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Lancashire 124 for 5 (Moores 39*, Clark 31*) beat Birmingham 94 for 8 (Mahmood 3-12, LIlley 2-21) by 30 runsScorecardPrecisely eleven months since they danced and sang on the Edgbaston outfield after winning last years NatWest T20 Blast, Lancashires cricketers went into their final group match with coach Ashley Giles voicing the hope they could upset the party of the Birmingham Bears, his former side, who needed a win to be certain of reaching the last eight.By the end of a fine and rather fascinating match, Giles could argue that he had achieved his modest objective with a 30-run victory, albeit that both eliminated teams were left dancing round their handbags in the kitchen while Agadoo played on a continuous loop.Lancashire had needed either a washout or a tie at Chester-le-Street if they were to qualify and the joy which inspired their victory song was surely tinged with the knowledge that they had squandered their short-form opportunities earlier in the season. For their part, having restricted Lancashire to 59 for 5 in the 14th over Birmingham allowed their hosts to amass 124 for 5 and the Bears then failed by a distance to chase down that score on a slow pitchBoth these teams could echo the impassioned regret of Billy Bigelow in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel: they had both let their golden chances pass them by.None of which should detract from the enjoyment eventually derived by most of the 10,263 spectators, Lancashire second-biggest T20 crowd, from this slow-burner of a short-form game in which the home batsmen had struggled painfully in the opening overs against an accurate Bears attack. Only four boundaries were struck in the opening 13.3 overs, all of them in the powerplay. Like a drunk trying to unlock his front door, each Lancashire batsman searched for the correct opening without ever quite finding it.Josh Poysden took a couple of wickets and was the pick of the Bears attack but he had finished his four-over spell when Tom Moores and Jordan Clark launched a late counter-attack, each batsman hitting two fours and a six in their 65-run stand for the sixth wicket. Having sat rather quietly, at least by T20 standards, the crowd responded warmly to this fine cricket and to the inventive excellence of 19-year-old Moores, who yet again looked like the sort of cricketer you want by your side in a scrap.By the mid-innings break it was clear that Lancashire had posted a defendable total. Who knows, perhaps the enraged supporter who had suggested earlier in the evening that the entire county club should be disbanded was now supporting it be reformed. All the same, no one knew then that Mooress unbeaten 39 would be the highest score of the match or that Clarks 31 not out would be the second best.That this was so can be explained partly by the failure of the Bears batsmen to adapt their strokeplay on this sluggish wicket, one perfectly at odds with the sort of wicket generally recommended for T20 cricket. But Lancashires victory was also a tribute to the work of their four spinners, none of whom went for many. Indeed, Croft conceded 12 runs from his four overs but he was only the leader of a slow bowling quartet, including Stephen Parry, Arron Lilley and Liam Livingstone, who sent down 16 overs of twisters yet conceded only 64 runs and took four wickets.Given these difficulties Birmingham probably needed Bell to play one of his classier innings but he was undone by a fine ball from Saqib Mahmood which he could only glove to Moores; the visitors could also have done without the run out of William Porterfield, who ran on a misfield but was sent back by Sam Hain and beaten by Parrys throw. Having made a modest 57 for two after ten overs, Birmingham lost wickets steadily thereafter, including that of Hain, caught behind off Livingstone for 28 and Matthew Wade bowled by Croft for 16. No other batsmen threatened to change the game.Excellent catches at short fine leg and deep midwicket by Tom Smith and Livingstone removed Laurie Evans and Rikki Clark in the 17th over, bowled by Lilley, but by then Birmingham needed a salvo of shots they had never really looked likely to fire. The very promising right-arm seamer Mahmood grabbed a couple more wickets and finished with 3 for 12.So there will be a party at Edgbaston next month but the hosts will not be present. Their lager will taste flat tonight while Lancashire can take the consolation of victory from what has been an annoying season. Immediate pleasure may be replaced by deeper professional irritations and suddenly it must seem more than eleven months since they paid homage to Bacchus at Edgbaston. They were happy in the haze of that hour but they must wait another season for a chance to repeat such frolics. Deon Bush Jersey . 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Halfway through the season, the Big Tens quarterback carousel is still spinning.Nearly half the teams in the conference have already made QB changes for a variety of reasons -- injuries, poor play or a coach just looking to shake things up. So far, the results have been mixed.Just days after four coaches went with first-time starters, Rutgers coach Chris Ash joined the bandwagon by naming Gio Rescigno as his new quarterback Saturday against Minnesota.I thought he went out and led the offense, executed the calls, made good decisions. He still needs to be more consistent, Ash said Tuesday. I like his personality, his energy and the leadership he brings to the offense.Perhaps Rutgers move should have been expected after losing four straight and being outscored 174-14.Other coaches, with fewer problems, have made similar decisions.Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst benched fifth-year senior Bart Houston in favor of redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook less than a month ago. Hornibrook has lost two straight -- to No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan -- since winning at Michigan State and the Badgers are still ranked No. 10.Minnesota got its first conference win behind former walk-on Conor Rhoda, who was 7 of 15 for 82 yards against Maryland filling in for injured starter Mitch Leidner (concussion). Leidner could miss Saturdays game against Rutgers, too. The Terrapins lost with Tyrrell Pigrome, who replaced Perry Hills (shoulder). Its not clear if Hill will return this weekend.At Illinois, first-time starter Chayce Crouch replaced Wes Lunt (back) and helped new Illinois coach Lovie Smith celebrate his first conference win by beating Rutgers.The most shocking decision may have come from Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, who started Brian Lewerke over Tyler OConnor on Saturday then brought OConnor back in the third quarter of a 54-40 loss to Northwestern.That change didnt help much as the defending Big Ten champs head to Maryland witth a four-game skid and a starting quarterback still to be named.dddddddddddd.Well see how the practices work out this week. Well make some determinations as we go, sort of go from there, Dantonio said. It will probably be more of a game time decision.Just to keep everyone on their toes.Here are some other notable items around the Big Ten:MORE CHANGESPurdue interim coach Gerad Parker got thrown right into his new role Tuesday. First, he took questions from local reporters before participating in the conferences weekly coaches call. This is going to take the 35-year-old, first-time head coach a little getting used to.I know our administration didnt see some things they wanted to from our staff, he said, explaining the firing of Darrell Hazell. Its been a different situation for our staff and our players and a weird situation for me.FILLING IN THE LINESThe Big Ten has 10 bowl tie-ins and the lines are already starting to fill up. The Buckeyes, Wolverines and No. 8 Nebraska all became bowl-eligible last weekend. If Iowa protects its home field against the Badgers this weekend, the Hawkeyes would join the list. Four other teams -- Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin -- can all move within one win of becoming bowl-eligible with victories Saturday.ROAD MAGICThe Hawkeyes broke the school record for consecutive road wins (nine) last weekend. In fact, all six conference games were won by the visiting team -- the first time that has happened since Nov. 7, 2009. And this weekend at Penn State, Ohio State can break the Big Ten record for most consecutive road wins in conference play. With the win at Wisconsin, Ohio State tied the mark set by Michigan (17) from 1988-92.---Online:College Football: http://collegefootball.ap.org---This story has been corrected to show Illinois defeated Rutgers. ' ' '