Banton, Henry and Sodhi shine as Somerset extend lead at the top
In a high-profile encounter at The Oval, Somerset beat Surrey by 18 runs, thereby extending their lead at the top of the table. Tom Banton set it up with a fiery 44-ball 84 that was the cornerstone of Somerset's imposing total with efficient contributions from Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Ben Green. At one stage, the visitors were eyeing a total in excess of 220 but Surrey's death bowlers were able to pull things back to an extent on a perfect batting strip. The target of 209 seemed just about par given the conditions on offer but Surrey couldn't get the right start for the run chase. Laurie Evans fell very early as Matt Henry's new ball spell had the home side in a bit of strife.
Will Jacks muscled his way to a 26-ball fifty and kept the hosts in the hunt along with Sam Curran who was subdued to begin with. Just when it seemed like Surrey were starting to boss the chase, the introduction of Ish Sodhi's wrist spin turned things upside down. The wily New Zealander removed Jacks to a superb catch by Kohler-Cadmore and then accounted for Jamie Smith the very next ball to dent the chase. Craig Overton then got rid of Sean Abbott in the next over to leave Surrey struggling at 85/5 in the tenth over. Jamie Overton along with Sam Curran produced an aggressive partnership that once again got Surrey in the hunt but once they were separated, Somerset had the final laugh.
Brief scores:Somerset 208/5 in 20 overs (Tom Banton 84, Ben Green 40*; Sunil Narine 2-38) beat Surrey 190-9 in 20 overs (Will Jacks 50, Sam Curran 47; Matt Henry 4-30) by 18 runs
At New Road, bad light brought a premature end to the clash between Worcestershire and Durham that eventually ended in a tie under DLS method. The visitors piled on a huge score after being put into bat with Graham Clark leading the way. His fifty held the innings together, allowing the likes of Michael Jones, Brydon Carse and Ashton Turner to produce the fireworks at the other end. After a steady powerplay, Durham's batters went into overdrive during the middle overs, peppering the short boundaries at will.
Barring Mitchell Santner, all the Worcestershire bowlers got caned around the park. In reply, the hosts lost skipper Brett DOliveira but Santner came to the rescue once again with a cameo at number three. Jack Haynes also hit a few blows as Worcestershire got a healthy powerplay. The duo's dismissals did set the hosts back a little but Adam Hose and Kashif Ali put the chase back on track before bad light had the final say in the game. Fortunately for Worcestershire, they were exactly equal to the DLS par score at that point.
Brief scores: Durham 216/4 in 20 overs (Graham Clark 78, Brydon Carse 39; Mitchell Santner 1-25) tied with Worcestershire 112/3 in 11 overs (Mitchell Santner 42; Ben Raine 1-17) by DLS method
In a rain-marred encounter at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, Sussex prevailed over Kent by 11 runs (DLS method). Ravi Bopara continued his stunning form this season with a 53-ball 108, taking the Kent bowlers to the cleaners. Tom Clark was the other notable contributor as Sussex piled up a huge total on the board. The highlight of Bopara's knock was how he kept attacking the bowlers even when wickets fell at the other end. Kent did get off to a flier despite losing Tawanda Muyeye very early but rain then impacted the game considerably, reducing the innings to a 10-over chase. The revised target under DLS proved to be a bit too many for Kent although their batters did have a real dash at it.
Brief scores: Sussex 228/7 in 20 overs (Ravi Bopara 108, Tom Clark 47; Matthew Quinn 2-43) beat Kent 117/4 in 10 overs (Jordan Cox 37*, Alex Blake 30; Aristides Karvelas 1-22) by 11 runs (DLS method)
Warwickshire cemented their top spot in the North Group and booked a home quarterfinal with a tense two-wicket win over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. The Bears had to withstand a sensational Shaheen Afridi spell with the Pakistan pacer striking four times in the very first over of the run chase to leave Warwickshire in a hole. Robert Yates controlled the innings thereafter even as wickets kept falling at the other end. Eventually, cameos from Jacob Bethell and Jake Lintott ensured that the visitors were able to cross the line. The Notts were a bit under-par with the bat, having lost their way after Tom Moores and Lyndon James had set the base for a much bigger total. However, the wrist spin of Lintott and some crafty death bowling from Hasan Ali put the brakes on the scoring.
Brief scores: Nottinghamshire 168 in 20 overs (Tom Moores 73; Jake Lintott 3-27, Hasan Ali 3-25) lost to Warwickshire 172/8 in 19.1 overs (Robert Yates 65; Shaheen Afridi 4-29, Jake Ball 3-33) by two wickets
Leicestershire's woeful season continued as they were handed a 71-run thrashing by Derbyshire at County Ground, Derby. Riding on a monstrous 57-ball 110 from Thomas Wood and his 148-run opening stand with Harry Came, Derbyshire were able to post a mammoth total on the board. The rest of the batters all produced brief cameos to push the score past the 225-run mark. The spin duo of Callum Parkinson and Colin Ackermann were tidy in their spells but everyone else got hammered. Leicestershire did start the chase well through openers Peter Handscomb and Wiaan Mulder but once the partnership was broken, the visitors surrendered meekly as Derbyshire's bowling was too hot to handle.
Brief scores: Derbyshire 231/4 in 20 overs (Thomas Wood 110*, Harry Came 56; Tom Scriven 2-53) beat Leicestershire 160 in 18.1 overs (Peter Handscomb 61; Zaman Khan 3-27, Zak Chappell 2-20) by 71 runs
For the second time this season, Middlesex scaled a big chase against a strong opponent as they beat Essex by two wickets at Chelmsford. The first half of the game had a common template as the hosts blasted their way to a big total. As is the norm, Essex went hard from ball one and despite losing wickets, kept the momentum going through Matthew Critchley and Paul Walter. The base was set for Daniel Sams who unleashed a 34-ball 69 to power his side to a daunting total. Despite their historic chase against Surrey last week, Middlesex seemed against it, particularly after losing their in-form skipper Stephen Eskinazi cheaply. But a stunning 24-ball 61 from Ryan Higgins turned the tables for the visitors as they dramatically got into cruise control, only to then briefly crumble out of nowhere. Martin Andersson and Tom Helm held their nerves to ultimately get Middlesex over the line with two balls to spare.
Brief scores: Essex 225/6 in 20 overs (Daniel Sams 69, Paul Walter 45; Luke Hollman 1-14) lost to Middlesex 226/8 in 19.4 overs (Ryan Higgins 61; Matthew Critchley 5-28) by two wickets
Rose Bowl saw yet another rain-curtailed game as Hampshire downed Glamorgan by 21 runs (DLS method). Ben McDermott's fifty had put the home side on course for a challenging score before the rains intervened for a considerable amount of time. The lengthy showers not only cut short Hampshire's innings but also made it a six-over chase for Glamorgan with the target being intimidating. It needed something special for the tourists to get across the line but against Hampshire's quality bowling attack, it proved to be a bridge too far as rain returned again with three balls left in the chase.
Brief scores: Hampshire 97/2 in 9.2 overs (Ben McDermott 54*; Peter Hatzoglou 1-6) beat Glamorgan 54/1 in 5.3 overs (Colin Ingram 34; Nathan Ellis 1-17) by 21 runs (DLS method)
The much-hyped Battle of the Roses clash between Lancashire and Yorkshire was washed out completely without a ball being bowled. Such were the intensity of the showers that even the toss couldn't be held.
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