Michael Lumb continued his good progress with the England Lions, hitting two boundaries from the last two balls of his side’s run chase to seal an impressive victory against the full England side in Abu Dhabi. Hampshire were well represented in the game with Michael Carberry selected in the Lions side and Kevin Pietersen in the Engalnd team. 

Lumb, who had to depart injured midway through his innings, sealed the win in supreme style making a classy 58 not out off 35 balls. And it will fuel growing calls for his promotion to the full national side for the ICC World Twenty20 in April.

Adil Rashid’s three wicket burst had choked the England scoring rate and they required Luke Wright’s blistering late assault to carry them to a competitive but achievable 157 for 6. Lumb and opening partner Craig Kieswetter immediately set about hunting down the total with a flurry of early boundaries. But when Lumb was struck on the face by a Stuart Broad bouncer whilst on 40, he was forced to retire hurt and the Lions chase subsequently stuttered.

Kieswetter continued scoring despite the loss of captain Andrew Gale and Ian Bell. And when Hampshire batsman Michael Carberry also fell, Lumb rejoined his opening partner at the crease. Together they took the score to within 13 of the target when Kieswetter fell to Ryan Sidebottom. Lumb needed 14 off the final over from Wright and despite losing partner Peter Trego to the first ball, he struck an important boundary off the second and brought up his fifty the next ball.

Michael Carberry was also part of the successful England Lions side

With 8 needed off 2 balls, Lumb took control and sealed victory for the Lions in sublime fashion with two boundaries. The plaudits may well go to Kiewswetter for his brilliant 81 but Lumb certainly deserves equal credit. With 8 fours and 2 sixes Lumb played an integral role in the Lions victory and kept his cool when others may have panicked. His courage at having returned after injury will also have alerted the selectors to his temperament.

With every excellent innings it seems only a matter of time before Lumb is given his due rewards and is selected by England.

Lumb commented after the match;

"It was a good win, I thought we did everything well today. We bowled and fielded well and did well to knock those runs off. They are a hell of a good side and it was nice to beat them. Obviously getting hit on the chin didn't help but had a couple of stitches and it was nice to go back out there and carry on the innings and get the win. Things hadn't gone my way on the tour before this game so nice to get some runs today. I'd been feeling good in the nets, been playing well but the nature of twenty20 means you don't always feel like you do yourself justice so it was nice to get a few runs"

Mark Tilley

Back to news

• Share
• Email
• Print