Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions - Vitality Blast 2023 - All Matches - June 9th

Here are the Vitality Blast June 9th 2023 Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions for all the matches being played today.

Top Tournament Stats - Vitality Blast 2023

Most Runs - Top Batter 

Most Wickets - Top Bowler

Points Table

Fixtures

 

South Group

 

June 9: Glamorgan v Essex Eagles (Sophia Gardens, Cardiff)

A career best 78 from Paul Walter set up a 51-run victory as Essex set an impressive 226 for nine in their Vitality Blast match against Glamorgan in Cardiff. The total was the second highest ever made at Sophia Gardens with only the Surrey total made here on Wednesday above the Essex effort in this match. 

Essex lost wickets regularly but kept on coming at the Glamorgan bowlers. The innings had just one stand of more than 50 runs but there were important contributions throughout. 

Glamorgan started well in their chase but fell away as they looked to keep up with the rate. Colin Ingram top scored with 48 but no Glamorgan batter made a half century as they were bowled out for 175 with Peter Hatzoglou unable to bat. 

This is Glamorgan’s second home defeat in a row to leave them with a record of four wins and three losses. Essex now go ahead of Glamorgan in the table with five wins and two defeats. 

Essex got off to a flying start having won the toss and elected to bat. After the first five overs they had reached 67 for one with Timm van der Gugten’s return from injury greeted by the Essex batters smashing him around the park. Van der Gugten’s first two overs went for 38 runs as Robin Das, Feroze Khusi and Michael Pepper all took the attack to Glamorgan. 

It looked as if Essex could have a truly remarkable score at the end of their six over PowerPlay, but the last over of the fielding restrictions from Ruaidhri Smith was a double wicket maiden. Smith had Khusi dismissed when he drilled a ball hard and low to Colin Ingram at mid-on and claimed a second wicket from the last ball of the PowerPlay when he had Josh Rymel caught at point. 

Paul Walter was the next man in and he, along with Pepper, continued to attack, with the rate rarely dropping below 10 an over throughout the Essex innings. Pepper made 42 from just 19 balls when he was trapped lbw by Peter Hatzoglou. 

It was Walter who was the star as he made the highest score for Essex, a career best 78 from 34 balls that contained six sixes. He was dismissed when he drove a ball from Hatzoglou to long off and Ingram took a simple catch. 

Despite the regular wickets, Essex still kept coming hard and their lower order, led by Daniel Sams, took them well past 200 to give Glamorgan a target that would be a record chase on this ground. 

Glamorgan began their pursuit of the 227-run victory target with a very impressive performance inside the PowerPlay. Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast took the score to 65 without loss inside the first six overs and shared a stand of 76 before Carlson was well caught off the bowling of Matt Critchley for 40 from 18 balls. 

Northeast followed up his 76 against Surrey on Wednesday with a well-made 46 in this match before he also fell to Critchley, bowled while using his feet to get down the track. 

That wicket brought together Glamorgan’s in form pairing of Ingram and Chris Cooke. The issue was the same as in the game against Surrey, they needed something record breaking to get their team over the line. With 118 needed from just 53 balls when their partnership began Glamorgan needed one of these two to be batting at the end of the match. As it was they both made decent starts but failed to kick on. 

Ingram was caught on the boundary by Critchley off the bowling of Snater for 46 and Cooke was caught and bowled by Walter. When Billy Root was dismissed the next ball, also caught and bowled by Walter, Glamorgan were five down and needed to score at 16 runs an over. 

Wickets tumbled at the end to leave Glamorgan a long way short of their victory target as they went from 158 for three to 175 all out. And with Hatzoglou not coming out to bat it seems if their extensive injury list has got longer. 

Paul Walter, Essex CCC

A good evening for me, a bit of a slow start to the comp for me with the bat so very happy to get some runs tonight. I think T20 is a funny game, anyone can chase anything now. But with that amount on the board all you need is one or two good overs and it can really turn the momentum in your favour. Even when they were getting away at the start we were still confident that we could turn it around and a couple of good overs and we could swing it back in our favour. 

If you held your length and bowled it top of the stumps straight it was actually pretty difficult to get away. If you do get hit it flies off here, fairly small boundaries and a good wicket. You have to be very precise and batters are allowed to play well. I thought their openers played really nicely and got off to a flier so sometimes you just have to respect that. They played well. And you just have to hope that you can get them out and really turn the screws. 

It has been a good block, historically we have always been slow starters in the comp so to win five out of seven is a great start and we are just looking to carry that momentum forward.  

 

Kiran Carlson, Glamorgan CCC 

Just conceded too many runs. Simple as that. We are going to be quite honest with ourselves as a bowling unit and fielding unit that there is obviously something not going quite right that we are going to try and fix. It was probably about a 200 par wicket and I think if we were chasing 200 we would have got over the line. 

When you are chasing that kind of total you have to go from the off and sometimes it might work but when you are chasing 230 its one of those where you are going to lose wickets and something has to go especially right in order to chase it down. Chasing too many runs two games in a row, and that is something for me to look as skipper and for Mark Alleyne as coach. 

I have every confidence in the bowlers playing in the last couple of games, I think our squad depth is there, it is just about execution more than personnel at the minute. It is those risks and decisions that might have worked for the first couple of games that are now going the other way. That is the type of game T20 is and it can happen. 

 

 

June 9: Gloucestershire v Somerset (County Ground, Bristol)

Will Smeed produced a blistering knock of 94 from 35 balls to propel top-of-the-table Somerset to a comfortable 80-run Vitality Blast win over West Country rivals Gloucestershire at the Seat Unique Stadium.

The England Lions batsman dominated a brilliant opening stand of 122 in 10 overs with Tom Banton, accruing 8 sixes and 8 fours, as Somerset ran up 231-4, their best ever total in matches against Gloucestershire and the third highest recorded in any T20 fixture at Bristol.

Chasing such a huge total proved beyond a Gloucestershire side missing several key players through injury, the hosts being dismissed for 151 in 19 overs, despite a spirited knock of 61 from Miles Hammond, who shared in a stand of 75 for the second wicket with Ben Charlesworth.

Roelof van de Merwe and Josh Davey claimed 3-25 and 2-23 respectively to derail the reply, while off spinner Shoaib Bashir went through the tail to finish with 3-26 as Gloucestershire lost their last nine wickets for just 52 runs.

This was Somerset's seventh win in eight South Group matches this summer and victory over their neighbours served to maintain their advantage over nearest rivals Surrey and Hampshire. Beaten in four of their seven fixtures, Gloucestershire have a good deal of ground to make up if they are to challenge for a quarter-final place.

Having played himself into form when making 52 against Hampshire at Southampton last time out, Smeed picked up where he left off, treating a full-house audience to an astonishing display of clean hitting after Somerset had been put in.

The 21-year-old right-hander was particularly severe on Gloucestershire's spinners, greeting Zafar Gohar with a huge six over backward square leg in the third over. He repeated the shot at the expense of Matt Taylor in the next over, while Banton drove Zafar and Taylor down the ground for four to give the powerplay lift-off.

Veteran left arm seamer David Payne managed to restore some sanity to proceedings in two overs with the new ball that cost just 10 runs, but Smeed launched a terrible assault upon Tom Smith, plundering a quartet of fours and a six to race to a 21-ball 50 at the end of an over that spawned 24 runs as the visitors raised 62 from the powerplay.

There was no respite for the bowlers, Smeed welcoming Danny Lamb with a towering six backward of square and then helping himself to another maximum, smashing the Lancastrian over long-on. Desperate to break the opening partnership, Gloucestershire skipper Jack Taylor called himself into the attack to bowl the ninth over, only to see his first delivery dispatched over long-on for six and his second, another full toss, put away through mid-wicket for four. When Banton hoisted him high over the long-on boundary, Somerset had raised 100 inside nine overs.

In attempting to post a hundred inside 10 overs, Smeed blotted his copybook, attempting to hit Zafar over deep square for six, only to fall short and hole out to Matt Taylor, much to the relief of Gloucestershire's players and supporters. Having held sway for 36 murderous minutes, the opener finished with 8 sixes and 8 fours, coming agonisingly close to registering what would have been a spectacular 35-ball century. Smeed has now been dismissed in the nineties on five occasions during his career.

Cast in the unaccustomed role of supporting act, Banton went in the very next over, falling to a brilliant catch by wicketkeeper James Bracey and departing for a run-a-ball 26 with the score still on 122. If Gloucestershire believed their troubles were behind them, they were quickly disabused of the idea when Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Tom Abell added 40 in 3.5 overs for the third wicket, maintaining Somerset's impressive momentum.

Hard-hitting Kohler-Cadmore struck 30 from 15 balls with 4 fours and a six before taking on Zafar once too often and being held on the mid-wicket boundary by Miles Hammond. Gloucestershire stuck to their task manfully, Ollie Price bowling Abell in the act of sweeping to reduce the visitors to 173-4 in the 16th over.

Although Somerset raised 200 inside 18 overs, the record score for a T20 match at Bristol - 242 made by Gloucestershire against Middlesex in 2018 - was always likely to prove beyond them. Nevertheless, Lewis Gregory and Sean Dickson gave it their best shot, staging a frenzied unbeaten alliance of 58 in 24 balls for the fifth wicket as the home side wilted under pressure. Gregory mustered a brace of sixes and fours in scoring 30 from 13 balls, while Dickson's 28 occupied 17 balls.

Payne showed what was possible by sending down four overs for 25, but it was a painful experience for some of his teammates, Lamb conceding 53 from three overs and Smith 36 from two as Gloucestershire came under sustained heavy bombardment.

Craig Overton dismissed Ben Wells in the third over to render Gloucestershire's task even more difficult, but Hammond and Charlesworth matched one another blow for blow as the reply passed 50 inside five overs. The powerplay yielded 63 and the 50 partnership arrived via 33 balls as the second wicket pair served notice of their determination to make a game of it. 

Just when Somerset needed to effect a breakthrough, Davey obliged, removing Charlesworth and Ollie Price with successive deliveries in the tenth over. Charlesworth had scored 41 from 25 balls and helped add 75 with Hammond, when he was held at long-on, while Davey took a fine return catch to account for Price via a leading edge as the hosts reached the halfway point of their innings on 100-3.

Hammond continued to issue defiance, going to 50 from 28 balls, but he chanced his arm once too often when attempting to hit Roelof van de Merwe over long-on and instead holed out to Overton. When Jack Taylor fell later in the same over, Gloucestershire were 124-5, requiring a notional 108 runs from 44 balls, and the outcome was beyond doubt.

 

Somerset batsman Will Smeed said: "I was on about 77 when Tom Banton said to me 'you've got to go for the quickest hundred'. That was very much in my mind thereafter, and explains why I went for that big hit on 94. I do like scores in the nineties and it's a shame I was unable to go on and reach three figures. But I really enjoyed myself out there and batting with Bants was great. Obviously there is a lot of luck involved when you play like that, but there are some says when you feel really good, and this was one of those. 

"Our opening partnership gave the rest of the team a platform, and the guys who came afterwards kept up the rate and the pressure. That's how we set out to play and we showed that we have the depth needed to post really big scores.

"We bowled pretty well to bring it back after Gloucestershire made a good start and we had things under control from about the 10th over. When we first saw Shoaib Bashir bowl last year, we couldn't believe he was not contracted. He showed what he can do tonight and I'm sure those are the first of many wickets he will take for Somerset. As for Roelof van de Merwe, what can you say? He's such an effective bowler and he just keeps going. It's Surrey next and they are a really good team. If we both have a good day, it will be a great game to watch. We're still top of the group and that is a position we want to maintain."

 

Gloucestershire captain Jack Taylor said: "It's disappointing, but it's always going to be hard when the opposition get off to a flyer like they did. Smeed came at us fast, hit the ball really hard and took the game away from us. It wasn't for the want of trying, but we couldn't quite execute our skills. We had to try and break that partnership, but they played the conditions really well and, when you get a gut hitting 90 off 30-odd balls, you are always going to be behind the eight ball.

"When you're chasing 230, you need one guy to get a hundred and we were unable to do that. We actually made a really good start with Miles Hammond and Ben Charlesworth and were up with the rate when they got out. But you have to keep doing it for the entire 20 overs and that's where we came up short. It's really disappointing, especially in front of our biggest crowd of the season, but we have to learn from this and move on quickly. We have plenty of games to play and are still in with a chance. Of course, we have to win most of our remaining games if we are going to make the quarter-finals, but I'll always back us to give it a good go. We just need a few more guys to step up."

 

 

 

June 9: Kent Spitfires v Hampshire Hawks (St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury)

A brilliant 89 from Daniel Bell-Drummond helped the Kent Spitfires keep their Vitality Blast hopes alive with a six-wicket win over the Hampshire Hawks at Canterbury on Friday night.

Joe Denly made 41 in a stand worth 85 for the second wicket with Bell-Drummond as the Spitfires closed on 180 for four, for only their second win of the campaign.

A tight penultimate over from Nathan Ellis which went for just two, gave the visitors made things tenser than expected, but Jack Leaning hit the winning boundary off Chris Wood with three balls remaining.

Earlier Hampshire had made 177 for seven, Joe Weatherley anchoring the innings with 67, after Ben McDermott creamed 57 from 30 balls, but they paid the price for failing to cash in after the duo had taken them to 112 for two from 12 overs. Fred Klaassen had Kent’s best bowling figures with two for 31 while Grant Stewart took two for 39.

The last two Blast champions met at The Spitfire Ground in front of a crowd of over 3,500, with holders Hampshire heavy favourites for the “Pilgrims Way derby” against a Kent side who’d lost five consecutive games while looking a shadow of their 2021 vintage.

Klaassen initially seemed to vindicate Kent’s decision to bowl when he took two wickets in three balls to reduce the visitors to 18 for two. James Vince went for a golden duck in the first over, Klaassen hitting both middle and off stump and in his next over he sent Toby Albert’s off stump flying.

However, McDermott and Weatherley responded with a blistering partnership of 84 that only ended when the former hit Stewart to Tawanda Muyeye at deep extra cover.

From then on a steady flow of wickets slowed the scoring rate. Stewart got his second when Kane Richardson sprinted for around 20 yards and just clung on to a skyer from Ross Whiteley.

James Fuller had made four when he drove Michael Hogan to Jordan Cox at cow corner and Weatherley finally perished when he holed out to Richardson and Stewart held a steepling catch.

In the final over Wood was out without even facing a ball, run out by Michael Hogan off at the non-striker’s end and although Dawson carved the next ball for six the target looked a lot more inviting than had seemed likely when McDermott and Weatherley were flaying the bowlers.

Kent had an early let off when Fuller dropped an easy catch off Muyeye, who was on five when he miscued a John Fuller delivery.

They raced to 59 without loss when an incredulous Muyeye was given lbw to Turner for 22 just before the end of the powerplay, but it didn’t affect the rate, which seldom climbed over eight.

It was a tough evening in the field for the visitors but it might have been significantly worse as Mason Crane narrowly avoided a serious injury after just getting his forearm to a Denly drive that was heading for his skull.

The bowler was able to continue, but by then Hampshire were struggling. Bell-Drummond was in regal form and Denly looked nearly as composed until he charged at Crane and was stumped.

A century looked there for the taking until Bell-Drummond holed out to Vince and Ellis took the catch.

Kent needed just six from the last two overs, but Ellis held them to two in the 19th bowling three dot balls before splaying Billings stumps with the fifth.

The left Wood with four defend off the last over but it took so long to set the field that the home crowd broke into a slow handclap before Leaning hit a single and narrowly avoided getting run out off the second ball. Just as the pessimists in the home support feared the yips might be sitting in, Leaning pulled the third ball for four through fine leg to secure the win.

June 9: Sussex Sharks v Surrey (County Ground, Hove)

North Group

 

June 9: Birmingham Bears v Northants Steelbacks (Edgbaston, Birmingham)

Birmingham Bears returned to winning ways in the Vitality Blast with a 30-run victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks in a low-scoring contest on a turning track at Edgbaston.

Spinners dominated as the Bears, having chosen to bat, were bowled out for 137 in 18.5 overs after slow left-armer Freddie Heldreich continued his excellent Blast campaign with a competition-best four for 27. Heldreich took a wicket in each of his four overs as only Sam Hain (35, 31 balls) and Alex Davies (32, 18) passed 15 for the home side.

The Steelbacks’ reply was then even more emphatically smothered - 107 for nine from 20 overs - by the four-pronged home spin attack. Dan Mousley took three for 14 and Moeen Ali three for 16 to help his side to their first win in four attempts under his leadership before he now leaves to join England’s squad ahead of next week’s Ashes opener.

Davies supplied the Bears with a punchy and, it was to prove, priceless start despite quickly losing two partners. Rob Yates lifted Tom Taylor to deep square leg and Ali’s unproductive batting return to the Bears was completed when he skied David Willey to mid off. The England player departs for Ashes duty on the back of 48 runs in four Blast knocks.

Davies perished in pursuit of his third six when Saif Zaib took a well-judged catch on the rope in front of the Hollies Stand off Heldreich. That was the spinner’s fourth ball - he struck another big blow with his tenth which Glenn Maxwell, having hit the previous ball into the Hollies, chipped tamely to extra cover.

Heldreich’s 17^th sphere inflicted further damage when Mousley missed an attempted pull and fell lbw and when his 19^th ousted Chris Benjamin, to another well-judged catch by Zaib at deep mid-wicket, the Bears were 93 for six. As so often, the burden of responsibility fell on Hain and when he was bowled, making room to cut Zaib, a moderate total was assured.

The Steelbacks found the going even tougher against the twirlers, notably Mousley who took two crucial wickets for eight in his first two overs. The 21-year-old bowled Chris Lynn and Josh Cobb either side of taking a fine catch in the deep to remove the dangerous Emilio Gay (18, 15 balls) off Maxwell.

Ali then struck twice as Willey edged behind and Lewis McManus heaved to deep mid-wicket where the effervescent and ubiquitous Mousley took the catch. After ten overs, the Steelbacks had stuttered to 50 for five with 88 needed from the last ten.

Scoring at that rate in such conditions was out of the question. Zaib and Taylor nurdled 29 from 30 balls but Mousley returned to the attack to have Taylor caught at extra cover and Danny Briggs hit James Sales’ middle stump to collect his 249^th T20 wicket.

A quest for 63 from the last five overs was hopeless. Zaib (25, 29 balls) was bowled behind his legs sweeping at Ali and the Steelbacks subsided swiftly under the shimmering mosaic of pinks, oranges and ochres in the dazzling iridescence of a Birmingham sunset.

Bears all-rounder Dan Mousley said:

"To defend 137 at Edgbaston which is notoriously a very flat wicket, we are absolutely ecstatic with. We adapted quickly. We knew after the first innings it was going to spin so it was just a question of putting that into practice and taking a little bit of pace off the ball. That's what we spoke about and that's what we did, and to get two points after being 137 all out, we are absolutely chuffed.

"You can't fault the effort out there in the field tonight. The effort has been there 100 per cent all through the competition but tonight to fight and scrap to win a game we probably had no right to win, that's pretty special.

"We knew that every run would be needed so we ran really hard and even though the luck didn't go our way at times, we posted a score we felt we could defend. I was pleased with the way I bowled. Eighteen months ago I was probably classed as a part-time spinner but now I'm getting four overs a game and being backed by Davo and Mo has been brilliant."

 

Steelbacks head coach Jon Sadler said:

"We were found wanting against high quality spin. They have got three international spinners in their team who are very experienced and that showed.

"At half-time we were pretty happy. We felt we were in a good position to go and win the game. We knew it was going to be tough but the plans were to be positive against the seamers, but the hindsight that comes with bowling second meant they could turn to their spinners for the second over whereas we turned to them after the power play which was right at the time but hindsight suggests we could have gone a bit earlier.

"Freddie Heldreich bowled beautifully. He was unfortunate not to play at the start of the comp but has come in and bowled beautifully. Alex Russel came in and played only his second T20 game and for us to have two young wrist spinners in there and acquitting themselves really well was great.

"Our batting fell short and one or two up the order maybe owe us some performances, but the group is very open. If you get on a run in this format and get that belief and confidence flowing then you can mount a challenge. We are going to have to play some incredible cricket from now on but we have the players to do it,"

June 9: Derbyshire Falcons v Notts Outlaws (County Cricket Ground, Derby)

Notts Outlaws kept their nerve to keep up their winning run over the Derbyshire Falcons with a three wicket victory in a tight Vitality Blast game at Derby.

The Falcons made their rivals fight all the way defending a modest 142 for six but Shaheen Afridi smashed two sixes as the Outlaws got home with eight balls to spare.

Haider Ali made 42 off 37 balls but the Outlaws bowled well with Jake Ball taking 2-23 and Afridi 2 for 37 while skipper Steven Mullaney conceded only 15 from four overs.

George Scrimshaw bowled superbly to take 3 for 16 as the Outlaws slipped to 103 for 5 but they held their nerve to stay top of the North Group and leave the Falcons without a T20 victory over them since 2015.

In front of a sell-out crowd of just under 5,000, the Outlaws began with three tight overs after electing to bowl first before Haider Ali broke free against Matt Carter, driving him over long off for six and edging a cut to the third man boundary.

Ball’s first over pegged the Falcons back as he struck twice, Luis Reece driving to mid off and Leus Du Plooy skying his second ball to cover to end the powerplay on 46 for 2.

A sluggish, green-tinged pitch was making it hard for the Falcons to get the ball away and they reached the midpoint of their innings on 67 for 2.

Ali became a victim of the pressure when he pulled Mullaney to deep midwicket in the 12th over and Samit Patel claimed the big wicket of Wayne Madsen three overs later.

Madsen tried to drive Patel over the top but mistimed the shot and was caught by Afridi coming in from long on.

Brooke Guest lifted Afridi over deep square for six but Tom Wood’s attempt to pull the Pakistan fast bowler over the ropes ended in the hands of long on.

The Falcons needed a big finish and Mattie McKiernan did his best to deliver, driving Afridi past mid off for four before pulling the next two balls for six as 17 came off the 19th over, the most expensive of the innings.

Guest chipped the last ball to mid off and Ball bowled an excellent last over which cost only four to leave the Outlaws needing 143 to win.

Clarke pulled Mark Watt for six as 13 came off the first over and then lifted Zak Chappell onto the pavilion balcony in the third.

He twice drove Zaman Khan to the cover boundary but then miscued a pull at Scrimshaw into the hands of mid on.

The Outlaws chase began to falter when Chappell found some late movement to have Colin Munro caught behind for one to leave the Outlaws on 47 -2 at the end of the powerplay.

Scrimshaw lifted the home supporters again in the next over when Matt Montgomery skied a pull to mid off but Alex Hales and Patel got the innings back on track.

Patel drove Watt for six and Hales swept Matt McKiernan over the ropes only for the game to take another twist.

Hales had taken few risks until he backed away to drive Watt and was bowled for 35 off 30 balls and Patel then flicked Scrimshaw to fine leg to leave the Outlaws needing 40 off five overs.

Mullany eased the pressure by pulling McKiernan for six but was then bowled going for another big shot at Khan.

But Afridi dispatched Watt and Kahan for two sixes and although he fell with two needed, a Khan no ball sealed the Outlaws victory.

June 9: Leicestershire Foxes v Durham (Grace Road, Leicester)

  A maiden T20 century by Rishi Patel powered Leicestershire Foxes to an impressive six-wicket Vitality Blast victory over Durham at the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road.

The 24-year-old right-hand bat - dropped on 38 - struck 103 from 49 balls with 12 fours and four sixes as the Foxes cruised home with ** balls to spare with comfortably their most emphatic performances of an otherwise dismal season to date, Lewis Hill hitting the winning runs with 14 balls to spare in an unbeaten 54 from 41 balls.

It was Durham’s second defeat by Leicestershire in six days although the Foxes remain bottom of the North Group table, having lost their other six games.

Aussie Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 60 from 38 balls lifted Durham’s total to a challenging 172 for four against a makeshift Foxes bowling attack from which key man Naveen ul-Haq was missing though injury. Ollie Robinson made 30 from 31 balls and Graham Clark 27 from just 14 in the powerplay but spinner Callum Parkinson (two for 21) and teenage pace bowler Josh Hull (one for 26) made sure that the visitors were never able to dominate.

Asked to bat first, Durham posted 59 for two from the opening block of six, 35 of those runs coming in two overs after the visitors went hard against the two new faces in the Foxes attack, with Matt Salisbury and Tom Scriven drafted in for their county Blast debuts after injuries to Mikey Finan and Will Davis as well as Afghan international Naveen.

Salisbury, who did not play in the Blast during his four years at Durham but made eight appearances for Essex in 2014, took a wicket with his fifth ball against his ex-teammates when Alex Lees swung optimistically and was bowled, but took some punishment in his second over as Clark and Michael Jones plundered 17 runs, the pair having taken 18 off Scriven in the previous over, although Clark survived a difficult chance to point on four.

Hull finished the powerplay well for the Foxes as Jones miscued to mid-on and when left-arm spinner Parkinson produced a fine, full delivery to trap Clark in the crease in the next over, Durham were 61 for three. At halfway, with Colin Ackermann and Rehan Ahmed applying the squeeze, they were 80 for three, advancing to 112 for four from 15 overs after Parkinson made another big breakthrough, bowling Ollie Robinson to register his 100th Blast wicket for the county.

The Foxes would have been disappointed not to claim more wickets in the last five, which saw Turner and Bas de Leede swell the total by 62 runs, both clearing the ropes of Ahmed’s leg spin, but Hull, the 18-year-old left-arm quick of whom they have high hopes, produced an impressive final over costing just eight runs to finish with one for 26.

Needing to score at 8.65 runs per over, the home side suffered an immediate setback, losing Nick Welch to the fifth ball of their reply as he missed an attempted sweep against left-arm spinner Liam Trevaskis, but recovered well, with Hill pulling and scooping profitably and Patel hitting powerfully down the ground, to be 69 for one from six, although the latter had an escape on 38 when Ben Raine dropped what should have been a straightforward chance at wide long-on.

Back-to-back boundaries off Turner took Patel to a 21-ball half-century and two more off leg spinner Nathan Sowter’s next over brought the target down to 70 with 70 balls remaining.

And there was no holding the Foxes back on this occasion with Patel in destructive mood, needing just 24 more balls to reach his hundred, getting there his second six in three balls over wide long-on off Sowter, and although it all ended anticlimactically in the next over as an ill-advised decision to go for a second run to De Leede at midwicket off Parnell saw him run out.

Nonetheless, the home side went into the final five overs needing just 21 to win and though Wayne Parnell dismissed Colin Ackermann, who chopped on, and Louis Kimber, caught behind, with consecutive balls, to induce a little anxiety in the home crowd, only 14 more were needed, Hill finishing the job by pulling Sowter for his third six before driving the same bowler through extra cover for four next ball.

June 9: Yorkshire Vikings v Worcestershire Rapids (Headingley, Leeds)

Centurion James Wharton and England star Dawid Malan shared 159 for the second wicket - Yorkshire’s all-time highest T20 partnership - as part of a high-scoring Vitality Blast 26-run victory for the Vikings over Worcestershire Rapids at Headingley.

Wharton, 22 and in only his fourth career T20 match, struck a fabulous unbeaten 111 off 56 balls and was more than ably supported by Malan’s excellent 79 off 48 as they underpinned a daunting 224 for four batting first.

In typically excellent Headingley batting conditions, it proved a target beyond a Rapids side whose spirited response of 198 for six saw Jordan Thompson claim four for 34 from four overs of seam and Kashif Ali make 48 not out. 

Worryingly, Worcester lost New Zealand overseas all-rounder Michael Bracewell, who collapsed mid-pitch clutching his right leg on 11 and retired hurt early in the 225 chase. 

Yorkshire have now won their last five Blast fixtures having lost their first three in the North Group, and they are well placed in the race for the quarter-finals. Worcester, top of the table earlier this week, have now won four and lost three.

Yorkshire’s previous record partnership in T20 cricket was 150 shared between Adam Lyth and David Willey at Northamptonshire in 2018. 

Worcestershire actually made a bright start having lost the toss, restricting their hosts to 13 for one after three overs.

Bracewell’s off-spin accounted for Adam Lyth caught at midwicket following a miscued slog-sweep. However, that only brought Wharton to the crease, and he started like a train amidst a partnership with Malan lasting a little less than 14 overs.

Right-handed Wharton hit the lion’s share of 49 off the next three overs, including two savagely pulled sixes off seamers Pat Brown and Dillon Pennington - 62 for one after six overs. 

The assault continued, with Wharton, dropped on 19 at mid-on by captain Brett D’Oliveira, reaching his fifty off only 20 balls as the Vikings moved to 108 for one after 10 overs. 

When Malan followed him to the same milestone off 33 balls shortly afterwards, a score in excess of 220 was a looking almost certain.

This was Malan’s fourth fifty in his last five Blast innings, but Wharton was the standout having been given his chance following some excellent recent second-team form, including a century opening the batting.

He mixed power with finesse. One of three sixes added to 16 fours was savagely pulled into the Western Terrace off Adam Finch before he later scooped Brown (nought for 56) over the rope at long-leg to reach his maiden century off 51 balls.

At one stage, he was on course to better Yorkshire’s fastest ever century off 47 balls scored by Ian Harvey in 2005. 

Wharton was particularly strong on the drive. It was somewhat surprising that his innings only included three sixes, indicating that this was an innings of pure batting - very similar to how Malan, who hit four, has made his name in this format.

Worcester were poor in the field, missing a handful of opportunities. Just before Wharton was dropped on 19, Jack Haynes couldn’t get his hands to one which seemed to hang in the air for an age as he ran back from cover.

Not that the Rapids were out of this match at halfway. They had already scored 226-5 in a win at Nottinghamshire earlier this month.

But everything had to go swimmingly for them. And it didn’t.

After Bracewell limped off in the second over, Haynes miscued David Wiese to mid-on and Adam Hose top-edged Thompson behind, leaving the score at 48 for two in the fifth over.

The run-rate wasn’t an issue, but the loss of wickets was.

Opener D’Oliveira tried to rectify his earlier error in the field with a quick-fire 47 off 31 balls before pulling the seam of Matthew Revis to deep midwicket.

When Mitchell Santner (27) clubbed Thompson to long-on, leaving the score at 109 for four in the 12th over, the Rapids had a mountain to climb. 

Kashif helped them at least reach basecamp with some lusty hitting. The target became 62 off four overs at 163 for four. He shared 81 with fifth-wicket partner Cox (35).

But the latter holed out as Thompson struck twice in as many balls in the penultimate, which ended with the score at 191 for six. 

 

 

 

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