Each week The Cricketer picks a team of the week from the standout performers in the T20 Blast
Either side of a bout of illness, the Australian opener hit 167 runs across two innings to inspire victories for the Steelbacks over Leicestershire and Durham. The first saw him record one of only four centuries so far, a 66-ball 106* including a dozen fours. He followed that up with a relatively sedate 61 against Durham to make it three scores of 50 or above in four knocks.
The defending champions belatedly got off the mark thanks to the former England international's first T20 century since July 2018 to help beat Middlesex at Canterbury. It hasn't altogether been that bad a competition for Denly, after scores of 35, 33 and 44 in three of the last four, but they'd come at a prosaic rate. He rewrote the narrative here, crushing nine fours and half a dozen sixes across 58 deliveries - a key contribution as the Spitfires made it fifth time lucky.
A fruitful week for the Rapids opener, who hit 15, 71 and 25 with the bat and claimed 3 for 23 against Durham at Chester-le-Street. His first fifty of the competition was the most valuable contribution of that run, a 38-ball assault that helped Worcestershire put on an insurmountable 217 for 5 against Birmingham Bears. He bowled four frugal overs against Durham, picking up Graham Clark, Ollie Robinson and Paul Coughlin, but it was elsewhere in the attack where the runs flowed.
Chris Lynn - a gardener's nightmare (Ashley Allen/Getty Images)
Arguably the player of the competition so far, with 10 wickets, a five-for and 15 short of 200 runs. Much of that work was done over the past week to help deliver wins over Gloucestershire, Hampshire and Kent before rain intervened in Cardiff. He saved his best for Hants, hitting 69 from 38 balls before claiming career-best figures of 5 for 30 in the chase. Figures of 4 for 14 and scores of 43 and 31 have come on either side in what is a golden period for the 23-year-old.
An architect of the victory over Notts Outlaws, with 30 batting first and then three wickets in the middle-overs, including that of Alex Hales, to help deliver an emphatic victory. Came to the party properly with the bat when facing Derbyshire, hitting a sublime 75 from 40 deliveries with balls being sent into the construction site at the old Red Rose Suits at Old Trafford. Wickets would follow both in that game and when Northants came to town, taking the new ball and dismissing Josh Cobb in a two-wicket win.
The designated wicket-keeper in this XI, the Hants overseas signing has been consistent at the top of the order with scores of 38, 29 and 60 in the last three, while those around him have failed to keep up. The latter of those inspired the only Hawks victory of the week over Sussex, a 35-ball knock punctuated by a quintet of sixes as part of a 124-run opening stand with James Vince. Such was the pace of the innings it ensured that Tim Seifert's hundred in the chase, when it eventually came, would pale into near-insignificance.
Liam Livingstone nudges one over the rope (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Last season's leading wicket-taker in the Blast is back at it again and claimed a maiden five-for and the top figures of the competition thus fr to help beat Worcestershire. A powerplay and death bowler, the deceptive Afghanistan quick struck at both ends of the innings, getting rid of the dangerous Colin Munro, returning to tie up the victory while not conceding a single boundary from his four overs.
Another career-best bowling performance in the Blast, this time for a Devonian who, before Will Smeed's fireworks, laid the platform for victory over Glamorgan. After Josh Davey took some punishment, Green entered the attack and claimed two scalps in the 11th over and after getting rid of the dangerous-looking Chris Cooke, returned with devilish yorkers to complete his five-for.
The 25-year-old West Indian have come straight in from reaching the Indian Premier League final and settled straight in at Hove. He claim a maiden five-for on debut against Somerset and then picked up 4 for 30 to help beat Middlesex. Though the wickets dried up against Hampshire, he stamped his mark on the contest with a fine diving catch to dismiss Ross Whiteley. Rashid Khan's replacement couldn't have started much better.
Naveen-ul-Haq has picked up from where he left off last season (David Rogers/Getty Images)
Six wickets in the week for the Gloucestershire left-armer, but it was his player of the match display to beat Kent that stands out. His second-best T20 figures of 4 for 15 including the scalps of Denly, Jordan Cox, Grant Stewart and Qais Ahmed as the Spitfires were all out for 114. It was a perfectly timed performance from the undervalued 31-year-old, coming off the back of an England call-up for the Netherlands ODI tour.
Seven wickets in the week for the left-armer to leave him as the leading spinner in the competition. In the context of an eight-over game won by a single run, figures of 2 for 6 were miraculous against Notts. He took 4 for 27 against Leicestershire, albeit in defeat, though he can hardly be blamed for the collapse that took place with the Bears 85 for 3, chasing 153, in the 11th over.
Honourable mentions: Will Smeed, Michael Pepper, Tymal Mills, Jimmy Neesham, Jordan Thompson, David Willey, Jake Ball, Alex Hales, Tim Seifert
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