Saturday 27 July 2019 10:24, UK
Jofra Archer returned to action ahead of the Ashes by taking two wickets in Sussex's tied Vitality Blast game against Surrey.
The seamer missed England's Test victory over Ireland with a side strain but is expected to be named in their squad for the first Ashes Test, with the announcement due at 11am on Saturday.
Archer dismissed Australian limited-overs captain Aaron Finch in his second over before bowling Ollie Pope with a slower ball yorker as Surrey matched Sussex's 144-8 from their 20 overs.
The 24-year-old could be competing with Chris Woakes for a spot in the final England XI after the latter picked up six wickets at Lord's as England skittled Ireland for 38 to secure a 143-run win.
Luke Wright's 76 off 59 balls helped Sussex set Surrey 149 to win but Jade Dernbach's side were unable to clinch the 12 runs needed off the last over as Reece Topley, Archer and Tymal Mills all picked up two wickets apiece.
Kent maintained their lead at the top of the South Group after beating Essex by 22 runs at Canterbury. SCORECARD
Heino Kuhn was the pick of the Kent batsman with an unbeaten 55 as opener Daniel Bell-Drummond also hit 43, with the hosts reaching 175-6 from their 20 overs.
In reply, Essex lost Cameron Delport in only the third over and were always behind the required rate, despite Ryan Ten Doeschate's unbeaten 58.
A Toby Roland-Jones hat-trick followed by a Stevie Eskinazi half-century guided Middlesex to an eight-wicket win over bottom side Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens. SCORECARD
Glamorgan got off to the worst possible start after being put in to bat when Fakhar Zaman was caught on his debut, as his side slipped to 136 all out before Middlesex chased down the modest total comfortably.
Liam Livingstone put an on an expert bowling display as unbeaten Lancashire beat Blast champions Worcestershire by 21 runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern at Emirates Old Trafford. SCORECARD
The Lancashire bowler took 3-21 from four overs, restricting Worcestershire to 120-9. Livingstone then hit 21 from 14 in reply as the home side reached 71-1 after nine overs to win the game.
Babar Azam marked his Somerset debut with an extraordinary innings of 95 but it was not enough as a late Hampshire rally, inspired by Liam Dawson's unbeaten 47, inspired an unlikely four-wicket win with three balls left at Taunton. SCORECARD
Hampshire struggled to 96-four in reply after 14 overs before a late onslaught from Dawson and James Fuller, who scored 28 from 12 balls, pulled off an improbable victory with a six in the final over.
Leicestershire slumped to a third consecutive defeat as Durham raced to a nine-wicket victory in under 12 overs at the County Ground. SCORECARD
Durham were powered by some strong hitting by Scott Steel who raced to 50 from 19 balls, eventually reaching 70, as his side chased down Leicestershire's total of 158 for the loss of one wicket.
Alex Hales and Ben Duckett scored half-centuries and Harry Gurney took five wickets as Nottinghamshire won by 27 runs against Derbyshire. SCORECARD
Hales made 63 and Duckett 64 in a 92-run partnership in Nottinghamshire's 198-5. Gurney bowled superbly to claim his best T20 figures of 5-30 as Derbyshire could only manage 171-8.
Rob Keogh's career-best 59 helped Northamptonshire to a first win in this season's competition as they beat Birmingham by 21 runs. SCORECARD
With his side on 36-3, Keogh helped them reach 155-6 before a revised target of 133 in 16 overs was set. Birmingham struggled to 111-8 in reply from their 16 overs with only Sam Hain and Adam Hose scoring more than 20 runs.
