Rain ruins Warwickshire hopes

Warwickshire 196 for 9 no result against Lancashire 3 for 0
Scorecard

A rapid half-century by Warwickshire' left hander Jim Troughton went to waste when rain ended Lancashire's reply in the Friends Provident t20 clash at Edgbaston.

Openers Tom Smith and Paul Horton made three runs in a solitary over from Neil Carter before the match was abandoned with each side taking one point to stay in contention in a congested North group. A pitch which produced 415 runs in the previous match against Durham again rewarded the batsmen as Troughton, with 66 from 37 balls, took the Bears close to 200 for the second time in three days.

The hosts closed on 196 for 9 after a rampaging start in which Carter hit Glen Chapple for six, six, four, four off successive deliveries while making 39 in an opening partnership of 54 from 4.5 overs. The all-rounder crashed six fours and two sixes in 15 balls before he was caught at backward point off Sajid Mahmood, but the early surge was sustained as the home side reached 114 for 2 at the halfway point.

Although Ian Bell quickly fell to Nathan McCullum, making room to carve the New Zealander to deep cover, opener Jonathan Trott (42) and Troughton also put on 54 prior to a middle-order slump. Troughton's charge to 50 off 26 balls included 20 runs in four balls from Steven Croft before Lancashire found a way to check the onslaught.

Tom Smith, the seventh bowler tried by captain Chapple, benefited from Trott's skier to Stephen Moore at cover as Warwickshire fell back to 131 for 5. McCullum needed only three balls to dislodge Darren Maddy and Rikki Clarke, the latter stunned by Smith's leaping one-handed overhead catch at long-off.

Off-spinner McCullum's figures were 3-0-13-3 until his final over cost 18 runs and James Anderson, on release from England commitments, finished with 2 for 38 after conceding 14 in three balls to Chris Woakes.

Warwickshire were only two short of equalling the highest total against Lancashire in the competition when Troughton was run out off the last ball, having hit four sixes and four fours in the highest of his seven half-centuries in this format.