Two of the Blast’s strongest sides meet at the Kennington Oval on Friday 22 May, with Surrey and Lancashire opening their 2026 campaigns against each other.
Sam Curran’s Surrey topped the table last year before going out in the quarter-finals. They are without Will Jacks, their top run-scorer, so Jason Roy (382 runs last season) and Ryan Patel must give them starts, with Ollie Pope and Daniel Lawrence in the middle order. Tom Curran, Jamie Overton and Chris Jordan add hitting. Sam Curran took 21 wickets last season and leads a bowling group featuring Reece Topley and Jordan Clark.
Lancashire, captained by Keaton Jennings, finished top of the North Group last year but lost the semi-final to Somerset. Jennings scored 459 runs and opens with Luke Wells, with Liam Livingstone, Matthew Hurst and Michael Jones behind them. Luke Wood took 22 wickets and shares the new ball with James Anderson, while Tom Hartley, George Balderson and Jack Blatherwick give variety.
With Surrey’s attack well suited to the Oval’s early movement and a long batting line-up, they are the narrow favourites.