FRIENDS PROVIDENT t20 QUARTER-FINAL, Chelmsford:
Essex 184-2 (19.1 ovs) beat Lancashire 183-6 (20 ovs) by eight wickets
Match scorecard

Pettini has scored 277 runs in 11 FP t20 matches this season

Mark Pettini and Matt Walker shared a second-wicket partnership of 147 as Essex beat Lancashire by eight wickets and booked a FP t20 semi-final place.

Pettini (81) and Walker (74no) gave the home side the platform, while James Foster hit 16 off five balls to secure victory with five balls remaining.

Earlier, Lancashire posted 183-6 with Paul Horton (44), Tom Smith (35) and Sajid Mahmood (34) leading the way.

Chris Wright took 4-25, including three wickets in a 15-ball spell.

Essex now play Hampshire in the semi-final on Saturday, 14 August, while Somerset will face Nottinghamshire.

Lancashire had lost Stephen Moore to the first ball of their innings, but the game was interrupted by rain after just four overs with the score on 33-1.

Essex struck 11 balls after the enforced break as Steven Croft (27), who hit one six and three fours, became the first of Wright's four victims.

Lancashire's middle-order kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely and Croft, Horton and Mahmood all hit maximums as the visitors took control.

Wright's three-wicket burst pegged Lancashire back, but Greg Chapple's 28 not out off 14 balls, which contained two fours and a six, helped the visitors post 183-6.

In reply, Essex lost Ravi Bopara for four in the third over, but the second-wicket partnership between Pettinti and Walker, the highest of the T20 season, was the key to the home side's victory.

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