Powerplay over.

And spinner Luker Werlls comes on.

Run-out near miss after a great piece of work by Rob Jones - but Pepper made his ground.

Pepper could be a key man tonight. He is Essex's top T20 run scorer this season. 403 runs. Three fifties.

Paul Horton
Former Lancashire batsman

Review for what looks like a catch.

Michael Pepper second ball, shaping to flicking at a ball down the leg side.

He was given out by Nigel Llong but he immediately reviewed - andf it is adjudged to have come off the thigh pad.

Paul Horton
Former Lancashire batsman on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra

Dropped catchpublished at 18:46 British Summer Time 8 July 2022

18:46 BST 8 July 2022

Essex 42-0 (4 overs) v Lancs

First chance as Adam Rossington almost holes out to extra cover. Hard, low chance, but a chance nonetheless.

Four wides too. And a no ball. 13 off it. Two successive double-figure overs suffered by the hosts.

Luke Wood to come back on and bowl over number five.

Postpublished at 18:41 British Summer Time 8 July 2022

18:41 BST 8 July 2022

Essex 29-0 (3 overs) v Lancashire

Three boundaries in the third over in the space of four balls from Adam Rossington - including the game's first six.

15 off it.

Tom Bailey to continue.

Image source, Rex Features

Tom Bailey strays down the leg side and gets clipped for four by Matt Critchley for the game's first boundary - but it's still only seven again off the over.

Tom Hartley comes on for over number three.

Seven off a tidy first over from Luke Wood.

Tom Bailey is next to bowl.

It's only his fourth appearance in this year’s T20 Blast.

Image source, Rex Features

Here we go then.

Essex openers Adam Rossington and Matt Critchley are out there.

So is the ball, delivered by remote controlled miniature car.

And Luke Wood to bowl the first ball.

An easy two on the leg side for Rossington, followed by a single.

They may not be playing this evening - but they're doing their best to will Lancashire to victory.

As well as this text commentary, there is ball-by-ball radio coverage available for you this evening, courtesy of our BBC 5 Live Sports Extra and BBC local radio teams. Just click one of the audio promos at the top of the page to tune in to the stream of your choice.

Lancashire and Essex have only played each other on two occasions in the domestic T20 competition.

And Essex were the winners on each occasion.

They first met at Chelmsford in 2010 when Essex won by eight wickets.

Lancashire posted 183-6, with Chris Wright claiming 4-25, and Essex reached 184-2 with five balls to spare as Mark Pettini hit 81 off 56 balls and Matt Walker finished the job with 74 not out off 49.

Image source, Rex Features

Then, in 2019, Lancashire's 'home' quarter-final had to be staged at Chester-le-Street because Old Trafford was being used by England.

Alex Davies hit an unbeaten 80 off 55 balls as the 'home side' reached 159-5, but Essex replied with 165-4.

Ryan Ten Doeschate (45*) and Ravi Bopara (39*) shared a match-winning stand of 60, capped by 22 off the penultimate over from Liam Livingstone, as the visitors won by six wickets with four balls to spare.

From KevB: "Lancs missing 5 important players due to England call ups makes a mockery of the competition #bbccricket, external"

It is only four now, Kev, but we take your point.

"Tonight will continue dry," says the Manchester forecast on the BBC Weather website. That's what we like to hear.

For more detailed information, please click here.

Essex have won the toss and chosen to bat first at Old Trafford.

Lancashire have a depleted squad this evening with four players - Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Matt Parkinson and Richard Gleeson - all away on T20 international duty with England.

But, just as England released Yorkshire's David Willey to play at The Oval on Wednesday night, they have also now freed up Phil Salt to play - the fifth Lancashire player picked in that T20 squad,

Rob Jones and Tom Bailey are the two to come in, to replace Parkinson and Gleeson, from last Sunday's final group win over Birmingham Bears.

No such worries for Essex, who have all-rounder Matt Critchley back following a knee injury in place of Robin Das, in the only change from last Saturday night's win over Glamorgan.

Critchley's last game was in the eight-wicket group-stage defeat at Chelmsford by Somerset on 19 June.

Lancashire: Vilas (capt), Salt (wk), Jennings, Croft, David, Wells, Jones, Lamb, Wood, Hartley, Bailey.

Essex: Harmer (capt), Rossington (wk), Critchley, Pepper, Lawrence, Walter, Westley, Sams, Beard, Allison, S Cook.

Image source, Rex Features

Two T20 Blast quarter-finals gone, two to go.

And what a complete contrast those first two quarter-finals were.

Yorkshire scraped home off the last ball in dramatic scenes at The Oval on Wednesday night after Surrey let the pressure get to them and somehow failed to make five to win off the final over.

Then came last night's non-event at Edgbaston when Hampshire got the job done embarrassingly easily against Birmingham Bears with six and a half overs to spare.

Image source, Getty Images

Two games. Two away wins.

Now it's the turn of Essex tonight against Lancashire at Old Trafford and Derbyshire tomorrow night against Somerset at Taunton.

If the away formbook plays out, both Essex and Derbyshire ought to be licking their lips. But, on what looks set to be a sun-kissed night in Manchester, there will be a sizeable turn-out of home fans hoping to see Lancashire become the first of this year's quarter-final hosts to triumph.