Lancashire defeated at the Oval in Vitality Blast opener away to Surrey

Lancashire began their Vitality Blast campaign with a 59 run defeat away to Surrey at the Kia Oval.

After being set a target of 213, Steven Croft’s depleted side fell short after finding themselves five wickets down by the end of the sixth over.

A partnership of Chris Green and Paul Coughlin kept the Red Rose ticking over, but the disastrous start to their innings left just too much to do.

Jason Roy hit the first boundary on the second ball of the contest, before bagging back-to-back sixes off James Anderson in the fourth over.

Another maximum came the 35-year-old’s way shortly after, followed by a series of fours, helping him to 45 runs from 19 deliveries, before being caught by Keaton Jennings for a Green wicket at the beginning of the sixth.

After coming into the middle, Ollie Pope was able to smash a shot over the rope off the eighth ball he faced.

On his T20 debut for Surrey, Adam Thomas was also among the sixes, before eventually exiting for 32 off 25 at the beginning of the 11th over, after being caught by Jack Blatherwick to give Anderson his first wicket of the T20 season.

Another catch quickly came from the 27-year-old, this time to take Pope for a total of 31 off a Coughlin ball.

For the next wicket, the favour was returned to give Blatherwick one of his own, with Dan Lawrence being dismissed with just two from four.

Following slump from Surrey, a couple of Sam Curran sixes restored some urgency for the home side.

The Brown Caps captain soon lost his partner, with Laurie Evans finding himself run out on 10 following some good fielding from teenage debutant Joe Moores - who became the youngest men’s T20 player for Lancashire with his selection at the Oval.

Like his brother, Tom Curran was able to lift a shot over the rope, before adding three fours during the following over.

The younger of the two was eventually run out by Matthew Hurst with a total of 32, while the elder saw things out with a personal tally of 43, boosted by three sixes in the final over, alongside Jordan Clark - who scored four of his own to help set the 213 target.

It was a nightmare start to the visitors’ chase, with Jennings being caught by Roy off the very first ball for a Reece Topley wicket.

The 32-year-old swiftly collected another, as Hurst also exited for a duck after replacing his captain in the middle.

On debut, Ben McDermott was able to register some runs, hitting a four off the first ball he faced, before adding a six to his tally in the third.

The Australian’s impact was only short-lived, as he exited for 16 off nine following a Curran link-up, with Tom bowling and Sam catching.

Moores was able to mark his debut with a sixes on back-to-back shots, but the very next one saw Sean Abbot pick up a wicket thanks to an acrobatic Pope catch.

Lancashire continued to crumble, with Michael Jones going for 16 after being bowled and caught by Yousef Majid, before a period of stability.

A partnership of Green and Coughlin proved to be solid for Croft’s side, with both players smashing sixes in the eighth over.

As they started to build some momentum, there was a let off for the latter in the form of a drop from Curran from a high shot in the air.

After being dropped by the 27-year-old once, Coughlin wasn’t as fortunate in the 12th over, as he exited with a tally of 37 from 24.

Surrey were also able to halt Green at 35 off 25, with the older Curren catching this time to give Clark a wicket.

While Blatherwick was able to hit a couple of sixes to finish on 19, Hartley (6) and Mahmood (1) couldn’t dent the target, as Lancs were defeated with 22 balls remaining with Anderson not batting.