Lancashire all-but eliminated despite Petersen century against Leicestershire

Lancashire's worst fears were realised after they suffered another Twenty20 defeat against Leicestershire Foxes by nine runs at Grace Road, even after a brilliant and unbeaten century by the in-form Alviro Petersen.

The South-African veteran smashed 103 not out from 52 balls, carrying his bat for the second time in the Blast this season, but Lancashire failed to chase their mammoth target of 208, meaning that they are now bottom of the North Group. Petersen has now scored 299 runs in his last five T20 innings for Lancashire and he became the fourth player to score a century for the Red Rose in this format when he hit the final ball of the run-chase for a boundary to take him to a scintillating hundred.

This defeat, Lancashire's seventh of the campaign, means - barring strenuous mathematics - that the defending champions are now on the precipice of crashing out of the tournament. The Foxes raced to 207/3 with a magnificent partnership between Mark Pettini (76 off 51) and Cameron Delport (68 off 36), worth 140 runs in 12 overs.

It was a devastating partnership and one that would prove to be the difference between the two teams by the end of a tense game. The pair hit nine fours and ten sixes between them, treating Lancashire's bowlers with distain at times, as both the captain and South-African import made half-centuries to put Lancashire on the back foot after the visitors invited the Foxes to bat first.

After a circumspect start with the bat, Leicestershire were galvanised by the introduction of Delport, who struck his first half-century for the three-time champions in just 29 balls. Mark Cosgrove fell early on to Nathan Buck (1-31) when he skied to Jordan Clark at mid-off, but after a wasteful use of the poweplay, the hosts started to put their foot on the accelerator.

Having lost Cosgrove at 32/1 in the fifth over, Leicestershire's score was propelled to 92/1 at the halfway stage, with Deport's huge hitting over mid-wicket playing a key role in this sudden influx of runs. He finished the powerplay with the first of six maximums and the Proteas batsman then hit two sixes in succession off George Edwards to take 19 runs from the ninth over.

After taking advantage of a free-hit off Edwards by dispatching it high over mid-wicket, he repeated his shot for the same result, with the only difference being that the second six travelled even further than the previous delivery. The boundaries continued to come all-too frequently for Lancashire's liking, with Pettini racing to a 39-ball fifty with his second six in the 13th over.

Pettini and Delport registered a hundred-partnership in only 58 deliveries in the process of the latter reaching his half-century in only 29 balls, with Pettini hitting Stephen Parry for back-to-back sixes in the 16th over to reward a further 17 runs in a damaging spell for the reigning champions. Not to be outdone, Delport repeated the feat in Edwards' next over, hitting successive sixes to his favourite spot over mid-wicket, before falling for a brilliant and destructive 68 from 36 balls.

Edwards (1-48) had his man when Delport mistimed to Luis Reece in the covers at 172/2 and Pettini followed in quick succession for 76 when he was trapped plumb lbw by Clark (1-45) seven runs later. Brief cameos from Lewis Hill (15 off 8) and Fahraan Behradien (13 off 10) helped push Leicestershire beyond 200, with Hill hitting the final ball of the innings for six to set Lancashire a monolithic target of 208 to keep their T20 hopes alive.

Petersen hit Lancashire's highest individual score in T20 cricket, beating the 102 made by Lou Vincent in 2008.

Needing a similar start to the game at Worcester this time last week - when Lancashire hit 98 runs from the first six overs - the visitors suffered an early set back, as Luis Reece (2) had his stumps rearranged by Richard Jones (2-37) in the second over of the chase. Karl Brown hit back-to-back boundaries, but he struggled to make the most of the powerplay, scoring 18 from 21 balls before attempting to launch Rob Sayer's first ball of the game over the ropes, only to pick out Delport on the long-off boundary.

Had Liam Livingstone (10) been able to fire on all cylinders, Lancashire might have felt more comfortable about their indifferent start, but his dismissal at 59/3 resigned the visitors to an uphill struggle for the remainder of the match. Steven Croft helped Petersen to add 66 runs in 38 balls for the fourth wicket, with the captain playing a fearless innings to support the South-African's valiant effort.

Lancashire reached the 12th over before hitting their first six of the innings, with Petersen sweeping the first of four sixes. Before today, only Mal Loye, Stuart Law and Lou Vincent had hit hundred for Lancashire in Twenty20 cricket, but Petersen re-wrote the record books in his cause to keep the champions afloat.

Successive boundaries and a maximum held Croft to accelerate to 36 from 25 balls, but the Lancashire skipper tried to follow up his six with another meaty blow, picking out Rob Taylor on the longest boundary to leave the score at 125/4. Petersen continued to offer Lancashire hope hitting a 32-ball fifty, as he reached his half-century with a second maximum.

In a 72-run partnership with Tom Smith (9*) Petersen was responsible for the lionshare of the scoring, but a superb spell from Clint McKay proved decisive at the death of the innings. Mckay, the leading wicket-taker in the Big Bash over the winter, delivered two perfect overs of slower deliveries to frustrate Lancashire who required 89 to win from the last six overs.

Despite Petersen's best efforts in the intervening overs, including scoring 19 runs from the 18th over to take him to a new career-best in the format, the visitors were alway behind the required run rate. A heart-wrenching scene at the end of the match was confirmed when Petersen hit the final ball of the game for a boundary to move to his century in 52 balls, with Lancashire losing by nine runs.

Preview: Leicestershire Foxes v Lancashire Lightning - NatWest T20 Blast

With three games remaining in Lancashire's Twenty20 schedule, the reigning champions know that they will have to win all three matches to stand any chance of reaching the quarter finals, a run that begins against Leicestershire Foxes at Grace Road on Friday.

Lancashire's six-wicket defeat against Derbyshire Falcons on Wednesday resigned Ashley Giles' side to second-bottom in the North Group despite Alviro Petersen's innings of 79 from 49 balls, with the hosts reaching victory with eight balls to spare. 

While Derby did wonders for their slim chances of qualifying for the knockout stages, Lancashire's defeat means that they are only one more away from failing to defend their title, a position that will hand the Lightning all the incentive they need come Friday evening. One of Lancashire's four group victories came in the reverse fixture against the Foxes in a rain-affected encounter at Old Trafford. On that occasion Jos Buttler (20 off 9) and Jordan Clark (31 off 12) were the heroes, as the hosts won by nine wickets on D/L.

However, Lancashire have continued to be inconsistent in this campaign, with their last two matches typifying their title defence. At Worcester, a belligerent opening stand between Petersen and Buttler allowed Lancashire to score 98/1 in the first six overs, with the latter hitting a record-breaking 20-ball fifty to help the visitors win by seven wickets against the Rapids. 

Following Buttler's subsequent injury during that game, however, Lancashire failed to make the most of Petersen's form with the bat - having hit 196 runs in his last four innings in the T20 Blast - losing their last six wickets for ten runs in 15 balls to offer the Falcons a route back into the game.

Alvio Petersen has scored 196 runs in his last four Twenty20 innings for Lancashire.

Lancashire can take solace from the fact that they come up against the only side to have fared worse this season in the T20 Blast, a Leicestershire side that has won this tournament more times than any other county since it arrived in 2003. The Foxes have managed only one win in their last eight matches this season, although three of those have washed out, including their most recent fixture against Nottinghamshire Outlaws that was schedule to take place on Tuesday.

The other reassuring item to note is that Lancashire have only lost once at Grace Road in the Twenty20 format, their very first trip to Leicester back in 2003. Since then, Lancashire have dominated the meeting at the Fischer County Ground, although the Foxes were responsible for eliminating the current champions at Finals Day in 2011 in a super over at Edgbaston.

This could be the first time that Paul Horton features against Lancashire, having switched to Leicestershire after 12 seasons at Old Trafford, with a plethora of overseas talent bolstering the Foxes' side. Clint McKay was among the leading wicket-takers in the Australian Big Bash over the winter, while Farhaan Behradien offers an all-round threat for the hosts in a must-win game for both sides.

Tom Moores continues behind the stumps for the Lightning in the absence of Buttler (thumb) and Alex Davies (knee), with Lancashire and their upcoming four-day opponents, Durham, both facing a sizeable distance for the game at Southport on the back of their respective 6.30 starts in the Blast. The Championship match at Trafalgar Road on Saturday will start at midday to help accommodate the late finish on Friday evening.

Leicestershire 13-man squad: Mark Pettini (c), Mark Cosgrove, Cameron Delport, Farhaan Behardien, Paul Horton, Luke Wells, Michael Burgess (wk), Ben Raine, Rob Taylor, Clint McKay, Rob Sayer, Richard Jones.

Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Karl Brown, Nathan Buck, Jordan Clark, George Edwards, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tom Moores (wk), Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Luke Procter, Luis Reece, Tom Smith.

Derby defeat leaves Lancashire struggling to defend T20 crown

Lancashire Lightning suffered their sixth defeat of the NatWest T20 Blast campaign after the Derbyshire Falcons cruised to a six-wicket victory with eight balls to spare at home against the reigning champions.

A masterful 79 from 49 balls from Alviro Petersen - a Twenty20 best for Lancashire - underpinned the visitor's innings of 167/9, but Derbyshire's openers, Hamish Rutherford (47 from 27) and Wes Durston (51 from 34), ensured that the Falcons inflicted a damaging defeat on Lancashire, who are now struggling to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The Lightning were going strong after Petersen and Luis Reece (32 from 22) launched Lancashire to a powerplay score of 63/0, but regular wickets towards the end of the innings allowed Derby to fight back with the ball. Having claimed six wickets for ten runs in the last 15 balls of Lancashire's innings, Rutherford and Durston then smashed 75 runs from the first six overs to propel the home side towards their target of 168.

Lancashire's innings started brightly with three boundaries for Reece in the second over and Petersen responded with two sixes in quick succession off Wayne Madsen and Jimmy Neesham (4-36). Petersen took advantage of a dropped catch to help the visitors reach 50 in the fifth over, before Reece paddled Andy Carter for six down to fine leg to give Lancashire a strong platform at 63/0 after six overs.

Reece fell to spinner Matt Critchley's (2-20) fifth ball when he was judged lbw for a positive 32 after he and Petersen had added 68 runs for the opening stand. Karl Brown (4) then followed in Critchley's next over, also lbw, with two wickets falling for eight runs in the space of two overs at 76/2. Petersen's third maximum helped take him to a 30-ball fifty with Liam Livingstone crunching a huge six of his own over the leg side to bring up the 100 for Lancashire in the 12th over.

However, Livingstone (16) then edged a bouncer from Neesham behind to Harvey Hosein, leaving Petersen with the responsibility to guide Lancashire to a competitive score. He found able support from captain Steven Croft, who hit 27 from 20 balls to add 51 runs with Petersen for the fourth wicket in 32 balls.

Petersen was six runs short of an overall career-best in T20 cricket when he fell for 79 from 49 balls, turning a delivery from Shiv Thakor (1-25) to Carter at short fine leg to start the flurry of wickets for the home side. Jordan Clark made just one run before he was bowled cleanly by Carter shortly after his catch off Thakor and Luke Procter was then run out for no score attempting an ambitious second run to get Croft back on strike. 

Croft's departure at 163/7 the following ball made it four wickets for six runs in 11 balls for Derbyshire when the Lancs skipper was held in the deep by Critchley off Neesham. Four wickets fell in the final over of the innings when Stephen Parry (0) was bowled by Neesham attempting to paddle the seamer and Tom Moores fell in identical fashion for one run to leave Lancashire with a competitive, yet modest final score, of 167/9 after a racing start.

Lancashire's misery was then compounded when Rutherford and Durston took their turn to bat, as the Derby openers used the pace and bounce on the ball to find the boundary regularly inside the first six overs. The innings started badly for the visitors when Nathan Buck's first ball bounced over Rutherford's head for a no-ball, before the Kiwi batsman hit a boundary from the first legal ball of the run-chase. 

This rather set the tone for the rest of the match, and certainly for the 75-run opening stand between Rutherford and Durston, who hit eight fours and six maximums between them to take their side a comfortable win on home soil. The first 50 runs came in only 23 balls, with Rutherford leading the assault, as he hit 47 from 27 balls.

Having earlier hit Buck for a six, Rutherford welcomed George Edwards into the attack with a second maximum over the leg side, before Durston hit a six of his own to reap 18 runs from the fifth over of the run-chase. A devastating platform had been set after the first six overs at 75/0, but Stephen Parry (1-25) collected a vital breakthrough with his second ball to deny Rutherford a fifty when he flashed hard and edged to Edwards at short third man. 

Parry and captain Croft (2-24) threatened to put Lancashire back into contention, particularly when the latter took two wickets in as many balls towards the conclusion of the game, but his Derbyshire counterpart continued to clear the ropes. Durston's third maximum, a lofted drive over long off, was followed by a similar strike down the ground from Chesney Hughes (22), as the hosts continued to tick along above the required run rate.

Durston raced to a half-century in 32 balls with his fourth and final six and after adding 56 runs for the second wicket with Hughes, Derby lost their second wicket at 131/2 in the 14th over. Croft struck blows in successive deliveries, accounting for Hughes after a smart catch by Petersen, before Durston was then caught and bowled for 51 off 34 balls.

Despite taking two wickets in quick succession, Lancashire had leaked too many runs in the first six overs to recover their stronghold in the game, with Neil Broom's (8) dismissal at 151/4 proving to be in vain after he was held on the long-on boundary by Croft off Clark (1-28). Madsen (7*) relieved any nominal pressure that was beginning to build when he dispatched a bouncer from Clark over third man for six - the eighth maximum of the innings - with a shot that all-but confirmed victory for the Falcons.

Having taken four wickets in Lancashire's innings, New Zealand all-rounder Neesham struck three boundaries in his unbeaten innings of 23 from 15 balls, as Derbyshire cruised to victory by six wickets with eight balls to spare. 

This defeat means that Lancashire can still mathematically qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament, but they will have to win their last three games if they are to do so. The Falcons, meanwhile, move up to fifth in the North Group to bolster their chances of a place in the quarter finals, although they will also need a purple patch in the last few group games to qualify.

Preview: Derbyshire Falcons v Lancashire Lightning - NatWest T20 Blast

Jos Buttler will not feature for Lancashire Lightning in their NatWest T20 Blast match against Derbyshire Falcons owing to a thumb injury suffered in the recent win at Worcester last Friday.

After receiving confirmation that Buttler had sustained a small stable fracture to his left thumb, Lancashire have decided that the England wicketkeeper will be omitted from the squad on this occasion, with this injury raising doubts over whether or not Buttler will make an appearance at Southport in the Championship match against Durham starting on Saturday.

This injury also means that loan signing Tom Moores will return behind the stumps after missing out in the win at Worcester. Buttler, who was injured off the bowling of Luis Reece, then went on to hit Lancashire's fastest T20 fifty in just 20 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes in his 57 from 22 balls. His destructive innings allowed Lancashire to register a powerplay score of 98/1 - another club record - sharing a 96-run stand with Alviro Petersen in the first 5.4 overs.

Lancashire started the defence of their Twenty20 crown with a humbling nine-wicket defeat at home to Derbyshire back in May, one of five defeats suffered by Ashley Giles' side in ten North Group games. The Falcons chased Lancashire's sub-par target of 132 with 38 balls to spare at Emirates Old Trafford, with Kiwi Hamish Rutherford hitting six fours and three sixes in his unbeaten innings of 71 off 40 balls.

However, since their resounding success in the opening match of the campaign, Derbyshire have recorded only one victory in ten attempts, a run of form that has left the Midlands outfit facing an uphill struggle to reach the knockout stages of the tournament.

Visitors Lancashire will know that they too have suffered from an indifferent run of form in this year's competition after lifting the trophy at Edgbaston last summer, but the champions are still capable of progressing to the quarter-finals if they are able to repeat the performance they gave against Worcestershire in their last T20 outing.

Derbyshire 14-man squad: Wes Durston (c), Hamish Rutherford, Chesney Hughes, Neil Broom, Wayne Madsen, Ben Slater, Shiv Thakor, Jimmy Neesham, Alex Hughes, Matt Critchley, Harvey Hosein (wk), Ben Cotton, Andy Carter, Tom Milnes.

Lancashire 13-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Karl Brown, Nathan Buck, Jordan Clark, George Edwards, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tom Moores (wk), Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Luke Procter, Luis Reece.

Griffiths joins Hampshire on short-term loan deal

Lancashire seamer Gavin Griffiths has joined Hampshire on a short-term loan deal following his recovery from a hand injury suffered earlier this season.

Griffiths, 22, has made only one appearance for Lancashire this season against Derbyshire Falcons at Emirates Old Trafford in the NatWest T20 Blast, but the fast bowler suffered a nasty blow with his first and only ball in the game when Hamish Rutherford's fierce shot caused Griffiths to be taken out of the attack.

Having made his Lancashire debut in 2014 against Northamptonshire, Griffiths then featured in four Royal London One-Day Cup matches last summer, taking 3-41 against Nottinghamshire at Liverpool. Griffiths took his chance when he was introduced into Lancashire's Twenty20 squad on the biggest of stages, making his debut in the shortest format against Hampshire in the semi-final at Edgbaston.

His first over was only the sixth maiden to ever be bowled at Finals Day and his figures of 2-23 in the final against Northants helped Lancashire to lift their first T20 trophy after reaching Finals Day for the sixth time in the history of the tournament.

Griffith's hand injury caused him to be sidelined for a month, before featuring in three Second Eleven fixtures at the end of June. However, the 22-year-old seamer has agreed to join Hampshire, with his first game scheduled to be against Surrey in the Second Eleven Championship, having already made his debut for Hampshire against the same opposition on Thursday.

Buttler fireworks inspire Lancashire to record-breaking victory at Worcester

Jos Buttler hit Lancashire's fastest fifty in Twenty20 cricket, as they trounced Worcestershire Rapids at New Road by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare chasing 199.

The England wicketkeeper-batsman smashed a 20-ball half-century, finishing with 57 off 22 balls, with Karl Brown's unbeaten 62 from 40 deliveries guiding Lancashire to their target at the start of the 19th over to achieve the double over Worcester.

Having beaten the Rapids by 96 runs at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign, the Lightning secured a vital win in the reverse-fixture, executing a superb run-chase to put their bid for qualification to the quarter-finals back on track. Worcester's score of 198 all out was put into perspective when Buttler and Alviro Petersen (34) smashed 98 runs from a devastating powerplay, including 48 runs for the fifth and sixth overs combined.

The first six overs decimated any hopes Worcestershire had of defending 199 on a ground with a quick outfield and an incredibly short boundary on one side, which Buttler in particular exploited at the start of Lancashire's innings.

Worcester's total of 198 was achieved by a hard-hitting partnership between Ben Cox (44 from 21) and Ross Whitely (38 off 17), who added 77 runs in only 33 balls for the sixth wicket after the hosts found themselves in trouble at 99/5. Luis Reece was the pick of Lancashire's bowlers on his Twenty20 debut for the club and his first appearance in any format this season, claiming figures of 2-29 from three overs to account for Brett D'Oliveira (30) and Cox.

The hosts more than made up for their poor effort with the bat in the reverse-fixture where they were dismissed for 53 at Old Trafford, with Tom Kohler-Cadmore (18) hitting two sixes inside the powerplay to spearhead a positive start for the Rapids. However, Lancashire continued to take regular wickets between the inevitable boundaries, with Nathan Buck (1-36) forcing pinch-hitter Joe Leach (14) to top-edge into Buttler's gloves in the third over.

Kohler-Cadmore's second maximum was followed immediately by Lancashire's second breakthrough, with Jordan Clark (1-39) bowling the potentially explosive opener for 18 at 42/2. D'Oliveira looked to be in good touch, hitting two fours and as many sixes in his innings of 30 off 17 balls, helping the hosts to reach 60/2 at the end of the powerplay.

Stephen Parry (1-44) struck a breakthrough with his third ball when an attempted reverse-sweep from Joe Clarke (25) looped up to Buttler behind the stumps. Parry kept it tight in his first three overs, conceding only 18 runs, but he had his figures destroyed by an explosive over for the home side, one that saw five fours and a six hit off the left-arm spinner.

D'Oliveira became the second Worcester batsman to hit a six and get out the following ball when Brown held on to a good catch at deep mid-wicket, supplying Reece with his first ever wicket in T20 cricket. Steven Croft followed Parry by taking a wicket with his third ball, bowling his Worcester counterpart Daryll Mitchel for 9, a wicket which left the hosts in bother at 99/5 in the 12th over.

However, a belligerent partnership between Cox and Whitely allowed Worcester to take advantage of the short boundary, as they added 77 runs in just 33 balls for the sixth wicket. Cox hit 26 runs from a single over from Parry, before Whitely hit 20 runs from the following over bowled by George Edwards (2-37) to put Worcester back on course for a score of more than 200.

Lancashire found a much-needed breakthrough when Cox was bowled for an impressive 44 from 21 balls, attempting to hit Reece to the short leg-side boundary once more and Lancashire bounced back well at the death to restrict the Rapids to 198, a score that seemed marginally under part given the circumstances of the ground.

Whitely was then ran out for 38 when Buttler made the most of a superb piece of relay boundary fielding from Petersen and Croft, flicking Croft's throw onto the stumps to remove Whitely before he could add to his haul of four boundaries and two sixes.

Buttler was, again, quick to react when he had Matt Henry (9) ran out attempting to take a bye to the keeper, with Worcester losing their final five wickets for 22 runs. Edwards mopped up the tail, claiming two wickets in two balls to remove Ed Barnard (9) and Jack Shantry (1), leaving Lancashire with a target of 199 in a must-win game in the North Group.

The first six overs of Lancashire's innings were utter carnage, as Petersen and primarily Buttler laid into the Worcestershire seamers, recording Lancashire's highest powerplay score of 98/1. Petersen led the assault, hitting back-to-back fours and then a maximum off Shantry (0-26), before Buttler's typical array of scoops and strong hitting over mid-wicket left the home side scratching their heads.

Not to be outdone, Buttler then smashed two fours and three sixes in the following over, with his fourth maximum taking him to a record-breaking 20-ball fifty, beating the half-centuries made off 21 balls by Liam Livingstone and Tom Smith in previous matches. Worcester were offered brief respite when Buttler was bowled inside the sixth over for 57 from 22 balls by Kyle Abott (1-52), but Brown's unbeaten 62 proved to be just as important in helping the Lightning achieve their fourth win of the campaign.

Brown and Croft's (23) unbroken partnership for the fourth-wicket worth 68 runs helped Lancashire to their target of 199 with 11 balls to spare after Livingstone - who received a call-up to the England Lions team today - was bowled for 7 by Mitchell (1-21) and Petersen had earlier fallen for 34 off 20 balls to Leach (1-31). An economical phase brought Worcester back into contention, but Brown continued to caress the ball into the gaps, hitting five fours and a six on his way to a 34-ball half-century.

Croft anchored his approach superbly, remaining unfazed by the recovery of the Worcestershire bowling attack, who were still struggling to come to terms with Buttler's devastating innings inside the first six overs. If the game was still alive at the start of the 18th over, when Lancashire needed 21 runs to win from 18 balls, it certainly wasn't by the time the first legitimate delivery had been bowled, with Brown hitting a free-hit for six after guiding a no-ball to the boundary from the previous ball.

Lancashire cruised to victory with 11 balls to spare when Croft guided Barnard through the covers when all of Worcestershire's fielders were inside the ring, cementing a seven-wicket win that puts Ashley Giles' side fourth in the North Group.

Preview: Worcestershire Rapids v Lancashire Lightning - NatWest T20 Blast

Jos Butler has been named in a 14-man Lancashire Lightning squad for their trip to New Road, as they prepare to take on Worcestershire Rapids in a pivotal NatWest T20 Blast North Group game.

Lancashire know that they need to strike a late run of form in the T20 format to progress to the knockout stages, with their recent defeat against rivals Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley resigning Ashley Giles' side to their fifth defeat of the campaign. 

The defending champions will be hoping for a similar result from the reverse fixture, as Lancashire achieved their second-largest victory ever in Twenty20 cricket when the sides met at Old Trafford at the end of June. Lancashire's 96-run win featured Stephen Parry claiming the best figures by a Lancashire player (5-13) after the Rapids fell apart in their run-chase, as the visitors were bowled out for 53.

Buttler's sudden availability comes after he and Lancashire teammate, James Anderson, were both left out of England's 12-man squad for the first Test against Pakistan, with Buttler now vying to prove he has something to offer in the longer formats, as well as his explosive hitting in white-ball cricket.

The heavy defeat suffered by Worcestershire in June was something of a blip given their general form in this year's tournament, given that the Rapids are firmly in the frame to secure a place in the quarter-finals. Sitting in third place on 10 points after as many matches, Worcester know that a victory against Lancashire could go a long way towards cementing their qualification from the North Group and perhaps a home quarter-final.

Lancashire's latest defeat against Yorkshire last Friday came in a rain-affected game at Headingley, with the Vikings edging a five-run win after Lancashire failed to chase 142. Despite Worcestershire's strong position in the North Group, the Rapids are without a win in the shortest format since June 10 when they beat Northamptonshire by three wickets.

Since then, the Rapids have suffered three defeats - including the resounding 96-run loss to Lancashire - and also two washouts away at Durham and Leicestershire. The hosts will have all the incentive they need to secure their first win in six attempts, but they will have to overcome a Lancashire side fitted with Buttler.

Nathan Buck is the form player in Lancashire's Twenty20 side, with his haul of 10 wickets in three matches including career-best figures against Birmingham Bears. His economy of 5.73 has given Lancashire strength inside the powerplay and Buck made early inroads in the previous game against Worcester, taking 3-12 to sweep aside the Rapids' top-order batsmen.

Buttler's inclusion means that loan-signing Tom Moores may not be required for white-ball cricket as often as first thought, with Steven Croft holding on to the gloves in the County Championship. Worcester will have international talent of their own at their disposal, with seam duo Kyle Abbott and  Matt Henry offering a real threat in the bowling department.

Worcestershire 12-man squad: Daryll Mitchell (c), Kyle Abbott, Ed Barnard, Joe Clarke, Ben Cox (wk), Brett D'Oliveira, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Joe Leach, Matt Henry, George Rhodes, Jack Shantry, Ross Whitely.

Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Karl Brown, Nathan Buck, Jos Buttler (wk), Jordan Clark, George Edwards, Rob Jones, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Luke Procter.