Lancashire start One-Day Cup with convincing win against Warwickshire

Lancashire Lightning secured a comfortable 42-run victory in their opening Royal London One-Day Cup fixture against Warwickshire Bears at Emirates Old Trafford.

Jos Buttler led the way with the bat for the Red Rose, scoring 91 off 73 balls to help Lancashire to reach a healthy total of 296/8, but the Bears could only muster 254/9 in reply, despite solid contributions from Ian Bell (73) and Jonathan Trott (66).

Martin Guptill made a half-century in his first 50-over appearance for the Club, giving Lancashire a solid platform, before Buttler and captain Steven Croft (67) added 122 runs for the fifth wicket to resist a formidable Warwickshire bowling attack.

There were three wickets apiece for Tom Smith (3-45) and Stephen Parry (3-43), while Saqib Mahmood and Nathan Buck (2-53) gave strong accounts in their List A debuts for Lancashire, opening the bowling and restricting Warwickshire's batsmen at the death of the innings to record a convincing win after the defeat at Nottinghamshire yesterday in the T20 Blast.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat first on a sun-bathed day in Manchester, Guptill and Alviro Petersen (28) laid the foundations for the rest of the team, adding 71 runs for the opening wicket. The duo progressed to a fifty-partnership in the 12th over, but two quick wickets for Boyd Rankin (4-66) brought the Bears back into the game.

Petersen miscued a delivery from Rankin to Oliver Hannon-Dalby at mid-on, before Karl Brown (1) fell cheaply, driving into the hands of Laurie Evans at cover, leaving the score at 72/2. Guptill, who scored a half-century on his debut for Lancashire, recorded a 56-ball fifty in his first 50-over appearance, but he became the third wicket to fall when his leading edge drifted to Will Porterfield off Josh Posyden (1-50), with the Kiwi batsman falling the ball after reaching his half-century.

Liam Livingstone added a brisk 21 before he was also caught by Porterfield, with Jeetan Patel (1-51) claiming Warwickshire's fourth wicket at 118/4, the fourth wicket to fall for 47 runs in ten overs. With the game hanging the balance, Buttler came to the crease and played another terrific hand for Lancashire, adding a hundred-partnership with Croft to put the hosts in a commanding position.

Buttler, who scored 56 off 29 balls in the Twenty20 match at Trent Bridge yesterday, backed up his half-century with a splendid innings, using his typical array of inventive stroke play and staggering timing of the ball to frustrate the Warwickshire bowlers. The fifty-partnership with Croft came in just 52 deliveries, with Buttler reaching his second fifty for Lancashire in as many days in 41 balls.

There was a bizarre let-off for Buttler and Croft when both batsmen found themselves stranded at the same end, but a poor throw allowed the danger man Buttler to get back to the other end safely, a mistake that would prove costly to the visitors. Buttler made good of his life, going on to hit ten fours and one six, with plenty of ramps and bottom-handed shots on display.

The hundred-partnership came up in the 39th over, with Buttler and Croft adding these runs in 85 balls, as Buttler ramped Rankin to the boundary in successive deliveries. The wicketkeeper-batsman was approaching a century, but the Bears finally managed to extract a breakthrough when Buttler played on to Hannon-Dalby for 91 off 73.

Croft became the third Lancashire batsmen to reach a half-century when he swept his third boundary to progress to a 56-ball fifty, while Smith (14) skied a delivery from Rikki Clarke (1-48) to Laurie Evans at deep mid-wicket at 267/6. Croft emulated Buttler's ramp shot to keep the boundaries flowing in the latter stages of the innings, before he fell hitting out to Rankin in the final over of the innings, slicing the ball to Poysden at backward point for 67.

Rankin then had his fourth victim of the innings when Parry (6) edged his third ball behind to Tim Ambrose, as Lancashire finished on a healthy total of 296/8 from their 50 overs. Lancashire's opening bowlers made an economical start, but Smith made the first breakthrough for the home side, accounting for Sam Hain with his second delivery of the match when he edged behind to Buttler for 24 at 50/1.

The first and possibly the best of three catches to be taken by Croft off the bowling of Parry came when Porterfield (40) leathered his shot to the Lancashire captain, who held on with one hand after taking a diving catch at short mid-wicket. The hosts started to build pressure with spin from both ends, as the required run rate continued to climb despite an accomplished partnership between Bell and Trott for the third wicket.

A fifty-partnership between the two former England internationals coincided with Trott reaching his half-century in 61 balls, but their circumspect progress ensured that the required run rate continued to increase at an alarming rate. Pressure brought a flurry of wickets, with Trott departing for 66 when he drove Parry to Croft at 174/3.

Croft and Parry combined once again to remove Evans (1) cheaply in the left-arm spinner's next over, with the skipper taking another stunning catch at cover to help Parry finish with impressive figures of 3-43. Bell offered Warwickshire their best hope of achieving victory, reaching his fifty in 55 balls, but wickets continued to fall around him, as the run rate climbed steadily for the last ten overs.

Ambrose was bowled by Jordan Clark (1-43) for six and Buck returned to take two quick wickets, including the prized scalp of Bell for 73. Bell could do little to relieve the pressure that was building and his innings came to an end when he skied a straightforward caught and bowled chance to Buck, who struck again two balls later to remove Patel for no score, as he finished with 2-53 on his List A debut.

Smith performed the same feat in the final over of the innings, removing Clarke (27) and Rankin (2) in the space of three deliveries, as the former captain claimed 3-45 in his first 50-over appearance for Lancashire since August 2014. Needing 46 runs for the last six balls, the Bears fell comfortably short of their target of 297, as Lancashire started their 50-over campaign with a win over a strong Warwickshire side.