Lancashire spinners loosen up their frigid fingers to strangle Sussex by spin

HUW TURBERVILL: With county cricket being played in this month for the first time, the men from Manchester spent a jubilant afternoon by the seaside in the Blast quarter-final

Hove: Lancashire 140-8 v Sussex 95 all out - Lancashire win by 45 runs

Scorecard

This was Hove in October, not Chennai in subcontinental summer, but Lancashire's spinners loosened up their frigid fingers to strangle Sussex by spin. 

With county cricket being played in this month for the first time, the men from Manchester spent a jubilant afternoon by the seaside in the Blast quarter-final, celebrating raucously as they clinched a place in Saturday’s finals days at Edgbaston.  

Lancashire reached 140 thanks to captain Dane Vilas’ 28-ball 40 and Steven Croft’s muscular 41; then tall slow-leftie Tom Hartley and leggies Matt Parkinson and the brisker Liam Livingstone put a squeeze on the hosts. Only captain Luke Wright – a survivor of Sussex’s T20 title-winning side in 2009 – offered much resistance, before he too holed out for 36, leaving him on 7,998 career runs in this format. 

It ensured there was no fairy-tale finish for Jason Gillespie’s tenure as coach. It was the second successive time this much-fancied Sussex T20 outfit have fallen at the quarter-final stages, after last year’s demolition job at the same ground by Moeen Ali. 

In their song October, U2 described how the “trees are stripped bear, of all they wear”, but the sunshine bathed Hove in a kindly light for most of the afternoon. Yes the air was a little crisp and we had one heavy shower, but on this evidence county cricket’s autumn experiment was a success. 

Livingstone looked as dangerous as ever. Tall and strong off his legs, he could have been a tribute act to the recently deceased Dean Jones. He hit Ollie Robinson for six over midwicket – just – so when the bowler found a way through his defences he let out an almost primal scream that startled even the seagulls. When Keaton Jennings skied one off George Garton there was another noisy celebration, showing how much Sussex wanted this. Alex Davies then swept a Delroy Rawlins full-toss straight to deep square-leg.

^{Dane Vilas}

Croft – stocky and strong – produced some powerful pulling, hitting three sixes, before he was caught just inside the ropes at square-leg by Robinson off Garton. 

Vilas – who came into this innings on the back of three ducks – initially found it tough. It was such a cunning slower ball from Tymal Mills that he dropped his bat in surprise. He did manage a six over third man off him, however. 

A sudden and rather violent shower at 17 overs stopped the visitors in their tracks, but a comprehensive clear-up saw the contest back on, to the delight of fans watching the streaming service, and a few lucky ones who live in the houses and flats that back on to the ground. 

Vilas reverse-scooped Robinson for four to give the innings an entertaining conclusion. 

Danny Briggs also illustrated how it was a day for spin in his last appearance before he joins Warwickshire, conceding only 18 runs in four overs. 

Phil Salt was the wicket Lancashire really wanted, and he punched to mid-on for just 5. A twitchy Ravi Bopara was lbw for 6 sweeping a straight one from Hartley – he has averaged only 11 in his maiden campaign for Sussex. 

Apart from Wright, only Mills made double figures (10), as Lancashire’s triumvirate of twirlers took charge. Livingstone (4 for 23) and Parkinson (3 for 9) were irresistible, and the trio’s combined figures were 9.2-0-50-8. Lancashire will fancy adding another T20 title to the one they took in 2015.

So the sun sets on this most unusual of summers at Hove... a sad end to a coaching stint that has won Gillespie many friends at the club, has seen him achieve much in player development, but has seen him fall agonisingly short of promotion (in the Championship) and silverware (T20).

For unrivalled coverage of the county season, subscribe to The Cricketer and receive 3 issues for £5

Subscribe to The Cricketer for exclusive content every day: The inside track on England's Test tour with George Dobell in Pakistan, award-winning analysis, breaking news and interviews and the only place for in-depth county coverage all year round. Plus: An ad-free app experience at your fingertips. Subscribe to thecricketer.com today for just £1.