Lancashire slip to rain-affected defeat against Bears at Edgbaston

Lancashire Lightning suffered their fourth NatWest T20 Blast defeat of the season after falling to an 18-run defeat on Duckworth Lewis against Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston.

Chasing 145 after choosing to bowl first, Lancashire slumped to 39/4 before heavy and persistent rain arrived in the Midlands after New Zealand's wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi hit 53 off 35 balls to spearhead the Bears' innings of 144/9.

Nathan Buck claimed superb figures of 4-26 on his Twenty20 debut for Lancashire, helping to reduce the hosts to a score that seemed to be below par with a short boundary on one side. With heavy rain due hit Edgbaston in the early stages of the second innings, Lancashire faltered, losing Martin Guptill and Jordan Clark for six runs apiece in the space of an over inside the powerplay.

Karl Brown top-scored with 10 before he picked out Jeetan Patel on the square-leg boundary off Chris Woakes (1-4) and Lancashire's hopes of a revival were tarnished when Jos Buttler fell for a second-ball duck, caught and bowled by Rikki Clarke (2-25).

When the rain arrived, Lancashire were on 39/4 halfway through the seventh over, meaning that the Bears were comfortably ahead on D/L despite their seemingly modest effort with the bat. The meeting between the last two winners of the T20 competition was billed as one-to-watch when the fixtures were released, but the rain - as it has tended to of late - had the final say after Lancashire's indifferent start with the bat.

Lancashire had early success when Sam Hain was caught behind by Buttler for 2 off Buck in the third over after the opening batsman survived a scare a few balls earlier for the same mode of dismissal. Buck's first wicket in a T20 shirt for Lancashire was by no means his most valuable scalp of the day, as the former Leicestershire seamer had Bears' captain Ian Bell caught by Guptill in the fifth over.

The spinners kept it tight outside of the powerplay, with Stephen Parry (2-27) removing Will Porterfield for 11, as he too was held by Kiwi Guptill, who took a juggling catch in the covers at 47/3. Laurie Evans was starting to look dangerous for the Bears, but a sharp piece of wicketkeeping from Buttler off Parry had Evans stumped for 24.

Ronchi started to shift through the gears, capitalising on a free-hit off Parry, as he hit the left-arm spinner for the first of four sixes through mid-wicket. His second maximum, a swept six off Arron Lilley (1-29) took the Bears to 104/4, but Woakes (13) and Clarke (0) fell in quick succession to leave the hosts on 111/6.

Woakes picked out Luke Procter in the covers to reward Lilley's economical bowling with a solitary wicket, before Edwards returned to have Clarke bowled for a golden duck, his tenth wicket of the tournament. Ronchi continued to be the thorn in Lancashire's search for supremacy, clipping Edwards for six to the short boundary, with his fourth six taking him to a vital 32-ball fifty.

Buck's strong start continued into his death bowling, as he claimed two more wickets in as many balls to finish with figures of 4-26, removing Mark Adair (7) and the dangerman Ronchi, with the latter falling for 53 from 35 deliveries after hitting three fours and four sixes. Edwards then had Jeetan Patel out third ball for no score when Steven Croft held onto his second catch in quick succession after catching Adair off Buck, as the Bears finished on 144/9.

Lancashire only needed to score at a moderate rate to be in with a chance of being ahead of Duckworth Lewis after five overs, the minimum number of overs required for there to be a result, but wickets continued to fall, forcing D/L to spiral out of control. Guptill (6) fell in the second over to Oliver Hannon-Dalby (1-10) when he toed his lofted drive to Bell at mid-off, before Jordan Clark got a leading edge back to Clarke, as he also departed for 6.

By the time five overs had been bowled, Lancashire had staggered to 28/2, putting them nine runs behind on D/L, but further wickets increased the margin of their eventual defeat. Brown tried to relieve the pressure, but Woakes struck with his fourth ball when Brown picked out Patel on the square-leg boundary.

Buttler then fell second ball for no score when Clarke held on to another caught and bowled chance, as Lancashire slipped to 38/4 at the start of the seventh over. This top-order collapse proved fatal for the Lightning, as the rain arrived on schedule and resigned the champions to their fourth defeat in seven matches in the T20 format.