Ben McDermott’s unbeaten fifty came in a winning cause while Meg Lanning’s stellar knock was in vain
Ben McDermott has smashed an unbeaten 63 from 27 balls to help Lancashire to their first English T20 Blast victory of the season, while Meg Lanning’s cracking effort in the preceding match came up short.
The Hobart Hurricanes slugger let loose after his side chose to bat first, and he was well supported by half-centuries from captain Keaton Jennings (51) and Matty Hurst (57) as Lancashire finished on 4-208.
McDermott, who made just 12 on his Lancashire debut in a weekend defeat by Surrey, found his feet in spectacular fashion, locating the Old Trafford boundary 10 times.
Fellow Aussie Chris Green added 13 off six at the end of the innings but was expensive with the ball, finishing with 1-50. However, former England Test spinner Tom Hartley took four wickets as Lancashire put Nottinghamshire to the sword with the home bowlers then taking control.
In the women’s fixture, Lanning crunched 81no off 49 balls as Lancs posted 5-162 against the Blaze.
The Red Roses were in deep trouble at 5-62 but the veteran Victorian joined forces with Alisa Lister (39no) for an unbroken 100-run partnership.
For the Blaze, Brisbane Heat’s Charli Knott (2-23) was excellent with the ball and while she couldn’t have an impact with the bat (3), Tammy Beaumont (54) and Sarah Bryce (32) ensured the Blaze secured the four points.
It’s been a strong start to the campaign for Lanning, who on Friday opened the season with 40 off 22 in another loss, this time to Laura Harris’ Surrey.
Sydney Thunder’s Anika Learoyd has begun on fire too, hitting scores of 61no and 60no in back-to-back games in a dream start for Somerset. The ever-reliable Jess Jonassen has already chimed in with a half-century and a three-wicket haul in her two games for Yorkshire, too.
The batting efforts of another Aussie, Daniel Hughes, were not enough to save Sussex from a seven-wicket defeat by Kent on Monday night.
The Bathurst-born 37-year-old hit 26 to help Sussex finish on 6-197 but the batting star of the day was Kent’s Zak Crawley.
Dropped from the England Test squad earlier in May, the 28-year-old cracked an unbeaten 75 from 41 balls to see Kent pass the target with 10 balls to spare.
