Youngsters impress for Lancashire

Lancashire 254 for 5 (Cross 76, Laxman 50) beat Warwickshire 253 for 7 (Carter 92, Marshall 3-36) by five wickets
Scorecard

Gareth Cross drives during his 76 off 69 balls © Getty Images

Lancashire eased their potential Pro40 relegation fears with a hard-fought five-wicket win against Warwickshire, chasing down 254 with one ball to spare, despite a ferocious 64-ball 92 from Neil Carter.

Gareth Cross and Paul Horton began the run-chase with a stand of 122 at more than six-an-over as Warwickshire's seam bowlers went round the ground. Cross, Lancashire's reserve wicketkeeper who was playing as a batsman, was particularly impressive as he hit 12 fours and a six in his 69-ball innings.

However, as happened in Warwickshire's innings the spinners changed the complexion of the match. Alex Loudon had Horton caught at long-off and then added Mark Chilton, who was snapped up at short midwicket. Cross was also caught in the deep, off Nick James, and Lancashire were left needing a run-a-ball.

VVS Laxman and Steven Croft added 65 to put Lancashire back on course, Laxman making a 49-ball 50, and Dominic Cork's 21 helped seal the result.

Carter, fighting for his Warwickshire future, had been in dramatic form with a powerful assault on the Lancashire attack. But when he fell to Simon Marshall's first ball the middle order struggled to make the most of the platform.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Worcestershire	5	4	0	0	1	9	+0.721	909/151.4	833/158.0
Sussex	7	3	2	0	2	8	+0.146	1071/186.5	1095/196.0
Nottinghamshire	6	3	2	0	1	7	+1.083	1106/181.2	999/199.1
Hampshire	6	3	2	0	1	7	+0.347	1124/173.3	1121/182.5
Lancashire	6	2	1	0	3	7	-0.068	697/111.3	693/109.4
Essex	6	1	3	0	2	4	-0.321	746/137.0	790/137.0
Gloucestershire	5	1	2	0	2	4	-1.077	632/115.0	746/113.3
Warwickshire	6	1	4	0	1	3	-0.632	1039/189.0	1041/169.5
Northamptonshire	5	1	3	0	1	3	-0.875	812/151.0	818/130.5