Lancashire xxx for x (Bell 78*, Jennings 76*) beat Surrey 153 (Williams 3-40) by wickets
It took the Lancashire openers just 22.1 overs to reach 157 without loss and overtake Surrey’s 153 all out as Jennings’ team kept qualification hopes alive with a second win of the 50-over competition campaign. They have also had two no-results, so now have six points from six games.
Bell, 20, went past his previous best List A of 71, scored against Kent at Blackpool last week, in just his sixth match in the format, and overall faced only 59 balls – hitting the winning boundary at 3.35pm.
Jennings, who has won 17 Test caps, reached his half-century first and later thumped Cameron Steel’s legspin straight for six in a 74-ball knock that also included 10 fours.
Former England Under-19 player Bell also struck 10 fours, pulling Amar Virdi for six immediately after completing a 41-ball fifty by hoisting the offspinner to the ropes at midwicket.
Surrey, bowled out in 37.3 overs, suffered a fourth defeat in six Group A games but were without four injured players in Ben Foakes, Jordan Clark, Matt Dunn and Yousef Majid as well as missing their dozen-strong Hundred contingent. At least the highly-promising young allrounder Tom Lawes was able to appear, having yet to play for the Oval Invincibles franchise, and he will no doubt have benefitted from playing some cricket despite being unable to influence this contest with either bat or ball.
Only Surrey captain Rory Burns and Josh Blake, top-scorer with 34 from 43 balls, managed to bat for more than an hour as Lancashire’s seamers, led by Williams, worked their way steadily through the batting line-up after opting to bowl first in front of a sell-out 2000 crowd at Woodbridge Road.
Williams removed Dom Sibley, Ryan Patel, Ben Geddes and Steel in his superlative new-ball burst from the Railway End and although there was some seam movement and a little uneven bounce it was still a disappointing batting effort by the home side.
Sibley, having on-driven Jack Blatherwick for a powerful early boundary, had also just lofted Williams high to long-on for another four when he was adjudged caught behind for 18 later in the over – a decision which the England Test opener clearly found surprising.
Patel, who pulled Blatherwick for six, had reached only 10 when he inside-edged Williams into his stumps as he looked to force on the off side, and Surrey’s innings was in real trouble when Geddes and Steel fell to successive balls.
Geddes, promoted to No. 4 in place of the absent Foakes, looked in good order following his 92 against Yorkshire at York earlier in the week but, on 7, he flicked at a leg-side ball from Williams and was distraught to see keeper George Lavelle complete a fine diving catch to his left.
And Steel then touched a superb ball that left him off the pitch to depart for a first-ball duck, leaving Blake to repel the hat-trick delivery and attempt to rebuild the innings in partnership with Burns.
For a while it seemed that was possible but teenager Tom Aspinwall, in a fine six-over spell from the Pavilion End, made sure Surrey would not recover by removing both Burns and Lawes to leave the home side 96 for 6 in the 22nd over.
Burns dragged an attempted swipe to leg into his stumps to go for 22, from several steps down the pitch, and Lawes went for 6 when he was beaten and bowled by a full ball from Aspinwall.
Conor McKerr was then bowled by the returning George Balderson for 5, three balls after the 25-over drinks break, and Blake’s resistance was soon ended on 34 when he edged Balderson’s nippy medium pace behind as he tried to guide to third man.
Dan Moriarty managed a leg-side six off Blatherwick before being bowled by slow left armer Jack Morley for 15 and 17-year-old Surrey Academy fast bowler Luke Griffiths, having managed three fours in a creditable 25, including one magnificent pull off Blatherwick, then fell later in the same over mis-hitting to deep square leg.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo