Let us take a look at the highlights of Vitality Blast 2021 matches that took place on 9 July.
Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire, Trent Bridge
Yorkshire 60/3 in 7 overs (Lyth 26; Paterson 2-5) lost to Nottinghamshire 65/0 in 3.4 overs (Hales 31*) by 10 wickets with 20 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Samit Patel.
Alex Hales’ unbeaten 9-ball 31 helped Nottinghamshire beat Yorkshire by 10 wickets in a rain-hit seven overs-a-side contest at Trent Bridge. Chasing 61, Hales and Peter Trego (29* in 13) guided Notts past the finishing line in just 3.4 overs.
Earlier, Adam Lyth (26 in 18) and Jordan Thompson (28 in 19) took Yorkshire to reach 60/2 before both fell to Dane Paterson (2-5) in the final over.
Worcestershire v Warwickshire, New Road
Worcestershire 174/6 in 20 overs (D’Oliveira 45; Rhodes 4-34) beat Warwickshire 125 in 18 overs (Pollock 53; Sodhi 4-24) by 49 runs. Player of the Match: Brett D’Oliveira.
Brett D’Oliveira (45, 4-0-15-3) single-handedly helped Worcestershire beat Warwickshire by 49 runs in the Midlands derby at New Road. He and Ben Cox (43 in 28) chipped in with valuable contributions to pile 174/6 after opting to bat. Will Rhodes was the pick of the Warwickshire bowler, with 4-34.
Coming to chase, Ed Pollock (53 in 35) did not get much support as Warwickshire stumbled in the later stages. They bowled out for 125 in 18 overs. D’Oliveira and Ish Sodhi (4-24) did the most damage for Worcestershire.
Lancashire v Northamptonshire, Old Trafford
Northamptonshire 142/8 in 20 overs (Keogh 56; Hurt 3-22) lost to Lancashire 144/2 in 15.4 overs (Allen 66; Heldreich 1-20) by 8 wickets with 26 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Finn Allen.
Lancashire kept their quarter-final hopes alive with an eight-wicket win against Northamptonshire. Liam Hurt (3-22) and Danny Lamb (2-27) restricted Northants to 142/8 after they opted to bat. With a 48-ball 56, Rob Keogh top-scored in this innings.
In reply, Keaton Jennings and Finn Allen played aggressively from ball one. The pair forged 112 runs in 68 balls for the opening wicket before Mohammad Nabi (1-26) got Allen (66 in 37). There was little contest left after Allen’s departure as Jennings (54* in 41) ensured Lancashire’s victory with 26 balls to spare.
Durham v Derbyshire, Chester-le-Street
Durham 176/9 in 20 overs (Dickson 37; Thomson 3-23) lost to Derbyshire 180/4 in 20 overs (Du Plooy 47; van Meekeren 2-31) by 6 wickets with 0 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Matthew Critchley.
At Chester-le-Street, Derbyshire won a thriller against Durham off the last ball. Chasing 177, they required eight runs in the last six balls to win the target. Brooke Guest (34* in 20), who had an unbeaten 64-run stand with Matthew Critchley (33* in 22) for the fifth wicket, hit the winning four on the last ball of the contest.
Earlier, Scott Borthwick (33 in 18), Ben Raine (32) and Sean Dickson (37) helped Durham pile 176/9. Alex Thomson returned 3-23 and Jade Dernbach 2-34.
Sussex vs Essex, Hove
Essex 146/9 in 20 overs (Westley 53; Jordan 3-30) lost to Sussex 148/4 in 18.3 overs (Bopara 62*; Nijjar 2-19) by 6 wickets with 9 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Ravi Bopara.
Ravi Bopara starred in Sussex’s six-wicket win over Essex at Hove. Chasing 147, he hit eight fours in his unbeaten 46-ball 62 to take Sussex home. He was assisted by Delray Rawlins (50 in 29).
After being asked to bat, Tom Westley top-scored with 53 in Essex’s 146/9. Chris Jordan (3-30), David Wiese (2-28) were all among wickets but it was Ollie Robinson who stole the show, with impressive figures of 4-0-15-2.
Hampshire v Somerset, Southampton
Hampshire 175/6 in 20 overs (McManus 60*; de Lange 2-33) beat Somerset 100 in 16 overs (van der Merwe 25; Currie 4-24) by 75 runs. Player of the Match: Joe Weatherley.
Bottom-placed Hampshire had a 75-run win over Somerset in Southampton. Riding on fifties from Joe Weatherley (50 in 35) and Lewis McManus (60* in 36), they posted 175/6 after opting to bat. Jack Brooks and Marchant de Lange had identical figures of 2-33.
Coming to defend, Chris Wood (1-8) dismissed Devon Conway for a two-ball duck to give Somerset an early setback. Barring Roelof van der Merwe (25), no Somerset batter scored in excess of 15 before being bowled out for 100 in 16 overs. Scott Currie (4-24) claimed four wickets in his three overs.
Surrey v Kent, The Oval
Surrey 128/7 in 20 overs (Clark 37; Milne 2-13) lost to Kent 129/1 in 15.3 overs (Bell-Drummond 53*; Moriarty 1-26) by 9 wickets with 27 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Daniel Bell-Drummond.
Surrey’s quarterfinal hopes took a massive blow after a thumping nine-wicket defeat against Kent at The Oval. They only managed 128/7 after being put in. Jordan Clark top-scored with an unbeaten 37.
After adding 64 runs for the opening wicket with Joe Denly (31), Daniel Bell-Drummond (53* in 37) shared another unbeaten 65-run stand alongside Oliver Robinson (45* in 30) to chase down the mere target with 27 balls to spare.
Gloucestershire v Middlesex, Cheltenham
Gloucestershire 171/8 in 20 overs (Higgins 43; Hollman 2-10) beat Middlesex 161/8 in 20 overs (Holden 50*; Benny Howell 3-23) by 10 runs. Player of the Match: Ryan Higgins.
Gloucestershire beat Middlesex by 10 runs at Cheltenham to bolster their chances for qualifying the knockouts. Despite losing three wickets in the opening four overs, Ryan Higgins’s (43 in 25) late cameo helped Gloucestershire reach 171/8. Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2-23), Daryl Mitchell (2-24) and Luke Hollman (2-10) all claimed two wickets each.
In reply, Max Holden remained unbeaten 50 in 34 balls but could not get enough start as Middlesex closed on 161/8. Blake Cullen (20* in 12), too, unleashed a late flourish but they still fell 10 runs short of their target.