Lancs in good form after Leicestershire win.

Smith was in good touch with the bat.

Lancashire Lightning continued their imperious home record in Twenty20 cricket with a nine-run victory at home against the Leicestershire Foxes to earn their fifth win of the campaign and move one step closer to qualification from the North Group.

Tom Smith was once again in good touch for the hosts as he struck his second half-century in as many games to lead Lancashire towards 166-7, with captain Paul Horton making a useful contribution of 40.

Leicestershire seamer, Richard Jones, will consider himself to be unfortunate to be on the losing side after he claimed 5-34, as the Foxes were unable to chase 167 after Junaid Khan (3-30) claimed crucial wickets.

The hosts won the coin toss, but the decision to bat first was not a comfortable one for Horton. However, the ever-dependable Smith was on hand to give Lancashire a fast start, in an innings containing five fours and two sixes.

Ashwell Prince (12) was not as fierce and was the first victim of Jones’ five-wicket-haul with the score at 27-1. Karl Brown added just seven to the total before edging behind to a short delivery from Jones, but regular boundaries from Smith gave Lancashire a powerplay score of 53-2.

Now joined by Horton, Smith began to open his shoulders, finding the boundary twice in eleventh over. The following over saw him bring up his fifty in 35 deliveries with his second six, but the next ball saw the Lancashire opener trapped lbw by Rob Taylor attempting an unwarranted reverse-sweep.

Horton then led by example with a run-a-ball 40 as the other Lancashire batsmen attempted to find the boundary. His efforts were finally brought to a close by Jones after the Lancashire captain struck two boundaries in the sixteenth over.

Jos Buttler (20) struck a huge six over long-on, before his trademark scoop shot was caught with ease at short fine leg, but a late-order surge ensured that the hosts would achieve a strong total.

The quest for runs did however cause Lancashire to lose three wickets for nine runs. The first was that of Steven Croft who added seven before he was caught on the boundary and Jordan Clark supplied Anthony Ireland (1-51) with a consolation wicket after the Lancashire all-rounder had swatted him for six the previous ball.

Arron Lilley then added an unbeaten 12 as he struck the final ball of the innings back over the bowler’s head for six, as Leicestershire were set the unfavourable task of chasing 167 runs.

Josh Cobb gave the visitors a strong start, smashing the ninth ball of the innings for six. He then struck a second maximum in the fourth over off Clark before Niall O’Brien (9) fell in the same over with the score at 36-1.

The first of two crucial wickets came when Cobb was caught by Smith at mid-wicket off Khan for 27 and when Greg Smith (6) was removed at 46-3, it was difficult to see how the Foxes were going to recover.

Matthew Boyce was to be the final threat to Lancashire’s bid for victory and posed a very real threat too, as he profited greatly from the sweep shot throughout his innings.

Wickets at regular intervals kept the hosts in control after Ned Eckersley (12) skied the ball, forcing Stephen Parry (1-27) to cover significant ground to take a good catch off his own bowling.

However, the crucial breakthrough for Lancashire proved to be that of Boyce (47) before he could reach a thoroughly deserved half-century, as the Return of Khan ended his defiance with the score at 122-5.

Tom Wells (28) and Rob Taylor (20) both struck late sixes, but Leicestershire soon lost their sixth wicket when the former was dismissed by Khan with the Foxes chasing a further 27 runs from 10 balls.

Kabir Ali (2-26) was presented with a relatively simple task of defending 17 runs from the final over and cemented a nine-run victory by bowling Taylor with the final ball of the match.