Arav Shetty stars as Lancashire maintain 100% record

Arav Shetty salutes his maiden professional fifty Luke Adams/Lancashire Cricket

Lancashire 220 (Shetty 53, Farhan 3-26) beat Nottinghamshire 189 (Verreynne 61, Blatherwick 4-30) by 31 runs

Arav Shetty's impressive all-round contribution helped Lancashire end Nottinghamshire's 100 percent winning start to this season's Metro Bank One-Day Cup with an enthralling 31-run victory defending 221 at AO Farington.

Shetty top-scored with a career best 53 off 57 balls from the middle order in Lancashire's 220 all out. Off-spinner Farhan Ahmed was excellent for 3 for 26, while Liam Patterson-White also struck three times with spin for the visitors.

Patterson-White then recovered Nottinghamshire from 77 for 5 with an industrious 39. But Shetty's off-spin accounted for 3 for 35 from 10 overs and was decisive as the Outlaws were bowled out for 189. South African overseas wicketkeeper-batter Kyle Verreynne top-scored with a valiant 61.

Lancashire - for whom Jack Blatherwick also hit 31 and claimed four wickets - replaced Nottinghamshire at the top of Group A. Both have won three and lost one.

Inserted Lancashire started positively despite losing Matty Hurst caught behind off James Hayes in the second over. Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon shared 78 to take the score to 84 for one after 18, contributing 37 and 43.

However, Ahmed was top class. After Bohannon fell to the seam of Lyndon James, Ahmed claimed the next three as Lancashire lost 4 for 14 to slip to 98 for 5.

Jennings was caught at short third off a top-edged sweep, Marcus Harris caught and bowled and Rocky Flintoff bowled through the gate by a beauty.

Shetty, aged 22, hit two sixes over long-off and straight against Patterson-White en-route to his maiden first-team fifty.

Patterson-White gained revenge when Shetty was caught at short third off a miscue - 183 for 8 - with Blatherwick's meaty 31 proving crucial in the game's final reckoning against his former and home county.

Tom Bailey trapped Freddie McCann lbw with the sixth ball of the Nottinghamshire chase before Shetty's spin got Ben Martindale the same way.

When George Balderson bowled Haseeb Hameed with one that kept low, Nottinghamshire were 64 for three after 16 overs.

Like Tuesday's first game here against Kent, this fresh pitch showed signs of variable bounce. And the first half of Nottinghamshire's innings followed a similar pattern to Lancashire's - an early wicket, a partnership - 52 for the second wicket between Martindale and George Munsey - and then three quick wickets.

The third of those saw Munsey bowled reverse sweeping at Shetty for 37 - 72 for 4 in the 19th over. Shortly afterwards, Blatherwick removed Lyndon James.

But Patterson-White and Verreynne set about a revival which gathered pace when the former took 14 off a Mitch Stanley over, including a pulled six.

They shared 66 before Patterson-White was bowled sweeping at Shetty - 143 for 6 in the 37th. Bailey bowled Ahmed 11 runs later before Verreynne reached 50 off 77 balls.

Blatherwick had Sam Wood caught and bowled and Brett Hutton bowled with successive deliveries in the 46th over - 186 for nine - before forcing Verreynne to play on to wrap things up.