Vitality Blast week 6

The final group games will be played this week with quarter final spots still up for grabs as some upsets in the last few days brought a few more teams into contention.

In the South Group, Surrey had already secured a quarter final when they travelled down to Somerset. They were in trouble at 24/3 after 3.3 overs, but Surrey are packed with stars and a 107 run fourth wicket partnership between Rory Burns (62) and Sam Curran (59) helped them to 182/5. Jamie Overton was back in the side for his first match since the beginning of April, playing as a batter and he contributed 30 from just 13 balls. 20-year-old George Thomas came in at the top of the Somerset order, with Will Smeed out with a hamstring injury and immediately made an impact, scoring 40 from 25 balls. A half century from Tom Kohler-Cadmore and runs from Tom Abell (30) and Sean Dickson (20*) then saw the home side to a comfortable win, with an over to spare.

Somerset then faced the Hampshire Hawks on Sunday, the latter still in with a mathematical chance of qualification. The Hawks opted to bat first and posted 157/7 thanks to 51 off 32 balls from Tom Prest, Jack Leach taking 2/23 from his four overs. Somerset made short work of the chase as they got home with two overs to spare. Tom Banton made 79 from 52 balls and Kohler-Cadmore 43 off 28, both ending not out. With their excellent net run rate, the win all but secures Somerset a quarter final spot.

Struggling Middlesex travelled west for two games on Thursday and Friday nights, upsetting the plans of each of their opponents. First it was Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, where a debut T20 fifty from Jack Davies and another from Martin Andersson (his second in 44 matches), took the visitors to 181/8. The Gloucestershire innings suffered from the steady fall of wickets, Luke Hollman taking three, while the Middlesex seamers kept it tight. A partnership of 68 between Beau Webster (31) and Jack Taylor (45) was the only significant one and they were all out for 152. Middlesex then moved on to Cardiff on Friday night to play a game shortened to 10 overs-a-side because of rain. Hollman was again key to the visitors bowling effort, taking 4/13 in his two overs as Glamorgan were restricted to 89/9, Mason Crane top scoring with 18 not out. Middlesex got off to a fast start through Leus du Plooy (28) and Andersson (30), but were pegged back by the leg spin of Crane and Marnus Labuschagne. However it was never enough runs and Middlesex won with three balls left.

Gloucestershire were faced with three matches in four days and moved on to Southampton, where a team who have been below their best, inflicted another defeat. Gloucestershire were well on their way with an opening partnership of 92 off 10.5 overs from Miles Hammond (66) and Cameron Bancroft (34) and then Ben Charleworth added a quick fire 39 from 19 balls. However the Hampshire Hawks’ bowlers fought back, Brad Wheal taking 4/35 and they kept the total to 176/9. The Hawks made a solid start, Ben McDermott (32) and James Vince (21) putting on 49 in six overs for the first wicket. Again the bowlers manage to put on the brakes, Tom Smith, making his first appearance of the season, taking 3/35. At 75/4, 102 runs were needed from 50 balls. Ex-Gloucestershire stalwart Benny Howell joined Joe Weatherley (22) and they put on 66 off 32 balls, before Howell and James Fuller (20*) came together to complete the win. They needed 31 from the last two overs and it came down to four from the last ball. Howell scooped the delivery from David Payne to the boundary, his 62 runs coming from 27 balls.

Gloucestershire and Glamorgan met at Cheltenham on Sunday, both teams still in with an outside chance of qualification. The home side were asked to bat first and it was Jack Taylor who punished the Glamorgan bowling for the second time this season, scoring 80 from 35 balls as Gloucestershire racked up 206/6. Andy Gorvin was the pick of the bowlers with 2/26. Glamorgan’s chase never got going, ending the power play on 23/4. They were dismissed for just 85 inside 16 overs, Payne taking 3/7 to move clear at the top of the wicket taking statistics with 24 at an economy rate of 6.6, while Josh Shaw took 2/7. With the Essex Eagles losing, Gloucestershire remain in the hunt, with a big boost to their net run rate, taking it above that of the Eagles.

At the same time, the Sussex Sharks march on. On Friday night they did a demolition job on lowly Kent Spitfires, winning by 88 runs at Canterbury. They were in trouble at 64/4 after 7.5 overs, but an unbeaten stand of 139 off 73 balls from John Simpson (53*) and Tom Alsop (87*) took them to 203/4. Alsop has now scored 299 runs with a strike rate of 168.92. The Spitfires’ innings was held together by Tawanda Muyeye (45), but no one could stay with him and they were all out for 115 in 16.2 overs, James Coles taking a career-best 4/12. The win guaranteed the Sharks a quarter final spot alongside Surrey, but their ambitions of a home tie were put on hold by Essex Eagles on Saturday. There have been some big scores at Hove this summer and asked to bat first, the Sharks made 207/2 thanks to 81 off 43 balls from Daniel Hughes and 72 not out off 53 balls from Tom Clark. They put on 110 in 67 balls for the second wicket and then Alsop (27*) and Clark put on another 63 in 31 deliveries. Essex were chasing a target of 208 and despite three wickets from Ollie Robinson that helped reduce the visitors to 53/4 after 5.2 overs, a magnificent innings of 120 not out off just 53 balls from Michael Pepper, his maiden T20 century after 167 matches, meant they reached the target with nine balls to spare. The Eagles were also thankful to Charlie Allinson (44*) for sticking with him as the remainder of the top seven only managed 32 runs between them.

The win moved the Eagles into third spot with two matches left to play, one of them against Surrey on Sunday. 86 from 46 balls by Will Jacks, playing just his second game of the season for Surrey, was the main contribution to a total of 189/9. When the Eagles came to bat, the only significant innings came from Adam Rossington, with 78 from 49 balls, but no one could stay with him to build a match winning partnership and they fell 13 runs short. Jordan Clark took 2/22 and Cameron Steel 2/29. Qualification remains in their hands, needing to get one point from their remaining match against Hampshire to ensure a quarter final spot. However they will be through if Gloucestershire fail to win against Middlesex.

In the North Group, the Birmingham Bears suffered a surprise loss to bottom placed Worcestershire Rapids on Friday night. Runs from Kashif Ali (46) and Josh Cobb (24) meant the Rapids’ were 82/3 after 9.1 overs, but it was a late acceleration from Nathan Smith, with 33 off 16 balls and 36 not out off just eight balls from Matthew Waite that took the Rapids to 187/6, the game reduced to 17 overs because of earlier rain. 68 from Dan Mousley was the only significant innings in the Bears’ reply, as they fell 55 runs short, Waite taking 4/29. The Bears then confirmed their quarter final spot on Sunday, with a win against the Derbyshire Falcons. Put into bat, half centuries from Moeen Ali (59), Mousley (60*) and Sam Hain (52*) saw the Bears to 198/2. All the Falcons batters made a start, but the top score was 30 from Aneurin Donald and they were dismissed for 154, Danny Briggs taking 3/24.

Lancashire Lightning are closing in on a quarter final spot, having had both their matches this week abandoned without a ball bowled. They have the luxury of the second best net run rate in the group.

Meanwhile Durham had a recurrence of their batting problems, this time against Yorkshire Vikings, reduced to 40/5 after 7.1 overs, wickets shared among the bowlers. Ashton Turner (16) and Ben Raine (33) gave the score some respectability, but 22-year-old leg spinner Jafer Chohan took four quick wickets to finish with 5/14 and the innings ended on 107 from 16.4 overs. The Vikings cruised to the win with seven wickets and 20 balls to spare. Durham bounced back on Friday night against a Notts Outlaws side that will want to put this campaign behind them. Durham made a steady 160/6, Turner 44 not out and Lyndon James taking 3/31. Then six single figure scores meant the Outlaws could only muster 130/9, the spin pair of Callum Parkinson with 3/15 and Nathan Sowter with 2/15 doing the damage.

Durham then hosted the Northants Steelbacks on Sunday. Rain reduced the game to eight overs-a-side and batting first, Durham reached 90/5, Turner striking 36 not out from 17 balls. Jack White had the incredible figures of 1/5 from his two overs. In reply it was Ashton Agar who played the main innings with 31 from 14 balls, as the visitors reached the target with five balls to spare. With two games to play, the Steelbacks are almost home, while Durham will need some good fortune, particularly with their poor net run rate.

Leicestershire Foxes suffered their second consecutive loss on Thursday night, this time against the Rapids, as they were unable to chase down 185. The Rapids total of 184/8 was based on 63 from 39 balls by Adam Hose and 41 from 25 by Ali. Louis Kimber and Ben Cox both made half centuries for the Foxes but they finished on 168, Waite again in the wickets with 5/21. They bounced back on Friday night with a win against local rivals the Steelbacks. Both are in the fight for a quarter final spot and it was an even contest at the halfway stage, the Steelbacks posting 183/7, with Ravi Bopara making 61 from 44 balls and Saif Zaib 50 from 28. Ben Mike was the pick of the Foxes bowlers with 3/17. The reply was led by Sol Budinger with 45 off 25 balls at the top of the order and taken home by James Neesham with 67 from 34 balls. He fell in the 19th over with 11 runs still needed, but they reached the target with five balls to spare.

The Foxes then hosted the Outlaws on Sunday and were set a target of 161, the Outlaws’ 160/6 based on runs from the opening pair of Ben Martindale (44) and Joe Clarke (39). In reply the Foxes were soon in trouble at 6/3, but Rehan Ahmed (34), going in at three and Lewis Goldsworthy (67) steadied things and with Jimmy Neesham striking an unbeaten 44 off 22 balls, they got home with an over to spare.  

The Vikings’ hopes of a quarter final spot were kept alive with their win over Durham, but the one point from their abandoned game against the Lightning will frustrate them. They travelled to Worcester on Sunday and the Rapids posted an imposing 205/6, Brett D’Oliveira making 42 from 28 balls and Ethan Brookes 44 from 21. Chohan continued his excellent competition with 4/30. The chase was led by Dawid Malan and at the halfway point the required rate was up to 13.2 runs per over, although there were still nine wickets in hand. Malan then showed his class as he saw it through to the end, finishing on 93 not out from 50 balls, Jordan Thompson providing the required impetus with 40 from 14 balls, as the visitors got home with three balls to spare. Brookes took all four wickets to fall.

Currently Surrey and the Sharks have qualified from the South Group, while it is hard to see Somerset not joining them. The Eagles are in the driving seat for the fourth spot, but Gloucestershire will be pressing hard. In the North Group, the Bears are the only side through at present, with even the Vikings, currently in seventh place, still in with a chance.

North Group

South Group