New England captain Jos Buttler unable to prevent Lancashire defeat in Blast

England’s new white-ball captain Jos Buttler suffered disappointment in the Vitality Blast on Friday night as a Lancashire Lightning battling collapse saw them slump to a 29-run defeat at Worcestershire Rapids.

Chasing 179, Buttler survived an early drop and went on to score 42 off 29 balls as he and England colleague Phil Salt (44) made 85 off 8.2 overs for the first wicket to put Lancashire well on course.

But Rapids captain Brett D’Oliveira took four for 20 as all 10 Lancashire wickets then fell for 64 to leave their hopes of qualifying for the last eight in the balance going into Sunday’s final game against Birmingham Bears.

Josh Davey returned to haunt his former team-mates as Somerset beat Middlesex by two wickets to secure a quarter-final place.

Davey took one for 25 in his four overs and then hit Chris Green for six as Somerset chased down a target of 161 with two balls to spare.

The balance of the contest shifted throughout as Tom Banton’s 39 and Tom Abell’s 36 got Somerset’s run chase off to a strong start, only for Jason Behrendorff’s three for 30 to temporarily tilt the odds back in Middlesex’s favour.

Surrey secured a home quarter-final as they chased down Kent Spitfire’s total of 191 for five with nine balls to spare in a high-scoring affair at the Kia Oval.

Alex Blake had helped Kent set an imposing target with 50 off 25 balls while Jordan Cox crashed 54 off 31, but Jason Roy clubbed 58 off 27 and Sam Curran 50 off 30 as Surrey made 195 for six in response.

Birmingham Bears also stormed into the quarter-finals as North Group winners after putting up the fourth highest total in this season’s competition in a 31-run win over Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley.

Ireland opener Paul Stirling made 81 from 41 balls