Gough scripts Yorkshire victory

Darren Gough does a dance to celebrate the winning run

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Skipper Darren Gough was the conquering hero with the bat as Yorkshire beat Lancashire by two wickets with two balls remaining in the Roses Twenty20 Cup match at Headingley Carnegie.

Chasing a 151 target in murky light, Yorkshire seemed dead in the water when Dominic Cork began the 18th over with the score on 121 for eight after Sajid Mahmood had just captured two wickets in five balls to give Lancashire the upper hand.

Adil Rashid could not score off Cork’s first ball but four leg byes and a single brought Gough to the striker’s end and he whacked the next three deliveries to the boundary to make it 17 off the over.

The ninth-wicket pair chipped seven off the penultimate over from Kyle Hogg and Tom Smith was left to bowl the final over with six required.

Rashid sprinted a single off the second ball and after four leg byes had levelled the scores, Gough smashed the winning boundary through cover point to finish on 20 from just nine balls with four fours.

With rain a constant threat throughout the match, Yorkshire began their reply at a cracking pace, despite Andrew Gale being bowled for a duck in Hogg’s first over.

Michael Vaughan came in to on-drive Cork for four and he further accelerated by driving Hogg for six and taking two elegant fours later in the over.

Two more boundaries off Cork, this time for Gerard Brophy, kept the score racing along but at 47 in the sixth over Smith joined the attack and his first ball knocked back Vaughan’s stumps for 21 from 12 deliveries with three fours and a six.

Gareth Cross ensures his team reach a competitive total

The accurate Mahmood bowled Brophy for 28 but Yorkshire were kept in the hunt by Anthony McGrath who top-scored for the fifth consecutive match and the start of his side’s Twenty20 campaign.

McGrath was eventually bowled by Mahmood for 46 from 39 balls with six fours, and at 119 for seven Yorkshire were in deep trouble, but Gough went on to save the day and bring them their third consecutive win after beginning with two defeats.

Apart from a couple of loose overs at the end, Yorkshire bowled with commendable discipline and Lancashire had to work hard for their runs in poor light with the rain managing to hold off for most of the time.

The most successful of Yorkshire’s bowlers was medium-pacer, Richard Pyrah, who finished with 3-20 off his four overs, his first victim being captain Stuart Law, for 23 off 16 balls with five boundaries, who was bowled while making room.

Law and Mal Loye had put on 35 together after the early dismissal of Lou Vincent and Loye went on to top-score with 43 from 33 deliveries with five fours and a six before driving McGrath’s first ball high to Pyrah at long on.

Pyrah sent back both Francois Du Plessis and Steven Croft cheaply and at 121 for five Lancashire looked incapable of making a competitive total but Gareth Cross then swung a no-ball from Tim Bresnan into the West Stand for six and Hogg also punched a boundary before losing his leg-stump.

Gough bowled economically from the Rugby Stand end until his final three balls of the innings were put away for boundaries by Cross who finished unbeaten on 41 from 24 balls with six fours and a six.