Lancashire opened their account in Division One of the County Championship with an emphatic eight-wicket victory against Nottinghamshire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Luke Procter (35*) and Alviro Petersen (31*) guided the Red Rose county to their meagre target of 86 with an unbroken partnership of 61 runs, as Lancashire secured 22 points after only 17 overs on the final day.
The run chase started nervously for the home crowd when both Lancashire openers returned to the pavilion in quick succession, but Procter and Petersen played positively and ensured a convincing win for the home side. Procter finished the match with three fours and a six off the bowling of Samit Patel to secure victory for Ashley Giles's side, as he finished with 35 from 45 deliveries.
Nottinghamshire, who also tasted success in their first four-day game of the season against Surrey, were dismantled by New Zealand fast bowler, Neil Wagner, who collected match figures of 11-111 yesterday, as the visitors were bowled out for 175 in their second innings.
A debut half-century for Liam Livingstone (70) gave Lancashire a 90-run lead over Nottinghamshire, who were then ripped apart by Wagner and James Anderson on the third day to set up a highly-probable victory for the hosts.
Two boundaries for Karl Brown (8) came as early relief to the Lancashire faithful, who were fully expecting to see their team convert a strong position into victory today, but when Brown was out lbw to Jake Ball at the end of the first over, the nerves settled in once more.
Procter and Haseeb Hameed (9) came to together with a degree of patience, but with such an achievable task ahead of them, they soon opened up and went about securing the win as quickly as possible. The ever-impressive Ball (2-29) struck again to leave Lancashire on 27/2, but this was to be the final glimpse of success for Notts, who came into this final day expecting very little after failing to set the Red Rose a daunting target.
Hameed's resilience came to an end when he was caught at second slip by Riki Wessels, leaving Ball with match figures of 6-92, but a partnership of any real significance was all Lancashire needed to make Notts punish for their failure with the bat.
Petersen proved to be the catalyst in Lancashire's run chase, striking four boundaries in his innings of 31 from 25 balls to give Procter similar licence to open his shoulders and take the game to the opposition. With Ball and Stuart Broad failing to achieve a near miracle in their opening spells, Patel's introduction signalled the end for Notts, as Procter charged the left-arm spinner for three fours, before striking a six down the ground to secure victory for the Red Rose.
Lancashire's next match in the Specsavers County Championship is against Somerset on May 1 at Taunton.
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