LANCASHIRE threw away a golden opportunity to end their losing run as they slipped to an eight-run defeat by Leicestershire in their opening Twenty20 game at Old Trafford.

In front of a crowd approaching 5000, the home side bowled and fielded well to restrict the Foxes to 139 for nine after a blistering start. They then reached 49 without loss in just five overs but two fine spells of spin bowling from Jeremy Snape and Claude Henderson tied down the middle order and resulted in a sequence of reckless shots.

The Red Rose side are in such a rut at the moment that even when they manage to engineer a good position the confidence isn't there to take hold of it. Skipper Warren Hegg admits the defeat makes things hard work for them.

"This result makes it difficult for the rest of the competition but there are four games left for us to get it right," he said.

"Our batting is short on confidence at the moment but the game could have gone better after the start we had."

It was a fine effort in the field by Lancashire after the visitors had reached 68 without loss in just six overs. The introduction of Gary Keedy, playing his first Twenty20 match, slowed the scoring and brought wickets as he bowled Darren Maddy for 51, made from just 27 balls.

The other spinners Dinesh Mongia (3-19) and Chris Schofield (2-16) also bowled well while the fielding was sharp. Mongia later kept Lancashire in the hunt for their target with 47 from 36 balls but his dismissal in the penultimate over left them with too much to do.

Lancashire now face three away ties in the Twenty20 before, including a trip to Headingley, before playing Nottinghamshire in the final group game at Old Trafford.