[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, Northern Group

vs Lancashire

Old Trafford, Manchester

Lancs innings: Lancashire won the toss and elected to bat on yet another radiant summer evening. New loanee Luke Wood opened the bowling for the Pears, and as one of two stand-ins for the absent Leach and Tongue, he succeeded in keeping the home side beneath a run-rate of 10.00 in the powerplay, which was a minor success on a night with a good pitch and a fast outfield. Nevertheless, it was Daryl Mitchell who struck first to remove Liam Livingstone; a breakthrough exploited just three balls later by Dolly, who dismissed Alex Davies with his first delivery of the match. From that point on, Keaton Jennings was the major threat for Lancs, making a 37-ball half-century as partners came and went around him, and it was Wood who claimed that prize scalp as his maiden Pears wicket with the first ball of his second spell. However, some big hitting at the death pushed the Red Rose up to a competitive score of 188 off their twenty overs, ensuring that a Worcestershire side who've struggled in this format for over two years would have to come out with guns blazing to make a winning start to this campaign.

Worcs innings: A very enterprising powerplay saw the Pears get precisely the start they required, losing only Martin Guptill to a lazy chip to mid-on in the fourth over. Still, after the departure of Joe Clarke on 84-2, the brakes went on for the visitors and the run-rate began to steadily climb. Both Callum Ferguson and Ben Cox made important contributions, but as the boundaries dried up, the Pears found themselves needing twelve an over at the death. This didn't appear to fluster skipper Dolly, who waited for the occasional bad ball to pick up the necessary fours, and Ross Whiteley got in on the act with some characteristic sixes down the ground to bring it down to a run a ball off the last eight deliveries. However, there was time for a wobble in the final over; trying to finish it with one hit, Whiteley instead holed out to Arron Lilley in the deep, leaving the visitors requiring four more off the last three balls. When Dolly pinched a single off the next delivery, it was down to Steady Ed Barnard to lift an effortless four over the infield, giving Worcestershire the best possible start to a competition for which many of us feared the worst.

Worcestershire WIN by five wickets

The Verdict: After 2017's abysmal showing in the game's shortest format, kicking off with an away win is an unexpected delight. Whether the chase was a well-managed strategy for victory or rather a haphazard affair which nearly ended in disaster is, I suppose, a matter of perspective. Still, with Guptill and Fergie looking in good nick and the bowling attack patched up by the additions of Wood and Andy Carter, there's a possibility that Worcestershire may not struggle in this summer's Blast as we did in 2016 and 2017. Tomorrow, of course, comes the acid test as Birmingham roll into town.