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Ackerman Leads Way for Foxes

Hylton Ackerman hit a brisk half-century to help Leicestershire Foxes to their second Twenty20 Cup victory against Durham Dynamos in a tense clash at Grace Road.

Hylton Ackerman hit a brisk half-century to help Leicestershire Foxes to their second Twenty20 Cup victory against Durham Dynamos in a tense clash at Grace Road.

Ackerman’s half-century steered the Foxes to 150 for nine and Durham fell just short in a nail-biting finish, closing on 147 for five to lose by three runs.

It leaves the Dynamos with a huge task ahead if they are to qualify from the group having now lost their first two matches in the competition.

But the victory keeps the defending champions well in the hunt as they seek to reach finals day for the third season in a row.

Ackerman’s innings provided the platform for them and he was distinctly unfortunate to be run out after making 56 off 40 balls with nine fours.

It was the first individual half-century by a Foxes player in this season’s competition and their South African captain looked well set for an even bigger score.

But when Jeremy Snape straight-drove a ball from Dale Benkenstein back at the bowler although he dropped the difficult catch the ball rebounded from him onto the stumps with Ackerman stranded out of his ground as he was backing up.

But he had done enough to enable the Foxes to reach a competitive total on a slow-paced pitch, sharing a second-wicket stand of 52 runs off seven overs with Dinesh Mongia.

John Sadler chipped in with 23 off 16 balls but the Foxes lost their way in the later stages of the innings and managed only 13 runs off the last three overs.

Durham made a steady start to their reply but left-arm seamer Charl Willoughby struck a vital blow when he claimed the wicket of Nicky Peng at 27 and then two wickets fell for one run including the important one of Nathan Astle.

He was going well on 37 off 32 balls when he drove left-arm spinner Claude Henderson straight to Darren Maddy at cover.

Some tight bowling from the spinners kept Durham in check with Snape particularly impressive claiming three wickets for 24 runs in his four overs.

It left the Dynamos needing 16 off the final over from Ottis Gibson to win the match but they could manage only 13 as the Foxes edged home.

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