Lancashire Lightning and Essex Eagles meet in the penultimate quarter final of the 2022 T20 Blast on Friday evening at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. The hosts finished second in the North Group after winning eight of 14 games. The Eagles finished third in the South Group with 19 points, three points behind top-of-the-table Surrey. Continue reading for a preview of this game. The game begins at 18:30 local time in Birmingham.
Lancashire Lightning has been very exciting in this year’s tournament, winning their final group stage game by two wickets over Birmingham Bears. This game will put their squad to the test, but they have plenty of depth and quality.
Essex Eagles have won their last four T20 Blast games, defeating Glamorgan, Sussex Sharks, Surrey, and Middlesex. They have a lot of momentum and will be optimistic about their chances at Old Trafford.
T20 Blast 2022
Match Details to Note
Match: Lancashire vs Essex, Quarter Final 3, T20 Blast 2022
Date: July 08, 2022 (Friday)
Time: 11:00 PM IST
Venue: Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
Lancashire Team News:
Dane Vilas’ team has demonstrated its strength by receiving numerous international calls throughout the season. They will, however, be missing Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Jos Buttler, Richard Gleeson, and Matt Parkinson for this game, which could be crucial.
Lancashire Squad
Dane Vilas (c), Josh Bohannon, Steven Croft, Tim David, Richard Gleeson, Tom Hartley, Liam Hurt, Keaton Jennings, Danny Lamb, Liam Livingstone, Matthew Parkinson, Philip Salt, Luke Wells, Luke Wood, Tom Bailey, Joshua Boyden, Rob Jones, George Bell, Jos Buttler
Players to watch out for:
Steven Croft
37, is a right-handed middle-order batter who has three half-centuries in the tournament. He frequently goes unnoticed but is a very consistent performer.
Tim David
The Singaporean finisher has 27 sixes and 23 fours in the tournament. In the coming months, he is expected to receive an international call-up from Australia.
Tom Hartley
Tom Hartley has bowled well in tandem with Matt Parkinson, but he has also outperformed him at times. In the competition, the 26-year-old has 15 wickets.
Possible Playing XI:
Dane Vilas (c), Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Croft, Tim David, Luke Wells, Danny Lamb, Luke Wood, Tom Hartley, Richard Gleeson, Matthew Parkinson
Lancashire Team Form
Lightning were dominant in the first two-thirds of the season, but they have struggled to win games recently. It was their first win in four games against the Birmingham Bears.
Essex Team News:
The Eagles beat Glamorgan by 69 runs on Saturday at Chelmsford, recording their highest Vitality Blast score ever. Their total of 254-5 included contributions from all seven of their top scorers, who all hit double figures. There are no international calls or injuries to worry Essex fans.
Essex Squad
Simon Harmer (c), Daniel Sams, Ben Allison, William Buttleman, Samuel Cook, Matthew Critchley, Aron Nijjar, Shane Snater, Michael-Kyle Pepper, Adam Rossington, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Jamal Richards, Feroze Khushi, Daniel Lawrence, Aaron Beard, Robin Das, Luc Benkenstein
Players to watch out for:
Dan Lawrence
The England international is currently not being selected by his country, which is great news for the Eagles. On Saturday, he had eight fours and three sixes.
Michael Pepper
The 24-year-old keeper-batter has relished the opportunity to focus solely on his batting this season. So far in the competition, he has scored 403 runs.
Daniel Sams
In the big win over Glamorgan, the left-arm pace bowler took 3-20 and dismissed Colin Ingram, Andrew Salter, and Dan Douthwaite.
Possible Playing XI:
Simon Harmer (c), Adam Rossington (wk), Robin Das, Michael-Kyle Pepper, Daniel Lawrence, Paul Walter, Tom Westley, Daniel Sams, Aaron Beard, Ben Allison, Samuel Cook
Essex Team Form
The Essex Eagles are currently playing at an exceptional level of T20 cricket. They are aiming for their fifth straight victory in this match.
Lancashire vs Essex Top Team Batsmen:
Our batting recommendations for Lancashire Lightning are Keaton Jennings, Steven Croft, and Tim David. Last week, Jennings hit 94 in a County Championship game.
Essex Eagles batting tips include Adam Rossington, Dan Lawrence, and Michael Pepper. In the 2022 Vitality Blast, Rossington has a perfect score of 95.
Lancashire vs Essex Top Team Bowlers:
Our bowling picks for Lancashire Lightning are Tom Hartley, Luke Wood, and Tom Bailey. In T20 cricket, Bailey has the best figures of 5-17.
Our bowling picks for Essex Eagles are Simon Harmer, Daniel Sams, and Sam Cook. Harmer has taken 16 wickets this season.
Lancashire vs Essex Head to Head
In the T20 Vitality Blast, the teams have only met twice. First in the quarter-finals in 2010, when Essex Eagles won by 8 wickets, and again in 2019, when the Eagles won by 6 wickets.
Lancashire vs Essex Head to Head Stats in T20
| Matches Played | LAN Won | ESS Won | Tie | NR | |
| Overall | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Last 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Lancashire vs Essex Toss Prediction
In the T20 Blast this season, every captain has chosen to bat first after winning the toss at Old Trafford. We anticipate that both captains will want to bat first and post a big total in this quarterfinal.
Lancashire vs Essex Pitch Report
The surface in Manchester frequently results in high-scoring, exciting games. The pitch will be hard, favoring pace bowlers. A par score of 185-190 is expected.
From start to finish, it was cloudy but humid at Old Trafford. Temperatures in the high teens were recorded throughout the fixture.
Lancashire vs Essex Prediction
These two teams are extremely well matched, with only one point separating them in their group stage performance. Lancashire Lightning would be far stronger favourites if all of their international players were available. We expect a close game, but we’re betting on Lancashire Lighting to win and advance to the finals.
