MEN'S T20 BLAST ROUNDUP: Both away sides came out victorious in the two North Group T20 Blast matches as Leicestershire and Northamptonshire won g524j
Old Trafford: Leicestershire 149-5 - Leicestershire Foxes win by five wickets
Rehan Ahmed put Lancashire Lightning in a spin with a superb 3 for 16 from four overs and later a crucial 27 as Leicestershire Foxes breached fortress Emirates Old Trafford to claim an impressive T20 Blast victory.
Leg-spinning all-rounder Ahmed is due to link up with England for their T20I series against the West Indies later this week, and he claimed season's best figures across all formats, limiting the Lightning to 145 for 7 on a used pitch.
He bamboozled a home batting line-up which saw opener Keaton Jennings top-score with 39 off 19 balls before Chris Green added a crucial 36 not out off 29 late on.
The 20-year-old then came in with Leicestershire's chase in limbo at 47 for 3 in the sixth over and contributed again to a five-wicket win with nine balls remaining, hitting two fours and a six in 23 balls.
The Foxes have now won two and lost one at the start of the North Group, while Lancashire's three-game winning start came to an end with a first defeat.
In T20 history, Lancashire have won 89 of 124 matches at Emirates Old Trafford, losing only 31. But Leicestershire are the most successful visiting county here, winning on six occasions since 2003.
Related: Jarrod Kimber's all-time T20 Blast XI
Lancashire's Chris Green goes on the attack as his side fell to defeat (Lancashire Cricket/Luke Adams)
Derby: Derbyshire 188-4 - Northamptonshire Steelbacks win by six runs
A brilliant innings from Ravi Bopara took Northants Steelbacks to a third T20 Blast victory by six runs despite a thrilling Derbyshire Falcons chase led by Samit Patel at the Central Co-op County Ground.
Bopara scored an unbeaten 84 from 46 balls, including five sixes, as the Steelbacks recovered from 112 for 5 to post an imposing 194 for 6 with Afghanistan spinner Mohammad Ghazanfar taking 2 for 30.
But Patel with 83 not out from 50 balls and Caleb Jewell, 71 from 44, gave the Falcons hope before they came up short at 188 for 4.
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