LANCASHIRE skipper Liam Livingstone saw signs of encouragement despite his side slipping to defeat to defending champions Nottinghamshire in their opening Royal London one-day Cup clash at Old Trafford.

The Outlaws defended a target of 319 as the Red Rose county slipped from 245 for three after 40 overs when it looked like they would secure their record chase.

Lancashire’s Keaton Jennings opened with an excellent 136 during a mixed day for him, with them finishing on 309-9, losing by nine runs.

He also claimed a career best two-wicket haul, but the England hopeful will be frustrated that, despite a third successive century in all forms, he fell in the 47th over to leave the score at 288-6.

Harry Gurney had him caught at square-leg pulling before Jake Ball struck twice in the next. Left-arm seamer Gurney finished with 3-61 as Notts held on.

Earlier, Matt Parkinson claimed five wickets inside the last seven overs to record career best figures of 5-68 on his Red Rose List A debut with Notts captain Steven Mullaney top scoring with 70 as his side started with a win.

And the result left Livingstone pleased with aspects of the game but disappointed by the defeat.

He said: "I'm delighted for Keaton and the way he played, but that's the way one-day cricket goes. We'd have backed ourselves with 10 overs left, but it's disappointing.

"The Notts bowlers bowled really well, and we knew the pitch was going to get tougher and tougher.

"The way we stacked our side with spinners, you could tell we thought the pitch was going to slow up. Fair play to Notts, they bowled well.

"The way Harry (Gurney) bowled his change-ups, his cutters into the pitch worked really well. We could have done that better in the first innings, but it's the first game of the tournament and we have a lot of positives to take forward.

"We could have been a little bit better in the field here and there. If you keep them under 300, we win the game.

"But there's some very good points. Parky bowled well in the first innings and got five-for, and the way Keats played is very encouraging for us."

Lancashire return to one-day cup action on Sunday when they welcome Durham to Old Trafford (11am).