The Roses rivalry continues on the cricket field this week as Lancashire Lightning welcome Yorkshire across the Pennines to Old Trafford for T20 Blast action on Friday evening.
The last fixture between the pair ended with a record victory for Yorkshire, after captain Jonny Bairstow inspired his side to a 106-run victory.
With two games left in the T20 Blast group stage, Yorkshire are on the brink of qualification from the North Group, needing just one win to confirm their spot in the top two.
Lancashire, however, need to beat their old rivals and win their remaining match, hope Yorkshire lose their final game and then rely on improving their vastly inferior net run rate to steal second place from them.
Both teams can still qualify with the two best third-placed sides making it through to the knockout stages, however, Lancashire currently sit outside those spots and need to pick up points, and soon.
With the two teams both needing a win, an exciting clash looks to be in store at Old Trafford.
Lancashire Lightning v Yorkshire Tips Summary
Best Bet - Yorkshire to win @ 10/11
Alternative Bet - Liam Livingstone Lancashire top batter @ 12/5
Bet Builder - Adam Lyth to score most 6s for Yorkshire, Liam Livingstone to score 20+ runs and Hasan Ali to take 2+ wickets @ 22/1
Lancashire Lightning v Yorkshire Lightning Prediction
Best Bet: Yorkshire to win @ 10/11
Yorkshire won the last clash between these two old rivals by a T20 Blast record margin of 106 runs, and although this match should be a tighter affair, Yorkshire should be too strong. That victory made it four wins out of the last five for Yorkshire.
The White Rose are second in the North group and come into this match off the back of two straight wins and a tie in their last three outings.
Lancashire’s three-match winning run came to an end with defeat to Notts Outlaws, before a thrilling tied game at home to Derbyshire, with both teams scoring 150 and 19 wickets falling in the match, including Lancashire’s Matty Hurst falling to the final delivery of the match with the scores level.
That result did neither team any favours in their quest for a quarter-final spot, and Yorkshire can put the final nail in their rivals' coffin by coming out on top at Old Trafford and, in the process, confirming their own progress.
Alternative Bet: Liam Livingstone Lancashire top batter @ 12/5
Lancashire’s season has not gone to plan with the Red Roses failing to capitalise on the run of games when their international stars Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Luke Wood were available.
They are currently without the England trio and face an uphill battle to qualify for the quarter-finals.
One man who can give them hope is all-rounder and former England international Liam Livingstone.
Coming in at three, Livingstone is a powerful hitter who looks to score off every ball and go big.
He is the Lightning’s top scorer this season with 379 from eight innings, averaging over 50 and his ability with the bat will be key for the Lightning to have any hope in this clash.
Notts Outlaws v Lancashire Lightning Bet Builder Tip
Adam Lyth to score most 6s for Yorkshire
Liam Livingstone to score 20+ runs
Hasan Ali to take 2+ wickets
Pays 22/1
Bairstow is Yorkshire’s top scorer this season in T20 matches but it is his fellow former England international Adam Lyth who has hit the most sixes.
Lyth has just 17 fewer runs than Bairstow in the Blast but has hit three more sixes than the captain, including six in his last innings when he hit a remarkable 131 not out against Leicestershire.
Backing another former England man, Livingstone, to hit 20 runs or more on home turf appeals. The all-rounder is averaging 54 from his eight innings in this season's Blast and he will fancy his chances of clearing the ropes on multiple occasions and building a big innings.
Rounding off this three-fold is backing the Blast’s top wicket-taker, Hasan Ali to take two or more wickets in this clash. Ali has been superb with the ball this summer and his 22 wickets have come in just nine matches at 11.18.
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Key Match Stats
Yorkshire have won four of the last five meetings with Lancashire
Liam Livingstone is Lancashire Lightning’s leading run scorer this tournament with 379 from eight innings
Hasan Ali is the tournament's leading wicket taker with 22 at 11.18
Jonny Bairstow is Yorkshire's top run scorer in the Blast with 349 runs
Adam Lyth is Yorkshire's top six hitter this season with 16 in 10 innings
Lancashire’s leading wicket-takers in this summer’s Blast are Tom Hartley and Liam Livingstone with 11 each
Tactics, Form & Team News
Last time out, Lancashire Lightning were involved in a thrilling tied match with Derbyshire and given how close they were to victory, wholesale changes are unlikely to be made to the team.
Tom Aspinwall, replacing Mitchell Stanley, is one potential option available to the Lightning in the bowling department.
With Buttler, Salt and Wood unavailable due to international commitments, their top order will remain with captain Keaton Jennings and Michael Jones opening up and Livingstone at three.
Expected Lancashire Lightning XI: Keaton Jennings (c), Michael Jones, Liam Livingstone, Ben McDermott, Joseph Moores, Matty Hurst (wkt), Shadab Khan, Jack Blatherwick, Tom Hartley, Tom Aspinwall, James Anderson.
Yorkshire have been in good form with back-to-back wins and sitting in second spot in the league. With results going their way and players in good nick, an unchanged XI can be expected.
Expected Yorkshire XI: Adam Lyth, Jonny Bairstow (c, wk), William Luxton, Moeen Ali, Sam Whiteman, Matthew Revis, Faheem Ashraf, Andrew Tye, Hasan Ali, Dan Moriarty, Jafer Chohan.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
