- MEMORY MATCH
- LANCASHIRE v YORKSHIRE
- TWENTY20 MATCHES
- 2003-2019
Yorkshire played against Lancashire once in each of the first two seasons of the 20-overs competition but the two rivals have met twice a year ever since. Many of the games have been televised and there has always been a very special atmosphere in the evening events with sell-out experiences being a common occurrence. The consequence of this is that there have been several exciting games and Paul Dyson describes one of them.
June 10, 2011 at Old Trafford: Lancashire 122-6 in 20 overs (SC Moore 34, KR Brown 34*, Azeem Rafiq 3-15); Yorkshire 123-8 in 19.4 overs (LA Procter 3-22). Yorkshire won by two wickets.
This was the ninth season of the T20 competition and Yorkshire had yet to appear on finals day, Lancashire having been losing finalists to Somerset, in 2005. The hosts had started their 2011 campaign well with two wins, a tie and one defeat but Yorkshire’s three matches had resulted in two defeats and just one win.
Despite this game taking place on an overcast evening Yorkshire, who won the toss and asked Lancashire to bat first, had selected three spinners and just two pace bowlers. It was Adil Rashid who opened the bowling and he struck with his second ball, Tom Smith being lbw to what was his first ball, attempting a reverse-sweep. Gale bravely kept him on, even though skipper Steven Croft had miscued him for six, and he struck again in his third over to leave Lancashire on 22 for two.
However, it was the introduction of the off-spin of Azeem Rafiq which tore out the middle order. He took a wicket in each of his first three overs and the Red Rose county had slumped to 58 for five in the 12th over. Stephen Moore had opened the batting and he was still at the crease but four runs later was run out for 34 from 37 balls. The rest of the innings belonged to Karl Brown and Luke Procter; they shared an unbeaten stand of 60 from 49 balls, Brown equalling Moore’s score and Procter finishing on 25 not out. Rafiq’s final figures were three for 15; the third spinner was David Wainwright; he went wicketless, as did Ryan Sidebottom and Richard Pyrah, but also conceded a mere 15 from his four overs.
Smith took each of Yorkshire’s first two wickets (34 for two) but a stand of 37 between Adam Lyth and Anthony McGrath steadied the ship. Lyth’s wicket (he was bowled by the left-arm spin of Gary Keedy for 28) was the first of the pair’s to fall, Procter having taken three wiockets including two with successive balls.
Rashid held firm for a while (nine from 18 balls) but when Pyrah and he were both run out the visitors still needed 15 to win but with eight wickets down. It came to 11 from the final over; Sidebottom took a single to give Rafiq the strike and he responded with three scoops, two of which went for four, and Yorkshire had won with two balls to spare. Procter finished with three for 22, Keedy conceding only 17 from his four overs.
Yorkshire won four more games in the 16-match campaign but finished in sixth place in the nine-team North Group. Lancashire finished in third place and, after defeating Sussex in a quaerter-final, again reached finals day but, also again, lost their semi-final match in an additional over, their main game having ended in a tie under Duckworth/Lewis rules.
Man of the Match
Azeem’s ten-season career with Yorkshire came in two parts. He made his debut in 2008 in a T20 match but the following year, as an off-spinning all-rounder, and in only his second match in the County Championship, became Yorkshire’s second-youngest centurion at the age opf 18 years and 112 days (Len Hutton was aged 18 years, 33 days). That was a score of exactly 100 against Worcestershire at Worcester and such was his general progress that three years later he became the county’s youngest captain to lead the team in a competitive match since 1923. With Andrew Gale being injured, he led the team in six of its nine group games in the T20 competition to five wins and a no result. One of the consequences of this was that Yorkshire reached finals day for the first time – in the competition’s tenth season.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1991, his family came to the UK while he was a child and his first club was Barnsley. He played for Yorkshire’s age-group teams and eventually played in a total of 28 matches for England U-19s in all three formats. After his early successes for Yorkshire his career stalled somewhat and he played for Derbyshire as a loanee before being released in 2014. Excellent form for Sheffield Collegiate persuaded Yorkshire to give him another chance and he returned two years later when his performances resulted in him receiving his county cap. He was particularly effective in white-ball cricket and in 2017 was easily Yorkshire’s leading wicket-taker in the Royal London Cup.
Very sadly he had a family tragedy in 2018 and this affected his form and selection so seriously that, despite his success in the shorter formats, he was released again. One of only four Yorkshire bowlers to take at least 100 wickets in T20 cricket, he will always be remembered for his economical and penetrative spells in that form of the game.
LANCASHIRE v YORKSHIRE – TWENTY20 MATCHES – 2003-19
Correct to 31/7/2019
Results (home and away)
Played 28, Yorkshire won 12, lost 14, tied 2. (Abandoned 3)
Highest innings totals
- Lancashire 231-4 Old Trafford 2015
- Away 186-6 Headingley 2015
- Yorkshire 202-8 Old Trafford 2015
- At home 185-6 Headingley 2015
Lowest innings totals
- Lancashire 104-3 Old Trafford 2003
- Away 131-9 Headingley 2004
- Yorkshire 97 Old Trafford 2005
- At home 111-8 Headingley 2009
Highest individual innings
- Lancashire 101 SG Law Old Trafford 2005
- Away 85 A Flintoff Headingley 2004
- Yorkshire 108* IJ Harvey Headingley 2004
- Away 92* JE Root Old Trafford 2006
Best bowling
- Lancashire 4-23 MW Parkinson Headingley 2017
- At home 3-10 DG Cork Old Trafford 2005
- Yorkshire 6-19 TT Bresnan Headingley 2017
- Away 3-15 Azeem Rafiq Old Trafford 2011
Most dismissals in an innings by a wicket-keeper
- 3 (3 ct) WK Hegg Lancashire Old Trafford 2003
Most catches in an innings by a fielder
- 3 SJ Croft Lancashire Old Trafford 2009
- 3 NL McCullum Lancashire Old Trafford 2010
- 3 A Lyth Yorkshire Headingley 2016
- 3 LS Livingstone Lancashire Headingley 2017
- 3 MRJ Watt Lancashire Headingley 2018
- 3 SJ Croft Lancashire Headingley 2018
A half-century and two wickets in a match
- Lancashire BJ Hodge 64 & 2-28 Headingley 2005
- Yorkshire IJ Harvey 108 & 2-30 Headingley 2004
- A McGrath 52 & 2-18 Old Trafford 2006
