Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions: Vitality Blast 2023 June 4th - All Matches
©Cricket World / John Mallett
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Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions: Vitality Blast 2023 June 4th - All Matches
Here are the Vitality Blast June 4th 2023 Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions for all the matches being played today.
Top Tournament Stats - Vitality Blast 2023
North Group
Scorecard: Durham v Leicestershire Foxes (Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street)
Leicestershire Foxes ended a five-game losing run in the Vitality Blast to secure their first win of the campaign, beating Durham by seven wickets at Seat Unique Riverside.
Josh Hull was the star of the game with the ball for the Foxes, claiming three wickets for 35 in just his second game, to help limit the home side to 168 for nine from their 20 overs. Ollie Robinson top-scored for Durham with a career-best 69 and was supported by 46 from Ashton Turner, but their total appeared par at best at the halfway stage.
Nick Welch and Lewis Hall provided a strong platform for the visitors to put them ahead of the rate. Durham debutant Luke Robinson threatened to drag his team back into the match with two wickets. But, Louis Kimber smashed fifty from 27 balls on his way to a career-best 55 to secure the win for Leicestershire with 12 balls to spare.
The Foxes made a solid start with the ball and limited the Durham openers to only 19 from the opening three overs. Hull then arrived into the attack and made immediate inroads, bursting through Alex Lees' defences before Graham Clark knicked off to hand the left-armer his first two T20 wickets.
Ollie Robinson countered against Hull's second over, scoring three fours in a row, to allow the hosts to move to 40 for two at the end of the powerplay. Michael Jones struggled for timing and in his bid to cut loose he presented Naveen-ul-Haq with his first wicket, picking out Rehan Ahmed at point.
Turner provided the foil that Robinson needed to provide impetus to the Durham innings, raising the run rate, with an impressive array of shots around the ground. Turner found his range to score the first six of the match, sweeping Rehan Ahmed over mid-wicket.
The England man went wicketless as the Durham batters targeted the leg-spinner to move the hosts into a strong position heading into the closing overs. Robinson highlighted his excellent Blast form, scoring his third fifty in four innings. Turner and Robinson shared a partnership worth 80 before Hull returned to prise out the Australian lbw for a 25-ball knock of 46.
Naveen and Shah combined to halt the Durham charge beyond 170, despite a career-best from Robinson, as the final two overs cost just 14 runs.
The Foxes made a rapid start to their chase as Lewis Hill and Nick Welch capitalised on loose bowling in the powerplay, racing to their fifty stand in the fifth over. Welch blasted 30 off 15 balls, but Parnell found his inside edge to stop the Leicestershire assault.
Debutant Robinson enjoyed an immediate impact, striking with his third ball to bowl Hill for 25, offering the home side a way back into the contest. The 19-year-old notched his second wicket as Rishi Patel picked out Alex Lees to put the pressure back on the Foxes. But, the visitors responded as skipper Ackermann used his experience to find gaps in the field to move his team back in line with the required rate.
Louis Kimber joined his skipper and struck the ball cleanly to allow the Foxes to surge towards the victory total, reaching their fifty partnership in just 28 balls. Kimber took on the mantle to power his team over the line with his second T20 blast fifty, smashing three sixes, including a huge strike off Parnell into the pavilion, getting Leicestershire off the mark in the competition.
Scorecard: Notts Outlaws v Lancashire Lightning (Trent Bridge, Nottingham)
Outlaws put themselves back on course for the quarter-finals with a second Vitality Blast win inside 24 hours as Lancashire Lightning suffered a fourth straight defeat, the home side winning by five wickets with seven balls to spare at Trent Bridge.
Off-spinner Matt Carter, who had conceded 57 in four wicketless overs against Birmingham Bears on Saturday evening, albeit in an Outlaws victory, bounced back with three for 26 as Lightning were bowled out for 145, and there were two wickets each for Calvin Harrison, Jack Brooks and Shaheen Shah Afridi, skipper Liam Livingstone top-scoring for the visitors with 34 from 30 balls.
Joe Clarke led the Outlaws response with 42 from 24 balls, Tom Moores seeing them home with an unbeaten 26 from 18 after Livingstone and Jack Blatherwick had taken two wickets each.
Lightning had opted to bat first on what looked like a good track as The Blaze beat Sunrisers earlier, yet the balance in the opening powerplay was with the Outlaws as the top three names on the Lancashire card fell in overs four, five and six.
Carter picked off two of them, Phil Salt driving him into the hands of extra cover and Steven Croft bowled sweeping. In between, Afridi snuffed out the threat posed by Jos Buttler, brilliantly yorked for 23 from 16 balls, as Lightning emerged with 49 for three from six.
Lightning still had hitting power at the crease but was the 10th over before it was unleashed, Outlaws skipper Steven Mullaney taking some punishment as a boundary from Livingstone was followed by two towering sixes down the ground by Daryl Mitchell, who had been the architect of a home win when these sides met at Old Trafford eight days ago. Lightning were 83 for three from 10.
But just as Buttler had departed at the moment he seemed to be moving up through the gears, so too did Mitchell, who sliced Samit Patel to the tall figure of Carter at backward point, an easy catch the Outlaws bowler celebrated with his third wicket in the next over as Tom Hartley swung horribly across the line.
Again, Lightning lost momentum, going three overs without a boundary, and no sooner had Livingstone remedied that by driving Harrison’s leg spin through the covers to move to 34 from 29 balls than he was out, holing out to Alex Hales at long-off, immediately followed back to the dugout by Luke Wood, also caught at long-off, as Harrison took two in two.
Lightning were now in a downwards spiral and the end came quickly. Brooks - recalled after illness ruled out Jake Ball following a successful return from injury on Saturday - picked up a couple of 39th birthday wickets as Colin de Grandhomme reached for a wide ball and was caught behind and Blatherwick, making his Lancashire Blast debut on his 25th birthday, scooped tamely to short third man, either side of a second wicket for Afridi as George Bell swung and missed.
The Outlaws were firmly in control of the chase at 62 for one from their batting powerplay, the strike and scoring having been dominated by Clarke, who hammered six fours and two sixes in his 24-ball 42 before sending a top-edge high into the sky that Blatherwick, waving away other interested fielders, caught off his own bowling.
Blatherwick, who began his career at Trent Bridge, struck again in his next over when Hales, playing despite a side strain incurred on Saturday night, spooned one straight to mid-off and though Outlaws needed below a run a ball to win, two of their three top batters were back in the hut, followed by the third as Colin Munro miscued Livingstone to short extra cover as the home side reached the halfway point at 82 for three.
The Lancashire bowlers made it difficult for the Outlaws to regain their early momentum and a fourth wicket was lost when Samit Patel missed one from left-arm spinner Hartley. Tom Moores eased the pressure with a couple of boundaries off Mitchell and 29 off the last 30 balls looked straightforward enough, even after Matt Montgomery picked out deep midwicket during a mean over by Livingstone.
Lightning gave little away but after a rare poor delivery from Livingstone was lofted down the ground for six by Mullaney, three boundaries in five balls by Moores off Wood finished the job with seven balls to spare.
Scorecard: Worcestershire Rapids v Northants Steelbacks (New Road, Worcester)
Worcestershire Rapids missed out on the chance to make history as their unbeaten start to the Vitality Blast was brought to an end by Northamptonshire Steelbacks who triumphed by six wickets at New Road.
The Rapids had been bidding to win the opening five games in the T20 tournament for the first time.
But Steelbacks spinner, Freddie Heldreich, bowled an inspired spell which brought him the wickets of Adam Hose, Brett D’Oliveira and Kashif Ali in the space of three overs.
Then Saif Zaib produced the fireworks with the bat for the visitors, smashing successive sixes in the final over from Pat Brown to see his side home with two balls to spare.
He ended unbeaten on 70 from 35 balls with nine fours and two sixes to seal a third win in the last four games for the Steelbacks.
D’Oliveira, Jack Haynes and Mitchell Santner all made useful contributions with the bat for the Rapids but it was keeper Ben Cox who provided late momentum.
Fit again opener Ricardo Vasconcelos provided the Steelbacks with early aggression and then Saif kept his nerve to see his side over the finishing line.
Ben Sanderson broke through for the Steelbacks in the opening over as Michael Bracewell sliced a drive to short third man.
Brett D’Oliveira got into his stride with successive boundaries off his Steelbacks counterpart David Willey.
But he came close on 12 to being run out after playing Sanderson to mid wicket and replays indicated he was short of his ground to Willey’s direct hit.
Haynes survived two chances in an over from Tom Taylor, a low caught and bowled and then at short third man.
He started to profit from these escapes in smashing a Sanderson full toss over the long on boundary and collecting two fours in two balls at Willey’s expense.
Andrew Tye’s introduction into the attack led to the downfall of Haynes who sliced a skier into third man’s hands.
Hose, in prime form in recent games, tried to hit spinner Freddie Heldreich over the top and was taken at long off.
There was more joy for Heldreich when D’Oliveira made room to cut and only picked out backward point.
It became three wickets in three overs for the left armer as Kashif Ali departed in exactly the same manner.
Mitchell Santner struck the ball sweetly in making 33 from 21 balls but then holed out to long-on after Tom Taylor’s return to the attack.
Cox, with an unbeaten 46 from 29 deliveries, and Ed Pollock ensured a competitive total.
The Steelbacks were restricted to 14 runs from their opening three overs before Chris Lynn, a century-maker against Leicestershire on Friday evening, launched Pat Brown over the long on boundary.
But Adam Finch brought his downfall when he could only find mid on.
Vasconcelos seized onto the introduction of spin for the final over the powerplay by striking Bracewell for three fours and a six.
Willey looked in good touch but again failed to capitalise on a decent start and sliced Santner to backward point.
Bracewell came in for some heavy punishment but picked up an important scalp when Vasconcelos sliced the ball down deep cover’s throat.
The Steelbacks looked in control while Saif Zaib and Josh Cobb were together during a stand of 70 in eight overs.
Cobb eventually perished to Brown but Saif was up to the task of scoring 15 from the final over, despatching balls two and three over the ropes before crashing the next for the winning boundary.
Steelbacks match-winner Saif Zaib said: “It was nice to get over the line there. We’ve had a few games where we’ve struggled a little bit but hopefully that can kickstart our tournament and we can get on as good run.
“We would have liked them to get 10-15 runs less but we always knew that we could catch up.
“We’ve got quite power down the order and it was a case of taking the game as deep as we could and luckily today was one of those where it came off.
“Cobby (Josh Cobb) is a class player and probably hasn’t quite got the scores he is capable of but I’m sure he will come to the party soon enough.
“It is always a pleasure batting with him and he is that calm head you need in those type of situations.
“Lewis (McManus) has improved his power hitting and worked hard on his T20 game and it did show and it’s the second game where me and him have been there at the end and hopefully there are many more to come.”
Worcestershire Assistant Head Coach, Kadeer Ali, said: “It was a fantastic game of cricket and it took a special knock there from Saif to take it away from us.
“The lads who batted said there was a little bit in the wicket and the new ball was tricky so we thought we had a decent score on the board.
“We were pretty happy at the half-way stage and after the powerplay they were 45-1 and we would have taken that.
“But Saif’s striking at a rate of 200 was a special knock.
“There was one chance that went up into the sun that Mitchell (Santner) didn’t see and there was a dropped catch the very next ball.
“It would have bene nice to have taken our chances but, going to the last over needing 15 to win, you are still massively in the game and two sixes in two balls have massively swung it their way.
“Ben Cox has been really good in the tournament. He has gone in during the back end of the innings and every game has had a nice little cameo and got a beautiful 40 plus today.”
Scorecard: Yorkshire Vikings v Derbyshire Falcons (Headingley, Leeds)
Wayne Madsen fell six runs short of becoming the first man in T20 history to score six successive fifties as his Derbyshire side were comfortably beaten by seven wickets by a revitalised Yorkshire in today’s Vitality Blast clash at Headingley.
England’s Dawid Malan then starred in the chase with a superb 81 not out off 57 balls, Yorkshire winning with 10 balls to spare.
Madsen’s 44 off 26 in the Falcons 166 for eight batting first means he remains one of seven players worldwide to have scored five fifties in a row in this format. Jos Buttler, Virender Sehwag and David Warner are on the list
Pakistan overseas opener Haider Ali’s belligerent 74 off 47 balls was the feature of Derbyshire’s innings having been inserted, and also his best score for the county in all cricket since arriving in April. But him and Madsen falling in quick succession meant the innings lost crucial momentum from 147 for two in the 17th over.
That paved the way for the Vikings to win their third successive North Group fixture, backing up last week’s successes over Nottinghamshire and Lancashire.
After three wickets for Ben Mike, Malan continued his excellent form with a third fifty in a row and could yet expand that aforementioned list of seven over the next week.
The left-hander shared 83 inside 10 overs for the first wicket with Adam Lyth, who made 31, and continued on with almost effortless class in hitting nine fours and three sixes.
Both teams came into this fixture having had identical seasons - winless in the Championship, having lost their first three games in the Blast before winning their last two last week.
Yorkshire started well, with Derbyshire limited to 19 for one after four overs, including Mike getting Luis Reece caught scooping.
But Ali counter-attacked with success and ensured 40 runs came off the next four overs, playing confidently on both sides of the wicket in excellent batting conditions.
Tom Wood fell to leg-spinner Jafer Chohan’s first ball in the ninth over - 59 for two - as he was brilliantly caught at a wide short third-man by a diving Will Luxton following a reverse sweep.
But that strike only served to bring Madsen to the crease.
Both Ali, who reached 50 off 35 balls, and Madsen struck the ball cleanly during an 88-run partnership inside nine overs, though the wind was quickly taken out of Derbyshire’s sails.
Madsen drilled David Wiese into the covers to end his shot at history - 147 for three in the 17th over - before Ali was smartly caught by Wiese off Mike in the next.
Mike also bowled a reverse sweeping Leus du Plooy before another three wickets fell in the last eight balls to give Yorkshire the definite advantage at halfway.
And it didn’t take long for the result to become obvious as Adam Lyth and Malan were quickly into their stride.
Malan pulled seamer Zak Chappell for six over square-leg and dominated the powerplay as 54 came from the first six overs.
Unlike Yorkshire, Derbyshire’s bowlers just couldn’t drag things back as they suffered defeat number four of the campaign.
Malan pulled his second six off George Scrimshaw’s pace early in the eight over, a vicious shot over midwicket to take him into the forties, and by the time he reached 50 off 35 balls in the 11th over, Yorkshire were 103 for one.
Lyth had been bowled slog-sweeping at Tom Wood’s off-spin before Luxton fell cheaply having miscued a pull at Scrimshaw to square-leg, leaving the score at 110 for two after 12.
Yorkshire’s target was reduced to 42 off the last five overs at 125 for two, and a couple of lusty blows from Namibian international all-rounder Wiese ended Malan’s hopes of a sixth career T20 century but more importantly gave the hosts another two points.
Wiese actually fell for an entertaining 30 to Chappell, but it was nothing more than a consolatory wicket at 158 for three in the 18th over. That allowed Mike to clinch the win a straight six off Zaman Khan in the 19th over.
Yorkshire's Dawid Malan said: “It’s going alright at the moment. It’s always nice when you’re hitting the ball nicely to try and contribute to wins. I’m fortunate that the three times I’ve got in, I’ve managed to get us close to or over the line.
“That’s key. It’s not about stats, it’s about how many wins you contribute to.
“When they were 120-2, we thought we’d be chasing 180 or 190. All credit to the bowlers. It’s a young bowling attack, and it’s great to see them be willing to step up, adapt and learn.”
Derbyshire batter Wayne Madsen said: "We were heading for 170-175, which would have been nice. But I still think 165 on there was a competitive total. We needed to execute our skills better in the first six overs (with the ball), and there were too many soft boundary options. They didn't have to take any risks.
"They showed us how to bowl. They pitched it up and hit the top of the stumps. We were more on the shorter side.
"For me, it's going well. I just want to be striking the ball well to give us the best chance to put on some big totals and get some wins."
South Group
Scorecard: Gloucestershire v Middlesex (County Ground, Bristol)
Ollie Price produced a telling performance with both bat and ball to guide Gloucestershire to an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Middlesex in an ultimately one-sided Vitality Blast contest at Bristol's Seat Unique Stadium.
The Oxford-born all-rounder top-scored with 46 and shared in crucial partnerships of 60 with Miles Hammond and 52 with Zafar Gohar for the second and third wickets respectively as the home side chased down a target of 140 with 10 balls to spare to register their second win in three days.
Middlesex have struggled to post big totals in the short format this season and this match was no exception, the visitors struggling to build meaningful partnerships and coming up short on 139-9 after being put into bat. Jack Davies hit a defiant unbeaten 46 and Max Holden contributed a valuable 34, but veteran left-arm seamer David Payne claimed 2-21 and off spinner Price 2-18 as Gloucestershire took wickets at regular intervals to keep a lid on things.
Victorious in three of their last four outings, improving Gloucestershire kept alive their hopes of progressing to the knock-out stages, but Middlesex are already down and out, consigned to the foot of the South Group after losing their opening six games.
Just as they did against Surrey on Friday night, Gloucestershire restricted their opponents to a below-par total and then managed the chase in a controlled fashion to win with something to spare.
Promoted to open the innings on the back of his record-breaking 19-ball 50 against Essex last week, Ben Charlesworth has yet to spark at the top of the order, and he was stumped off the bowling of Josh de Caires for 12 as Gloucestershire lost their first wicket with 24 on the board in the fourth over.
Also pushed up the order, Hammond made a better fist of things, twice cover driving Blake Cullen to the boundary and then stepping down the track and hitting Thilan Walallawita straight down the ground as the home side advanced their score to 43-1 while the fielding restrictions were in place.
Cautious beginnings gave way to adventure on the part of Price, the 21-year-old tucking into spinners de Caires and Walallawita to provide Gloucestershire with crucial momentum. The 21-year-old plundered a brace of fours off de Caires in the sixth over and then repeated the feat against Walallawita in the ninth, Gloucestershire reaching the halfway stage of their innings well-placed at 73-1.
Requiring a further 67 runs at 6.70 an over with nine wickets in hand, Gloucestershire were well-served by their second-wicket pair, who accumulated in a controlled fashion to lay the foundations for a successful chase. By the time Hammond squirted a catch to extra cover off the bowling of Luke Hollman, the partnership was worth 60, the Cheltenham-born left-hander having contributed 34 of those from 38 balls with 4 fours, and the rate remained at just over a run a ball.
Within four runs of a maiden T20 50, Price attempted to reach that landmark and win the game with a single blow in the 18th over, only to over-balance and fall to a sharp stumping by Davies. Left to finish things off, Zafar remained unbeaten on 37 from 22 balls, with a six and 3 fours, while skipper Jack Taylor hit the winning run.
Gloucestershire performed at the top of their game to reduce Surrey to 29-4 in the powerplay at Bristol 48 hours earlier, but were unable to emulate that feat on this occasion. They began well enough, Payne having Stephen Eskinazi caught at the wicket in the act of driving recklessly and Joe Cracknell hoisting Danny Lamb to square leg as Middlesex lurched to 20-2 in the third over.
But the home side then blotted their copybook when Holden, still to get off the mark, was put down at point by Matt Taylor off the bowling of Zafar Gohar with the score on 26. He and Pieter Malan advanced the score to a respectable 45-2 at the end of the six-over powerplay as the visitors sought to make the most of their good fortune.
But Gloucestershire continued to press hard and Price had Malan caught at long-on for a 19-ball 21 and Zafar bowled former team-mate Ryan Higgins for one as Middlesex, struggling to contend with spin from both ends, were reduced to 52-4 in the eighth over.
Fortunate to still be at large and determined to make good his escape, Holden led a Middlesex fightback of sorts, partially rebuilding the innings with a restorative fifth-wicket stand of 24 with de Caires. Gloucestershire were already regretting dropping the left-hander when he hoisted Matt Taylor for the first six of the match, and he went on to add a quartet of fours in a progressive innings that yielded 34 from 22 balls.
Veteran slow left armer Tom Smith eventually put paid to Holden's antics, luring him into a trap that saw him hit straight to Price at deep mid-wicket as Middlesex slipped to 76-5 in the eleventh.
A good deal of responsibility resting on their shoulders, de Caires and Davies ran hard between the wickets and scored at slightly better than a run-a-ball in adding 29 for the sixth wicket. But Gloucestershire stuck to their task and de Caires, having made 18 from 20 balls, hoisted Price to substitute fielder Zaman Akhter at long-on and perished going for the big hit with the score on 105, while Luke Hollman was run out for one by Smith's throw from deep backward square as Middlesex slumped to 114-7 in the sixteenth.
Worse followed for the visitors, Tom Helm falling cheaply to the returning Payne, who applied concerted pressure at the death, keeping things tight to further frustrate Middlesex.
In danger of running out of partners and forced to take matters into his own hands, Davies batted with real purpose to finish just four runs short of a half century, his 33-ball innings containing 3 fours and a six. Blake Cullen stayed with him long enough to stage a ninth-wicket alliance of 22 in 20 balls, but there was no escaping the strong suspicion that the Londoners had fallen short.
Scorecard: Kent Spitfires v Surrey Cricket (St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury)
Surrey have beaten the Kent Spitfires by five wickets after a nerve-shredding run chase in the Vitality Blast at Canterbury that went all the way to the final ball.
Surrey seemed to be cruising to the target after Laurie Evans hit 52, but a cluster of wickets kept the hosts in contention until Jamie Smith and Sean Abbott took charge.
Michael Hogan was left to defend nine off the final over: Surrey tied the scores with one ball remaining and Jack Leaning just failed to cling on to an exocet from Smith off the last delivery.
Earlier Will Jacks took three for 28 as the Spitfires were limited to 173 for 5, although having been 122 for five after 16 overs, Kent at least made things interesting. Leaning was unbeaten on 34 and Sam Billings was Kent’s next highest scorer with 30.
Kent chose to bat in front of a crowd of 4,500, believed to be a record for a Sunday afternoon at the Spitfire Ground, but they lost Tawanda Muyeye for nine at the end of the first over when he was bowled by Jacks.
Joe Denly then blasted 27 from 14 balls, but when Jacks pinged his off stump it drastically slowed the run rate.
Daniel Bell-Drummond was out for 25 when he drove Jacks straight to Abbott at deep mid-on and 6.2 overs went by without a boundary until Jordan Cox pulled Chris Jordan for four in the 11th.
Billings then reverse swept Sunil Narine for six in the 13th but he was bowled leg stump off the fifth ball of the over.
The score would have been significantly lower had Surrey not shelled four chances. Cox was the first to be reprieved when he was dropped by Jamie Overton on 20, although he’d added just three when Overton atoned, snaring him on the boundary after he’d reverse-wept Narine.
Leaning was then dropped by Gus Atkinson on seven and George Linde was on 15 when Jacks parried a catchable slog off Jordan over the rope for six. Ben Foakes couldn’t cover enough ground to snare Leaning after a miscued scoop off the same bowler and the batter cashed in when he hit Sam Curran for 16 off the 20th, including an overthrow after a rash shy at the stumps by the bowler from the final delivery.
It was a total that at least allowed the home fans some hope and although Jacks and Evans charged to 62 for nought at the end of the powerplay, there was a mini-wobble when Jacks was out for 30, skying Denly to Hogan and Grant Stewart then duped Sam Curran, who was caught by a diving Joey Evison at mid-off for 10.
When Linde struck twice in 13th to remove Foakes and Evans, both caught on the boundary by Kane Richardson and Muyeye respectively, the game was back in the balance and in the next over Tom Curran swiped Stewart to Richardson, leaving Surrey on 106 for five.
At which point Abbott and Smith intervened. With 48 needed from the last four Kent were arguably favourites, but Richardson’s 17th over went for 16, Stewart’s 18th went for 14 before the penultimate, from Richardson, shipped seven.
Needing nine to win off the last over, the first four deliveries yielded four and Smith swept four from the penultimate ball to tie the scores.
The field came in for the final delivery and Leaning flung himself at a violent cut from Smith, but he couldn’t cling on for what would have been a spectacular one-handed catch and Surrey had scraped home.
Scorecard: Somerset v Essex Eagles (County Ground, Taunton)
Matt Henry and Ben Green took three wickets each as Somerset defended a seemingly under par score to maintain their 100 per cent Vitality Blast South Group record with an 11-run win over Essex at Taunton.
The hosts could muster only 150 all out, having lost the toss, under cloudless skies on a pitch that looked full of runs. Sean Dickson top scored with 42 on his T20 debut for the club, while Daniel Sams claimed four for 20.
In reply, Essex were bowled out for 139, despite a bristling 63 off 43 balls from Michael Pepper, Henry finishing with three for 17 and Green taking his wicket tally in the competition to 14 with three for 24.
It meant a perfect six out of six record for the Cidermen in the group, while Essex were left with four points from as many matches.
Another Cooper Associates County Ground run feast looked on the cards when Somerset opener Tom Lammonby off-drove the first ball of the game from Sam Cook for a boundary.
The third over saw Lammonby hit the first six over long-on off Ben Allison. But Will Smeed departed for just a single with the total on 34, chipping a catch to deep backward square off Shane Snater.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit Sam Cook for a four through mid-wicket and a straight six in the fifth over. Lammonby also cleared the ropes again before being bowled by Sams with the score on 51, having made 34 off 23 deliveries.
At the end of the six-over power play, Somerset were 52 for two. Simon Harmer then held a brilliant two-handed return catch, moving to his left, to send back the dangerous Kohler-Cadmore for 17.
The home side were never able to regain momentum, Tom Abell sweeping a catch to deep mid-wicket off Matt Critchley and Lewis Gregory lofting to long-off to give Allison a wicket.
When Green was bowled by a full delivery from Cook, it was 108 for six in the 15th over. Dickson, who lost his place in Somerset’s County Championship side after a string of low scores this season, shouldered responsibility for a respectable score.
He cleared the ropes twice and hit 3 fours in facing 29 balls before being seventh man out, caught at long-on off Harmer.
Sams cleaned up the tail, sending back Roelof van der Merwe, Henry and Craig Overton as Somerset fell well short of the total they would have been targeting in such advantageous batting conditions.
Adam Rossington began the Essex reply with a boundary off the first ball, sent down by Overton, who went on to prove expensive from the River End.
Henry gave Somerset hope by dismissing Rossington in his first over and Robin Das in his second. But Das had already hit 3 fours off Overton before departing for 17.
Pepper struck two sixes and a four in Overton’s third over, at the end of which the England seamer was pulled from the attack having conceded 38.
It was 49 for two at the end of the power play. Peter Siddle then gave Somerset a boost as Critchley, on three, fell to a fine running catch by van der Merwe.
Pepper survived a tough chance to Henry at short third man off Gregory on 29 and celebrated his escape with a scooped six off Siddle.
Essex were approaching their task in cavalier manner and a fourth wicket fell when Paul Walter, having made only two, skyed a steepling catch to Abell at cover in Green’s first over.
Pepper moved to an impressive fifty off 31 balls in the 11th over, but lost another partner when Tom Westley was bowled by van der Merwe.
At 97 for five, Essex required seven runs an over. Their task increased when Pepper was caught behind off van der Merwe, stepping back to strike through the off side.
Harmer reverse swept a six off van der Merwe before Henry yorked him for 16 with the target 21 off 13 balls. Green followed up by having Sams brilliantly caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Lammonby and Allison snapped up at short third-man.
A suicidal mix-up between the last pair saw Snater run out off the first ball of the final over and completed Somerset’s most unlikely success of their six group victories.
After establishing himself as the leading wicket-taker in the Blast with 14, Somerset’s Ben Green grinned: “I’m bowling a few lob-ups and they keep getting hit to the fielders!
“We pride ourselves on our fielding and it has probably been the best in the competition this far. With three international bowlers available to us, there are so many options for who bowls at the death.
“Today we thought our total was 20 or 30 runs below par, but that with the experience of our bowling attack, it might prove defendable.
“We have been chasing down scores successfully and it’s good to know we can also win games by defending lower totals.”
Essex top scorer Michael Pepper said: “At the halfway point we felt we were on top and were very happy to be chasing 150 on that pitch at what is usually a fast-scoring ground.
“We just couldn’t get enough partnerships together and at the end we lost too many wickets, which was disappointing.
“We spoke beforehand about the right lengths to bowl on that wicket and all the bowlers delivered for us, backed up by some good fielding.
“I was pleased to be back in the team after an annoying injury, but disappointed to get out when I could have been the one to see us through to victory.”
Scorecard: Sussex Sharks v Glamorgan (County Ground, Hove)
Glamorgan made it four wins out of five in their Vitality Blast campaign when they beat the Sussex Sharks by 32 runs at the 1st Central County Ground.
The Sharks, though, are moving in the opposite direction. This was their third straight defeat, and their fourth in five games, and they now have a mountain to climb if they are to progress in the competition. In their most recent defeats it was their batting that let them down, but here it was their bowling.
Chasing a huge victory target of 220, they never looked in the chase despite a plucky charge from Tom Alsop, who scored 58 from 41 deliveries. Tom Clark, pulling across the line, was bowled by Jamie McIlroy in the third over and in the next fellow opener Tom Haines departed, unluckily run out through a deflected straight drive by Alsop.
Sussex needed something special from Ravi Bopara, but their skipper departed in sloppy circumstances, lifting a full toss from Kiran Carlson to long-on for just ten. And two overs later Shadab Khan was caught at cow corner, just below the dressing rooms, for three.
The situation was hopeless. But no-one told Alsop. And for a short period, while he found a reliable partner in Michael Burgess, the near-impossible looked on. With ten overs to go Sussex needed 148. Then, from the last five, they needed 90, at an improbable rate of 18 runs an over. But then Alsop was yorked by Dan Douthwaite to make it 133-5 in the 16th over and even the most diehard Sharks supporters gave up hope, not even encouraged by some poor catching by the Glamorgan fielders. At least some late hitting by Nathan McAndrew, who struck four sixes in an unbeaten 28, entertained those spectators who remained from a large crowd.
Glamorgan had made the most of a flat pitch, a fast outfield and some wayward bowling and fielding from the Sharks to pile up 219-5, with Colin Ingram (48 off 32 balls) and Chris Cooke (50 off 28) the stars of the show. There were 23 extras in the innings, including eight no-balls and nine wides.
They got off to a flyer, scoring 71-1 in the powerplay. There were also two dropped catches in that opening passage of play, to add to the fielding side’s frustrations, including a sitter by James Coles.
Glamorgan did lose the dangerous looking Eddie Byron early on, the batsman, injuring himself in the course of a 10-ball 17, and had to be helped off the field. But captain Carlson maintained the impetus of the innings with two sixes and three fours in a 16-ball 26 before he skied Henry Crocombe to the wicketkeeper Burgess.
Sam Northeast, quiet in the opening overs, picked up his pace and raised the hundred from the final delivery of the 10th over when he clouted Shadab over square-leg for six. The Sharks dismissed Northeast at 106 in the 11th over when the batsman drove Crocombe to short extra-cover where Bopara took an excellent low catch.
But because of their poor start the Sharks had difficulty stemming the flow of runs as Ingram and Cooke plundered their bowling. Shadab, bowling the 14th over, went for 18 runs and then the next over, bowled by McAndrew, went for 19 runs as Cooke raised the 150 with a marvellous stroke, carving McAndrew over extra-cover for six. Tymal Mills, Crocombe and Bopara had reasonable bowling figures but the other three, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, McAndrew and Shadab were very expensive.
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