Lancashire ease through to Finals Day

Lancashire Lightning Essex Eagles

Essex won the toss and elected to bat at Emirates Old Trafford. Adam Rossington and Matt Critchley, the latter of the two returning from injury, opened. They started well together, scoring quickly. Rossington made the higher contribution (25 from 19) before he was eventually caught brilliantly by Tim David.

Critchley was gone a few balls later and two new Essex batters were at the crease. Dan Lawrence and Michael Pepper managed to put on 40 together. But was again, David was there to end it. Stunning. 

What came next settled the age-old debate of what is better? Salt or pepper? Well, Salt came out on top in this one!

The Eagles found themselves 101/4 and their run rate slowed. Paul Walter and Daniel Sams finished the innings off with some aggression and moved the away side to a decent total. Essex finished 161/5.

Lancashire came out to reply and started well with Salt. He saw the ball to the boundary rope within the first few balls of the innings. Keaton Jennings didn't even face a ball before he was run out thanks to some brilliant work from Sam Cook.

Salt and Steven Croft put on a partnership together. They made 73 in the middle, including shots like these.

That duo came to an end in stunning style. Words aren't needed for this. How good is this from Pepper?

But that pair put a huge dent in the Essex target. Croft went on to make an unbeaten 76 from 48 and Dane Vilas contributed 51 from 23. Vilas did lose his wicket late on, but David came out to finish things off for the home team with a four.