Jennings century clinches quarter-finals berth for Lancashire

A second century in the competition from skipper Keaton Jennings clinched Lancashire's place in the quarter-finals of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup after they finished their Group A programme with a third straight victory.

Jennings finished on 103 not out as the Red Rose county wrapped up a seven-wicket win with 55 balls to spare. The result puts them on 10 points and although Kent could equal that with a win over Hampshire, they would still go through to Friday's eliminator on superior run rate.

Veteran Steven Croft made 38 on his first appearance of the season, sharing a 102-run stand for the second wicket before George Balderson's unbeaten 31 helped Jennings finish the job.

The home side had stumbled to 42 for 5 before Liam Patterson-White (39) and Sammy King (37) led the way in a lower-order fightback to 185 all out.

Tom Bailey, Balderson and left-arm spinner Jack Morley took two wickets each. Will Williams, the New Zealand-born seamer, finished with 3 for 32 after taking two wickets in the opening powerplay to reduce the Outlaws to 18 for 3 after opting to bat first.

Just one boundary scored and three wickets lost added up to a miserable opening powerplay for the home side as Lancashire's new-ball bowlers made the most of early conditions on an outground that has been home from home for the Outlaws in the competition, although not a happy one, all three of their matches here having ended in defeat.

Ben Slater, after several play-and-misses, finally nicked one off Tom Bailey to be caught behind before Williams, Lancashire's leading One-Day Cup wicket-taker this season, beat left-hander Ben Martindale with an inswinger that hit him in front and bowled right-hander Lyndon James, who offered no shot to another that came back. Hameed's clip through midwicket for four in the same over was the only moment of relief.

Desperate to find calmer waters, the Outlaws suffered more blows when Matt Montgomery, fresh from the unbeaten 92 that kept his side alive in the competition in a thriller in Canterbury last week, was leg before playing across one from Bailey, and Hameed, having hinted at a fightback by greeting Balderson with two fours, perished after seemingly thinking about a third but changing his mind and then failing to get his bat fully out of the way.

A couple of partnerships gave the innings at least a degree of respectability. Patterson-White and 20-year-old Sammy King, who has a couple of Second XI hundreds to his name recently, added 50 for the sixth wicket before King, having slog-swept left-arm spinner Jack Morley for one six, holed out attempting another after playing nicely for his 37.

Patterson-White then added 56 with Dane Schadendorf (32) before both were out in the space of four balls in similar fashion, making room to cut. Some late hitting from bowlers Tom Loten and Brett Hutton gave themselves a little more to defend.

Lancashire looked to have the better of the conditions when they batted. They knew too that they could be more measured in their approach while the balls were new and though they were only six ahead of the home side on runs at the end of the first powerplay, their only casualty was George Bell, who miscued Brett Hutton to cover.

The approach seemed to be paying off handsomely at the halfway stage, with Lancashire 98 for 1 compared with the Outlaws' 85 for 5. Jennings had completed a 72-ball half century in which his only show of outright aggression was a six driven back over the bowler's head when James took over from Dane Paterson - thankfully none the worse for a nasty-looking fall in the third over of his opening five-over spell - and Lancashire were ahead of the required rate.

Patterson-White induced a moment or two of jitters with two wickets in two balls, breaking the second-wicket partnership after it had added 102 in a little under 23 overs by inducing a thin edge that spelt the end of Croft, caught behind and having Dane Vilas caught at slip, the former Lancashire captain attempting to cut his first ball.

But Jennings and Balderson ensured there were no further scares, Jennings upping the tempo with three fours in the same Paterson over to move into the 80s, going into the 90s with his 12th boundary before completing his second hundred in his last four innings from 123 balls with 13 fours and that one early six, before Balderson's boundary off Patterson-White secured the win.