Match Preview: Durham v Lancashire Lightning, Vitality Blast Men
Durham v Lancashire Lightning
Vitality Blast, Men
Tuesday June 9, 2026, 6.30pm
Banks Homes Riverside, Chester-le-Street
Lancashire head to the North East searching for a pick-me-up after a run of three successive defeats at home to Leicestershire and Glamorgan and away against Yorkshire sandwiched in between.
Their bid for the quarter-finals has, unusually, been blown off course. A team who so often challenge at the right end of the table finds itself at the wrong end with only one win from five in the North Group.
Defeat against Glamorgan at Blackpool yesterday was a hammer blow given they had the game in the palm of their hands, with the Welshmen 161-8 after 18.1 overs chasing 202. They lost by two wickets.
Durham have started better but not by much. They have won two from five. They have also lost their last three games.
A top two finish in the group - potentially third will get you into the quarter-finals - is not yet out of reach. But things need to get moving in the right direction imminently. This fixture marks the halfway point in the group stage and is the last before the return of Championship cricket for a fortnight from this weekend.
Opposition
Durham have so far played five, won two. Last year’s quarter-finalists started well by winning their first two, though have since stumbled to lose their last three.
The latest defeat came at home to Northamptonshire Steelbacks on a sluggish Riverside pitch on Saturday night, a seven-run reverse which saw them fail to chase down a 146-target.
Captained by opening batter Alex Lees, they are coached by Australian Ryan Campbell.
They have only fielded one overseas player so far in South African batter David Bedingham, and he didn’t play in that most recent Northamptonshire defeat.
Durham have never won the Blast but have reached the last eight in each of the last two seasons. Last year, they were beaten at home by Hampshire having finished second in the North Group behind Lancashire.
They won eight of 14 games to Lancashire’s nine.
Opposition player to watch
Bristolian all-rounder Kasey Aldridge, aged 25, is in his first full season with Durham, having signed in the winter from Somerset. He spent some time on loan with them last year, playing in the Blast for them.
A fast bowler and a powerful lower middle-order hitter, Aldridge reminds one of the Overton twins, Craig and Jamie - both with his build and his style of play.
He has claimed eight wickets in five matches so far in the 2026 Blast. In that Northamptonshire defeat on Saturday evening, he struck twice and claimed three catches to boot.
He has a T20 best of 5-29 to his name, claimed in a home win over Nottinghamshire last July. His best with the bat also came for Durham last year - 44 not out in a home defeat to Leicestershire.
Previous meeting
Lancashire completed the Blast double over Durham last year. They won by four wickets chasing 151 in the North East at the start of June before winning by three wickets at Emirates Old Trafford in mid-July.
That one, which saw them chase 156, is the one we’ll concentrate on now, with Australian overseas all-rounder Chris Green to the fore.
Durham posted a below-par 155-7 as Green’s off-spin accounted for a superb 3-16 from four overs. Luke Wood also struck twice, while Colin Ackermann top-scored with 42 for the visitors.
In reply, Lancashire made heavy weather of a chase which had started brightly at 42-1 in the sixth over.
They slipped from 107-3 in the 14th over to 129-7 in the 17th as Callum Parkinson, Jimmy Neesham and Nathan Sowter all claimed two wickets apiece.
Captain Keaton Jennings top-scored with 42 at the top of the order, but it proved to be Green’s 31 not out off 16 balls which was the key innings.
He ended up getting the Lightning home with eight balls to spare.
The game was a clash of the top two teams in the North Group, and Lancashire winning it almost guaranteed them quarter-final qualification, which they later achieved. So too did Durham.
What they said
Liam Livingstone believes Lancashire may have to be perfect from here on in if they are to reach the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast.
“We've probably got to win seven games, and hopefully that can happen and it can be a great story at the end of the season,” said the all-rounder.
The Red Rose all-rounder was speaking at the end of the Glamorgan defeat at Blackpool and looking ahead to the trip to Durham tomorrow and the remainder of the Blast North Group stage.
He was excellent against Glamorgan a blistering 81 off 37 balls and 3-13 from four overs of spin.
“We've got to find a way,” he said, following three successive defeats and only one win in five to date. “It’s up to us inside that dressing room. No-one's going to help us.
“We've got to front up, we've got to go out there again on Tuesday and almost forget what happened and stick our chests out and go again. There's no hiding place in professional sport.
“Ultimately, you've got to take it on the chin and keep throwing punches. Otherwise, professional sport can be pretty brutal.
“We have nothing to lose now. So, maybe that might be a good thing for us. Especially the younger boys that are coming in.”
How’s Stat!
Liam Livingstone is now just 241 runs away from becoming the second player to total 3,000 T20 runs for Lancashire, with Steven Croft the other.
Livingstone's superb 81 in defeat to Glamorgan moved to 2,759. His head coach Croft has 5,018 to his name.
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