Saturday 14 July 2018 09:00, UK
Aaron Finch hit a magnificent 131 not out, the highest ever T20 score by a Surrey batsman, as his side ended Sussex's unbeaten start to the Vitality Blast with a thumping 52-run win at Hove.
Badly dropped by Jofra Archer with a single to his name, the Australian made the most of his reprieve with a brutal assault on the Sussex attack as he struck 10 fours and seven sixes from just 79 balls and, with 61 plundered off the last five overs, he helped Surrey to 192-3.
Sussex never looked like overhauling that score on a pitch offering seam movement and uneven bounce. Opener Phil Salt made 74 from 47 balls in reply, but the next highest scorer was Archer with 19 as Sussex were bowled out for 140 in the 18th over.
Kent Spitfires avenged last month's Royal London One-Day Cup final defeat by securing a breathless three-run win over Hampshire at Beckenham. SCORECARD
It was Kent seamer Mitch Claydon who held his nerve at the death when, with six needed off the last ball for a Hampshire win, a near-perfect yorker restricted the visitors to a single that sparked celebrations for a third win in four.
Hampshire, who have now lost all of their first three Blast games, made a disastrous start to their pursuit of 210 - Sam Billings starring for Kent with 95 not out off 54 balls - as they lost James Vince, Colin Munro and Sam Northeast in the first seven balls.
Rilee Rossouw (25 off 11), Hampshire's Lord's century-maker and man of the match, teamed up with fellow left-hander Tom Alsop (41 off 24) to counter attack, while Liam Dawson came in and cracked an unbeaten 75 off 43.
But, needing 16 off Claydon's final over, Hampshire came up just short.
Chris Cooke gave a masterclass in lower-order hitting to carry Glamorgan to a two-wicket victory over Essex off the last ball of a dramatic final over at Chelmsford. SCORECARD
The wicketkeeper-batsman hit a four from Neil Wagner's final delivery to give Glamorgan, chasing 168, their second win of the season.
Cooke ended with 60 from 29 balls, including four sixes and three fours, having put on 61 for the ninth wicket with Timm van der Gugten from just 28 balls.
Earlier, Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa had done his best to rein Glamorgan in with 3-17 from four overs but it was not to be enough.
Ian Cockbain's unbeaten 43 off 22 balls led Gloucestershire to a four-wicket victory over Somerset with five deliveries to spare at Bristol. SCORECARD
In a match reduced to 11 overs per side by rain before the start, the visitors ran up 114-8, with Corey Anderson hitting 40 off 17 deliveries and handy contributions from Lewis Gregory (19), Steve Davies (17) and Johann Myburgh (14).
Australia's Andrew Tye claimed 3-24 from three overs for Gloucestershire, while Tom Smith (2-21) was on a hat-trick at one stage.
In reply, Gloucestershire reached their target in 10.1 overs - Cockbain, who hit four fours and two sixes, was well supported by Kieran Noema-Barnett (25) and Jack Taylor (19).
A brilliant century from Ben Raine lifted Leicestershire Foxes to a 102-run victory over Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston. SCORECARD
Former Durham all-rounder Raine smashed his way to a blistering 113 from 46 balls with 10 sixes and eight fours, lifting the Foxes to their record T20 total of 229-5.
Raine then took two wickets in his first over to leave Birmingham's reply in early disarray at 36-3, and there was no way back from that for the Bears, who folded to 127 all out to leave the Foxes with their record T20 win.
Dan Christian produced another match-winning performance as Nottinghamshire Outlaws cruised to a third consecutive victory in a rain-affected match against Derbyshire Falcons. SCORECARD
Outlaws skipper Christian made 62 from 40 balls and then took 3-34 to condemn the Falcons to a 39-run defeat when chasing 179 in 19 overs.
Tom Moores also smashed 53 from 25 balls for Notts, while New Zealand's Lockie Ferguson took 4-26 for the Falcons.
Tim Bresnan played the starring role with both bat and ball to guide the Yorkshire Vikings to a 10-run win over the Durham Jets in their match at Emirates Riverside. SCORECARD
Yorkshire elected to bat first, and although they struggled for timing in large portions of the innings, late striking from Jonny Tattersall (36) and Bresnan (28no) guided them to a total of 157-6 from 20 overs - Paul Collingwood claiming 3-27.
Durham appeared in control of their chase courtesy of a solid start, with New Zealand's Tom Latham cracking 42 from 38, but they were to lose wickets at vital times of the innings as pressure from Bresnan (2-19) and Matt Fisher (2-26) forced mistakes, with the Jets ultimately restricted to 147-6.
Dillon Pennington picked up four wickets in two overs as Worcestershire Rapids maintained their 100 per cent winning start in the Blast in a, edging Northamptonshire Steelbacks in a rain-reduced encounter at New Road. SCORECARD
The England U19 paceman Pennington destroyed any hopes Northants had of reaching a steep 131-run target in nine overs with his devastating two-over spell.
Pennington, who only made his debut in the competition against Derbyshire on Sunday, dismissed Ben Duckett, Josh Cobb, Richard Levin and Steven Crook to finish with 4-9.
His efforts helped the table-topping Rapids to make it four wins out of four with a 41-run success in a competition where they have never before reached Finals Day.
