The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action from the latest round of matches in the 2024 Vitality Blast
North Group
Old Trafford: Lancashire 176-8, Birmingham 168-6 - Lancashire win by eight runs
Early pacesetters Lancashire Lightning beat Birmingham Bears at fortress Emirates Old Trafford to stay top of the embryonic Vitality Blast North Group table, with Luke Wells to the fore.
Lightning just defended a 177-run target to win by eight runs, sealing their third victory in four games as Wells opened with a career best-equalling 66 off 32 balls, then returned 2 for 25 with his leg-spinners and added two catches.
The Bears missed the chance to leapfrog their hosts to the group's summit, losing for the first time in three matches as they replied to 176 for 8 with 168 for 6 despite Sam Hain's 59 off 44.
Raphy Weatherall was entrusted with the final over for Northamptonshire (David Rogers/Getty Images)
Leicester: Leicestershire 176-7, Durham 178-3 - Durham win by seven wickets
Skipper Alex Lees led from the front with an unbeaten 71 from 53 balls as Durham bounced back from two heavy defeats to register their first win of the Vitality Blast campaign, beating Leicestershire Foxes by seven wickets in a tight finish at the Uptonsteel County Ground.
Wicketkeeper Ben Cox hit 50 off 31 balls as the Foxes recovered from 106 for 6 to post 176 for 7 from their 20 overs. Leg-spinner Nathan Sowter took 3 for 23 and left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson 2 for 23 against his former county after Rishi Patel had launched the Foxes innings with 35 off 17 balls and Sol Budinger made 26 from 21.
But thanks to Lees, who hit three sixes but only two fours, with support from David Bedingham (43) and Ashton Turner (22), Durham passed their target with three balls to spare, Leicestershire not helping their cause by conceding 20 runs in extras, giving away nine extra balls in the process.
Derby: Derbyshire 198-6, Nottinghamshire 102 - Derbyshire win by 96 runs
Derbyshire Falcons celebrated a T20 victory over Notts Outlaws for the first time in nine years when they crushed their local rivals by 96 runs in the Vitality Blast North Group match at Derby.
Superb batting from Wayne Madsen, 53 off 32 balls, and a destructive 46 off only 16 by Ross Whiteley lifted the Falcons from 76 for 4 after 10 overs to 198 for 6.
Daryn Dupavillon then blew away the top order as the Outlaws slumped to 36 for 4 and they never recovered as Whiteley followed up his batting fireworks by taking 3 for 23.
The Outlaws crumbled to 102 all out in 16.4 overs and have now lost their first four group games while the Falcons recorded a second win.
Ollie Pope was unbeaten on 99 in a losing cause (Getty Images)
Northampton: Northamptonshire 169-4, Worcestershire 163-9 - Northamptonshire win by six runs
Northamptonshire allrounder Saif Zaib starred in front of the TV cameras, plundering an unbeaten 44 off just 21 balls and bagging three wickets for 20 runs as the Steelbacks won out by just six runs against over Worcestershire Rapids in a Vitality Blast thriller at Wantage Road.
Zaib smashed six fours and two sixes, to propel Steelbacks to 169 for 4, sharing an unbeaten stand of 79 in six overs with Sikander Raza (42*) to help his side recover from a mini collapse.
England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, playing the first of five T20 loan games for Worcestershire, took 2 for 38.
In the chase, the visitors slumped to 120 for 8 in the 16th over before an extraordinary cameo from Gareth Roderick almost won the game. Blasting 39 off just 22 balls, his highest T20 score, Roderick took the game to the wire with Worcestershire needing 11 off the final six balls. But Raphy Weatherall, bowling a brilliant final over, held his nerve, conceding just four runs and ending Roderick's resistance.
South Group
Bristol: Gloucestershire 124, Hampshire 128-5 - Hampshire win by five wickets
Toby Albert anchored Hampshire Hawks to a hard-fought five-wicket Vitality Blast triumph over South Group rivals Gloucestershire beneath the Seat Unique Stadium floodlights at Bristol.
The 23-year-old Academy product top-scored with 41 not out from 32 balls and dominated a match-winning stand of 61 for the fifth wicket with James Fuller as the visitors chased down a modest victory target of 125 on a used pitch with 3.1 overs to spare.
But they were made to fight hard by Gloucestershire's frontline seamer David Payne, who took 3 for 17 in four overs to at least make a game of it in front of a crowd of nearly 4,000.
Hampshire's second successive win was founded upon a disciplined performance from their seam bowling unit, John Turner claiming 3 for 24 in 3.2 overs and Chris Wood, Michael Neser and Fuller each weighing in with two wickets apiece as Gloucestershire were bowled out for 124 in 18.2 overs.
Canterbury: Somerset 197-6, Kent 198-6 - Kent win by four wickets
A superb century by Sam Billings helped the Kent Spitfires to a four-wicket win over Somerset with four balls to spare, in a Vitality Blast thriller at Canterbury.
Kent were reeling on 37 for 4 in the fifth over but they were rescued a sensational innings by Billings, who hit a career best 106 from 66 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes.
The Spitfires' skipper fell in the 19th, but with Kent needing just six from the last six balls, Joey Evison hit the winning runs to complete a brilliant comeback for the hosts, who closed on 198 for 6.
Earlier Will Smeed blasted 68 from 30 balls as Somerset posted 197 for 6, while Tom Kohler-Cadmore was the next highest scorer with 42. Having shipped 95 in eight overs for the opening wicket, Kent reined the visitors in slightly as Matt Parkinson took 2 for 36 and Zak Crawley took four catches, equalling Kent's Blast record.
Luc Benkenstein saw Essex home with the bat (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Chelmsford: Glamorgan 166-8, Essex 168-8 - Essex win by two wickets
Luc Benkenstein provided the maturity to get Essex over the line to beat Glamorgan by two wickets in a nerve-jangler in the Vitality Blast.
Benkenstein, the 19-year-old son of Lancashire head coach Dale, with Essex requiring 61 from 56 but in the midst of a mega collapse of seven wickets in 31 balls – as Mason Crane spun a Blast best 4 for 25.
But the No.9 came in clutch with an unbeaten 35 off 21 in partnership with Shane Snater – who grabbed 20 himself – to chase down 165 with eight balls to spare.
Paul Walter and Daniel Sams took three wickets apiece as Colin Ingram restarted his Essex domination with 52 – but it wasn't enough as both sides have two wins after four matches.
Kia Oval: Sussex 213-7, Surrey 177-7 - Sussex win by 36 runs
Sussex Sharks handed Surrey their first defeat in this season's Vitality Blast with an impressive 36-run success at the Kia Oval.
Tom Alsop's 36-ball 68 and 65 off 42 deliveries by left-hander Daniel Hughes helped power Sussex to 213 for 7 after they had been put in – their biggest score in the format against Surrey.
Skipper Ollie Pope led Surrey's response with an unbeaten 99 in a total of 177 for 7, but Sussex bowled with more discipline on a used pitch. Their spinners sent down eight overs and both Archie Lenham and James Coles picked up important wickets while Australian seamer Nathan McAndrew took 3 for 32.
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