Lightning lose by five wickets at Trent Bridge
Outlaws put themselves back on course for the quarter-finals with a second Vitality Blast win inside 24 hours as Lancashire Lightning suffered a fourth straight defeat, the home side winning by five wickets with seven balls to spare at Trent Bridge.
Off-spinner Matt Carter, who had conceded 57 in four wicketless overs against Birmingham Bears on Saturday evening, albeit in an Outlaws victory, bounced back with three for 26 as Lightning were bowled out for 145, and there were two wickets each for Calvin Harrison, Jack Brooks and Shaheen Shah Afridi, skipper Liam Livingstone top-scoring for the visitors with 34 from 30 balls.
Joe Clarke led the Outlaws response with 42 from 24 balls, Tom Moores seeing them home with an unbeaten 26 from 18 after Livingstone and Jack Blatherwick had taken two wickets each.
Lightning had opted to bat first on what looked like a good track as The Blaze beat Sunrisers earlier, yet the balance in the opening powerplay was with the Outlaws as the top three names on the Lancashire card fell in overs four, five and six.
Carter picked off two of them, Phil Salt driving him into the hands of extra cover and Steven Croft bowled sweeping. In between, Afridi snuffed out the threat posed by Jos Buttler, brilliantly yorked for 23 from 16 balls, as Lightning emerged with 49 for three from six.
Lightning still had hitting power at the crease but was the 10th over before it was unleashed, Outlaws skipper Steven Mullaney taking some punishment as a boundary from Livingstone was followed by two towering sixes down the ground by Daryl Mitchell, who had been the architect of a home win when these sides met at Emirates Old Trafford eight days ago. Lightning were 83 for three from 10.
But just as Buttler had departed at the moment he seemed to be moving up through the gears, so too did Mitchell, who sliced Samit Patel to the tall figure of Carter at backward point, an easy catch the Outlaws bowler celebrated with his third wicket in the next over of Tom Hartley.
Again, Lightning lost momentum, going three overs without a boundary, and no sooner had Livingstone remedied that by driving Harrison’s leg spin through the covers to move to 34 from 29 balls than he was out, holing out to Alex Hales at long-off, immediately followed back to the dugout by Luke Wood, also caught at long-off, as Harrison took two in two.
Brooks - recalled after illness ruled out Jake Ball following a successful return from injury on Saturday - picked up a couple of 39th birthday wickets as Colin de Grandhomme reached for a wide ball and was caught behind and Blatherwick, making his Lancashire Blast debut on his 25th birthday, scooped tamely to short third man, either side of a second wicket for Afridi as George Bell swung and missed.
The Outlaws were firmly in control of the chase at 62 for one from their batting powerplay, the strike and scoring having been dominated by Clarke, who hammered six fours and two sixes in his 24-ball 42 before sending a top-edge high into the sky that Blatherwick, waving away other interested fielders, caught off his own bowling.
Blatherwick, who began his career at Trent Bridge, struck again in his next over when Hales, playing despite a side strain incurred on Saturday night, spooned one straight to mid-off and though Outlaws needed below a run a ball to win, two of their three top batters were back in the hut, followed by the third as Colin Munro miscued Livingstone to short extra cover as the home side reached the halfway point at 82 for three.
The Lancashire bowlers made it difficult for the Outlaws to regain their early momentum and a fourth wicket was lost when Samit Patel missed one from left-arm spinner Hartley. Tom Moores eased the pressure with a couple of boundaries off Mitchell and 29 off the last 30 balls looked straightforward enough, even after Matt Montgomery picked out deep midwicket during a mean over by Livingstone.
Lightning gave little away but after a rare poor delivery from Livingstone was lofted down the ground for six by Mullaney, three boundaries in five balls by Moores off Wood finished the job with seven balls to spare.
Report by ECB Reporters Network
Images by Luke Adams