MATCH PREVIEW: Worcestershire Rapids vs Lancashire Lightning, Vitality Blast
This is a key fixture in the race for the quarter-finals, with both Lancashire and Worcestershire very much in the hunt.
Lancashire are back on the victory trail and very much on course for the knockouts.
The Lightning started the campaign with three successive wins, followed it with four defeats on the trot and have now won three on the spin once again.
It means Liam Livingstone and co sit second in the North Group table, one of four teams with six wins and 12 points. Birmingham are top with a superior net run-rate and having only played nine. Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire have all played 10 and occupy the top four places.
It’s a jam-packed race for the last eight, with Worcestershire having won five from nine games with 10 points.
While the Lightning beat Durham at Emirates Old Trafford yesterday thanks to a fine all-round contribution from Luke Wells, by seven runs on Duckworth Lewis Stern, the Rapids won at Leicestershire by six wickets chasing 113.
Opposition
Worcestershire Rapids started their bid for a second Blast title like a train, winning their first four games to sit atop of the North Group.
Following that, they lost their next four before arresting the slide against the Foxes of Leicestershire at Grace Road yesterday with a comfortable victory.
The Rapids won this title in 2018, beating Sussex in the final at Edgbaston under Moeen Ali’s captaincy. He has since left New Road to return to Warwickshire.
Worcestershire are now captained by all-rounder Brett D’Oliveira, who is leading the way with the bat alongside Adam Hose.
D’Oliveira opens the batting and bowls leg-spin, and he has 264 runs in the Blast this term, just two behind middle order powerhouse Hose.
Pat Brown, their four-time England T20I seamer, is their leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps so far.
The Rapids have had a disruptive campaign when it comes to their overseas players. They had signed New Zealand all-rounders Mitch Santner and Michael Bracewell, though the latter ruptured his Achilles just under a fortnight ago in match against Yorkshire.
He has been replaced by Pakistan leg-spinner Usama Mir, who started the competition with them whilst Santner was at the IPL with champions Chennai. Mir has been playing as a club professional with Colwyn Bay in the Liverpool Competition.
Opposing player to watch
Batter Adam Hose is in his first year with Worcestershire having moved across the Midlands from Warwickshire in search of greater red ball opportunities.
Hose, 30, is with his third county having started at Somerset. But he has gained a reputation as a white ball specialist. He is their current leading Blast run-scorer with 266 to his name, including two fifties.
A tall right-hander, Hose is a destructive middle order batter capable of clearing any boundary. He has played regular franchise cricket around the world, including for the likes of Adelaide Strikers, Wellington and St Lucia Kings.
Hose has also enjoyed an encouraging start in Championship cricket, scoring 366 runs in five matches with three fifties. The last time he played first-class cricket prior to this season was in August 2019.
Previous meeting
Jos Buttler’s 58 off 42 balls helped Lightning arrest a four-game Blast losing streak as they chased 178 to beat North Group leaders Worcestershire by four wickets with three balls remaining at Blackpool on June 7.
Opener Buttler posted only his second fifty in 14 T20 innings dating back to April when he was playing at the IPL, hitting five fours and three sixes.
But this was far from an easy chase, one thrown into doubt when Buttler and hometown hero Steven Croft, run out for 40, fell in the space of three balls in the 15th over as the score fell to 114-4.
But New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell, a league pro at Stanley Park in 2016, got the Lightning home with a crucial 33 not out off 14 balls to seal a fourth win from eight games. He had earlier taken 3-9 from two overs of seam.
Worcestershire, who lost for the second time in six games, had posted 177-9 with 42 off 29 balls for Adam Hose and 57 off 33 for New Zealander Mitch Santner.
What they said
Luke Wells is confident Lancashire are peaking at just the right time in the Vitality Blast.
Wells hit a quick-fire 56 off 39 balls and claimed two wickets with his leg-spin to beat Durham at Emirates Old Trafford yesterday, one which cemented Lancashire’s recovery from those four defeats on the trot through the middle of the campaign.
“Those games, it was a strange run really,” said Wells.
“As a batting unit, we may have been guilty in not taking enough responsibility with so many unbelievably talented players.
“We ended up making a few more errors and being a bit more blasé about it potentially. Having said that, it’s T20 cricket. The best teams lose games.
“Hopefully it bodes well that we’re playing better cricket each game we go building up to the back end of the tournament.”
Five of Lancashire’s six wins this campaign have come at home - either Emirates Old Trafford or Blackpool - with one away at Northampton on Friday.
“We have a great record at Emirates Old Trafford,” said Wells. “But if we play the cricket we’re capable of playing, I don’t think it matters where we play.
“I don’t think we’ve got a great record at New Road (lost there the last two years).
“They’re a bit of a bogey team for us. But guys are confident, and hopefully we can go there and get a good result.”
How’s Stat
Jos Buttler is 77 away from 10,000 career runs in T20 cricket. Tomorrow’s clash with Worcestershire will be his 371st appearance. He has gone beyond fifty on 76 occasions.
Buttler would be only the ninth player in T20 history to score 10,000 career runs.
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