Qualification is in Lancashire's own hands, but three incredibly tough group matches mean that Ashley Giles's side will need to be at the top of their game if they hope to progress from the North Group.
The first of three formidable opponents is Nottinghamshire Outlaws, a side with a tremendous pedigree in white-ball cricket, but the 2015 campaign has not been as kind to them as many would have predicted.
The Outlaws are only two points adrift of Lancashire in the table, but they are in sixth place, where as the Lightning sit in fourth place with the best net run rate in the group. It has been difficult for any one side to dominate the tournament so far; Durham have slipped outside the top-four after a commanding start to the campaign and most other sides, including Lancashire and Nottinghamshire, have struggled to put together a run of wins without suffering defeat somewhere along the line.
Lancashire have made a good start to their Twenty20 run-in, beating rivals Yorkshire at Old Trafford with their best ever score in the format, before achieving a resounding victory at Grace Road against Leicestershire.
Three defeats in four matches saw Lancashire lose by finite margins, but a sixth Finals Day could well be on the cards for the Lightning if they are able to maintain the winning formula that has been so successful in previous seasons.
Nottingham, on the other hand, have benefitted from small margins, beating Derbyshire by two runs in their last Twenty20 outing. Mick Newell's side have won three and lost five of their last eight encounters in this format of the game, a record which is hardly befitting of a side with a plethora of talent.
Key Players:
Steven Croft is a veteran of Twenty20 cricket and a player who is able to extract the most out of all three facets of the game. If he doesn't make an impact with the bat, his economical spin bowling has proven to be very effective, with Croft returning nine wickets at an average of 25.65. Lancashire's stand-in captain, in the absence of Tom Smith, has performed brilliantly under pressure this season recording a Twenty20 career-best of 94 against Derbyshire on home soil.
A return of 341 runs at an average of 42.63 makes Croft Lancashire's leading run-scorer in T20 cricket this season, a total which was boosted in the Lightning's trip to Grace Road, where Croft scored his third fifty of the campaign to guide his side to a 40-run win.
Alex Hales has a formidable record in Twenty20 cricket and has represented Mumbai Indians in the IPL in the most recent campaign, as well as England in the 2014 T20 World Cup. The hard-hitting batsman became the first Englishman to score an international century in Twenty20 cricket against Sri Lanka in 2014 World T20 tournament a sign of his remarkable talent in the shortest form of the game.
Hales has scored 4,717 runs in 165 career Twenty20 matches, accumulating over 1,000 runs in 34 matches for England in this format, at an average of 37.55. This talented batsman has also gone a long way towards changing the belief that he can only delivery in limited-overs cricket, scoring 600 runs in seven Championship appearances this season, recording a highest score of 236 against Yorkshire.
Team News:
Lancashire 14-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, Luke Procter, Ashwell Prince.
Nottinghamshire 13-man squad: James Taylor (c), Jacob Ball, Daniel Christian, Will Gidman, Harry Gurney, Brett Hutton, Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, Steven Mullaney, Samit Patel, Chris Read (w/k), Rikki Wessels, Sam Wood.
Australian pace bowler Ben Hilfenhaus has been forced to end his stint with Nottinghamshire early due to a hip injury.
Match Information:
Weather and conditions: Dry and sunny although perhaps not as warm as it has been in recent times. For a full weather forecast, click here.
Ground: Emirates Old Trafford
Start time: 6.30pm
Umpires: Mark Benson, Jeff Evans
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