Vitality Blast 2024 – Live Cricket Streaming, Live Scores, Match Reports and Reactions – All Matches – July 12th

Here are all the Vitality Blast 2024 – Live Cricket Streaming, Live Scores, Match Reports and Reactions for every match on July 12th 2024.

NORTH GROUP

 Durham vs Notts Outlaws, North Group, Vitality Blast

Ashton Turner and Callum Parkinson impressed as Durham strengthened their chances of reaching the Vitality Blast quarter-finals with a comfortable 30-run win over Nottinghamshire Outlaws at the Seat Unique Riverside.

Having been put in to bat, the hosts made a competitive 160 for six, as Turner (44*) combined with Ben Raine (23*) for a partnership worth 54 after they were struggling at 106 for six, which was largely down to three wickets from Lyndon James (3/31).

The Outlaws made a good start to their chase but a fantastic Durham bowling performance led by Parkinson (3/15) saw the hosts grab their sixth win of the season as they restricted the visitors to 130 for nine.

Durham are now back in the top four with two games to play and their fate is in their own hands, while Notts remain bottom of the North group.

The Outlaws won the toss and elected to bowl first at a chilly Chester-le-Street and the visitors got their first scalp as the T20 World Cup’s top wicket taker Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled Graham Clark in the second over. 

Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson rebuilt well amid tricky conditions and probing bowling from Afghanistan international Farooqi.

Lees then smacked two James deliveries down the ground for four to put the pressure back on the Outlaws bowlers. 

James bounced back as he got Robinson for 21, with the Durham man smashing one to mid-off and he then bowled Lees for 29 to swing momentum back to the visitors. 

Colin Ackermann and Turner combined well in the middle overs for Durham but Liam Patterson-White picked up two quick wickets, Ackermann for 20 and Michael Jones for one to leave the hosts in a perilous position.

James then picked up the wicket of Bas de Leede, but Raine came in and along with Turner scored some vital runs to put the hosts within reach of a competitive score, with the pair picking up 21 from the penultimate over including a first six of the night from Raine.

Turner and Raine took the hosts to a competitive 160 for six, with the duo finishing unbeaten on 44 and 23 respectively.

Durham put the squeeze on the Outlaws from the off, with the North group’s bottom side picking up just six runs from the first two overs.

The pressure was felt by Ben Martindale as he was the first Notts batter to depart when a full toss from de Leede was helped through to Robinson behind the stumps.

Joe Clarke and Ben Slater rebuilt in the powerplay before Slater started taking on the short legside boundary and he cashed in when he hit de Leede for back-to-back sixes.

Clarke hit three fours from a Raine over but he struck back as he removed the Outlaws skipper for 23 and Slater quickly followed as he departed for 20 when Parkinson got him LBW. 

The left-arm spinner then got Tom Moores as he was caught behind and Jack Haynes was his third victim of the night to leave the Outlaws with a mountain to climb.

Nathan Sowter then bowled James, but Matthew Montgomery hit Raine for four consecutive fours to give the visitors some hope. 

Sowter then got Montgomery for 30 to leave the visitors staring down the barrel of a seventh Blast defeat of the season.

Late wickets from Ackermann and Ben Dwarshuis saw Durham over the finish line for their fourth consecutive home T20 win.

Durham’s Ashton Turner said: 

“It’s always satisfying to come and play in front of our home fans, we were really well supported tonight. T20 can be a little bit hit and miss and we’ll all put our hand up saying we’ve been a little bit inconsistent, but that can happen in T20 cricket and we’ve been stringing together some good performances here.”

“We’ve played on a few wickets now that have been tricky like that, both home and away, at times we’ve played well and sometimes we haven’t but we’re trying to navigate our way through that and find ways to get better and improve as a team, hopefully come the end of the tournament that will be when we’re playing our best cricket.”

“After last night at Headingley, it was important that we didn’t lose wickets in clumps and bat out the 20 overs firstly and then you can cash in over the last few overs.”

“I probably had a bit of a change in the game plan for myself coming into these last two games. I’ve been a little more conservative in terms of how I approach the game, we’ve played some games on small grounds and small boundaries, we’ve been caught out at times so I felt like I needed to play a different role in the middle overs and use more time. To be able to do that tonight and for us to win was amazing.”

 

Notts Outlaws' Lyndon James: 

“It’s very frustrating again, on a pitch that was challenging at times, we maybe could have restricted them to 10 to 15 less. I thought we bowled really well, but it got away from us at the end which was really annoying.”

“Batting wise again it was not good enough. First I’ve got to praise Callum Parkinson who bowled beautifully who knew what he was doing on that kind of pitch and he had a hold on the game. It made it hard for us in the middle and we lost wickets in clusters which is something we can’t do, but we’ve got to keep our heads held high as we’re doing the work off the pitch but it’s frustrating that it’s not translating on to the pitch.”

“In the powerplay it looked like there was a bit of nip with the harder ball but as the ball got a little bit softer and with one short side, I just tried to use my variations as much as I could. It was nice to contribute and bowl my full four overs.”

(On Patterson-White) “I think he’s shown what he could do, obviously that first game with the bat against Lancs, he showed what he could do with the ball and he could even bowl in the powerplay too.”

 

Leicestershire Foxes vs Northamptonshire Steelbacks, North Group, Vitality Blast

New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham’s 67 from 34 balls led Leicestershire Foxes to a three-wicket victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks in what was a must-win fixture for the home side as the Vitality Blast group stage nears its conclusion.

Sol Budinger earlier matched Neesham’s five sixes in a 25-ball 45 as the Foxes chased down 184 to win with five balls to spare, lifting them to 12 points from 12 matches with seven teams still in contention for the four quarter-final places on offer in the North Group.

Veteran former England all-rounder Ravi Bopara hit two sixes as he struck 61 off 44 balls and Saif Zaib three maximums in his 50 off 28 as the Steelbacks posted 183 for seven after the Foxes had put them in. They had looked on for 200-plus but Ben Mike (three for 17) led a strong end to the innings by the home side.

The Steelbacks, though, have the benefit of one more match left than the Foxes, who face Notts Outlaws at home on Sunday before travelling to group leaders Birmingham Bears in their final fixture.

The Steelbacks lost Ricardo Vasconcelos and David Willey in the opening powerplay, the former top-edging Josh Hull into the deep at fine leg before Neesham - having his best night in Foxes colours against one of his former counties - bowled Willey.

But a recovery from 27 for two to 56 for two after six represented a decent start with Matthew Breetzke and Bopara crashing the first two sixes of the night.

They extended their partnership to 48 from 34 balls but a change to spin at both ends paid off as Breetzke’s mistimed slog was caught at long-on for 34 off 20 balls, but some heavy damage was inflicted in the next eight overs as Zaib and Bopara added 83, both making their best scores of the season.

The Foxes finished well with the ball, however, taking four wickets for just 25 in the last four overs, Mike taking the starring role with three for eight in his last two, bowling Bopara and then having Zaib caught off a top-edge to fine leg before Lewis McManus holed out to cover.  A tight death over from Hull saw Gus Miller run out off the final delivery.

Needing a little over nine an over, Leicestershire were 28 without loss from two after Budinger hit 23 from his first seven balls faced, including back-to-back sixes off Ashton Agar’s left-arm spin. Ben Sanderson’s first two overs went for 22 before Budinger hit three leg-side maximums in five deliveries from 19-year-old seamer Raphy Weatherall as the Foxes plundered 60 for one in the powerplay.

This was despite Willey (two for 18) conceding just a single in each of his two overs and claiming the wicket of Rishi Patel, who hammered 104 in the tied reverse fixture two weeks ago but perished for just one this time, the victim of a superb catch on the run by Agar at cover.

By the halfway point, the Steelbacks were fighting back well, having claimed three for 23 between overs seven and 10.  Agar had Rehan Ahmed caught at long-on and Budinger off a miscue to backward point before Peter Handscomb was stumped off a wide delivery from Bopara.

The balance tipped back towards the home side as Neesham and Louis Kimber plundered 40 from the next three overs, with a couple of sixes each. Kimber had an escape on 19 when Willey just failed in a fine effort at deep midwicket off the left-arm wrist spin of Freddie Heldreich.

Kimber did not survive the return of Willey with the ball, pulling into the hands of deep backward square, but two fours and a six by Neesham off Agar left the Foxes needing 42 from five.

Needing 19 from 18 balls, the Foxes lost Ben Cox leg before to Weatherall, with another twist to come as Neesham skied Sanderson to deep extra cover with 10 still needed from eight but Goldsworthy and Mike picked off a boundary apiece to get the job done with five balls to spare.

Foxes’ Jimmy Neesham said:

“We’re very happy to win tonight after what were probably a couple of below-par performances in the last couple of games. It keeps us in the hunt in a very tight group and we’ll now turn our eyes to a very important game on Sunday.

“The bowlers did well with the ball at the death tonight after we conceded maybe 40 off the last three in the defeat at Worcester on Thursday, which was too many. That was something we talked about before the game and the guys bounced back well tonight.

“It was a good wicket with a short boundary on one side so keeping them to 180 was a good effort.

“Sol struck the ball really nicely tonight and got our innings off to a great start. That’s another thing that has maybe been a bit wanting in our last few games, the batting in the powerplay, where we’ve probably lost a few too many wickets. So we’re very happy with the guys at the top for giving us a foundation tonight.

“I’ve been a bit frustrated with myself in my first few games here but I had to remind myself it had only been two innings before tonight and it was good to do what I do well, which is stand strong and hit the ball hard and straight and I’m very happy to contribute for the first time for the Foxes.”

Steelbacks head coach John Sadler said:

“Leicestershire bowled pretty well at the death when another 15 more for us on top of what we had might have been enough to get us over the line. It was a good game of cricket and we didn’t quite get over the line.

“They had a good start with the bat. Conceding 28 off the first two overs wasn’t what we wanted but that’s the nature of T20. We know that those  two at the top of their order, that’s the way they play. They might be 30 for none after two overs but they might equally be 10 for three.

“But we dragged it back well in the powerplay and I think honours were even after that. We had a brilliant phase where we took 20 for three from overs seven to 10. But experience shows and in the same way that it did for us from Ravi (Bopara) and Saif (Zaib), they had it with Kimber and Jimmy Neesham, who played beautifully and got them over the line.

“We know that Saif can do that. He has been one of our best T20 players in the last three seasons in different roles. He played beautifully under pressure tonight.

“We’ve played some good cricket in this group. We said before this game that two wins from the last four would probably see us through and we can still do that. It is in our hands.”

Birmingham Bears vs Worcestershire Rapids, North Group, Vitality Blast

Worcestershire Rapids turned the Vitality Blast North Group table upside down by beating leaders Birmingham Bears by 55 runs in a rain-reduced 17-overs-per-side match at Edgbaston.

Rapids piled up 187 for six thanks to star contributions at either end of their innings. Kashif Ali launched it with a sparkling 46 from 30 balls and Matthew Waite concluded it in spectacular fashion by whacking 34 from the last over by George Garton. Waite, who took five for 21 against Leicestershire Foxes the previous evening, blasted 36 not out from eight balls.

The Bears’ reply never recovered from losing both openers for ducks and closed on 132 all out from 15.2 overs. Only Dan Mousley (68, 44) threatened for long against a well-focused attack led by Waite (four for 29) and Tom Taylor (three for 27).

Back-to-back wins have retained the Rapids’ sliver of hope of qualification for the knockout stage. The Bears remain very strongly placed but a third defeat in 11 games leaves them with plenty still to do to seal a home quarter-final.

The Rapids chose to bat but lost Ed Pollock to the third ball when he pulled Zak Foulkes to mid-on where Sam Hain dived low to take his 71^st T20 catch. Kashif got the innings going with an audacious six over mid-wicket off Garton and added 56 in 32 balls with Josh Cobb before the latter chipped Moeen Ali to extra cover. Kashif collected 30 of his 46 runs in fours and sixes but departed furious at himself for nicking a wide long hop from Moeen to the wicketkeeper.

Former Bears batter Adam Hose has a lot of happy history at Edgbaston, having scored over 1,000 T20 runs there, but added only eight before hammering Danny Briggs to extra cover. When Briggs struck again three balls later, Gareth Roderick top-edging a sweep, the Rapids had lost three wickets in ten balls at a time when they needed to accelerate.

The acceleration then came, first from Nathan Smith who socked 33 off 16 balls in a stand of 52 in 28 balls with Brookes (30 not out, 19) and then Waite who left Garton head-in-hands after peppering the leg side boundary with 6-4-6-6-6-6 in the final over.

The Rapids’ attack was deprived of Smith, who ended his innings with a runner after damaging a hamstring, but the Bears’ reply started shabbily as both openers bagged blobs. Taylor’s first ball was a wide, then his second was a searing inswinger which bowled Alex Davies. Rob Yates spooned a return catch to Cobb. When Hain chopped Waite on to his stumps, the Bears were 18 for three.

Mousley batted with aplomb on his way to a 34-ball half-century but support for him was fleeting. Moeen was bowled, swishing across the line, by Waite and Chris Benjamin’s counter-attack (21 in eight balls) was ended by an excellent catch on the long off rope by Taylor. Jake Bethell sliced Taylor to deep cover and 56 from the last two overs proved slightly too tall an order for the lower order as Waite rounded off his great day with wickets from successive balls to end the game.

Bears all-rounder Dan Mousley said:

"It was disappointing to lose but they were obviously the better team tonight. They were really good. We just have to dust ourselves down and go again on Sunday.

"It was really clean ball-striking from Waite and he had a brilliant game with bat and ball. It was his night and for us it just wasn't to be this time. Losing a derby game isn't ideal but we are at the top end of the table and still in the running for a home quarter-final.

"It was a great atmosphere despite the weather. At one point I wondered if we would get any cricket because the rain seemed pretty set in but to get some cricket in was great for the crowd. Not to win was not ideal but there are so many positives we can take from this T20 campaign so far and hopefully it still has a long way to run." 

 

Rapids all-rounder Matthew Waite said:

"It's a funny old game. I've been worrying a little bit about my batting because I've not done as well as I would have liked to. I've tried to tinker with a few things but tonight I just played on instinct and it came off.

"I was just thinking 'stand still' and I worked on a technique a few years back and I went back to that tonight and it seemed to pay off. In any cricket but especially T20, momentum is massive and you can feel it shift sometimes and having a big over like that at the end of our innings did that. 

"It has been a great couple of days for me. I feel like I'm living the dream at the moment. I don't know what's going on but long may it continue. 

"It has been great for us to get a couple of wins after a tough couple of weeks, especially tonight in a derby against the Bears. I don't think we have come here very often and one so it's nice to get one over on them."

Lancashire Lightning vs Yorkshire Vikings, North Group, Vitality Blast

The Roses Vitality Blast match at Emirates Old Trafford was abandoned without a ball bowled for the second successive year.

Persistent rain throughout the afternoon in Manchester abated briefly before the scheduled 7pm start time but returned to force umpires Alex Wharf and Rob White to abandoned the match just before 7.15pm.

The umpires were clearly concerned with a number of problem areas on the outfield even if the rain had stopped. 

This was Lancashire’s third No Result in their last four games, including a second in as many nights having been rained off at Derbyshire last night. They have moved to 15 points from 12 games and remain second placed in the North Group and on course for the quarter-finals with two to play.

This result was more problematic for Yorkshire, who now have 11 points from 12 games and remain outside the top four. 

They will have to win their remaining two fixtures to have any chance of qualification. 

Yorkshire were denied the chance of completing the first Roses Blast double in a season since 2011.

Lancashire batter Luke Wells said

“I’ve only ever played one Roses T20 game here. I wasn’t picked for one and have had two rained off.
“These are the games you train all winter, prepare mentally for, and it’s what we’re all here to. As players and spectators, everyone wants to be a part of them.

“To have two washed out in two years is unbelievably frustrating. It’s a fantastic stage - one of the biggest - if not the biggest - domestic games there is. But hopefully next week we get some cricket.” 

 

Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson said

“It’s sheer disappointment. We know what the equation is in terms of points we need, we feel. We’re going to have to try and win the next two. I can’t conceal my frustration at coming to Manchester and not getting on at all. It’s very disappointing. 

“There’s no doubt we’ve got it within us to win the next two games. 

“We’re certainly looking forward to the weather playing ball with us and against getting to Worcestershire and getting a good game.”

SOUTH GROUP

Glamorgan vs Middlesex, South Group, Vitality Blast

Middlesex claimed a six wicket victory over Glamorgan in their Vitality Blast match in a rain shortened contest in Cardiff. 

Luke Hollman’s four wickets and runs from Leus du Plooy and Martin Andersson in a game that was reduced to 10 overs a side were enough for Middlesex to secure the win 

Glamorgan lost regular wickets as they managed 88 for nine from their 10 overs and Middlesex chased that down with three balls to spare to finish on 89 for four.  

Glamorgan will likely need to win all of their remaining fixtures and also hope for favourable results elsewhere if they are to progress in this competition. For Middlesex it may already be too late despite this win given that they can finish on a maximum of 13 points. 

Glamorgan made 27 runs inside the opening three overs of PowerPlay with the openers Will Smale and Kiran Carlson scoring 17 of those. Smale sliced a catch to third off the bowling of Tom Cullen and Carlson became the first of Hollman’s four wickets when he was caught at long off by Tom Helm. The Glamorgan batters kept going after Hollman but they all found it very hard to time the ball. When Hollman claimed the wickets of the experienced Chris Cooke and Marnus Labuschagne within the space of four balls Glamorgan had stumbled to 51 for six. 

That became 52 for seven when Ben Kellaway skied a ball off Helm and Noah Cornwall took a juggling catch at mid off. Timm van der Gugten struck some lusty blows to take Glamorgan slightly further towards a target they could defend. 

As has often been the case for Glamorgan this season, Mason Crane made late order runs as he made the highest score of the home side’s innings batting at 10. His 18 not out meant that his stand with Jamie McIlroy for the 10^th wicket was the highest of the Glamorgan innings. 

The opening stand of 55 for Middlesex was far higher than any that Glamorgan had managed in their 10 overs and inside the PowerPlay du Plooy and Andersson went a long way to breaking the back of the chase. 

Du Plooy gave a stiff chance off the bowling of Crane when he was on 23 but Smale could not hold on to the catch at point. Crane did eventually claim du Plooy’s wicket when he trappen him LBW for 28. 

Jack Davies and Andersson fell to consecutive balls to leave Middlesex with two batters who had yet to face a ball in the middle. Andersson was brilliantly caught by Carlson in the covers off Labuschagne for 30. 

Those wickets gave Glamorgan some hope of squeezing out a win but a big six by Hollman of Labuschagne all but secured the win for Middlesex who needed just four runs from the last over. Things were still tense thanks to McIlroy getting Higgins but a four from Cracknell off the first ball he faced gave Middlesex the win. 

Kiran Carlson, Glamorgan captain, said: 

“Bitterly disappointing. We didn’t put on a good show. We were probably 20 to 30 runs short with the bat and then the bowlers scraped really well to get us close but we just didn’t get enough runs. 

“Our batting line up should be getting over 100 there every time on a pretty good wicket and we did really well to take it to the last over. Our bowlers have shown this year that they can bring it back from dead games a lot. We tried our nuts off there to get it as close as we can. 

“We scraped away and took it as close as we could but in the end when the outfield is wet and they need four of the last over you are praying. I think we bowled beautifully but the batting didn’t fire and that is why we lost the game.” 

Luke Hollman, who took four wickets for Middlesex, said: 

“It was really nice to contribute again with the ball. We are on a nice upward trajectory. We had a pretty honest chat yesterday in Cheltenham before the game as a bowling unit about how we want to tackle the remaining games of the Blast. We are young, we are raw to a certain extent as well. 

“By no means is that a cop out or an excuse. We have set the template now for how we want to go about the last few games in the Blast. We have epitomised that last night and tonight and hopefully we can finish well in the comp and take that into next year.” 

 

Kent Spitfires vs Sussex Sharks, South Group, Vitality Blast

The Sharks have one foot in the quarter-finals after recovering from 64 for four to post 203 for four, thanks to an unbroken stand of 139 between Tom Alsop and John Simpson.

The hosts’ hopes had soared after Jas Singh took two wickets in three balls, but Alsop hammered Kent with 87 from just 41 deliveries, while Simpson played the anchor role with 53 from 39.

Tawanda Muyeye hit an elegant 45 from 25 balls, but James Coles took four for 12 as the Spitfires wilted in the face of an ever-steepening run rate, collapsing to 115 all out with 3.4 overs remaining.

It was a demoralising evening for the Spitfires, who squandered yet another promising position and remain rock-bottom of the South Group.

Their decision to field looked suspect when Marcus O’Riordan’s first over went for 17, all of which were scored by Harrison Ward.

Singh, however, changed the outlook, bowling Ward leg stump and getting Tom Clark caught by Jack Leaning at mid-off for a second ball duck.

Tom Rogers clean-bowled Coles for 14 and Nathan Gilchrist then removed Daniel Hughes for 16, victim of a staggering overhead catch by Sam Billings.

It was as bright a spell as Kent have enjoyed in the Blast all season but from 64 for four Alsop joined Simpson to stabilise Sussex before they mounted an all out assault in the death overs.

They were 79 for four after 10 overs, and 151 for four after 15, giving them a platform to launch an assault in the final five. Kent missed the cut off by a minute and with an extra fielder in, Joey Evison’s 20th over went for 21 as Kent’s fielding, so tight for the first half of the innings, went to pieces, with catches dropped, run outs missed and the body language betraying a team whose morale is in freefall.

After hitting a career-high 73 at Essex on Thursday night, Muyeye got off to an explosive start, but he lost his opening partner Daniel Bell-Drummond for two when he was lbw to Ollie Robinson.

Brad Currie then removed O’Riordan for a three-ball four, caught by Nathan McAndrew at mid-wicket.

The run rate did for a succession of batters. Muyeye played some wonderful strokes but perished when he flicked Coles to Currie on the square leg boundary.

Feroze Khushi skied Jack Carson to McAndrew for 22, Sam Billings was bowled by Coles for 14 from seven and Joey Evison dragged an Ollie Robinson bouncer onto this stumps and was bowled for six.

Coles took two wickets in four balls in the 14th, bowled Rogers for one and Gilchrist for a duck.

Jack Leaning straight-drove Currie to the boundary where he was caught by when Ward threw the ball to Alsop before going over the rope and the rout was confirmed when Singh chipped Carson to Hughes.

 

Somerset vs Surrey, South Group, Vitality Blast

Tom Kohler-Cadmore powered his way to a match-winning half century as Somerset beat Vitality Blast South Group leaders Surrey by six-wickets beneath the floodlights at Taunton.

Set 183 to win, the cider county chased down their target with six balls to spare thanks to a forthright knock of 51 in 32 balls from Kohler-Cadmore, who hit three sixes and a trio of fours and shared in a crucial stand of 67 for the third wicket with Tom Abel.

Academy product George Thomas impressed on his debut, raising an eye-catching 25-ball 40, while Sean Dickson scored a nerveless unbeaten 20 at the death to see Somerset home in front of a sell-out crowd at the Cooper Associates Ground.

Surrey's innings of 182-5 was built around a partnership of 107 in 12.2 overs between Sam Curran and Rory Burns. Returning from England duty, Curran raised 59 from 42 balls, Burns top-scored with 62 off 44 deliveries and Jamie Overton smashed a quickfire unbeaten 30 at the death.

Somerset made light work of the chase to achieve an inside-the-distance victory that cemented their position in the top four and kept them on track for a place in the quarter-finals. Despite losing for only the second time this season, Surrey remain top of the table and on course to reach the knockout stages.

Surrey won the toss, elected to bat and quickly plummeted to 24-3 inside four overs. Making his first T20 appearance at Taunton, Jack Leach saw off Dom Sibley, persuading him to hole out to Dickson on the mid-wicket boundary. Dickson again demonstrated safe hands when Will Jacks hoisted the next ball, sent down by Riley Meredith, to deep third man, while Laurie Evans miss-cued high to cover as Craig Overton made further in-roads. 

Curran and Burns made a decent fist of repairing the damage, advancing the score to 44 by the end of the powerplay, achieving a 50 partnership in 36 balls and lifting Surrey to 77-3 at halfway. Although boundaries were in relatively short supply by Taunton standards, the fourth wicket pair ran hard and Curran suggested a change in tempo when depositing Jake Ball over the long-on boundary for six and hoisting a Ben Green full toss high over square.

With the innings still in the balance at 105-3 at the end of the thirteenth, Curran attempted to force the issue, going to 50 from 34 balls, guiding Meredith behind square to attain the landmark with his fourth four. Although less expansive in his approach, Burns nevertheless proved mightily effective, the former England man raising his 50 from 38 balls.

Somerset badly needed a breakthrough and skipper Lewis Gregory obliged at the start of the seventeenth over, Curran finding Overton at long-on with the score on 131, having dominated a revitalising partnership. Burns departed in the penultimate over, offering a return catch to Ball, but former Somerset all-rounder Jamie Overton ensured there was no respite for the home side, mustering 2 sixes and a brace of fours in a hard-hit innings of 30 not out from 13 balls.

Somerset needed to win to be sure of preserving their place in the top four and Tom Banton plundered three boundaries in one Tom Lawes over to set the tone. Encouraged by his partner's example, debutant Thomas made a mockery of his rookie status by taking Dan Worrall for a six and 3 fours in an opening stand that yielded 42 in 3.2 overs.

Surrey responded, Jordan Clark having Banton caught at mid-on for 17, but Thomas continued to take a liking to Worrall, harvesting another six and a further 2 fours off the Australian as Somerset advanced to 61-1 at the end of the powerplay.

Chancing his arm once too often, Thomas hit Cameron Steel high to mid-on and departed for a 24-ball 40, having announced himself on the Blast stage in style. Tom Kohler-Cadmore now took up the cudgels, greeting the advent of Chris Jordan by hoisting the England man high over backward square for six as the home side continued to exert pressure. The Yorkshireman smashed a straight six and two fours off Lawes, whose first two overs went for 35, as Somerset moved menacingly to 104-2, requiring a further 79 off 10 overs.

Kohler-Cadmore went to his half century via 28 deliveries and he and Abel raised a 50 partnership from 31 balls to bring the required rate down below eight an over for the first time. But Surrey refused to lie down, Jordan and Jacks removing Kohler-Cadmore and Abel in quick succession to ask questions of the home side.

Casting all doubt aside, Dickson struck an authoritative 20 off 12 balls with 2 fours in partnership with Gregory, who contributed 12 off seven deliveries in an unbroken partnership of 34.

Somerset debutant George Thomas said: "I came here today wanting to win and I'm over the moon with the way the game went both for the team and for me personally. It was tough to begin with, because Dan Worrall swung the ball more than I thought he would. I decided to take my time and give myself a chance and, once I'd got the first ball away, I felt okay. To be honest, my innings went by in a flash, but I'm hugely grateful for the opportunity.. I was not expecting to play, so I didn't really have time too get nervous before going out there. I loved every single minute of it, even the fielding! It was important to make a good start with the ball and taking those three early wickets was huge in terms of the game. They then had to rebuild and we felt happy at restricting them to 182. This is a 200 ground and we knew we could chase that target. It's an important win for us in terms of qualifying and the target must now be to clinch a home quarter-final. We are hard to beat at home and a last eight game at Taunton would be phenomenal."

 

Hampshire Hawks vs Gloucestershire, South Group, Vitality Blast

Benny Howell brutally took down his former Gloucestershire team-mates with a crash, bang, wallop half-century to keep Hampshire Hawks’ Vitality Blast hopes alive.

All-rounder Howell had already taken two wickets as Hampshire fought back to restrict their visitors – who have never won a T20 at Utilita Bowl – to 176.

But his out-of-this-world batting saw him club four sixes and five fours to equal his T20 best of 62 not out to start a south coast party.

The Hawks's five wicket win put them four points adrift of the qualification places with three matches to play, while fourth-placed Gloucestershire remain two points behind Essex.

Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft saw off a couple of tricky new ball overs before tucking into their work after Gloucestershire had chosen to bat.

Neither flaunted any flair but used timing and a lightning outfield to pick a boundary or two an over – as 49 stress-free runs came in the powerplay.

But where Hammond ticked into gear – albeit surviving a couple of drops – Australia Bancroft came a cropper when Benny Howell chopped one through him to end 92-run stand – Gloucestershire’s best opening partnership versus the Hawks.

Hammond went past 350 runs in this year’s Blast and a seventh T20 fifty – coming in 36 balls – but the visitors went from looking at setting 200 to an almighty collapse.

All told it saw eight wickets fall in 33 balls, with the vast majority of them caught slogging to fulfil the double hundred prophecy.

Scotland international Wheal – now the owner of 50 T10 wickets for Hampshire. was the chief destroyer with four wickets.  His figures of four for 35 were only ruined by a late six and four from Ben Charlesworth.

Charlesworth was a rare Gloucestershire success in the second half with his 39 off 19 taking them to a par, but under what they had looked set for, 176.

In reply, Ben McDermott started strongly by pumping fellow Aussie down the ground for a maximum, but James Vince strangling a pull shot behind off the last ball of the powerplay stemmed the hosts’ momentum.

The following six overs went for 27 runs as Tom Smith led a Boa-like tightening on the Hawks.

Tom Prest reverse swept to point and McDermott and Toby Albert both thumped to long off as Smith struck in his first three overs with analysis of three for 14.

But a switch of ends for his last saw Howell explode with a pair of sixes in a 22-run over to take the equation to 63 off 30 balls, and swung the pendulum.

Howell continued his assault against Marchant de Lange with another two huge hits and was also dropped by wicketkeeper James Bracey – his first Hampshire half-century coming in 22 balls.

Joe Weatherley had been the onlooker for much of the fifty stand and fell when de Lange parted his stumps.

A five-run over from Matt Taylor meant 31 was needed from the last two overs but Howell recharged with James Fuller to make it 14 off the last.

It was taken down to four off the last delivery, which Howell scooped to the boundary to celebrate by ripping off his helmet.

 

Hampshire all-rounder Benny Howell:

“It was about time I finished a game. To win against my old team and do it like that was a nice feeling.

“I have played with those boys many times, especially Paine, so there was a lot of thinking going on. Working out what he was thinking and what he thought I was thinking. I back myself to do the little dink and knew if I hit it I would get a boundary.

“For me it doesn’t matter how many runs I get, I just want to finish games.

“I was trying to stay calm because if I get too excited a swing through it. You always need big overs when the rate goes above 13s, we probably let the rate get a little bit high. It takes a couple of big overs to get back in the game and you have to have belief.

“We are still in the hunt…just. It is a hard ask but we are still in it. We need to win on Sunday, then win on Thursday and then Friday.

“We were pumped up when we won. I was pumped up for sure, I didn’t know what to do, I just threw my helmet on the ground and gloves everywhere!”

 

Gloucestershire captain Jack Taylor:

“It was a fantastic game and we’ve had a lot of games go down to the wire – I’m disappointed not to come out on the right side of it.

“We wanted to bat first as historically it is a good ground to chase on. We were really happy at the half-way point of our innings – Hammond and Bancroft gave us a fantastic platform – and even though we lost our way we would have taken that score.

“Having Tom Smith back was massive. We are really pleased for him that he has his fitness back and he took three really important wickets.

“Benny had a day out there and we couldn’t get over the line.

“We had really clear plans and the guys executed them well but he played a blinder. It was a one in 50 innings and it is a shame we didn’t see it more from him when he played for us. Hats off.

“We still have a small glimmer of hope going forward but that one hurts.”

© Cricket World 2024