Lightning ease to victory against Leicestershire

Brown finished the tournament with 373 runs at an average of 62.17.

Lancashire cruised to an eight-wicket victory against Leicestershire Foxes in their final Royal London one-day Cup group at Emirates Old Trafford, thwarting the visitors hopes for achieving a place in the quarter-finals.

The hosts successfully chased their victory target of 185 with 20 overs to spare thanks to half-centuries from openers Tom Smith and Luis Reece, who shared a 97-run stand before Karl Brown completed the task with an unbeaten 49.

Despite being rooted to the bottom of the table, Lancashire will have seen this game as an excellent opportunity to give the players a run-through for Finals Day and Kabir Ali's timely return from a shoulder-injury proved useful as the seamer claimed 3-26.

Leicestershire won the toss and chose to bat first, making a strong start in the powerplay overs due to the efforts of Josh Cobb (58) and Niall O'Brien (11) as the pair made 40 for the first wicket. Ali struck first with Brown taking a smart catch in the deep off O'Brien, but Cobb continued to accelerate as he spearhead the innings with his first fifty of the campaign.

Another catch in the deep, this time by Jordan Clark, was enough to remove Greg Smith (13) off his namesake, Tom, as the Foxes reached 68/2 inside 15 overs. It had been a respectable start from the visitors, mainly due to Cobb's strong one-day record, but when he fell with the score at 93/3, Lancashire knew that they had made a crucial breakthrough.

Steven Croft struck with only his second delivery as he trapped the Leicestershire opener lbw in the 22nd over. The visitors were starting to show signs of wavering once this wicket fell with their next highest contribution coming from Dan Redfern, who added 43 amongst an irreparable batting collapse.

In all, the visitors lost their final seven wickets for just 59 runs in 90 balls, losing Ned Eckersley for 24 as Stephen Parry (1-29) was rewarded for an economical spell of bowling. Three runs later with the score at 128, the visitors lost their fifth wicket, that of Shiv Thakor (2) as Croft collected figures of 2-32.

Leicestershire's fleeting hopes of posting an imposing score now rested on New Zealand international, Scott Styris, but he was only able to add ten runs to the Foxes total before falling to Tom Bailey (2-40).

Lancashire's seam bowlers inflicted serious damage to any chance of a late-order revival, removing the final five Leicestershire batsmen for 34 runs. Jigar Naik (2) was bowled by Ali in the 39th over, although he did not seem to be entirely over his injury and Bailey continued his impressive start to first-team action with his second wicket to remove Anthony Ireland for one.

With the visitors now reduced to 169/8, the wicket of Redfern all-but ended the Foxes innings as Ali claimed his third and final wicket of the innings, Kyle Jarvis taking the catch. Tom Smith then completed the innings when he forced James Sykes to edge behind to Alex Davies for 11 as he finished with two wickets for 21 runs.

Whether Lancashire were playing for pride or form, the hosts gave a perfect performance with bat and balls, cruising to a comfortable victory to ensure that Hampshire finished bottom of the group. Smith and Reece made a positive start, reaching 33/0 after seven overs when tea was taken at Old Trafford.

An early drop by Redfern off Smith could have given the Foxes a useful breakthrough before the interval, but with rain due to hit Manchester the decision to take tea seemed frustrating to players and spectators alike.

Nevertheless, when play resumed Lancashire's openers showed the same level of intent, Smith striking the first six of the innings before reaching his fifty in 45 balls. Reece eventually reached the same millstone, but not before Smith was removed by Sykes (1-42) ending Lancashire's highest 50-over partnership for the first wicket this season.

Brown's one-day form has been a real asset to Lancashire this season and the 26-year-old continued his fine summer as he made 49 in 53 deliveries. Reece made his first half-century of the season for Lancashire in all formats in 57 balls, falling for the same amount as his opening partner (54).

With two fifties and a high-score of 129 already in this format, Brown approached his third half-century with ease but was unable to raise his bat as Lancashire reached 185 after 30 overs with Brown stranded on 49 and captain Paul Horton on 18 not out, as the hosts raced to only their second 50-over win of the season.