Lancashire Lightning take on the Durham Jets at Chester-le-Street as they hope to return to winning ways in the Natwest T20 Blast and launch a delayed bid for the knockout stages of the tournament.
Two defeats in quick succession have hampered Lancashire's hopes of progressing from the North Group and Durham were responsible for inflicting the first of four defeats suffered by Lancashire in this format, achieving a 16-run win at Old Trafford.
On that occasion, Ashwell Prince recorded a career-best T20 score of 78 in 51 balls, but his efforts were unable to take Lancashire over the line. The last time Lancashire travelled to Durham for a Twenty20 encounter, the visitors edged a one-run victory and the previous season saw the Lightning achieve a nine-run win.
These two have contested a number of evenly fought matches, but Lancashire have not been beaten at Chester-le-Street by Durham since 2011, a run of three games without a win for the Jets. In fact, Lancashire have only been beaten by Durham once in eight matches since 2011 and the Red Rose are hoping to extend their superiority with a win which could put their campaign back on track.
A fifth defeat in eight matches this season would leave Lancashire struggling to repeat their success of last year and a visit from the side who beat them in the final last summer the following day could resign the Lightning to a disappointing tournament if both matches end in defeat.
Key Players:
Mark Stoneman has enjoyed a promising start to life as one-day captain of Durham and the left-handed opening batsman scored 57 in 38 deliveries in the reverse fixture to guide Durham to victory. The 27-year-old has accumulated 168 runs in eight innings this summer, although his 57 against Lancashire is his highest score of the tournament.
James Faulkner continues to be a destructive force in the shortest format of the game, although his score of 73 from 45 balls was unable to secure a victory for Lancashire against Northamptonshire. The Australian all-rounder has been a ferocious asset with the bat, scoring 158 runs at an average of 39.50 and a return of seven wickets at an average of 17.43 demonstrates his ability to make a mark on the game in all areas of the game. Faulkner was part of an unbroken partnership with Steven Croft against Derbyshire worth 151 runs and his death bowling will surely be required to restrict Durham's progress.
Team News:
Durham are without international duo, Ben Stokes and Mark Wood, who are being rested by the ECB after the pair helped England to achieve a comfortable win against New Zealand.
Durham 13-man squad: Mark Stoneman (c), Usman Arshad, Scott Borthwick, Graham Clark, Paul Collingwood, Paul Coughlin, John Hastings, Keaton Jennings, Calum MacLeod, Gordon Muchall, Phil Mustard (w/k), Ryan Pringle, Chris Rushworth.
The leading wicket-taker in the County Championship, Kyle Jarvis, has been included in Lancashire's squad for this match, with Saqib Mahmood also in line to feature in what would only be his fourth first-team appearance for Lancashire.
Lancashire 13-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), James Faulkner, Paul Horton, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Stephen Parry, Ashwell Prince.
Match Information:
Weather and conditions: The weather in the North-East has not been terribly friendly this week and that pattern looks set to continue. The possibility of a washout is highly likely, with the rain due to arrive at 4pm and cease at 10pm, ruining any chance of a completed match. For a full weather forecast, click here.
Ground: Emirates ICG Durham, Chester-le-Street
Start time: 6.30pm
Umpires: Steve Garratt, Tim Robinson
Match odds (SkyBet): Durham 8/11, Lancashire 11/10
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