Yorkshire CCC beat Roses rivals Lancashire to get T20 campaign back on track

After Gareth Southgate’s men were held to a disappointing draw, Ottis Gibson’s boys fared somewhat better, beating the old enemy by seven runs after Shan Masood’s 61 and Joe Root’s 43 underpinned a total of 173-8, Lancashire responding with 166-8.

Dom Bess and Jordan Thompson each took two wickets as Yorkshire made it four wins from seven at the halfway stage of their North Group campaign, ascending three places to fourth in the table.

"It was important to bounce back from a couple of defeats,” said Masood, who faced 41 balls and hit five fours and three sixes. “The boys did really well and it was a really good performance.

"We lost a couple of early wickets, and then myself and Joe just said ‘let’s keeping playing strong cricketing shots and try to set it up’.

"Luckily, we were able to do that, and then the boys closed the game out really well.”

The football was still going on when Yorkshire won the toss and chose to bat before a crowd of 13,845.

The hosts kept faith with the same team as they sought to bounce back from two straight defeats, while leaders Lancashire were looking to respond after defeat in their last match at Durham.

The visitors made the ideal start, Chris Green, the off-spinner, removing Adam Lyth with a delivery that skidded on and trapped him in front.

Dawid Malan struck three sweet fours before skying to mid-wicket, and the total had risen to 43-2 at the end of the powerplay.

Lancashire kept things tight early on and fielded tigerishly, throwing themselves around like men in a mosh pit.

Masood, initially becalmed, took the fielders out of the equation entirely when he pulled George Balderson into the East Stand, following up with a one-bounce four over extra-cover.

Another four through the covers by Masood off Balderson, during an over that cost 16 runs, left Yorkshire 78-2 at halfway and feeling much better about life than they had hitherto. At the other end, Root pulled the ball crisply and late-cut deftly, the third-wicket pair using their skill and experience to lay the platform first before building on it powerfully.

After reaching his fifty from 33 balls, Masood struck his third six - an enormous blow over mid-wicket into the North-East Stand off spinner Luke Wells.

There followed a bizarre moment when Masood appeared to have been run-out off a no-ball by Jack Blatherwick only for it to transpire that he had top-edged a ramp into his helmet and it was, in fact, a dead ball - an episode of confusion that lasted almost as long as the rest of the match.

Masood did not field in the Lancashire innings – Malan deputising as captain – and the stand was broken two balls later when Root pulled to mid-wicket after sharing 104 with his skipper in 70 balls.

Masood perished in the next over, strangled down the leg-side off Saqib Mahmood, and the innings tailed away as Donovan Ferreira lofted to fine-leg, Matty Revis was yorked for a golden duck, Thompson - following a useful 22 from 13 balls - was run out going for a second run, and Jafer Chohan bowled for another first-baller.

Conor McKerr struck early in the chase, Josh Bohannon launching to mid-wicket and Lyth making good ground from mid-on. In McKerr’s next over, Keaton Jennings took him for four successive fours before striking Thompson for three on the spin.

Wells yorked himself when he advanced to Bess, but Lancashire had 57-2 at the end of the powerplay - 43 of them to Jennings, who had nine of the 10 fours. Jennings added only three more runs before throwing his wicket away by pulling Bess to Revis at deep mid-wicket, a dismissal followed by those of Matthew Hurst, reverse-sweeping Dan Moriarty, and George Lavelle, who struck Chohan for a sweet six into The Howard Stand before knocking back a return.

At 88-5 in the 11th, Lancashire had lost their way. Balderson and Steven Croft added 36 from 32, but the pressure told as Balderson tried to swing Root into the middle of next week and was bowled – as was Green by a free-wheeling Thompson, who then castled Croft in the final over.