After what had been the truly exhilarating summer of cricket, with great performances coming out of The Hundred and the T20 Blast, attention turned to the One-Day Cup. Lancashire won in a nail-biter against Worcestershire at Old Trafford in Manchester. Chasing Lancashire’s modest total of 237, Worcestershire found themselves in a precarious situation at 129/5 after 32 overs.
Lancashire skipper Josh Bohannon introduced Venkatesh Iyer into the attack, and the game was slipping away. Iyer, who is more of a batting all-rounder, had a mixed spell of five overs for 34 runs. With the game in the end overs, Bohannon turned to bowlers with a better record of taking wickets. But fate had other ideas – some of them dramatic.
The penultimate over of the innings saw Worcestershire a few runs away from victory, and so the ball was entrusted to Venkatesh. The over did not begin well for the Lancashire team, right from the first two deliveries that whisked off to the boundary—one being a leg-bye and the other a bye.
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To compound the misery, Venkatesh Iyer had a blemish in his line, with two more runs resulting through wides. At that time, when Worcestershire required just four runs from eight balls with a well-set Tom Hinley at the crease, victory for the visitors seemed very sure.
3️⃣ runs required to win.
2️⃣ wickets needed…
Over to you, @venkateshiyer! 😍
🌹 #RedRoseTogether https://t.co/CfuDnk44Oo pic.twitter.com/gNTFO2M6ml
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) August 14, 2024
Venkatesh Iyer came around the wicket and sent down a short ball that tempted Hinley to go for the match-winning shot. Hinley swung for glory but only sent the ball soaring into the deep mid-wicket region where Harry Singh was superbly positioned to take a vital catch. The tension around the stadium was tangible as Worcestershire’s No. 11 batter, Harry Darley did his walk to the crease.
With just one ball remaining in the over, Venkatesh delivered a delivery that seemed to be sliding down the leg side. However, astonishingly, umpire Simon Widdup raised his finger to declare Darley out, thereby sealing a scintillating three-run win for Lancashire.
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There was immediate controversy, but that could not take away from the drama of the moment. The players of Lancashire erupted into celebration, appreciating the brilliance of Venkatesh Iyer, whose heroics in the late overs hijacked victory from the jaws of defeat and added another unforgettable chapter to the One-Day Cup.
