Notts Outlaws were left frustrated as the rain ruined their hopes of maintaining their 100 per cent start to this season’s Royal London One-Day Cup.

Only 33 overs of play were possible before the conditions deteriorated substantially at Blackpool Cricket Club, denying the Outlaws an opportunity to follow up their wins over Northamptonshire and Warwickshire with another success.

Lancashire were on 157 for one at the time of the abandonment but Notts would have been set a revised Duckworth Lewis target had there been any more play.

The Outlaws were able to use six bowlers in all, leaving Andy Pick happy with what he had seen.

“The bowlers have all had a decent bowl and I think everybody went fairly well,” he said. “It was nice to play on a pitch that gave a bit of assistance as well after last week, so it’s helped rebuild some confidence in people’s techniques.”

The bowling coach added: “It’s disappointing with the weather but you can’t control it so we just take what we can from it and move on. It would have been interesting to see how we would have batted on it, with it moving around a little more – but from a bowling point of view the lads are happy that they got out there and stretched their legs.

“The advantage of making a good start to the group and getting wins in early doors means that if you do drop a point here or there with a rain-affected game you’re not too bad, even if others in your group play.”

With an indifferent weather forecast suggesting that a full day’s play might not be possible, Dan Christian had no hesitation in inviting Lancashire to bat first at the toss.

Notts included Jake Ball in place of Brett Hutton but it was Harry Gurney and Luke Fletcher who kept a tight lid on things at the start of the game.

Only six runs had been scored by the time of the opening dismissal, with Gurney demolishing Tom Smith’s off peg in the fifth over, sending the left-handed opener back for nought.

Luke Procter joined Alviro Petersen at the crease and showed the first signs of breaking the shackles as he ran the first boundary of the day down to third man.

Exercising great caution, both batsmen began to rotate the strike and increase the tempo – extending their partnership into three figures before both brought up their half centuries.

Petersen got there from 69 balls, with four fours and Procter a moment later, reaching his from 68 balls, having hit three fours and a six off Fletcher.

The unbroken 2nd wicket partnership had stretched to 151 – a ground record for any List A wicket – but the overhead conditions began to fill in and steady drizzle caused a delay in play at around 1pm.

Notts would have taken that, with Lancashire being denied the opportunity of sending hitters like Jos Buttler, Karl Brown, Liam Livingstone, Steven Croft and Jordan Clark to the crease, but they couldn’t begin their own chase as the rain persisted.

Both sides take one point from the fixture, lifting Notts to five points from three matches, level with Derbyshire at the top of the North Group.

Notts Outlaws are next in action on Wednesday 15 June, when they visit Durham in the same competition.

 

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