LANCASHIRE Lightning struck again as they beat the Derbyshire Phantoms for the second time in six days to book a place in the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup.
Another superb all-round performance from Brad Hodge, who was named man of the match, swept the Phantoms aside on a rainy night in Derby.
The Australian hit an unbeaten 90 and then took four for 27 with his off-spin as the Lightning won by 50 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Hodge shared a stand of 154 with Stuart Law, who scored 67, which lifted Lancashire to a formidable total of 205 for two.
The Phantoms never looked like getting close to their target and were sliding to defeat at 106 for seven in the 15th over when the rain became too heavy.
Mal Loye cut the first ball of the match for four to put Lancashire on their way to a 200-plus total for the third consecutive innings.
Loye hit three more fours in the next over from Ian Hunter and although Mo Sheikh stemmed the flow by conceding only two from the following over, the boundaries were soon flowing again.
Loye hit seven fours in his 39, which came from only 21 balls, before he was lbw to Hunter but the bad news for Derbyshire was that brought Hodge to the wicket.
Derbyshire had their chance to remove him on two but Travis Friend put down a fierce drive at cover and the Australian took full advantage of his escape.
Law also survived a hard chance on 14 to wicketkeeper Luke Sutton standing up and the pair did not offer the Phantoms another glimmer of hope until the last ball of the innings.
None of the bowlers survived the onslaught as Hodge and Law combined power with placement to take the game away from the home side.
Law was caught on the long-on boundary going for his second six while Hodge hit four sixes and eight fours in his 90 which came from only 52 balls.
It took his aggregate in this season's competition to 330 in six innings and he then tormented Derbyshire with the ball.
Sutton and Friend at least gave another big Derby crowd something to cheer, but Hodge dismissed them both and completed his second four-wicket haul against the Phantoms before rain spared them further misery.
In the other matches, Yorkshire won their North group clash with Durham by 40 runs. Craig White top-scored with 55 before he was bowled by Gary Scott, who took three for 27.
The Dynamos managed 131 in response, skipper Dale Benkenstein leading by example with 53 off 34 balls, but Anthony McGrath's three for 27 helped the Phoenix secure victory.
Warwickshire moved above Somerset into third in the Midlands/Wales/West group with a 47-run win at Edgbaston thanks to a hat-trick from James Anyon.
The 22-year-old removed Wesley Durston, Gareth Andrew and Andrew Caddick to skittle out the Sabres for 125.
England Test batsman Ian Bell top-scored for the Bears, hitting 41 off 35 balls in a total of 172 for eight.
Middlesex reached 56 for one before their South division match against Sussex was abandoned after seven overs, with Owais Shah unbeaten on 30.
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