Lancashire Lightning hope to bounce back from their heavy Championship defeat at Headingley, as they host Roses rivals Yorkshire Vikings at Old Trafford in a sell-out fixture in the NatWest T20 Blast.
The Red Rose county were comfortably swept aside by the two-time current county champions this week in Leeds - losing by 175 runs - but Ashley Giles' side remain top of the table on 88 points, level with Yorkshire, having won more games than the Tykes.
Friday promises to be an entertaining clash between the two Roses sides, with both teams boasting some of the games biggest stars. Lancashire will have New Zealand's Martin Guptill opening the batting, after he made 72 from 46 balls on his debut last week against Durham, as well as wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler.
Buttler was rested for Lancashire's four-day trip to Headingley, but Alex Davies - who has suffered a knee injury - will be out of action for at least two weeks. Captain Steven Croft was forced to take the gloves for the Championship match against Yorkshire this week, but with Buttler returning to Lancashire duties after his rest, the Red Rose will now have a first-choice keeper available.
Yorkshire welcome the return of England duo Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow for Friday's encounter, while allrounder David Willey is expected to feature as a batsman at the very least for the Vikings.
Lancashire currently hold the Twenty20 bragging rights over their old rivals, winning both of last year's North Group matches. Buttler's stunning 71 from 35 balls helped Lancashire to win off the final ball at Headingley, before the Lightning made their highest ever T20 score of 231/4 at Old Trafford to record a 29-run win over Yorkshire in front of a sell-out crowd.
These two entertaining victories played a vital part in Lancashire's progression from the North Group on virtue of net run rate and the Club went on to secure their first piece of one-day silverware since 1999 and their first ever Twenty20 title, beating Northamptonshire in the final at Edgbaston in August.
Lancashire have made a bad start to their defence of their T20 crown, losing both of their opening matches at home to Derbyshire and Durham, while Yorkshire enter this match on the back of playing Worcestershire Rapids. In that match, the Vikings suffered a seven-wicket defeat, which means both of the Roses rivals will meet on Friday with two defeats from as many games in the Blast.
Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, George Edwards, Martin Guptill, Rob Jones, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Tom Smith, Neil Wagner.
Yorkshire 16-man squad: Alex Lees (c), Jonny Bairstow, Gary Ballance, Tim Bresnan, Karl Carver, Ben Coad, Andrew Hodd, Jack Leaning, Adam Lyth, Steven Patterson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Will Rhodes, Joe Root, James Wainman, David Willey.
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