Vitality Blast 2023 June 7th - All Matches - Match Reports, Results, Scorecards and Reactions

Here are the Vitality Blast June 7th 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

 

North Group

 

June 7: Birmingham Bears v Derbyshire Falcons (Edgbaston, Birmingham)

A stunning onslaught from captain Leus Du Plooy lifted Derbyshire Falcons to a thrilling six-wicket Vitality Blast win over Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston.

After the Bears piled up 203 for seven, Du Plooy smashed an unbeaten 66 from 25 balls to see his side to 207 for four with three balls to spare.

Sam Hain’s unbeaten 79 not out (36 balls) in the Bears innings contained some breathtaking hitting but was trumped by Du Plooy’s masterclass.

After openers Luis Reece (57, 38 balls) and Haider Ali (48, 34) added 96 in ten overs to set the perfect foundation for the big chase, Du Plooy built a memorable victory on it with an exhilarating display of hitting which brought him five sixes and four fours.

England all-rounder Chris Woakes was socked for 51 in his four overs as the Falcons side completed a quickfire double over the Bears and handed them their third successive defeat.

The first half of the Bears innings did not go to their plan after they chose to bat. Rob Yates made a perky 21 but leg-spinner Matty McKiernan (three for 39) bowled potential big-hitters Moeen Ali and Glenn Maxwell through indeterminate shots before they could inflict any damage and also castled Alex Davies for a sketchy 26 (25 balls).

Hain batted beautifully but needed support and found it from Dan Mousley (26, 17 balls) and, after Mousley was bowled through a lap by Zak Chappell, from Woakes. The England star transformed the innings with 23 from 11 balls in a dazzling stand of 48 in 18 balls with Hain.

Woakes was yorked by Zaman Khan but Hain was at his most destructive in the closing overs, thumping 36 from his last eight balls faced.  

The Falcons faced a testing target but, after riding their luck early on, Reece and Haider Ali played sweetly to raise 50 from 33 balls. They set down the perfect platform before being parted in scruffy fashion when Haider Ali charged and missed at Danny Briggs. Davies missed the stumping at the first attempt but, with the batter down the track, had time to complete it second time round.

Moeen Ali, playing his penultimate game for the Bears before he departs on Ashes duty, applied a brake with an astute spell which brought the wicket of Reece, bowled through a slog sweep. As the required rate escalated, and Wayne Madsen suffered a rare failure when he holed out to Mousley, the pressure increased on the Falcons.

Du Plooy went to the crease with that pressure at its height. He needed to hit brilliantly from his first ball – and did so to take his side to a victory which tightens the North Group table right up.

 

Bears batter Sam Hain said:

"The ebbs and flows from that game make it very hard to sum up. From a batting point of view we were something like 75 for four at the halfway stage so to get over 200 was a great effort.

"Then they got off to a bit of a flier and then we clawed it back but you have to give credit to Leus Du Plooy. He played a fantastic innings at the end there. 

"It was just one of those games. In this format you can't dwell on losses, you have just got to learn from them and put things right in the next game. 

"It was a good pitch which didn't slow up as much as we thought it would but credit to Derbyshire. When you are chasing 200, that's ten an over, someone has got to pay a special innings and unluckily for us they had somebody who did that. Credit where it's due. We are hurting but you have just got to learn from the hurt and put it right next time."

 

Falcons captain Leus Du Plooy said:

"Personally, I needed that after a run of low scores. From the team's perspective, it felt like we needed a win today to stay in the hunt so it was great to get over the line.

"It was a great example of the old saying that if you take it deep then anything can happen. Our openers gave us the perfect start and that's something we identified from their innings when they probably didn't take it on enough in the first ten overs. 

"We realised that actually it was a really good wicket so our game plan at the halfway stage was to be proactive in the first ten overs and they did a brilliant job. In the closing overs we just had to keep calm heads and I said to Guesty, 'let's take it to the last over and the last ball because if we do we win this game.' He was cool, calm and collected and smashed the first ball of the last over out of the park and that's where we won it."

June 7: Lancashire Lightning v Worcestershire Rapids (Stanley Park, Blackpool)

England limited overs captain Jos Buttler’s 58 off 42 balls helped Lancashire Lightning arrest a four-game Vitality Blast losing streak as they chased 178 to beat North Group leaders Worcestershire Rapids by four wickets with three balls remaining at Blackpool.

Opener Buttler posted only his second fifty in 14 T20 innings dating back to April when he was playing at the IPL, hitting five fours and three sixes.

But this was far from an easy chase, one thrown into doubt when Buttler and hometown hero Steven Croft, run out for 40, fell in the  space of three balls in the 15th over as the score fell to 114 for four.

But New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell, a league pro at Stanley Park in 2016, got the Lightning home with a crucial 33 not out off 14 balls to seal a fourth win from eight games. He had earlier taken three for nine from two overs of seam.

Worcestershire, who lost for the second time in six games, had posted 177 for nine with 42 off 29 balls for Adam Hose and 57 off 33 for New Zealander Mitchell Santner.

The innings of Hose and Santner stood out like a sore thumb in an otherwise scratchy Worcestershire batting performance, with no other batter reaching 20.

They shared 59 inside six overs for the fourth wicket to advance from 65 for three in the ninth over after Colin de Grandhomme’s seamers had openers Brett D’Oliveira and Michael Bracewell caught at mid-on and mid-off.

This was a curious innings in so many ways on a two-paced pitch.

Santner offered two relatively straightforward catches to Mitchell and Rob Jones on seven and 10, allowing him the chance to take the lion’s share of 28 off compatriot de Grandhomme in the 18th over.

That included three sixes - one pulled off an above waist high no ball.

Immediately either side of that over, Mitchell removed Kashif Ali, Ben Cox and Ed Pollock as the the score fell to 173 for seven in the 19th.

Cox and Pollock fell in the 19th, both to Croft catches. The first was a stunner diving away to his left at mid-off. But Mitchell only bowled two overs.

Santner reached a 30-ball fifty in that blitz against de Grandhomme, also ensuring his fellow all-rounder an unwanted place in the Lancashire record books with their most expensive spell of two for 57 off four overs.

In the early stages of Lancashire’s chase, Buttler dragged Adam Finch over wide mid-on for four before, in the fourth over, scooping Pat Brown for six over fine-leg and easing him through midwicket for four next ball.

In moving to 19 and the Lightning score to 30 without loss after four overs, it already had a feeling of a return to some kind of form for the superstar opener following a run of five ducks in 13 T20 innings prior to this. And that is how it transpired.

At the end of fifth over, Buttler’s opening partner Phil Salt chipped Dillon Pennington to mid-on before Luke Wells miscued Finch high to square-leg in the next as the score fell to 38 for two.

For the next few overs, Buttler and Croft struggled for momentum as the scored moved to 59 for two after 10 overs, 119 more required for the hosts.

Buttler then hit back-to-back sixes off Pat Brown in the next, with another scoop on his way to 50 off 37 balls. That lit the blue touch paper.

Fifty four runs came off the next four overs before a hiccup.

Buttler edged Pennington behind and Croft was run out following a mix-up with captain Liam Livingstone - 114 for four in the 15th over, 64 more required.

Mitchell then hit a straight six off Santner’s left-arm spin to take the target to 31 off three overs at 147 for four.

But Livingstone (23) drilled Brown to mid-off before the four-time England seamer had Tom Hartley brilliantly caught and bowled next ball. At 157 for six, Lancashire needed 21 off 14 balls.

But that target was reduced to four Brown in the last over, with Mitchell finishing it with a straight driven boundary on the up.

 

Lancashire wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler said:  “Winning games of cricket is what you want to do, and it’s a much better dressing room. The competition is quite even when you look at the table, and there’s still plenty of time left for us.

“I’m pleased. I had a really long hit yesterday and hit the ball well. Sometimes you just don’t get the runs you want to score. Today, I didn’t feel anywhere near my best. But it was nice to get some runs under my belt and time in the middle. 

“It’s very easy to get caught up in the scores. That’s what everybody else looks at. Personally, I have the discipline to look at my own game without getting too caught up in results. At the start of the IPL, I probably felt as good as I’ve ever felt with the bat. Then the back half fell away. Not just the results were different, but something felt different for me. But since I’ve been back in the UK, I’ve felt great even though I hadn’t got a score until today.”

 

Extra..... Jos on Moeen Ali’s return to England’s Test team. “I’m excited for him. I think he will fit in perfectly to what Ben and Brendon have brought to the England team. I’m sure he sees it as a bit of a free hit really. 

“He’s coming back into what is an incredibly successful team at the moment, a fantastic culture and an environment that suits him brilliantly. Why not give it a crack? 

“We know what a fantastic bowler he’s been over a long period of time. Not just that, the runs he can score as well. I’m quite intrigued to see Mo play Bazball. I think it will suit him nicely. 

“Mo’s been a crucial part of England Cricket for a very long time. He’s played a lot of Test Matches, and he’s my right-hand man in the white ball set-up. He’s a crucial guy to have in the dressing room.”

 

Worcestershire all-rounder Mitchell Santner said:  “It was a tight loss for us. I thought we bowled exceptionally well in the powerplay and the few overs after that. But they needed 120 off the last 10, which can happen against some good players. 

“It’s tough to stop Jos (Buttler) when he’s going.

“There were a couple of things. The last couple of overs of our innings with the bat, we wanted 190, which might have been enough out there. Then, trying to close overs out at the end.

“We’re doing some good stuff. That’s encouraging.”

South Group

 

June 7: Hampshire Hawks v Somerset (Rose Bowl, Southampton)

Nathan Ellis produced two stunning death overs to condemn Somerset to their first defeat of this season’s Vitality Blast as Hampshire Hawks made it four wins on the bounce.

Hampshire had got up to around par thanks to James Vince’s fifth 50-plus score of the tournament and Joe Weatherley’s unbeaten 59.

Chasing 148 to win, Will Smeed cracked an exciting 52 and Tom Kohler-Cadmore kept Somerset on track with 43.

But Australian quick Ellis went for three and four in the 17th and 19th overs to return one for 26, with Scott Currie defending 18 in the final over as Hampshire won by five runs.

Hampshire had only failed to defend 178 at the Ageas Bowl once before in T20s but Tom Banton and Smeed were desperate to add to the Zak Crawley-inspired Kent eight-wicket destruction in 2020.

The duo piled on 69 runs in the powerplay with inventiveness, power and clean ball striking.

But Liam Dawson found a top edge out of Banton – who scored 31 in 21 balls – in the seventh over, only for his replacement Tom Kohler-Cadmore to blast Currie for three fours.

Smeed had returned a modest 70 runs in his first six innings of the summer but dominated with seven fours and a pair of sixes in a 30-ball fifty. But he fell two balls later when slogging Mason Crane to deep mid-wicket.

Sean Dickson lost his leg stump to John Turner, although Kohler-Cadmore heated up a lull with two huge sixes off Crane in the 16th over. But fell to a well-aimed Turner bouncer with 26 needed off 15 balls.

Aneurin Donald pulled off a stunning catch to send away Tom Lammonby as Ellis’ 19th over only went for four to leave 19 required off the final Currie over.

Lewis Gregory was run out and despite still going for 13, Currie and the Hawks came out victors to end Somerset’s six-game winning run.

Having been invited to bat first, Ben McDermott pulled, cut and ramped a trio of boundaries but fell in the third over to Matt Henry.

After his run of half-centuries was ended by Middlesex on Tuesday, Vince added Somerset to his victims this season, although with slightly less fluency than some of his imposing knocks earlier in the Blast.

Three fours brought up 54 for one in the powerplay, with two more sixes to follow in his 37 balls fifty – although after bonking Roelof van der Merwe back over his head for his second maximum he failed to strike a boundary off his last 14 deliveries before holing out to long-on.

Toby Albert had joined him in a 60 stand before falling to a swing to long on as Somerset took control of the middle overs thanks to Lewis Gregory, Ben Green and van der Merwe’s squeezing.

Weatherley escaped the press firstly by carving van der Merwe twice to the cover boundary before upping the ante with two swats for six to take him to a 31-ball half-century.

Ross Whiteley had run hard to help in a 73-run stand, although he only personally managed a scratchy 14 off 15 balls. Whiteley was brilliantly caught by Smeed on the boundary before Donald’s looping six over extra cover took the hosts to 178 for four.

 

June 7: Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles (St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury)

Sam Cook took a hat-trick as Essex beat the Kent Spitfires by four wickets in the Vitality Blast at Canterbury.

The visitors recovered from an early-innings scare to close on 155 for six, Matt Critchley hitting an unbeaten 63.

Cook had taken four for 18 as Kent were held to 150 for eight, which actually represented a recovery. Joe Denly was the top scorer with 39 and Grant Stewart gave the hosts something to bowl at with 37 from 16 balls, but after slumping to 31 for four, Critchley’s measured innings saw Essex home with 10 balls to spare.

Kent were celebrating the 171s Canterbury Cricket Week but their decision to bat backfired when, having put on 32 for the opening wicket, they were rocked by a spell of four runs for four wickets in eight balls.

Daniel Bell-Drummond got away with an ugly shot off Shane Snater that sailed over the boundary, but he hit the next ball almost vertically and was caught by Feroze Khushi for 22.

Cook then sent Tawanda Muyeye’s stumps flying before getting Sam Billings caught behind for a golden duck and he claimed his first Blast hat-trick when Jordan Cox was plumb lbw.

With under five overs gone the remaining batters had little choice other than to drop anchor and Jack Leaning had made nine from 20 balls when he hit Critchley to Daniel Sams at forward square leg.

When Simon Harmer’s 15^th over went for just two the old joke about it not being a test match leapt to mind, but the charge finally came in the 17^th when George Linde hit Harmer for six, only to edge the next ball straight to Robin Das.

When Cook bowled Denly, Grant Stewart was left with the tail, but an eight-ball final over from Sams went for 27, including two sixes from Stewart, who was eventually caught by Das off the fifth legitimate delivery. A misfield allowed Kent to scramble two off the last ball, but the total still looked below par, until Essex started to bat.

Fred Klaassen, back after missing the start of the Blast for personal reasons, had Khushi lbw with the second ball of the innings.

It was one for two when Dan Lawrence edged Michael Hogan’s first ball down the leg side where he was brilliantly caught by Billings.

Hogan then bowled Das’s middle stump for 11, breaking Sky’s stump camera and when Michael Pepper went for 13, skying Kane Richardson to Billings Essex were 31 for four, but Paul Walter and Critchley steadied their nerves.

The former made 27 from 15 before he cut Stewart to Leaning and Sams chipped in with 17 before Linde bowled him.

Critchley never allowed the run rate to escalate while Will Buttleman survived an lbw shout from Linde and then reverse swept him for four, before hitting Hogan for six into the Old Dover Road gardens.

Fittingly Critchley hit the winning runs when he hit Joe Denly for six over cow corner.

The win keeps Essex well in contention for Finals Day and a fifth consecutive defeat leaves Kent’s hopes of qualifying looking almost skeletal.

 

Essex’s Simon Cook said: “It was nice to get the wickets but even more special to get it in a winning cause, that’s the most important thing. We were happy to restrict them to 150 and to knock it off. The way Critch played, Butters played well at the end all the lads chipped in, so it was a good win on what appeared to be a tricky wicket.

“Especially over the last two years, even though we did win it in 2019 I think we’re a much, much better side than we were then. I think we’ve really evolved, we’ve had a bit of a change of personnel with young lads coming in and new faces, but everyone contributing is the most pleasing thing.

“Everyone that’s come in has done a job and for Will Buttleman coming in at the end, it could have been tricky if he’d got out so to smack one out the park and kill the game like he did was really impressive and that’s what it’s all about, everyone’s got to contribute and so far this season that’s been the case.

“To be honest I started the season pretty poorly in the powerplay so in the last couple of games I just tried to go back to basics as well, hit the seam and challenge the stumps and it’s worked for the last couple of nights.

“In this format you can try a million things and sometimes it better to just try and simplify things and go back to what you do well. It’s worked well in the last couple of games and hopefully it will in the future.”

Eds note: Cook became the first English player to take a Blast hat-trick for Essex.

 

Kent’s Grant Stewart said: “It’s always a challenge when you lose wickets in the powerplay but you’ve got to hand it to Cook. There was a bit of assistance out there and he bowled really well, as we’ve seen him bowl in a lot of championship games as well.

“It was a bit frustrating that we managed to get to a bit of a score and the boys who bowled in the powerplay did really well and got us in the game, so it is a little bit disappointing but that’s cricket isn’t it?

“They (Denly and Linde) played really well, they set it up for us to have a little bit of a crack at the end. If they’d got out in those middle overs it would have made it an eve taller task for us so those boys deserve the credit as they batted really well through that difficult period and we managed to get a bit of a score.

“We bowled fairly well in patches but fell down at times as well.

“It’s a bit of a tough one to take, getting four wickets in the powerplay and come out on the losing side but it was a total where they could pace their innings quite nicely, knowing what they needed to chase.

“It was a massive bonus for us to have Fred Klaassen back, you saw how well he bowled today for all four overs, but specifically I think he was in the top three in the country last year in the powerplay so he’s massive asset to our team and the boys are really pumped to have him back in the team and playing for us. Hopefully he’ll help us turn a few results around.”

June 7: Glamorgan v Surrey (Sophia Gardens, Cardiff)

A record-breaking batting performance from Laurie Evans and his Surrey teammates set up a 65 run victory against Glamorgan in their Vitality Blast match in Cardiff. 

Evans made the highest score made against Glamorgan and the highest score made on this ground as Surrey also set a record total at Sophia Gardens. 

With Sam Curran and Will Jacks both making runs, Surrey set Glamorgan a target of 237 to win this match. This was a hard enough task but with big hitting all-rounder Dan Douthwaite unable to bat, having only managing to bowl 10 balls before he left the field, it became even harder.

Glamorgan eventually reached 171 for eight as Surrey closed out a comfortable win with Sam Northeast’s 76 the only significant score from the home side. 

Surrey won the toss and elected to bat and were electrifying from the very start of their innings. Will Jacks gave Evans great support in an opening stand that brought 115 runs from just 64 balls. Jacks was dismissed when he was trapped lbw by Glamorgan’s Australian leg-spinner Peter Hatzoglou for 46 from 29 balls.

While Evans had been the aggressor in his stand with Jacks it was Sam Curran who took on the role when he walked into bat at three. In innings that was full of outrageous shots, seven of which were smoked over the boundary for six, it was the three balls Curran hit over the rope in Prem Sisodiya’s final over that will live longest in the memory. The last of these was a shot where Curran danced down the pitch a long way from where the ball pitched and still managed to straight drive it for six. 

It was in that same Sisodiya over that Glamorgan nearly had some respite from the partnership between Curran and Evans, but Kiran Carlson, playing with a dislocated finger he sustained in Sunday’s match against Sussex, put down a catch at long on when Evans was on 94. 

Evans made the most of his chance to score his third hundred in T20 cricket and his first for Surrey. His career best 118 not out came from 60 balls and contained 12 fours and six sixes. 

Curran departed in the final over, caught by Colin Ingram at long on going for another six, as Surrey posted 236 for two, the highest total made on this ground, going past the 216 for five that Glamorgan made against Hampshire in 2019. 

Glamorgan were left with a near insurmountable task of going at nearly 12 runs an over from the very start of their innings and they were two wickets down inside the PowerPlay with Carlson and Callum Taylor both falling inside the first six overs. 

Glamorgan came into this match with four wins from five matches and most of that success has been down to the form of Colin Ingram and Chris Cooke. There was a rare failure for both of them with Ingram dismissed for 11 by Sunil Narine and Cooke clean bowled by Gus Atkinson for 12.

With Cooke and Ingram gone it was left to Northeast to try and bring some respectability to the Glamorgan total and his half century the only bright spot on a tough day for his side. 

 

Sam Northeast, Glamorgan CCC - Surrey played very well tonight, Laurie Evans and Will Jacks started incredibly with the bat and then Sam Curran came in and played brilliantly as well. 230 was probably too much. If we had got somewhere near 200 to chase it might have been a different run chase. They bowled pretty well at stages there, it was a tough night. 

Colin Ingram and Cooke Cooke have been in unbelievable form and have shown as the way in this competition. We will be back, and those guys will keep on firing, they have shown unbelievable form in this comp. We will bounce back on Friday. It wasn’t to be tonight but we are looking forward to another game. 

It was nice to spend a bit of time in the middle. It wasn’t my fluent best, they bowled well at stages, and it was difficult, they are very good bowling outfit, but it was nice to get some [runs] and hopefully that will kick start the T20 season. 

Sam Curran, Surrey CCC - We have played a few games away from home on the bounce which has been quite tough for us, but the way Laurie Evans and Will Jacks started was incredible and it was a great performance from everyone. 

Anytime you walk in at hundred and whatever it was for nought you get that free licence. We have such a strong batting line up that was really exciting. And I guess when you are in that type of mood and Laurie is going the way he way was... the ground was a bit smaller today than we usually expect, really good wicket as well so we knew we needed to score more than 200.

T20 is a format where you come out flying. We lost Jason Roy to an early injury, Laurie Evans has gone up top and done really well. We have a powerful middle order as well so it gives you that opportunity at the top of the order to keep going and hopefully we can keep this momentum going as the games come pretty quick. 

 

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