Worcestershire Royals went down to a 12 run defeat, under the Duckworth-Lewis method, in their CB40 match against Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford.

The Lightning won the toss and put the Royals into bat and Moeen Ali was the first wicket to fall when he was trapped lbw off Sajid Mahmood for 3, with the score on 4, in the 3rd over.  Vikram Solanki then took on Mahmood in his next two overs by hitting two fours and two sixes and he soon got to his 50 off 41 balls, with 3 fours and 3 sixes.  Phil Hughes was rather more sedate to begin with until he hit Oliver Newby for 14 runs in the 17th over, with the score on 96-1.  Their 100 partnership came in the 19th over off 99 balls and then Hughes went to his 50 off 69 balls, with 3 fours and 1 six.

After 28 overs, with the score on 149-1, the visitors took their 4 over batting powerplay and Hughes hit a 6 over mid-wicket to bring up the 150 partnership.  Solanki brought up his century off 96 balls, with 7 fours and 3 sixes, and then hit 2 sixes off Stephen Parry as the Royals looked to be heading for a big total.  With the partnership on 208, the highest ever second-wicket partnership for Worcestershire in one-day cricket, Solanki was bowled by Parry for an excellent 121 off 107 balls, with 8 fours and 5 sixes, and then in the next over Gareth Andrew was caught behind for 5, with the score on 219-3.  James Cameron (3) and Daryl Mitchell (0) soon departed before Hughes got to his 100 off 109 balls, with 8 fours and 2 sixes, with Worcestershire on 254-5 after 39 overs.  Hughes was then caught behind for a brilliant 104 off 111 balls, with 9 fours and 2 sixes, and then Ben Scott (0), Alexei Kervezee (4) and Shaaiq Choudhry (1) were also dismissed in the final over as the Royals ended their 40 overs on 259-9.

The Lightning began their reply in aggressive fashion thanks to former Worcestershire player Stephen Moore and he soon reached his 50, in the 10th over, off 40 balls, with 8 fours.  Ashwell Prince was bowled by Ali when attempting a reverse-sweep for 14 but then the rain arrived just after 5:30pm with the home side on 69-1 after 11.4 overs.  Play then resumed at 7pm, with Lancashire needing 131 runs off 19 overs, but then the rain returned 15 minutes later, with the score on 95-1 after 14.1 overs, and with no further play possible the Royals were defeated by 12 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.

Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes spoke to BBC Hereford and Worcester after the CB 40 defeat to Lancashire.

To listen to the interview please click here