Lancashire win tense match against Middlesex at Blackpool

Lancashire edged a tense 50-over match against Middlesex at Blackpool by a margin of just two wickets with as many overs to spare as they achieved their first win of the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign.

The home side chased their target of 162 with only 12 balls in hand after Middlesex were bowled out for 161 inside 47 overs. James Faulkner and Jordan Clark added 47 runs for the seventh-wicket stand, a vital partnership after Lancashire had suffered a similar collapse to their opponents.

Middlesex made a good start after being put into bat on a covered wicket, but the swinging conditions soon had the visitors in trouble. Tom Bailey claimed the first of three wickets in a six-over spell when he had Dawid Malan caught behind for 14.

The left-handed opener was unable to pull away from a delivery which rose sharply at the last minute, providing Alex Davies with a routine catch behind the stumps. Bailey (3-31) nearly had Nick Compton back in the pavilion in identical fashion in the same over, but he survived a confident appeal from Bailey and the rest of the Lancashire fielders.

He soon had his second wicket, although it was Sam Robson (14) who was the next wicket to fall when he got an inside-edge onto his stumps, leaving Middlesex in the midst of an early mishap at 28/2. Bailey then had his third scalp when the former England batsman, Nick Compton, tried to pull to the leg side, only to sky the ball to Jordan Clark as he fell for six.

Bailey’s then figures of 3-23 made impressive reading and at 36/3, Lancashire had more than vindicated their decision to bowl first, but the wicket of Eoin Morgan remained a prized scalp for the Red Rose. The home side had this important breakthrough when James Faulkner (2-27) encouraged an edge through to Davies, as the England one-day captain departed for 17.

Middlesex then lost their second wicket for the addition of just one run when Nick Gubbins guided a delivery from Jordan Clark (1-28) into the hands of Paul Horton at first slip, a wicket which left Middlesex in real trouble at 68/5. Their position didn’t get any better for some time and was in fact made slightly worse when James Franklin (12) skied a delivery from Faulkner to Clark.

It had been a peculiar knock from Franklin who faced 46 deliveries, hitting only one boundary in that time, but the Middlesex tail rallied to add what proved to be vital runs to the total. The visitors suffered another blow at 83/7 when Gavin Griffiths (1-27) claimed his first wicket for Lancashire, playing in his third List A game for the county, when he had Ollie Rayner (3) caught behind in the 28^th over of the innings.

John Simpson (20) and James Harris, who top-scored for the visitors with 32,  started the recovery with a partnership worth 28 runs for the seventh-wicket before Steven Croft (1-7) struck a breakthrough with his third ball of the match to trap Simpson lbw at 111/8.

But the vital partnership for Middlesex was the eighth wicket stand which added exactly 50 runs to the total as Harris and Toby Roland-Jones made the most of easing conditions. Harris hit just one boundary in his patient innings, while Roland-Jones took the more aggressive route, advancing down the track to Stephen Parry for six.

The tail-ender hit successive fours off Parry to continue his assault, but the left-arm spinner had his revenge soon enough when Roland-Jones picked out Griffiths at deep mid-wicket, scoring 29 off 34 balls to give Middlesex a much-needed boost. Having spent a great deal of time searching for a breakthrough, Lancashire then had Harris out the very next ball when he skied the ball to Ashwell Prince, as Parry collected figures of 2-34.

Lancashire were only able to set Essex a target of 162 in their last 50-over game, but this time it was the Lightning who were set a seemingly straightforward target, although this wasn’t always the case. A difficult start certainly demonstrated that Middlesex were far from out of the game, as Prince (1) guided a delivery from Junaid Khan to Compton at cover.

The home side were forced to make steady progress after the early loss of their South-African batsman, but countryman Alviro Petersen steadied the innings alongside Karl Brown to relieve some of the pressure, that is until Petersen played a ball from Harris to Morgan at mid-off with the score at 49/2.

Three boundaries in succession from Brown in the eighth over, followed by a no-ball which went for four byes, gave Lancashire a respectable start despite the loss of their Port-Elizabeth duo. Khan, who has represented Lancashire in Twenty20 cricket for two seasons, made an important breakthrough when he had Brown caught by Rayner after the Lancashire batsman had hit his seventh four.

The wickets continued to tumble and Blackpool-born Croft (3) was the next to depart when Franklin struck in his first over to have the Lancashire captain caught behind at 63/4. Franklin unearthed another important wicket when he had Horton (18) caught by Rayner at first slip, leaving Lancashire in a potentially uncomfortable position at 92/5.

Lancashire added only one more run before an unfavourable position was made even worse when Alex Davies was judged caught behind off Roland-Jones, the 27-year-old’s first breakthrough of the innings. The home side were in desperate need of a strong partnership after the loss five wickets for 44 runs, but Faulkner and Clark held their nerve to guide Lancashire home with two overs to spare.

Their patience took Lancashire to within 22 runs of the target, but Junaid continued to have an impressive day, claiming the wicket of Faulkner with the final ball of his ten-over allocation when he gloved to Rayner at first slip with the score at 140/7.

Middlesex were running out of seam options but they made another breakthrough when Harris had Clark caught behind for 29 playing one too many expansive drives, a wicket which left the match in a precarious situation for both sides. Lancashire needed 15 runs when Clark returned to the pavilion, but Parry and Bailey were able to see the home side to their target of 162, with Parry hitting a boundary to secure Lancashire's first win of the campaign.

Preview: Lancashire Lightning v Middlesex Royal London One-Day Cup

Lancashire are hoping to bounce back from a resounding defeat against Essex, as they take on Middlesex in the Royal London One-Day Cup in their first visit to Blackpool since 2011.

It is the first List A fixture between these two sides at Stanley Park since 1988 in the Refuge Assurance League, a match which Lancashire won by 52 runs. The Red Rose were beaten comfortably at Chelmsford earlier this week when Essex chased a measly target of 162 with seven wickets and 17 overs to spare and so there is plenty of room for improvement for Ashley Giles’s side.

Middlesex are yet to open their 50-over campaign after a washout against Warwickshire at Lord’s and Lancashire’s first fixture of the tournament against Sussex at Horsham was also abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Lancashire's last visit to Stanley Park in 2011 resulted in an important victory against Worcestershire in the County Championship, a win which went a long way towards securing the Division One title for the first time in 77 years for the Red Rose. Blackpool-born Steven Croft hit a hundred in the first innings and a half-century in the second, as Lancashire secured a 98-run win. 

Key Players:

Ashwell Prince had a nightmare start to the 50-over campaign after being bowled third ball of Lancashire’s innings, but his form across the board has been inspirational this season. His liking for outgrounds has been a prominent feature of his success this year and has seen the South-African score double-hundreds at Southport and most recently Colwyn Bay, where he recorded a career-best 261 against Glamorgan.

Prince was the first player to score 1,000 runs this season and has taken his Championship tally to 1,311 runs at an average of 81.94 after his astonishing and record-breaking partnership with countryman Alviro Petersen.

Junaid Khan has spent two seasons at Lancashire as a Twenty20 specialist bowler and it will certainly feel strange for the Red Rose to be playing against the left-arm seamer. The Pakistan international has represented his country in 52 ODI’s claiming 78 wickets and has been likened for some time to one of the best bowlers to play for Lancashire in Wasim Akram.

His lethal death bowling was a pivotal asset when he played for Lancashire, but Junaid must now exploit his knowledge of his former teammates to get Middlesex’s campaign up and running with a win at Stanley Park.

Team News:

Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), James Faulkner, Gavin Griffiths, Paul Horton, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Luke Procter.

Middlesex 15-man squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Nick Compton, Neil Dexter, James Franklin, Nick Gubbins, James Harris, Junaid Khan, Dawid Malan, Ravi Patel, Ollie Rayner, Sam Robson, Toby Roland-Jones, Gurit Sandhu, John Simpson, Paul Stirling

Match Information:

Weather and conditions: Dry and bright start to the match with a chance of rain in the afternoon. For a full weather forecast click here.

Ground: Stanley Park, Blackpool

Start time: 10.30am

Umpires: Mark Benson, Jeremy Lloyds

Match odds: Lancashire, Middlesex

Bopara display guides Essex to commanding victory

A superb all-round performance from Ravi Bopara secured a seven-wicket win for Essex Eagles in their Royal London One-Day Cup match against Lancashire Lightning at Chelmsford.

The former England man took four wickets before scoring an unbeaten century to take Essex to their meagre target of 162 with 17 overs to spare, as Essex cruised to their first victory of the campaign.

Lancashire managed to score only 161/9 in their 50 overs after being put into bat on an under-prepared and slow wicket, while Essex made the most of easing conditions as they made light work of their opponents.

Alex Davies top-scored for the visitors with 37 as he shared a 44-run partnership with Jordan Clark (19) after Lancashire had fallen to 66/6.  Lancashire suffered a similarly heavy defeat against Essex last season in the 50-over competition, when they were beaten by six wickets with more than 11 overs to spare.

It proved to be a pivotal coin toss for Essex as they extracted prodigious movement in the early stages of the Lancashire innings. Ashwell Prince (4) fell to only the third ball of the innings when he had his off-stump removed by Reece Topley, an early indication of where the game was heading.

David Masters was equally frustrating for the Lancashire batsmen to get away, offering no width whatsoever to the opposition, who stumbled their way to 24/1 at the end of the first powerplay. Lancashire had hit only two fours in that time, neither of which had been terribly convincing strokes, but Karl Brown’s punch off the back through the covers helped the Lightning to start their recovery.

He and Alviro Petersen added 40 runs for the second-wicket stand as the latter smashed Masters (1-20) for a huge six down the ground towards the river, a shot he tried to repeat later on in his innings to the same bowler with less success.

Brown had grafted his way to 21 before he was trapped lbw by Graham Napier (1-36) at 44/2 and Lancashire lost Petersen soon after when he took a huge swing at a delivery from Masters and was bowled for 22.

Captain Steven Croft managed to add just three runs before he edged behind to James Foster, handing Bopara the first of four wickets with the final ball of his first over with the score at 59/4.

Whenever Lancashire tried to get going they lost their way and the loss of Paul Horton (11) at 62/5 left the Red Rose facing an uphill struggle. Horton edged a drive from Bopara to Jesse Ryder at point and for the second over in succession Bopara had struck with the final ball of an over.

He could have had Australian all-rounder James Faulkner out for only two when Foster dropped a routine chance behind the stumps, but it did not prove to be a costly error for Essex given that Faulkner did not add any more runs to the total before chipping a delivery from Ryder (1-12) to Tom Westley, a wicket which left Lancashire writhing at 66/6.

Davies and Clark steadied the innings with a composed partnership, but they found life just as tricky on a slow pitch, although credit must be give to the way Essex exploited their home advantage and knowledge of how such a wicket would play out.

Clark had been determined, showing occasional glimpses of frustration at how slowly the ball was coming onto the bat and he proved that you were never really settled on this pitch when he top-edged a delivery from Bopara (4-31) to sub fielder Aron Nijjar at deep square-leg for 19.

Stephen Parry added an unbeaten score of 19 himself, supporting the valiant yet albeit vain efforts of Davies who was eventually caught by Ryan ten Doeschate at mid-off to give Topley (2-40) his second scalp of the innings. Late and potentially useful runs came from Kyle Jarvis (15) when he clobbered Topley for six over mid-wicket, but Bopara exacted revenge when he made Jarvis look foolish with a perfectly executed slower ball which bowled Jarvis at 158/9.

A target of 162 could have been competitive if Essex had found the wicket as difficult to bat on as their opponents, but after a cautious start the Eagles made light work of the run chase. Jarvis (2-26) began very well for Lancashire with the ball, converting an economical start into a profitable one for the visitors when he encouraged Westley (5) to edge to Horton at first slip with the score at 20/1.

This was to be a brief moment of success in an otherwise desperate period for Lancashire, as they were made to toil by the class and experience of Bopara. He advanced down the wicket to Gavin Griffiths, who was playing in only his second game for Lancashire, smashing the young fast bowler for six down the ground and he followed this maximum with a four through mid-wicket to set the tone for his superb knock.

Pettini played a calm supporting role as he and Bopara reached the fifty partnership, by which stage Essex had established control of the game. The first sign of spin in the entire game came when Parry was introduced 65 overs into the match, but he didn’t fair any better as Bopara advanced to a 48-ball fifty with his seventh four taking him to this milestone.

The second wicket stand was approaching a value of 100 runs but Pettini was caught superbly by a one-handed grab by Prince at deep mid-on, as Jarvis collected his second wicket with the score at 118/2.

Nick Browne (8) timed the ball beautifully from the start of his innings, but he was unable to benefit from finding his eye early on as he picked out Griffiths in the covers off Clark (1-40) but this was the final breakthrough for Lancashire as Bopara and skipper ten Doeschate saw Essex home with 17 overs to spare.

Bopara hit his 13th four to take him to a fine century in 98 deliveries, a boundary which also handed Essex a commanding victory after both these sides experienced a rain-affected start to the tournament. 

Preview: Essex Eagles v Lancashire Lightning Royal London One-Day Cup

Lancashire will be hoping for a drier and brighter encounter against Essex at Chelmsford following successive washouts in their last two games.

The Lightning's final group game against Worcestershire in the Natwest T20 Blast fell victim to persistent rain and their 50-over curtain-raiser against Sussex was also abandoned without a ball being bowled at Horsham.

Essex have experienced a similarly disappointing run of luck with the weather, with their final group game against league-leaders Kent being abandoned without a ball being bowled and their first Royal London match against the same opposition ending in the same fate.

Both Essex and Lancashire were the benefactors of the bad weather in the Twenty20 format, as a draw was enough to secure a spot in the quarter-finals, but both sides will be hoping to put their skills to the test after a frustrating period of cricket.

Essex beat Lancashire in their only 50-over encounter in 2014 by six wickets after Tom Westley's 84 lead the Eagles to their target of 248 with an incredible margin of 11.5 overs to spare. Paul Grayson's side went on to reach the knockout stages of the tournament after finishing fourth in Lancashire's group, but they were beaten in the quarter-finals by runners-up Warwickshire.

Key Players:

Jesse Ryder played a key role the last time these two sides met in limited-overs cricket, scoring 71 not out off 54 balls to hand Essex a comfortable victory on home soil. The all-rounder started the season with a run of seven consecutive scores of 30 or more for Essex and New-Zealand side Otago.

Ryder played in seven 50-over matches for Essex last season and scored 369 runs at an impressive average of 92.25. In six innings, Ryder hit four half-centuries and his highest score last season came against Warwickshire in the quarter-final, where his score of 90 was unable to guide Essex to the semi-final.

Stephen Parry has been a consistently economical and dangerous spinner for Lancashire, but the Red Rose may be in danger of losing the left-arm spinner in the four-day cricket due to a lack of opportunities in the first team. Parry's reputation in limited-overs cricket has seen him represent England in ODI and IT20 cricket and the 29-year-old has also represented Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash alongside fellow Lancastrian Andrew Flintoff.

His record of 83 List A wickets at an average of 27.97 may not be staggering, but for a long time Parry has been renowned as one of the top one-day bowlers in the country and alongside his teammates Arron Lilley and Steven Croft, Lancashire are able to frustrate opponents with their spin options.

Team News:

Essex 13-man squad: Ryan ten Doeschate (c), Ravi Bopara, Nick Browne, James Foster (w/k), David Masters, Graham Napier, Aron Nijjar, Mark Pettini, Jamie Porter, Jesse Ryder, Reece Topley, Kishen Velani, Tom Westley.

Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), James Faulkner, Gavin Griffiths, Paul Horton, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Luke Procter.

Match Information:

Weather and conditions: Although it is not due to be particularly warm, the two sides will take some solace from the fact that the rain is likely to abate for this game. For a full weather forecast click here.

Ground: Chelmsford

Start time: 2.00pm (Floodlight game)

Umpires: Martin Bodenham, David Milns

Match odds (SkyBet): Essex 4/5, Lancashire 1/1

50-over campaign starts with washout at Horsham

The opening fixture in Lancashire’s Royal London One-Day Cup campaign against Sussex was abandoned without a ball being bowled at Horsham.

It was due to be the first time Lancashire had visited this ground since Michael Atherton’s century guided the Red Rose to a seven-wicket victory in 1994, but persistent rain thwarted any and all attempts to start playing.

The dismal weather has been a fairly permanent foe in recent times and was responsible for washing-out the entire of Lancashire’s final North Group game in the Natwest T20 Blast against Worcestershire.

On that occasion, the rain secured a point apiece for Lancashire and Nottinghamshire and saw the Lightning advance to the quarter-finals by virtue of a superior net run rate. Lancashire will play Kent Spitfires at Canterbury on Saturday August 15 and if they win this match they will reach Finals Day for the sixth time.

Preview: Sussex Sharks v Lancashire Lightning Royal London Cup

Lancashire's 50-over campaign starts with a trip to Horsham, where they will face Sussex in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

It is the first time Lancashire have visited Horsham for a List A game since 1994, a game which the Red Rose won by seven wickets after a century from Michael Atherton. It is the first List A fixture between these two sides since 2010 and the first one-day encounter since Lancashire beat the Sharks in the Twenty20 format at Hove in 2011 to progress to Finals Day.

Lancashire experienced a disappointing spell in the 50-over contest last season. Their campaign began with resounding defeats against Yorkshire and Hampshire on home soil and it felt as though the tournament was over for the Lightning before it had even got going. 

Ashley Giles’s men will no doubt be focusing on cementing promotion to the first division of the County Championship and their Twenty20 campaign could add further pressure to the current demand should they progress from the North Group. Lancashire may therefore give opportunities to younger players, but with the likes of James Faulkner available they will at least be hoping for an improvement on their return from last season. 

Sussex experienced a similarly disappointing campaign, recording only three wins in eight group games, as they also finished second-bottom of their respective group. The south-coast side are currently involved in a relegation battle in the first division of the Championship and their impressive form in the Twenty20 competition has seen them earn a home quarter-final.

Key Players:

Luke Wright has been in good form all season and his prowess in one-day cricket will no doubt be crucial to Sussex's chances in this competition. The 30-year-old all-rounder has represented England in more than 100 one-day matches and a return of 564 runs in the Twenty20 format demonstrates his destructive capabilities in white-ball cricket. 

Karl Brown is likely to be a vital contributor for after scoring 373 runs at an average of 62.16 in the 50-over campaign last season. His pedigree in one-day cricket has been apparent for some time, though his form in the County Championship has been something of a revelation. Lancashire's One-Day Player of the Year for 2014 is capable of pacing the ideal innings for this format, as he demonstrated against Yorkshire last season when he recorded a career-best 129, an innings which was in vain.

Team News:

Sussex squad: TBC

Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), James Faulkner, Gavin Griffiths, Paul Horton, Kyle Jarvis, Arron Lilley, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Luke Procter.

Match Information:

Weather and conditions: The biblical weather which ruined the final round of group matches in the T20 Blast looks set to return for Lancashire's first 50-over game of the season. Heavy rain will arrive in the morning and is likely to continue throughout the day, making it difficult for an outground to cope with the amount of rain that is likely to fall. For a full weather forecast click here. 

Ground: Horsham

Start time: 10.30am

Umpires: Paul Baldwin, Jeff Evans.