Leics claim Twenty20 crown

Darren Maddy batted superbly

Night falls over a packed Trent Bridge © Getty Images

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Leicestershire claimed their second Twenty20 title in three attempts with a derby victory over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

Jeremy Snape’s side held their nerve as the rain teemed down in the final stages to defeat their east midlands rivals by four runs on their own turf.

Needing 17 off the final over, following a typical squeeze by the Foxes, Nottinghamshire lost two wickets and fell agonisingly short.

Leicestershire celebrations arrived before Jim Allenby’s final ball, which was nevertheless hit for six by Will Smith as the home team closed on 173 for eight. The more crucial blows into the deep during the over, from Paul Franks and Gareth Clough, landed in the safe hands of Darren Maddy.

Nottinghamshire appeared to be cruising to victory when Antipodean duo Stephen Fleming and David Hussey combined in a 57-run stand for the second wicket.

Fleming played a captain’s innings to register 50 off 34 balls while Hussey played with the same pomp on display in his 42 against Surrey, when he cleared the boundary on four occasions.

This time he did so just once - a towering strike off Maddy’s medium pace - in an innings of 37 which spanned only 23 balls.

Both batsmen succumbed in consecutive overs, however, as Fleming slapped a full toss from Snape to fine leg and Hussey drilled England Test hopeful Stuart Broad, impressive throughout, straight to short extra-cover.

When current Test wicket-keeper Chris Read, who lost a tooth while standing up to the stumps in the semi-final, fell for a single-figure score, the hosts were 122 for four and losing their way.

Veteran all-rounder Mark Ealham applied direction with 16 off only seven balls and the pendulum was swinging back the other way when he holed out to long-off off Allenby.

That altered the equation to 27 required off 13 deliveries and although Franks’ straight six got the crowd on their feet again the tension increased when Samit Patel was run out by the narrowest of margins.

Leicestershire’s collection of wily old pros and up-and-comers - coach Tim Boon opted to drop overseas players Mansoor Amjad and Adam Griffith for the showpiece - tightened the noose.

The nerves appeared to get to fast bowler Ryan Cummins, one of those called in, as his three overs cost 36, most of which were from Fleming’s bat.

Leicestershire’s score was in excess of the previous best in a 20-over domestic final, surpassing the 169 for three they made to win two years ago at Edgbaston.

It was also considerably greater than the total they posted during the five-wicket group defeat to their opponents earlier this summer.

Maddy became the first player to pass 1,000 runs in this competition during his scintillating, unbeaten 86.

Former England man Maddy provided the kind of backbone to the innings opening partner HD Ackerman had in the semi-final defeat of Essex earlier in the day.

This time Ackerman chopped into his stumps off left-armer Ryan Sidebottom as Nottinghamshire were boosted by an early breakthrough, after Leicestershire won the toss for the second time.

Sidebottom sent down the most miserly spell of the 2006 season to derail Surrey, his four overs costing just seven runs.

Maddy refused to allow the Yorkshireman to settle into such a rhythm again, however, and deposited one delivery into the stand at long-on to provide the innings with early impetus.

Ackerman’s departure failed to stem the flow as Allenby, one of Leicestershire’s Twenty20 specialists, flung the bat powerfully from the word go.

A Charlie Shreck bouncer rattled into the crowd from a short-armed jab of a pull, one of three sixes hit by the Australia-born all-rounder.

Between them the second-wicket pair cleared the rope seven times, in fact, and it would have been eight but for Franks’ speed of thought when Maddy slog-swept off-spinner Graeme Swann - as Franks took the catch at deep midwicket he realised he was about to carry the ball over the line and pushed it back into play.

Twice in one Ealham over Maddy lofted maximums as his half-century came up off 41 deliveries.

It took Allenby five balls fewer and their 100-run share came up in less than 11 overs.

When Allenby perished in the penultimate over it was only the sixth wicket the Foxes had lost in the day and the second to a run-out, as the decision to attempt a second to a Shreck misfield at deep point proved ill-judged.

Maddy was handed a reprieve in the previous over when his heave to leg off medium-pacer Clough was spilled by Patel at midwicket.