket.

He played only 15 Twenty20 games for Yorkshire since the tournament's inception and only 10 List A matches in his last four seasons.

In contrast, Hoggard has played all six Twenty20 games for Leicestershire this year, taking six wickets at 25.83.

But his hopes of putting one over his former county were comprehensively dashed at a sun-kissed Grace Road.

After Hoggard won the toss and chose to bat, Leicestershire made 148-8 from their 20 overs – a modest effort on a decent pitch. Only James Taylor (60) and Brad Hodge (43) made significant contributions, with extras (17) the third-highest score.

In reply, Yorkshire cruised to a nine-wicket win as Andrew Gale (65 not out), Jacques Rudolph (53) and Herschelle Gibbs (29 not out) comfortably overpowered the home attack. Hoggard returned 0-23 from three overs on a day he and his players will want to forget.

"It would have been nice to have beaten my old county but it wasn't to be," reflected Hoggard.

"We were probably 10-20 runs below par and then Gale and Rudolph played very well.

"We'll have to go back to the drawing board because we were lacking in all facets of the game.

"Hopefully, we can get our revenge when we go up to Yorkshire next Sunday."

The contrast between Yorkshire's performance here and their abject six-wicket defeat against Durham last Friday could not have been greater.

Gale's men were sharper in every department, as though anxious to exorcise the ghosts of Chester-le-Street.

If they can reproduce this form on a consistent basis, they will fancy their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.

Yorkshire have won three and lost four of their opening seven games, with nine matches left in the extended group stage.

"We've been inconsistent in the tournament so far and need to pull together as a team," insisted Gale. "At the start of the competition it was our bowling that was letting us down, but then up at Durham we didn't bat well.

"But this was an excellent performance and one that will give us a lot of confidence. I thought 160 was probably a par total, so we did really well to restrict Leicestershire to less than that."

Yorkshire made one change to the side beaten in the North East, Tim Bresnan returning in place of Jonathan Bairstow as the England all-rounder looked to prove his fitness for the NatWest one-day series. Bresnan showed no ill-effects from a foot injury as he returned 1-21 from four overs, claiming the scalp of Wayne White when the batsman hit his own wicket off a wide.

If there was one criticism of Yorkshire's bowling effort, it was that they conceded seven wides and eight no-balls – a failing which, on another day, might have been costly.

But Richard Pyrah (2-19) and Tino Best (2-26) spearheaded their work as Leicestershire struggled to generate sizeable partnerships. Adil Rashid was due an unremarkable game after taking 14 wickets in his previous six matches, and the leg-spinner went wicket-less as his four overs disappeared for 33.

Steve Patterson also had a frustrating time, conceding 38 runs and being unable to complete his full quota of overs when he was forced out of the attack for bowling two high full-pitched deliveries, which automatically results in three penalty points on his record. The rule is harsh and the sanction excessive, particularly in light of the fact Patterson's second high full-pitched ball posed little problem to Taylor, who bludgeoned it for six over backward square-leg.

Early wickets were essential for Leicestershire to prosper, but, despite Hoggard's best efforts, they failed to arrive. Gale and Rudolph had one of those days when everything came off, the left-handers racking up 64 runs inside the first six overs of power-play to effectively settle the contest. Rudolph struck his fellow countryman Claude Henderson for a straight six and later deposited him for an even larger maximum over long-on to reach his half-century from 34 balls.

Shortly afterwards, Rudolph was stumped off a wide with the total on 103 in the 12th over, but it was too late to make a difference. Gale also reached his half-century from 34 balls, using his feet to intelligent effect.

His team return to action against Worcestershire tomorrow (5.30pm start) hoping to exact revenge for their defeat at New Road.

DISPLAY OF THE DAY

Andrew Gale

The Yorkshire captain led by example on his way to an unbeaten 65 from 42 balls with 10 fours.

Leicestershire v Yorkshire

Grace Road: Yorks beat Leics by 9 wkts

Leicestershire Innings

B J Hodge c A U Rashid b Rafiq 43

J du Toit c Rudolph b Pyrah 11

W I Jefferson b Pyrah 2

J W A Taylor c Rudolph b Best 60

P A Nixon run out 5

W A White hit wicket b Bresnan 6

J G E Benning not out 3

C W Henderson b Best 0

J K H Naik run out 1

Extras lb2 w7 nb8 17

Total 8 wkts 148

Fall: 1-39 2-48 3-79 4-116 5-144 6-146 7-147 8-148

Did Not Bat: M N Malik, M J Hoggard.

Bowling: Patterson 3.4 0 38 0; Best 3 0 26 2; Bresnan 4 0 21 1; Pyrah 4 0 19 2; A U Rashid 4 0 33 0; Rafiq 1 0 9 1;

Yorkshire Innings

A W Gale not out 65

J A Rudolph st Nixon b Benning 53

H H Gibbs not out 29

Extras w3 3

Total 1 wkt (17.1 overs) 150

Fall: 1-103

Did Not Bat: A McGrath, G L Brophy, T T Bresnan, A U Rashid, R M Pyrah, T L Best, Azeem Rafiq, S A Patterson.

Bowling: Hoggard 3 0 23 0; Malik 1 0 17 0; Naik 3 0 27 0; White 2.1 0 28 0; Henderson 3 0 27 0; Benning 4 0 21 1; Taylor 1 0 7 0.