Match Report

CB40 game rained off

Lancashire's Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Somerset at Old Trafford ended as a No Result following hours upon hours of rain.

Play did not start until 8.15pm, by which time the contest had been reduced to 15 overs per side. But only 7.4 overs were completed when the weather intervened again approximately 25 minutes later. The match was called off just after 9pm.

Lancashire, whose stand-in captain Steven Croft had won the toss and elected to bat, had reached 39-3 with Croft’s 26 off 18 balls, including four fours, being the most notable innings.

5.4 of the 7.4 overs were bowled by spinners Murali Kartik, Max Waller and Arul Suppiah, with both Kartik and Waller picking up wickets on a turning track.

The Indian, a former Red Rose overseas player, struck with the sixth ball of the match when he had Stephen Moore caught at point by Craig Meschede.

Croft then hit two fours off Waller to the cover boundary in the next over, but they were the only boundaries until the seventh over when Croft pulled Meschede’s medium pace to the fence twice.

Opener Karl Brown was the second wicket to go, trapped lbw by Alfonso Thomas for one to leave the score at 15-2 in the third.

Croft was then the third to go when he was trapped lbw by Waller on the sweep the ball before the rain arrived. Paul Horton finished seven not out.

Lancashire have now won two, lost three and picked up one No Result from their six matches so far. Meanwhile, the result means that Somerset extended their lead at the top of the Group C table, although their 100 percent record has gone.

Lancashire’s next CB40 clash is against the Unicorns at Colwyn Bay on Sunday.