Lyth and Bresnan take top billing in summer of superb displays
Tuesday 3 July 2018 13:13, UK
Vitality Blast is back with a bang on Wednesday when defending champions Notts Outlaws take on Birmingham Bears - live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event.
This summer's tournament has plenty to live up to after 2017's explosive chapter, which featured some remarkable individual performances.
Let's start at the end - and what an incredible Finals Day it was at Edgbaston!
Most - if not all - were all shook up after Notts sealed a white-ball double on a particularly memorable day for Samit Patel, Andrew 'Elvis' Flintoff and Alfred the Gorilla…
SAMIT PATEL scored 64 not out from 42 balls as he shared a 132-run stand with Brendan Taylor to help the Outlaws post 190-4 in their 22-run win in the final at Edgbaston - and then fired a shot across the England selectors' bows in the hope of a call-up that didn't materialise.
ADAM LYTH blasted 161 from 73 balls, the highest individual score in domestic T20 cricket, as Yorkshire came up just shy of the all-time record total to beat Northamptonshire by 124 runs.
The opener was dismissed in the final over of the innings as Yorkshire looked to beat the record T20 total of 263, held jointly by Australia and IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Lyth hit an incredible 20 fours and seven sixes as he shared an opening stand of 127 with Tom Kohler-Cadmore (41 from 24 balls) and followed it up with a partnership of 124 with David Willey (40 from 22 balls).
TIM BRESNAN bagged 6-19 as Yorkshire won the most dramatic of Roses games by 19 runs in front of a sell-out crowd at Headingley.
Chasing 183, Lancashire clattered to 163 all out as captain Bresnan produced three wickets and a run-out in the last over of the match.
The all-rounder's figures eclipsed a three-way tie for second spot between Clint McKay (top tournament wicket-taker with 23), Tom Helm and Adam Milne. And what a stage to do it on!
Chelmsford was the place to be on August 17 as Kent's Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond put on 207 for Kent's first wicket - a tally that, you won't be surprised to hear, was a world-record opening stand.
Denly took the man-of-the-match honours for a merciless 127 off 66 balls that featured seven maximums and 11 fours - Bell-Drummond's contribution 80no off 49 deliveries.
Essex got close in a thrilling chase on the back of Varun Chopra's century only for Kent to run out 11-run victors.
Special mention, though, to Derbyshire's Ben Cotton (30no) and Imran Tahir, who racked up 46 for the final wicket against Hampshire - all be it in a losing cause in a one-sided quarter-final.
Hugely subjective, is this category - but we have a winner!
Jack Leaning produced a contender for catch of the decade on the cover boundary at Headingley (in the same match as the Bresnan six-for), leaping high to catch Lancashire's Arron Lilley off the bowling of England seamer Liam Plunkett.
A fiercely-hit shot off a Plunkett full-toss looked like flying over the head of the 23-year-old, but he arched his back, threw out his right hand and somehow held on to the ball in the deep.
Kent's Jimmy Neesham was also in the running for this magnificent one-handed effort...
Another fiercely contested category with Kumar Sangakkara earning an honourable mention for smashing a fan's mobile with a shattering blow.
Andrew Flintoff was also in contention after taking a tumble while performing as Elvis on NatWest T20 Finals Day. The former all-rounder hit the turf in spectacular fashion while tripping up over a speaker while walking backwards, performing 'Sweet Caroline' as a duet with David 'Bumble' Lloyd (see video at the top of the page).
But our winner is Sussex's DAVID WIESE, who smashed a fan's pint glass after hitting Hampshire's Shahid Afridi into the hospitality area at Hove to devastating effect.
The ball - having cleared the deep midwicket rope - safely avoided the grasp of one would-be fan-fielder, attired in a stripey blazer, before cannoning off a marquee window and obliterating a glass.
Watch Notts Outlaws take on Birmingham Bears in the first match of the Vitality Blast, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 6pm on Wednesday.
Comment below to get involved in the debate, but please adhere to our House Rules. If you wish to report any comment, simply click on the down arrow next to the offending comment and click 'Report'.
