The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action from the latest round of matches in the 2024 Vitality Blast
Leicester: Leicestershire 176-8, Worcestershire 172-6 - Leicestershire won by four runs
Leicestershire Foxes shaded a close-run North Group contest with Worcestershire Rapids to pick up their second win from four matches in the Vitality Blast.
England's Rehan Ahmed took two for 27 and held a vital catch to and a potentially match-winning innings of 37 off 16 balls by Ethan Brookes, with Scott Currie taking 2 for 22 and debutant left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy, on loan from Somerset, 1 for 17 after Matthew Waite had earlier hit 40 from 35 as the Rapids, needing 12 off the last over, fell five short of their target.
That came after the Foxes had recovered from 119 for five in the 16th over to post 176 for eight, Ben Cox (29 off 21) and Ben Mike (24 off 11) building on Rishi Patel's 48 from 42 after Louis Kimber had hit 25 off 16 earlier, with the wickets shared between Nathan Smith (3 for 39), Adam Finch (three for 43) and skipper D’Oliveira (2 for 24).
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 153-8, Lancashire 155-4 - Lancashire won by six wickets
Lancashire Lightning began this Vitality Blast North group visit to Trent Bridge with the best record of all 18 counties in the 2024 t20 campaign to date and Nottinghamshire Outlaws with the worst.
Choosing to bat, Outlaws eventually rose to 153 for 8 despite expert containment from Chris Green, the Australia T20 international, with 2 for 16 in his four overs of off-spin.
Jack Haynes reached 45 before becoming one of two runouts in a sometimes naïve display and Liam Patterson-White, batting at No.7 on debut in this format, made a fine, unbeaten 44 from 21 balls.
But with Keaton Jennings making a skipper's 64 to leave victory in sight, Lighting romped home by six wickets in the penultimate over as the Outlaws completed their first five games with a sobering fifth defeat.
Adam Lyth passed 4,000 T20 runs for Yorkshire at Headingley (Getty Images)
Headingley: Derbyshire 179-6, Yorkshire 182-1 - Yorkshire won by nine wickets
Adam Lyth celebrated becoming the first Yorkshire batter to reach 4,000 T20 runs in style by hitting a superb 51-ball 84 in a nine-wicket win as they routinely chased 180 to beat Derbyshire in the Vitality Blast at Headingley.
Yorkshire should have been pursuing many more, but the Falcons stuttered from 114 without loss at the start of the 11th over to 179 for 6. Opener Aneurin Donald blasted a brilliant 84 off 41 and England’s Joe Root claimed 2 for 20 from three overs of off-spin.
Veteran opener Lyth, in his 164th county appearance, brought up the county milestone early in the chase as Yorkshire continued their bright start to the North Group with a third win in four games.
Lyth was expertly supported by Dawid Malan in a 14.4-over opening stand of 137. The latter finished unbeaten on 79 off 48, sealing victory with 11 balls left.
Bristol: Sussex 208-6, Gloucestershire 160-8 - Sussex won by 48 runs
Dan Hughes and James Coles registered brutal half-centuries as Sussex Sharks completed a Vitality Blast double over South Group rivals Gloucestershire, winning a one-sided contest by 48 runs at the Seat Unique Stadium.
Australian Hughes top-scored with a blistering 65 off 37 balls, while Coles contributed 54 from 33 deliveries in a match-winning third-wicket stand of 113 as the visitors ran up an imposing 208 for 6 after being put into bat.
Only Josh Shaw and David Payne, who claimed 3 for 27 and 1 for 21 respectively, avoided severe punishment as Sussex mustered an impressive combined tally of 8 sixes and 22 fours in a fearsome display of big-hitting.
Taunton: Somerset 241-5, Hampshire 178 - Somerset won by 63 runs
Tom Abell and Sean Dickson produced a scintillating fourth-wicket stand of 144 in 11.2 overs to lead Somerset to a 63-run Vitality Blast win over Hampshire Hawks at Taunton.
Abell smashed an unbeaten 96 off just 47 balls and Dickson hammered 65 off 32 deliveries to help the hosts post 241 for 5, their third-highest-ever Blast total, after losing the toss. Their stand was a Somerset record for the fourth wicket in the competition.
Hampshire replied with 178 all out, Ben McDermott hitting 46 off 28 balls and Ben Green claiming a career-best equalling 5 for 29. Victory put holders Somerset back on track after successive group defeats on the road.
Somerset prevailed over Hampshire in the battle between the 2022 and 2023 champions (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Canterbury: Kent 173-8, Middlesex 178-6 - Middlesex won by four wickets
Middlesex have beaten the Kent Spitfires by four wickets in the Vitality Blast at Canterbury after a brilliant fight back in the field.
Luke Hollman pulled Matt Parkinson for the winning six with four balls remaining, after Ryan Higgins hit 44 from 29 balls and Stephen Eskinazi made 40.
Middlesex finished on 178 for 6 and the win followed a superb recovery with the ball: at one point they looked likely to be chasing a target of well over 200.
Daniel Bell-Drummond made 60 from 38 balls but after plundering 118 from the first 11 overs, Kent were restricted to 173 for 8, Hollman taking 2 for 18 and Tom Helm 2 for 24.
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