Lancashire’s hopes of playing at home in the quarter finals of the Friends Provident Twenty20 are slim after losing to Northamptonshire by eleven runs at Wantage Road tonight.

The Lightning failed to chase 171 after opener Rob White’s 58-ball innings of 80 had boosted the hosts to 170-4.

And they will face an away tie in the last eight if Warwickshire get one point from their last two North Division matches.

Gareth Cross top scored with 41 not out off 22 balls, but it was too little too late as Lancs finished on 159-6.

Stephen Parry claimed 2-29, while Tom Smith and Sajid Mahmood both claimed a wicket after Mark Chilton had elected to bowl first.

West Indian Daren Powell sent down a damaging two-over spell that went for 31 runs, his second over going for 19 as White hit three sixes in the 16th over.

The Jamaican pace bowler had been selected ahead of Simon Kerrigan as Peter Moores and Chilton abandoned their plan of playing four spinners as they had done against Nottinghamshire on Wednesday.

White shared 77 inside 12 overs for the first wicket with Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas.

Lancs got the breakthrough when left handed Vaas holed out to Steven Croft at long on for 29 off the bowling of Parry in the 12th.

David Sales fell in identical fashion, caught by Sajid Mahmood, in Parry’s next over to leave the score at 89-2.

Nathan McCullum went for 15 runs, but only bowled three overs, and Gary Keedy went for 29 from his three.

Stephen Moore hit two boundaries in the first over of the chase, but was caught behind by David Murphy off Jack Brooks to leave the score at 9-1 in the second.

Smith hit a four and a six off David Willey in the fifth over, but chipped a full toss to Sales at mid wicket with 39 on the board.

And, when Steven Croft was caught behind off Zimbabwean Elton Chigumbura for 24 in the ninth, Lancs were really up against it at 56-3.

Their game was up in the 14th when off-spinner James Middlebrook removed Chilton and Horton, the latter courtesy of a stunning one handed effort by Alex Wakely at long on.