Lancashire moved to the top of Group A in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup after beating Nottinghamshire by 31 runs at AO Farington on Thursday. Arav Shetty scored 53 and took 3 for 35, ending the Outlaws’ unbeaten start to the tournament.
Shetty’s All-Round Show Turns the Match
Shetty walked in with Lancashire struggling in the middle order and made a career-best 53 off 57 balls. He hit two sixes off Liam Patterson-White, one over long-off and one straight down the ground. His innings lifted Lancashire from 98 for 5 to a total of 220 all out in 49.1 overs.
He was not finished there. With the ball, Shetty returned figures of 3 for 35 from his 10 overs and dismissed Patterson-White, Benjamin Martindale and George Munsey. His spell broke a middle-order stand between Patterson-White and Kyle Verreynne that had threatened to take the chase away from Lancashire.
Lancashire Recover From Batting Collapse
Put in to bat first, Lancashire lost Matty Hurst in the second over, caught behind off James Hayes. Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon then added 78 runs to push the score to 84 for 1 after 18 overs. Jennings made 37 and Bohannon 43 before both fell.
Farhan Ahmed then took three wickets in quick succession, and Lancashire slipped from 98 for 1 to 98 for 5. Jennings was caught at short third man off a top edge, Marcus Harris was caught and bowled, and Rocky Flintoff was bowled through the gate.
Shetty’s fifty steadied the innings before Jack Blatherwick added a quick 31 off 29 balls near the end. Farhan Ahmed finished with 3 for 26, while Patterson-White also picked up three wickets for the visitors.
Verreynne Fights Alone as Notts Fall Short
Nottinghamshire lost Freddie McCann lbw off the sixth ball of the chase, trapped by Tom Bailey. Shetty then removed Martindale lbw, and George Balderson bowled Haseeb Hameed with a delivery that kept low. The Outlaws were 64 for 3 after 16 overs.
Munsey and Martindale had added 52 runs for the second wicket before the middle order gave way again. Munsey fell for 37, bowled reverse-sweeping at Shetty, and Blatherwick removed Lyndon James soon after to leave Nottinghamshire at 77 for 5.
Patterson-White and Verreynne then put on 66 runs together, with Patterson-White striking 14 runs off one over from Mitchell Stanley, including a pulled six. Patterson-White was eventually bowled, sweeping at Shetty for 39, and Verreynne reached his fifty off 77 balls before falling for 61.
Blatherwick struck twice in the 46th over, removing Sam Wood and Brett Hutton with consecutive deliveries, before dismissing Verreynne to end the innings on 189. Blatherwick finished with 4 for 30.
The result places Lancashire above Nottinghamshire in the Group A table on net run rate, with both sides on three wins and one loss. Lancashire earned four points from the match, while Nottinghamshire remained on zero for the game.
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