There is one match in the Vitality Blast on Wednesday evening and once again the North Group is the centre of attention. Top spot in the table is up for grabs too when Leicestershire host Lancashire at Grace Road.
Leicestershire have begun the campaign with a couple of wins and a couple of losses so a win here would keep them on the right side of their ledger while Lancashire will go in search of a fourth victory in five and if they get it they will head back to Manchester on top of the pile.
Leicestershire Foxes
Whenever the T20 comes around the Leicestershire Foxes need to be respected given their illustrious history in the competition. It would be fair to say that they have gone quiet in the event in recent seasons but with Paul Nixon, a huge part of their success in the early years of this competition, now there as coach it would be no surprise to see them at Finals Day once again.
Leicestershire’s two wins this season have come when they have plundered 200 or more with the bat although in fairness they have gone well all campaign with the bat apart from one disaster against Durham when Imran Tahir ran through them. They will need to bat well here if they are going to get the win.
Lancashire Lightning
One of the big things about the early season success for the Lancashire outfit is that they haven’t truly blown a side away with the bat yet. We are becoming accustomed to sides regularly pushing or passing 200 but Lancashire have not done that. With their bowling attack though they know they do not need to which takes the pressure off their batting.
Some bowling attacks in this competition have been talked up massively and I’m a little surprised that this Lancashire one has not been given the same billing because with three very good spinners and a couple of classy seamers with some useful all-rounders mixed in there is no real weakness in it. Given the number of options they have if someone does have a bad day they can combat that.
Team News
Leicestershire have named the same squad which took care of the Birmingham Bears last time out. Ben Raine was the hero of that match and he’ll play again here. Mohammad Nabi and Mohammad Abbas are the overseas players.
Lancashire are also unchanged from their latest win and with Jos Buttler due back for their match on Friday they are only going to get stronger from here. James Faulkner and Joe Mennie continue as their overseas players.
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Betting
Lancashire are the favourites to win this match but I must confess the match odds look about right to me. Leicestershire will need to bat very well to get this Lancashire attack away for the amount of runs they are likely to need to win.
With that in mind I’m going to go to the side markets where the 23.5 runs line for Liam Livingstone looks on the side to me. He has covered it in three of the four matches he has played this season and with this match being on the box he has the chance to showcase his talents once again. He has also passed this number in all three innings he has opened against Leicestershire too over the last couple of seasons. He’s been in excellent form all summer and I’m expecting him to make it to 24 in his innings here.
Tips
WON – Back L.Livingstone – Over 23.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with 888sport
Back him here:
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