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Gale and Rashid shine to ensure Tykes secure Roses double at Headingley

Will Hawkes
Saturday 18 June 2011 00:00 BST
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Yorkshire completed a Twenty20 double over their rivals Lancashire last night courtesy of two England Lions: Andrew Gale and Adil Rashid. The former, the Yorkshire captain, hit 60 out of a total of 178 for 4 before Rashid's legbreaks proved too much for the Lancastrians.

The 23-year-old took 4 for 26 from his four overs while Azeem Rafiq, another of Yorkshire's stable of talented young tweakers, claimed 2 for 29. Lancashire were out for 167 (losing by 11 runs) after a late flurry by Jordan Clark: the defeat sees them fall behind the Tykes in a very tight north group.

Yorkshiremen were happy all over last night. Steve Rhodes, the Worcestershire coach, hails from Bradford and last night his team squeaked home against Warwickshire by one wicket. Rhodes, who said earlier this season that the West Midlands derby was especially important to him ("It's a special game," he said), was indebted to Gareth Andrew, who hit a nerveless 65 – including a six to win the match – to lead his side home.

Meanwhile, Hampshire have confirmed that the club has received a formal No Objection Certificate (NOC) which allows their overseas signing, Shahid Afridi, to take part in the rest of the tournament. The Pakistani all-rounder will be available for the Royals' game at Chelmsford against the Essex Eagles on 23 June.

Afridi was due to play in the whole competition for the Royals but had to withdraw following an alleged breach of the Pakistan Cricket Board's code of conduct. With that issue having apparently been resolved, Afridi joins a Hampshire team thus far unbeaten in the competition.

Hampshire's game against Glamorgan was able to get underway last night, but only just. Michael Lumb and Jimmy Adams played out a solitary over for five runs before the rain came down and ended the match. That, nonetheless, was rather better than others around the country did.

Sussex's home game against Kent was typical: persistent rain all day meant the decision for umpires Nigel Llong and Neil Bainton was a formality and the game was called off at 7pm, both sides taking one point. Kent are likely to be the happier given that Sussex – alongside Hampshire – have thus far looked the competition's form side, winning five of their six games to date.

The only other game that saw any action was at Grace Road, where Leicestershire Foxes suffered their third consecutive T20 wash-out. Their north group game against Durham Dynamos was abandoned after only five overs. The start was delayed by 10 minutes because of light rain, and the Foxes were then put in to bat after Durham won the toss.

But rain was falling again by the time the Foxes 20-year-old opener Josh Cobb launched a blistering assault on the Dynamos' attack, blazing his way to a stunning half-century off 21 balls – the fastest ever 50 in the competition by a Leicestershire player.

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