Lancashire singing in the rain

Lancashire are the first winners of the ECB 38 County Under 21 Competition. They defeated Devon in the Final at Derbyshire CCC on run rate after the match was affected by rain which delayed the start on the first day and restricted the second (reserve) day to a couple of overs.

Devon may have suspected that it was not to be their day when a freak accident during the warm-up deprived them of Bobby Dawson's services, they lost the toss and were asked to bat after a long delay while the outfield dried - and then lost a wicket in the opening over. Neil Bettiss with a steady 50 and Trevor Anning with a more aggressive 45 ensured a score in excess of 200 and took the innings into the 50th over.

205 was probably less than Devon would have hoped to score on a good pitch and Extras contributed 31 to the total. Matthew Leah with 4 for 49 took the most wickets, and the openers Daniel Jones (2 for 27) and Tom Smith (2 for 28) bowled their 10 overs to good effect.

Devon needed early wickets and Trevor Anning made the initial breakthrough. David Lye then removed David Brown and Tom Smith in successive deliveries to leave Lancashire at 36 for 3. Paul Horton joined Steven Croft and together they took Lancashire past the crucial 25 over mark at a faster run rate than Devon had achieved. Further poor weather as the match went into the second day allowed only a couple of overs before the players were forced from the field and it was agreed that the match be concluded with Lancashire the winners on 134 for 3 from 30.4 overs.

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