Lancashire Lightning will be hoping to turn their inconsistent form in the Twenty20 format around on Friday evening when they host Leicestershire Foxes at Emirates Old Trafford in the NatWest T20 Blast.
Leicestershire, the tournament's most successful side based on number of trophies won, will arrive with former Lancashire opening batsman in the form of Paul Horton, who will be hosting a dinner in celebration of his time at Old Trafford after the match on Friday evening.
Horton, who is not part of Leicestershire's 13-man squad, represented Lancashire for 12 years and captained the club to their fifth appearance at Finals Day in 2014 when the Lightning came close to lifting the trophy for the first time, although they didn't have to wait too much longer for their first piece of limited overs silverware since 1999.
The Foxes have started the campaign with two wins and two defeats, sharing Lancashire's pain for inconsistency, but the three-time winners of the Twenty20 tournament will know that a win at Old Trafford would spell danger for Lancashire's hopes of defending their T20 crown, even at this early stage in the competition.
Lancashire have suffered three losses in four group games, with their only win to date coming against Roses rivals Yorkshire Vikings in front of a sell-out crowd in Manchester. The most recent of their three defeats against Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Trent Bridge was marred by the controversy which saw six penalty runs docked from Lancashire's score, helping the home side to record a tense two-wicket victory after Ashley Giles' side had fought back valiantly with the ball.
The Red Rose county are confident that they can replicate their late resurgence from the 2015 season, when Lancashire lost six group games and still managed to qualify for the knockout stages. Without the all-round class of James Faulkner and inventive hitting of Ashwell Prince at the top of the innings, Lancashire have had to turn a corner this season, but there is - without question - a core of experienced players capable of delivering for the champions.
Leicestershire handed Lancashire their first win of the Twenty20 campaign last year, when Tom Bailey and Liam Livingstone made their debuts in the shortest format for the Lightning. Lancashire recorded a five-wicket victory on D/L method with Steven Croft hitting a boundary off the final ball to secure two points in a rain-affected fixture at Old Trafford.
The Foxes recorded a comfortable victory over Durham by six wickets in their last Twenty20 outing at the start of June, but since then Leicestershire have suffered two defeats in the One-Day Cup. Boosted by the inclusion of the hard-hitting South African batsman, Cameron Delport, Leicestershire will be keen to give a strong performance with the bat, given that they also have Pakistan's Kamran Akmal and Ireland's Kevin O'Brien in their ranks.
Martin Guptill will not appear for Lancashire in the game on Friday, with the New Zealand opener missing the last 50-over match against Northamptonshire Steelbacks with a shoulder injury that seems to be worse than first suspected. This will force a reshuffle at the top of the order, with either Liam Livingstone or Karl Brown likely to accompany Alviro Petersen as an opening batsman.
Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Karl Brown, Jos Buttler (wk), Jordan Clark, George Edwards, Arron Lilley, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Matthew Parkinson, Stephen Parry, Alviro Petersen, Luke Procter, Neil Wagner.
Leicestershire 13-man squad: Mark Pettini (c), Kamran Akmal, Mark Cosgrove, Cameron Delport, Neil Dexter, Lewis Hill (wk), Clint McKay, Jigar Naik, Kevin O'Brien, Ben Raine, Jamie Sykes, Rob Taylor, Tom Wells.
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