T20 Blast 2019, Day 8: Round-up

It was a busy day in the T20 Blast on Friday. As many as eight games were played out of which two games had to be cut short due to rain. The match between Sussex and Surrey was an absolute thriller and it finished in a tie. Thus, both the teams shared one point each.

Alex Hales was back in form in the match against Derbyshire and put his hitting prowess on display. For Durham, D’Arcy Short and Scott Steel played excellent knocks. Their aggressive style of cricket helped their team chase a target of 159 in just 11.1 overs. Pakistan’s Babar Azam missed out on a century by a narrow margin as he ran out of overs. Though, his unbeaten 95 wasn’t sufficient to hand his team over with a win.

Here is how things progressed on the day:

Sussex vs Surrey – South Group

In this brilliant game of cricket, Sussex was put in to bat first. Opener Philip Salt provided the team with a terrific start by scoring 27 runs off just 10 balls. Skipper Luke Wright also played a gem of a knock and remained unbeaten on 76 off 59 deliveries. However, none of the other batsmen scored more than 10 runs and the team could only get to 144 in 20 overs. The Sussex bowlers did really well to keep things under control.

Openers Mark Stoneman and Aaron Finch scored 6 runs each before they were dismissed. Will Jacks and Ollie Pope looked good for their 35 and 43. They even scored these runs at a really good pace but couldn’t stay in the middle for long. In the last over, Surrey needed 12 runs to win the game. They only had two wickets left and it didn’t seem as if they’d get over the line. But Imran Tahir hit an excellent six under pressure and ensured that the game was drawn. Jofra Archer, Reece Topley and Tymal Mills picked up two wickets each.

Brief Scores:

SUS: 144/8 in 20 overs (Luke Wright 76*, Philip Salt 27, Gareth Batty 3/20)

SUR: 144/8 in 20 overs (Ollie Pope 43, Will Jacks 35, Tymal Mills 2/16)

Result: Match tied.

Somerset vs Hampshire – South Group

Even though they lost Tom Banton early in the innings, Babar Azam held one end tight for Somerset. He mixed caution and aggression while the others batted around him. The ICC No.1 T20I batsman remained unbeaten on 95 off 61 deliveries and played a fabulous knock. Peter Trego and James Hildreth scored 35 and 8 runs respectively as Somerset got to 172/3.

However, the bowlers weren’t able to defend this total. Even though they dismissed the likes of Rilee Rossouw and James Vince early, the other batsmen took the onus. Opener Aneurin Donald scored 48 runs while Liam Dawson anchored the innings with an unbeaten 47 off 40 balls. Chris Morris (15 off 6), James Fuller (28 off 12) and Lewis McManus (15 off 5) provided the team with the final impetus as Hampshire chased the target with three balls to spare.

Brief Scores:

SOM: 172/3 in 20 overs (Babar Azam 95*, Peter Trego 35, Chris Morris 1/34)

HAM: 174/6 in 20 overs (Aneurin Donald 48, Liam Dawson 47*, Lewis Gregory 2/31)

Result: Hampshire won by 4 wickets.

The brief scores of the other games that were played on the day:

Northamptonshire vs Warwickshire – North Group

NOR: 155/6 in 20 overs (R Keogh 59*, A Wakely 38, Fidel Edwards 2/16)

WARKS: 111/8 in 16 overs (Sam Hain 29, Adam Hose 27, Ben Sanderson 2/17)

Result: Northamptonshire won by 21 runs (DLS Method).

Leicestershire vs Durham – North Group

LEIC: 158/10 in 20 overs (Colin Ackermann 58, Mark Cosgrove 36, Nathan Rimmington 3/26)

DUR: 161/1 in 11.1 overs (D’Arcy Short 77*, Scott Steel 70, Chris Wright 1/34)

Result: Durham won by 9 wickets.

Lancashire vs Worcestershire – North Group

WORCS: 130/9 in 20 overs (Martin Guptill 37, Wayne Parnell 19, Liam Livingstone 3/21)

LANCS: 71/1 in 9 overs (Alex Davies 29*, Liam Livingstone 21, Wayne Parnell 1/19)

Result: Lancashire won by 21 runs (DLS Method).

Glamorgan vs Middlesex – South Group

GLAM: 136/10 in 19.3 overs (C Cooke 29, D Lloyd 27, Roland-Jones 5/21)

MDX: 137/2 in 17.2 overs (Stevie Eskinazi 51, Dawid Malan 45*, Marchant de Lange 1/16)

Result: Middlesex won by 8 wickets.

Kent vs Essex – South Group

KENT: 175/6 in 20 overs (Heino Kuhn 55*, D Bell-Drummond 43, Matthew Quinn 2/40)

ESS: 153/7 in 20 overs (Ryan ten Doeschate 58*, A Wheater 20, Hardus Viljoen 2/28)

Result: Keny won by 22 runs.

Derbyshire vs Nottinghamshire – North Group

NOTTS: 198/5 in 20 overs (Ben Duckett 64, Alex Hales 63, Matthew Critchley 2/43)

DERBY: 171/8 in 20 overs (L Reece 61, B Godleman 28, Harry Gurney 5/30)

Result: Nottinghamshire won by 27 runs.