MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire Lightning v Kent Spitfires
Read the match preview ahead of Lancashire Lightning's Vitality Blast Quarter-Final at home to Kent Spitfires
Lancashire Lightning v Kent Spitfires
Vitality Blast, Quarter-Final
Saturday September 6, 2025, 2.30pm
Emirates Old Trafford
Match Guide
If you believe in fate, then this has to be a good sign.
It’s 10 years since Lancashire won their only Blast title, beating Northamptonshire Steelbacks in the final at Edgbaston when interim head coach Steven Croft captained the side.
That year, the Lightning beat Kent in the quarter-finals on fewer wickets lost following a tied game.
Ok, that last-eight tie was played at Canterbury. But, come on, it’s a funny old game!
Lancashire have qualified for this stage by finishing top of the North Group table with 14 wins from nine games. Kent have advanced to the quarters courtesy of finishing fourth in the South with seven wins from their allocation.
Lancashire are aiming for a second Blast title but a 10th Finals Day appearance. A win against the Spitfires would advance the county to their first showpiece appearance since 2022 when they were runners-up to Hampshire.
Sunday acts as a reserve day should weather interrupt the two counties who also reconvene at Canterbury on Monday for the first of three remaining Rothesay County Championship matches.
Finals Day will take place at Edgbaston next Saturday, September 13.
Opposition
Talk about scraping through. That’s exactly what Kent did in mid-July on the final night of group matches.
They made light work of bottom-placed Essex Eagles at Canterbury, chasing down a 173-target to win with 16 balls to spare. But that wasn’t the full story.
Had Sussex beat top-of-the-table Surrey at Hove, chasing 205, they would have advanced. And the Sharks narrowly failed to get the 13 runs they needed from the last over.
Kent streamed the final stages of that match on their big screen at Canterbury, with the players watching on nervously.
Batter Harry Finch said: "Those scenes at the end were like watching England in the World Cup, so it was pretty cool. Getting into the quarters is great. We know when we're on it, we're as good as anyone in this competition. We really believe that.”
The Spitfires are two-time Blast champions having triumphed in 2007 and again in 2021. They haven’t reached Finals Day since the latter success.
They are coached by former England limited overs captain and all-rounder Adam Hollioake, who is in his first season in the role. T20 gun for hire Sam Billings is their captain.
Kent will have England Test opener Zak Crawley available for this fixture, while ex-Lancashire leg-spinner Matthew Parkinson is set to face his former county.
Opening batter Tawanda Muyeye is their leading run-scorer in this campaign, his haul of 516 from 14 innings the second best in the entire competition. Departing seamer Nathan Gilchrist - he is leaving for Warwickshire at the end of the season - is their leading wicket-taker with 15 scalps to his name.
Australian overseas seamers Wes Agar and Tom Rogers both featured for them during the group stages.
Opposition player to watch
It will have been a major boost to Kent that, back in July, opening batter Tawanda Muyeye signed a new two-year contract amidst interest from elsewhere.
The 24-year-old was born in Zimbabwe but the latter stages of his education was in the UK, and he was granted the right to remain in the UK. He signed on at Canterbury, debuted in 2021 and is targeting an England debut.
And if his form this summer is anything to go by, across all formats, he is on the right track.
Muyeye, who has just won the Hundred with the Oval Invincibles, has scored 1,359 runs with eight fifties and two centuries.
The right-hander is without doubt one of the brightest young batting talents in the country and has been excellent in this summer’s Blast. He played in Australia’s Big Bash for the Melbourne Renegades last winter.
His haul of 516 runs from 14 innings includes his maiden T20 century - 100 off 58 balls in a win over Essex at Chelmsford.
It says a lot about his talents that he could well overshadow England Test opener Zak Crawley in this quarter-final.
Previous meeting
We’ve already mentioned 2015, but Lancashire have since played another Blast quarter-final against Kent Spitfires, also beating them at Canterbury in 2018.
On that occasion, in late August, the Lightning won by six wickets chasing 134.
Kent were limited to 133-9 having elected to bat, with Matthew Parkinson’s leg-spin returning an impressive 3-27 from four overs. Current home captain Sam Billings, skippering the side in that game too, top-scored with 37. He was bowled by the left-arm wrist spin of Afghanistani overseas player Zahir Khan.
In reply, Lightning had few issues, with Keaton Jennings - batting at four - top-scoring with a measured 46 off 40 balls.
Lancashire advanced to Finals Day at Edgbaston but were beaten in the semi-finals by eventual champions Worcestershire.
What they said
Steven Croft has praised his players for their efforts in T20 cricket so far this season, describing their top-spot finish in the North Group as a “real statement”.
The Red Rose interim head coach is in confident mood ahead of Kent’s visit to Emirates Old Trafford, where his side have a superb record in this format.
Croft, as a player, was obviously a huge part in building the view of ‘fortress Emirates Old Trafford’.
He said: “Credit to the lads for finishing top of the group. It's not an easy feat.
“You are going to lose games in T20 cricket, but I think to finish top of the group was a real statement.
“To play at home is going to be a real advantage, and I'm pretty sure we'll have a really good crowd for it as well.”
The counties wrapped up the Blast group stage towards the end of July.
Croft admits the gap between the group stages and the knockouts isn’t ideal.
He added: “You’re going to lose a little bit of that momentum, but everyone's in the same boat.
“We’ll all be really excited.”
How’s Stat!
This is the 23rd season of the Vitality Blast in England, the competition first taking place in 2003. In that time, Lancashire have qualified for the quarter-finals on 18 occasions.
It’s a remarkable record and the best of any of the 18 counties.