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Ian Harvey’s love affair with the Twenty20 Cup continued at Headingley as Yorkshire registered a second Roses victory of the season.
Andrew Flintoff, in his first Twenty20 innings If Lancashire’s Andrew Flintoff brought a sizeable Headingley crowd to its feet with a barnstorming 85 off 48 balls, Harvey rose the roof thanks to an even more brutal display of batsmanship in a comfortable eight-wicket win for the Phoenix.
The Australian, returning from almost two months out with a hamstring injury, blazed 16 fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 108, which occupied only 58 deliveries.
This competition is clearly to his liking.
Last season he became the first player to reach three figures when he made 100 not out for Gloucestershire against Warwickshire.
Harvey’s partnership of 108 for the second wicket with Phil Jaques, who made a relatively sedate 39, was the centrepiece of Yorkshire’s pursuit of 169, a target reached with 13 balls to spare.
The result not only lifted Yorkshire level on points with their bitter rivals in the northern section, but compounded Lancashire’s misery at losing the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy quarter-final last month.
Harvey’s strokeplay was nothing short of violent, although arguably the pick of his numerous boundaries all around the wicket was a dismissive six over long-on off Sajid Mahmood.
Lancashire, 104 for four at the halfway stage, were made to pay for a collapse which saw the last six wickets fall for 36.
Richard Dawson deserves much credit for claiming two wickets in three probing overs, but the bowling honours went to Andy Gray, who removed Flintoff en route to figures of three for 18.
If the power and placement of Flintoff’s shots were the most impressive aspects of his thrilling innings - he struck 10 fours and three sixes - he also enjoyed the occasional slice of luck.
Craig White misjudged a skier when Flintoff had made just 28, the all-rounder was caught off a Steve Kirby no-ball on 42 and put down by Richard Blakey two runs later, with this time Richard Dawson the unfortunate bowler.
On the whole, though, there was little Yorkshire’s attack could do to stem them flow of runs as Flintoff opened his broad shoulders.
He peppered the leg-side boundary with a frequency bordering on the metronomic and almost cost Steve Kirby a limb with a ferocious straight drive.
Flintoff’s pyrotechnics ensured the efforts of his team-mates largely paled into insignificance.
Mal Loye managed a trademark swept six off Steve Kirby, Carl Hooper unfurled a couple of delicate fours behind point and Warren Hegg’s 20 contained a fine reverse sweep, but otherwise there was a distinct lack of common sense on display.
The Lancashire innings included a couple of avoidable run-outs, and their bowlers suffered at the hands of Harvey, making light of Matthew Wood’s early departure, stole the show and the man-of-the-match award from Flintoff’s grasp.
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