MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire Lightning vs Durham, Vitality Blast Men
Lancashire Lightning v Durham
Vitality Blast, North Group
Sunday July 13, 2025, 3pm
Emirates Old Trafford
This is second versus top in the North Group table, with Durham leading the way on 28 points - seven wins in 11 games - courtesy only of a superior net run-rate.
The pair are involved in a blow-for-blow four-way battle at the top of the table.
Lancashire, Durham, Bears and Northamptonshire are all sat on 28 points in the quarter-final qualifying places. The Red Rose and Durham have played 11, Bears and Northamptonshire 12. Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire are just below on 24.
Both teams actually come into this fixture on the back of defeats.
Lancashire were beaten by Yorkshire at Emirates Old Trafford last night, while Durham lost on the road against Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Trent Bridge.
This is the first of three remaining rounds in the North Group, with Lightning aiming to complete the season’s Blast double over Durham having already won at the Banks Homes Riverside.
It’s also the second part of a double header Blast day with Lancashire’s women. They also face their Durham counterparts from 11am. Thunder are also chasing a Finals Day berth.
Opposition
Durham are in an excellent position to go on and claim their first ever Blast title.
Captain Alex Lees and co have impressed in 2025.
One of their four defeats was against Lancashire at the Banks Homes Riverside last month.
But they have been helped along by a series of important contributions.
The North East county may not have the leading run-scorer in the competition or its leading wicket-taker. But a host of players have chipped in.
Opener Lees, Will Rhodes and Graham Clark (308 runs) have all topped the 250-run mark, while Ben Raine, Matthew Potts, Jimmy Neesham, Callum Parkinson and Nathan Sowter are all into double figures wickets wise.
New Zealanders Neesham (18 wickets) and Zak Foulkes have been fulfilling their overseas duties even though they have four players eligible for those positions in the Blast. David Bedingham and Codi Yusuf are currently on Test duty with South Africa in Zimbabwe.
Neesham is a genuine all-rounder, Foulkes a seamer.
Durham were beaten quarter-finalists at Surrey last year. They are well placed to get a chance to go further in the competition later this summer.
Opposition player to watch
Hard-hitting opener Graham Clark has been a mainstay of Durham’s team across both white and red-ball cricket in recent seasons. He bats down the order in the Championship.
The younger brother of former Lancashire all-rounder Jordan, who is now at Surrey, he has also played in the Hundred in recent seasons as well as in the Bangladesh Premier League.
He is closing in on 150 career appearances in T20 cricket and 3,500 runs. In that time, he has scored two T20 centuries.
One of those came in the Bangladesh Premier League in January just gone when he helped Chittagong Kings reach the final.
He is Durham’s leading run-scorer in this season’s Blast with 308 from 11 matches.
Previous meeting
Lancashire won by four wickets at the Banks Homes Riverside on June 1, chasing 151 to win off the last ball.
Sir James Anderson claimed a fine 3-17 in his first T20 match since 2014 as Durham made 150-6, including a middle order 40 not out from Jimmy Neesham.
In reply, the Red Rose won their third successive game at the start of this season’s North Group, although it was far from easy as they had to recover from 21-2 and 80-4.
Michael Jones, who joined from Durham over the winter, top-scored with a middle order 55 off 39 balls.
But it required Jack Blatherwick and Chris Green to scramble a single off the last ball of the match - from New Zealander Neesham’s canny seam - to secure the victory.
What they said
Chris Green insists there is no reason for Lancashire to get down about two back-to-back Blast defeats against the Bears and Yorkshire earlier this week, preferring to concentrate on the opportunity the Lightning have created for themselves.
The Red Rose lost their third and fourth games of this season’s Blast, but seven wins previously have left them well placed in the North Group table as the business end of the competition arrives.
Australian overseas all-rounder Green claimed four wickets in last night’s Roses defeat to Yorkshire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Lancashire can dust themselves off quickly and go again tomorrow afternoon.
“It’s great,” said Green. “There’s so much to play for.
“We’ve given ourselves this luxury and reward to control our own destiny with the good cricket we’ve played throughout the tournament.
“We were also bitterly disappointed with the way we played at Birmingham the other night.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back with our last home game of the regular season on Sunday against a team who are also in the top four.
“I’m looking forward to a response from all of us.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire suffered their 100th defeat in the history of the Blast, against the Bears at Edgbaston.
They were the last county to reach that mark, indicating an impressive consistency since the competition’s inception in 2003.