It’s make or break time for Lancs in Blast bid
IT really is crunch time now for Lancashire Lightning in the NatWest T20 Blast.
They have to win their final two matches of the North Group campaign - against Worcestershire tonight and Birmingham on Friday both at Emirates Old Trafford – and rely on other results going their way if they are to scrape into the last eight.
And with an inferior net run rate compared to most of their rivals in the battle to finish in the top four, they may need two thumping victories.
Lancashire scraped through the group stage two years ago, and went on to lift the trophy at Finals Day at Edgbaston a couple of weeks later.
And one of their stars of this campaign, young leg spinner Matthew Parkinson, believes they can still repeat that feat.
“I didn’t play in the 2015-winning campaign,” said 20-year-old Parkinson. “But, by the sounds of it, the lads scraped through that group and went on to win it.
“It’s about timing. If we can peak at the right time and get into the quarterfinals, we’re one game away from Edgbaston.”
Parkinson got tongues wagging with his display against Yorkshire on Friday in front of a sell out 15,750 crowd and the Sky Sports cameras when he took 4-23. The cameras will also be at
LEmirates Old Trafford tonight. He is currently second in the list of best economy rates for bowlers who have sent down 10 overs or more in the Blast this season, conceding on average just 6.16 so far.
“I couldn’t have wished for it to go better,” said the former England Under-19 player, who missed the start of the season with a stress fracture of his back and has only played one Championship match in 2017.
“I didn’t expect to play much T20 cricket this season, so to have done as well as I’ve done is great. I have (surprised myself). I’ve always done quite well at second-team Twenty20 cricket, but obviously it’s a massive step up to first team.
“The first couple of games helped me being at home. We’ve played on used wickets, and we played five spinners against Derbyshire.
“My confidence has gone from there really. Being injured at the start, meaning I missed a large chunk of the One-day Cup, I made a target to play a few of these T20s and use it as a stepping stone to get in that four-day team.”