MATCH PREVIEW: Derbyshire Falcons v Lancashire Lightning
Lancashire face Derbyshire aiming to end the first block of Blast cricket in rude health.
Derbyshire Falcons v Lancashire Lightning
Vitality Blast, North Group
Friday June 20, 2025, 7pm
The Central Co-op County Ground
The Lightning are already in good order in the North Group, and would be even if things don’t go to plan in the East Midlands. But you feel a win against the bottom-placed side would pretty much leave them with one foot in the quarter-finals.
Should they win, it would be a sixth win in eight games. Counties regularly talk about seven or eight wins from 14 games being the magic number to secure a top-four berth.
This is the last game before a fortnight’s break for the return of the Rothesay County Championship, with two matches to come before the second half of the Blast.
Lancashire are coming into this fixture on the back of victory over Worcestershire Rapids at New Road last Friday.
Derbyshire, meanwhile, have won two from seven so far in the North. Those victories have come in their last two games, against Nottinghamshire Outlaws last Friday and Leicestershire Foxes on Saturday. The latter was a home game played at Edgbaston.
This is the first of two meetings against the Falcons in three games. Immediately after the two Championship matches, Lancashire face Northamptonshire away on Friday July 4 before meeting the Falcons again at Emirates Old Trafford the following day.
Opposition
The Falcons will hope they have arrested their early slump just in the nick of time.
They lost their opening five games in the Blast before beating Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge and then Leicestershire at Edgbaston.
They produced two commanding batting performances. Against the Outlaws, they posted 199-5 and defended it comfortably. Against the Foxes, they chased 197 to win by seven wickets.
Opener Aneurin Donald starred in both matches with 73 off 34 balls and 60 off 25 balls respectively.
Captain Samit Patel and Pat Brown claimed five wickets apiece across the two games.
Coached by Mickey Arthur, they have Australian opener Caleb Jewell with them as an overseas player for the full summer alongside teenaged off-spinner Allah Ghazanfar from Afghanistan for the Blast.
Donald is their leading run-scorer with 199 runs and ex-England T20 seamer Brown their leading wicket-taker with 10 in 2025.
Derbyshire are one of only four counties who have never won the Blast alongside Durham, Glamorgan and Yorkshire.
Despite their back-to-back wins, they have significant work to do to rectify that statistic this summer.
Opposition player to watch
Opening batter Aneurin Donald has scored three fifties in his last five Blast innings.
The Welshman, formerly of Glamorgan and Hampshire, mixes power with invention.
He is very adept at scooping and ramping the seamers, for example, as well as smacking them into the stands more conventionally.
Donald, 28, is a former England Under 19s captain and has, this season, broken through the 200 senior appearances barrier across all formats of the game.
Derbyshire may sit bottom of the table, but their top order is full of quality and power. Donald is joined by opening partner Caleb Jewell, veterans Samit Patel and Wayne Madsen and another powerhouse in Ross Whiteley.
Previous meeting
The most recent meeting between these two sides was abandoned without a ball bowled, at Derby midway through last July.
Prior to that, at the start of June, the Lightning beat the Falcons by 57 runs at Emirates Old Trafford as part of a strong start to last season’s competition.
Josh Bohannon opened the batting and top-scored with what remains a career best 39 off 24 balls, setting the home side on their way to a 179-7 total.
New Zealander Tom Bruce also made a middle order 35.
In reply, Chris Green took the new ball and claimed a fabulous 4-12 from 3.4 overs of off-spin as Derbyshire were bowled out for 122 inside 18 overs.
Luke Wells also struck twice with his leg-spin as only opener Harry Came (26) and former Lancashire wicketkeeper-batter Brooke Guest (42) made it beyond 15.
What they said
Lancashire have won their last two away games in the Blast, and Luke Wood is targeting a hat-trick to strengthen the county’s quarter-final bid.
The Red Rose have beaten Durham and Worcestershire in their last two games on the road and now face Derbyshire aiming to do the same.
“We’re normally pretty strong at home,” said the left-arm fast bowler, who impressed with 3-34 against the Rapids.
“I know we’ve lost a couple this year so far. But to win away at Durham and at Worcester, they were pretty key games for us. We’ll just try and pick up the momentum, win this last game of the first half and take it into the second.”
Wood has only played two of the first six Blast games for Lancashire this season, owing much to England T20 duty against the West Indies. Ironically, both of them came against Worcestershire, contributing five wickets combined.
Wood is having an excellent run of form in 20-over cricket. In his last 12 appearances, dating back to the start of his spell with Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League from mid-April through to mid-May, he has taken 21 wickets in his last 12 appearances for all teams.
“I’ve felt good for a while now,” he added.
“I really enjoyed my time in Pakistan, performed well, and have just carried it on really.
“It’s just that confidence. You go through stages as a cricketer, I guess. Whether you’re a batter or a bowler, you have confidence and times where you struggle. I feel pretty good at the moment, and it’s been nice to have those rewards.
“There was a period of time in the winter where I wasn’t picking up the wickets I felt like I deserved. But you battle it out and turn a corner.”
How’s Stat!
Red Rose left-arm quick Luke Wood has taken a wicket with his first ball of a match in three of his last six T20 appearances, for Lancashire, England and Peshawar Zalmi at the Pakistan Super League.
The most recent was for the Red Rose, against Worcestershire last Friday, when he trapped Ed Pollock lbw at the start of the contest’s second over.
“It’s just a bit of mindset around my first ball not being a loosener,” he reasoned. “It’s paid off recently.”