- Eight more games over the weekend
- Defending Champs Somerset on fire early
- Beaten Semi-finalists Steelbacks two from two
The T20 fun continued over the scorching weekend, with another eight games between Saturday and Monday. It was a big scoring weekend for some batters, and not so good for others.
We’ll start this round up at Sophia Gardens, as Gloucestershire made it two wins out of two. Glamorgan batted first and were quickly reduced to 45-5 off nine overs. However, 46 off 31 from Henry Hurle, with 25 off 16 for Chris Cooke, and Timm van der Gugten scoring 22 off 18 balls, Glamorgan scraped their way to 157-8. Duan Jansen took 3-27 in his four overs to limit Glamorgan.
Gloucestershire run chase didn’t start well, as they were quickly reduced to 7-3 off the opening two overs. However, Gloucestershire got going with 56 off 31 balls from Miles Hammond, and 34 off 31 from Jack Taylor saw them back in the game. Mason Crane’s 4 overs went for just 16 runs with two key wickets, to reign Gloucestershire back in, but 30 off 27 balls from Kamran Dhariwal, ably helped by Mat Taylor’s quick-fire 18 off 9 balls saw Gloucestershire home by two wickets.
Sunday games
There were five games on Sunday, and the one with the tightest finish was at Headingley. Derbyshire batted first and a quick-fire 81* off 56 balls from Martin Andersson was the big part of their total of 194-4. Matthew Montgomery (35 off 23) and Ross Whiteley (39* off 17) stuck around with Andersson in the latter overs.
Yorkshire’s run chase got off to a flyer, as Adam Lyth scored 31 off 11 balls when he fell with the score on 38 off just three overs. 38-1 soon became 49-3, as Jonny Bairstow (8)and James Wharton (5) were out cheaply. When Will Luxton fell for just five, the score was 65-4 off 7.4 overs. However, Moeen Ali has seen it all before. A veteran of the game, he scored 51 off 35 balls to bring Yorkshire back into the game, until he got out with the score on 123-7.
Dom Bess fell soon after and at 139-8, needing 56 to win from 27 balls, it wasn’t looking good for Yorkshire. That was until two superb innings at the end by Andrew Tye (32 off 13) and Hasan Ali (31 off 12) saw Yorkshire home with 4 balls to spare. Jack Morley took 4-44 as the standout bowler.
There were a couple of Yorkshire milestones in the game. Adam Lyth passed 5000 T20 runs, and not to be out done, Moeen Ali surpassed 8000 career T20 runs.
Other results on Sunday
Alex Lees (45 off 26) and Graham Clark (62 off 26) helped Durham beat Leicestershire Foxes by six wickets. Matthew Potts took 3-28 to reduce the Foxes to 148-8 from their 20 overs, and Durham got to 150-4 with six overs to spare.
Sam Curran’s 71* off 47 balls helped see Surrey beat Middlesex by six wickets. Laurie Evans also scored 34 off 21. Middlesex batted first and some tight bowling from Reece Topley (2-39) and Yousef Majid (2-25) helped to keep the hosts to 143-8 in 20 overs. Surrey got the runs with plenty in hand but only nine balls to spare.
Steelbacks dominate as Rapids collapse
Worcestershire Rapids were blown away by Northamptonshire Steelbacks, as they were bowled out for 91, chasing 191. David Willey top scored for the Steelbacks with 46 off 23 balls, with runs for Ricardo Vasconcelos (34 off 26), Justin Broad (29 off 19) and Calvin Harrison (30 off 20).
Matthew Waite took 3-42 and Adam Finch took 3-36 for the Rapids. Then it became the Calvin Harrison and James Sales show with the ball, as between them, they took 7-45 in 46 balls, as the Rapids had no reply and were all out in 14.4 overs. Harrison took 4-17 to go with his 30 runs, with an excellent all-round performance.
Rew leads Somerset to second straight win
Somerset made it two wins in a row, with 93 from jsu 48 balls from James Rew to help them overcome Warwickshire Bears by seven wickets. The Bears batted first and scored a respectable 189-6. Sam Hain top scoring with 52 off 35 balls, with Rob Yates (42 off 25) and Beau Webster (41 off 30) helping the Bears get to their total.
Somerset’s innings got off to a flyer, despite Will Smeed (12 off 9) going at the beginning of the fourth over. Tom Banton (47 off 26) stuck around with Rew, before being run out with the score on 80-2 from just over eight overs. Then Tom Abell (35* off 26) helped see Surrey home by seven wickets.
Monday’s games
Only the two games on a bank holiday Monday. Lancashire Lightning put up a huge 208-4 from their 20 overs, with Keaton Jennings (51 off 31), Matty Hurst (57 off 40) and a quick-fire 63* from just 27 balls by Ben McDermott putting the Notts Outlaws bowlers to the sword.
The Outlaws just couldn’t get going in their innings, with George Munsey at the top of the innings with 37 off 21 balls, with Dillon Pennington’s quick burst of 37* off 18 wasn’t enough as the Lightning won by 39 runs. Spinner Tom Hartley took 4-20 as the pick of the bowlers.
In the other game, Sussex Sharks batted first and Tom Clark was the first man to fall with the score on 98, with Clark scored 79 off 29 balls. However, despite that fine start for the Sharks, the innings faltered a little as they finished on 197-6.
Jack Leaning scored 30 off 25 balls, and Dan Hughes (26 off 20) and James Coles (28 off 26) got starts in their innings but nothing more. Danny Briggs was 22* off 12 when the innings ended. Dian Forrester was the pick of the bowlers with 3-25.
Kent Spitfires run chase started in a similar vein to Sussex’s, with Tawanda Muyeye scoring 26 off 15 balls in an opening partnership of 31. Only two other wickets fell for Kent, with Daniel Bell-Drummond (29 off 19) and Sam billings (28 off 17) being the two men out. Zak Crawley didn’t show any disappointment at being left out of the England squad, as he scored 75* off 41 balls, and Dian Forrester scored 35* off 18 balls to see Kent home by seven wickets.
Tables so far
Central and West Group
| Team | Pld | Won | Lost | Tied | NRR | Pts |
| Northamptonshire Steelbacks | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +2.575 | 8 |
| Somerset | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1.508 | 8 |
| Gloucestershire | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1.200 | 8 |
| Worcestershire Rapids | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2.050 | 4 |
| Glamorgan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -0.100 | 0 |
| Warwickshire Bears | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.161 | 0 |
North Group
| Team | Pld | Won | Lost | Tied | NRR | Pts |
| Durham | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1.757 | 8 |
| Yorkshire | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1.133 | 8 |
| Lancashire Lightning | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -0.500 | 4 |
| Derbyshire Falcons | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -0.344 | 0 |
| Notts Outlaws | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.929 | 0 |
| Leicestershire Foxes | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.991 | 0 |
South Group
| Team | Pld | Won | Lost | Tied | NRR | Pts |
| Surrey | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1.848 | 8 |
| Kent Spitfires | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1.167 | 8 |
| Sussex Sharks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +0.632 | 4 |
| Middlesex | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1.043 | 0 |
| Hampshire Hawks | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1.896 | 0 |
| Essex | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.450 | 0 |
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