Northern League - Week 1 - Match 2 - Leicestershire Foxes vs Yorkshire Carnegie

Welcome to Grace Road

Leicestershire Foxes vs Yorkshire Carnegie

Pitch conditions:

A low slow pitch due to rain before the match. The pitch will spin however the damp outfield will be slow and therefore hitting boundaries will be hard. For this reason it should be a low scoring affair unless a batsman chances his arm and it comes off. One big innings could win this game. Due to the slow low pitch fast bowlers who can bowl cutters will do well.

Provisional XI

Cook
Root
Mahmood
Rohit
Bairstow (w)
Ali
Andrew Hall
Rashid
Bresnan
Shahzad
Warne (c)

Yorkshire Carnegie Tactics

XI

Alastair Cook
Azhar Mahmood
Darren Bravo
Rohit Sharma
Jonathan Bairstow (w)
Moeen Ali
Andrew Hall
Adil Rashid
Tim Bresnan
Ajmal Shahzad
Shane Warne (c)

Toss: Bat.

Batting tactics: Cook will look to anchor the innings and bat through, scoring at a good rate against the weaker bowlers and taking singles against the stronger ones. Mahmood will use his vast experience on slow surfaces to get off to a quick start, scoring at a high strike rate. Darren Bravo and Rohit Sharma are at 3 and 4; they both have a lot of experience and success in playing on slow pitches and will both look to get settled before attacking later in their innings'. Jonny Bairstow will be used as a finisher, looking to come in with with around 5 overs left and has shown he's capable of good T20 innings on these types of pitches in England's recently concluded T20 series against Pakistan. Ali will come in at 3 if a wicket falls in the first 3 overs. However, if not, he will be in at six and along with Andrew Hall, will look to attack at the death overs. The team can bat down to 11 with Rashid, Bresnan, Shahzad and Warne all handy batsmen on their day.

Over allocations:

Shahzad 1, 3, 17, 19.
Bresnan 2, 4, 18, 20.
Rashid 5, 7, 9, 16.
Mahmood 6, 11, 13, 15.
Warne 8, 10, 12, 14.


Bowling tactics: Shahzad and Bresnan will open the bowling against a a top order that traditionally struggles against swing bowling. They will look to get as much as possible out of the new ball, bowling 2 overs each at the start before both completing their spells at the death. Rashid will come on at first change and look to use his intricate variations on a pitch that will aid slow bowlers. Mahmood will bowl an over in the powerplay before returning at the in the late middle overs. His experience in bowling slower balls and cutters in these conditions will prove vital in the middle overs. Warne will come on and bowl his 4 overs in one spell through the middle overs. Despite his age he has proven he is still an exceptional T20 bowler, most recently for the Melbourne Stars. He'll look to keep it tight, forcing the batsmen into mistakes on a surface he will prosper on. Hall and Ali will be able to fill in if one of the main five bowlers has an off day. Warne's captaincy and intelligent field settings will also be key in what is expected to be a low scoring game.

Leicestershire Foxes Tactics vs. Yorkshire Carnegie at Grace Road

Team
1) Kumar Sangakkara (O)(WK)
2) Tilikaratne Dilshan (O)(C)
3) Will Jefferson
4) Suresh Raina (O)
5) Kevin O'Brien
6) Jim Allenby
7) Peter Trego
8) Joshua Cobb
9) Claude Henderson
10) Devendra Bishoo (O)
11) Dirk Nannes (O)

Toss - Bowl.

Bowling

With an order of exceptional chasers in all conditions, captain Dilshan (deputising for the injured Razzaq) opts to bowl first and use the Foxes array of spinners and T20 specialised bowlers to keep Yorkshire reigned right in.

Nannes and Allenby, a bowler who knows all about the Grace Road wicket, will open the show, with both bowling 2 overs apiece. This is to get the most out of the pitch early doors and then allow for the changes to take place. Dilshan and Bishoo will come on first changes, with ther respective off spin and leg spin variations causing the batsmen to think about every ball and draw out mistakes. Dilshan will bowl his allotted three and make way for Trego, whilst Bishoo will bowl two initial overs before being replaced by Josh Cobb. Trego will bowl two as a means of amplifying the mental strain on the batsmen as constantly changing variation will reduce comfort, Cobb is a good spin bowler as well and cramp bowlers and make them play to the field as proved in last year's T20. Bishoo will return after Trego's two, whilst leading T20 wicket taker Claude Henderson will come at the other end and look to turn the screw further. Nannes will return and sandwiching Henerson's final over will look to bring a low score out of Yorkshire.

Bowling Allocation
Allenby - 2 - (1,3)
Nannes - 4 - (2,4,18,20)
Dilshan - 3 - (5,7,9)
Trego - 2 - (11,13)
Cobb - 1 - (10)
Henderson - 4 - (12,14,16,19)
Bishoo - 4 - (6,8,15,17)

Batting

With Yorkshire successfully reigned in, Sangakkara and Dilshan will take to the field and look to ride out Shahzad and Bresnan's early burst, playing responsibly but looking to keep the scoreboard ticking healthily. Both men can play as an anchor whilst the other can hit out if needed. Jefferson at 3 knows all about Grace Road and his indomitable frame will prove hard to beat as he can hit hard and is still handy between the wickets. Raina at 4 is a potential game changer, who will flourish in any situation, such is his limited overs pedigree, whilst Kevin O'Brien is a batsman who can chance his arm and rain boundaries. Allenby, Trego and Cobb are all good with the bat, Allenby and Trego averaging mid 20's in T20 and provide a long batting order which could be a necessity for this chase.