Jos Buttler hit Lancashire's fastest fifty in Twenty20 cricket, as they trounced Worcestershire Rapids at New Road by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare chasing 199.
The England wicketkeeper-batsman smashed a 20-ball half-century, finishing with 57 off 22 balls, with Karl Brown's unbeaten 62 from 40 deliveries guiding Lancashire to their target at the start of the 19th over to achieve the double over Worcester.
Having beaten the Rapids by 96 runs at Old Trafford earlier in the campaign, the Lightning secured a vital win in the reverse-fixture, executing a superb run-chase to put their bid for qualification to the quarter-finals back on track. Worcester's score of 198 all out was put into perspective when Buttler and Alviro Petersen (34) smashed 98 runs from a devastating powerplay, including 48 runs for the fifth and sixth overs combined.
The first six overs decimated any hopes Worcestershire had of defending 199 on a ground with a quick outfield and an incredibly short boundary on one side, which Buttler in particular exploited at the start of Lancashire's innings.
Worcester's total of 198 was achieved by a hard-hitting partnership between Ben Cox (44 from 21) and Ross Whitely (38 off 17), who added 77 runs in only 33 balls for the sixth wicket after the hosts found themselves in trouble at 99/5. Luis Reece was the pick of Lancashire's bowlers on his Twenty20 debut for the club and his first appearance in any format this season, claiming figures of 2-29 from three overs to account for Brett D'Oliveira (30) and Cox.
The hosts more than made up for their poor effort with the bat in the reverse-fixture where they were dismissed for 53 at Old Trafford, with Tom Kohler-Cadmore (18) hitting two sixes inside the powerplay to spearhead a positive start for the Rapids. However, Lancashire continued to take regular wickets between the inevitable boundaries, with Nathan Buck (1-36) forcing pinch-hitter Joe Leach (14) to top-edge into Buttler's gloves in the third over.
Kohler-Cadmore's second maximum was followed immediately by Lancashire's second breakthrough, with Jordan Clark (1-39) bowling the potentially explosive opener for 18 at 42/2. D'Oliveira looked to be in good touch, hitting two fours and as many sixes in his innings of 30 off 17 balls, helping the hosts to reach 60/2 at the end of the powerplay.
Stephen Parry (1-44) struck a breakthrough with his third ball when an attempted reverse-sweep from Joe Clarke (25) looped up to Buttler behind the stumps. Parry kept it tight in his first three overs, conceding only 18 runs, but he had his figures destroyed by an explosive over for the home side, one that saw five fours and a six hit off the left-arm spinner.
D'Oliveira became the second Worcester batsman to hit a six and get out the following ball when Brown held on to a good catch at deep mid-wicket, supplying Reece with his first ever wicket in T20 cricket. Steven Croft followed Parry by taking a wicket with his third ball, bowling his Worcester counterpart Daryll Mitchel for 9, a wicket which left the hosts in bother at 99/5 in the 12th over.
However, a belligerent partnership between Cox and Whitely allowed Worcester to take advantage of the short boundary, as they added 77 runs in just 33 balls for the sixth wicket. Cox hit 26 runs from a single over from Parry, before Whitely hit 20 runs from the following over bowled by George Edwards (2-37) to put Worcester back on course for a score of more than 200.
Lancashire found a much-needed breakthrough when Cox was bowled for an impressive 44 from 21 balls, attempting to hit Reece to the short leg-side boundary once more and Lancashire bounced back well at the death to restrict the Rapids to 198, a score that seemed marginally under part given the circumstances of the ground.
Whitely was then ran out for 38 when Buttler made the most of a superb piece of relay boundary fielding from Petersen and Croft, flicking Croft's throw onto the stumps to remove Whitely before he could add to his haul of four boundaries and two sixes.
Buttler was, again, quick to react when he had Matt Henry (9) ran out attempting to take a bye to the keeper, with Worcester losing their final five wickets for 22 runs. Edwards mopped up the tail, claiming two wickets in two balls to remove Ed Barnard (9) and Jack Shantry (1), leaving Lancashire with a target of 199 in a must-win game in the North Group.
The first six overs of Lancashire's innings were utter carnage, as Petersen and primarily Buttler laid into the Worcestershire seamers, recording Lancashire's highest powerplay score of 98/1. Petersen led the assault, hitting back-to-back fours and then a maximum off Shantry (0-26), before Buttler's typical array of scoops and strong hitting over mid-wicket left the home side scratching their heads.
Not to be outdone, Buttler then smashed two fours and three sixes in the following over, with his fourth maximum taking him to a record-breaking 20-ball fifty, beating the half-centuries made off 21 balls by Liam Livingstone and Tom Smith in previous matches. Worcester were offered brief respite when Buttler was bowled inside the sixth over for 57 from 22 balls by Kyle Abott (1-52), but Brown's unbeaten 62 proved to be just as important in helping the Lightning achieve their fourth win of the campaign.
Brown and Croft's (23) unbroken partnership for the fourth-wicket worth 68 runs helped Lancashire to their target of 199 with 11 balls to spare after Livingstone - who received a call-up to the England Lions team today - was bowled for 7 by Mitchell (1-21) and Petersen had earlier fallen for 34 off 20 balls to Leach (1-31). An economical phase brought Worcester back into contention, but Brown continued to caress the ball into the gaps, hitting five fours and a six on his way to a 34-ball half-century.
Croft anchored his approach superbly, remaining unfazed by the recovery of the Worcestershire bowling attack, who were still struggling to come to terms with Buttler's devastating innings inside the first six overs. If the game was still alive at the start of the 18th over, when Lancashire needed 21 runs to win from 18 balls, it certainly wasn't by the time the first legitimate delivery had been bowled, with Brown hitting a free-hit for six after guiding a no-ball to the boundary from the previous ball.
Lancashire cruised to victory with 11 balls to spare when Croft guided Barnard through the covers when all of Worcestershire's fielders were inside the ring, cementing a seven-wicket win that puts Ashley Giles' side fourth in the North Group.
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