MEN'S T20 BLAST ROUNDUP: Surrey chased down 223 to beat Glamorgan, while Northamptonshire compiled 237 and Yorkshire took Lancashire for 236 in the Roses clash
New Road: Birmingham Bears 176, Worcestershire 153 - Birmingham Bears won by 23 runs
Warwickshire Bears took a big stride towards Vitality Blast qualification with a comfortable 23-run win over neighbours Worcestershire Rapids at broiling Visit Worcestershire New Road.
The Bears' 176 all out was solid rather than spectacularly compiled. It lacked a major contribution, but Sam Hain (44) and George Garton (36 not out) ensured a competitive total against an attack led by Ben Dwarshuis (3 for 30).
The Rapids' reply started ponderously – 15 for 1 after five overs – and faded away to 153 all out. Adam Hose defied against his former teammates with 51 (39) but Danny Briggs took 3 for 37 to sentence the home side to a seventh group defeat which extinguishes their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.
Related: Toby Albert, propelled by Hilton Cartwright's support, inspires resurgent Hampshire
Dan Lawrence smashed his maiden T20 hundred to lead Surrey to victory (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Northampton: Northamptonshire 237-4, Derbyshire 224-6 - Northamptonshire won by 13 runs
Matt Breetzke blazed 93 off 45 balls, just one short of his highest T20 score, to reignite Northamptonshire Steelbacks' Vitality Blast campaign by setting up a 13-win over bottom-placed Derbyshire.
The victory puts the Steelbacks' quest for qualification back on track, after they lost their previous five games, following six straight wins at the start of the tournament.
Back from Test duty with South Africa, Breetzke adjusted instantly to the change of format, setting the pace with nine fours and five sixes in a partnership of 125 in 10.4 overs with skipper David Willey who made 53 off 33 deliveries.
With Saif Zaib also making an unbeaten 53 from 20 balls, Northamptonshire finished with 237 for 4, equalling their highest-ever T20 score scored away against Yorkshire earlier this season.
Derbyshire looked on course to chase down the target and post their highest-ever T20 total. In a display of ferocious hitting, Aneurin Donald smashed 71 off just 22 balls in a blistering opening stand worth 112 in just 7.4 overs with Caleb Jewell (39). But Australian leg-spinner Lloyd Pope made the crucial double breakthrough, removing both Donald and Jewell in his opening over. George Scrimshaw then struck twice in his second over to further arrest Derbyshire's hopes.
***
Trent Bridge: Durham 156, Nottinghamshire 159-3 - Nottinghamshire won by seven wickets
Notts Outlaws kept their qualification hopes alive with a seven-wicket victory over Durham, who began the evening as marginal North Group leaders but ended it locked in a battle for the top four places that is still impossible to call.
Chasing 157 to win on a slow pitch, Jack Haynes steered the Outlaws home with an unbeaten 55 off 40 balls with two sixes, backed up by Moises Henriques (43 off 33) and Joe Clarke (43 off 26), both of whom also cleared the ropes twice as Durham were beaten with eight balls to spare.
Australian seamer Daniel Sams (4 for 26) and off-spinner Matt Montgomery, with a career-best 4 for 30, led for the Outlaws with the ball as Durham were all out for 156 in precisely 20 overs. Graham Clark passed 300 for the season with three sixes in his 27-ball 44, with finisher Jimmy Neesham making 29 off 17.
Old Trafford: Yorkshire 236-6, Lancashire 217-7 - Yorkshire won by 19 runs
Jonny Bairstow hit 10 sixes in a stunning career best 116 off 54 balls as struggling Yorkshire shocked high-flying Lancashire Lightning by claiming an entertaining 19-run Roses Vitality Blast win at Emirates Old Trafford.
Yorkshire won in Manchester for the first time since 2014, claiming only their fourth win in 11 North Group games this season on the back of 236 for 6.
Opener Bairstow shared 167 with up-and-coming Will Luxton, who finished 90 not out off 46 balls with seven sixes. Their second-wicket partnership was Yorkshire's highest-ever in Blast history and helped maintain their slim quarter-final hopes.
Lancashire dropped out of the top two places in the group courtesy of a fourth defeat in 11, despite former England white-ball captain Jos Buttler’s season's best 55 off 33 balls. Lightning finished on 217 for 7, with Jordan Thompson striking twice.
Merchant Taylors': Middlesex 189-5, Gloucestershire 166-7 - Middlesex won by 23 runs
Half centuries for Kane Williamson (52) and skipper Leus du Plooy (54) helped Middlesex to a 23-run win over Gloucestershire at Merchant Taylors' School – only their fifth ever victory over the Westcountry men in the Vitality Blast.
Williamson's fifty came in 28 balls with two sixes and six fours while du Plooy produced two maximums of his own, the pair sharing a stand of 92 as the hosts totaled 189 for 5.
Australian left-hander D'Arcy Short hit 64 in 46 in reply, supported by Jack Taylor 41, but two wickets for debutant Sebastian Morgan (2 for 34) and Noah Cornwell's 1 for 20 meant they finished on 166 for 7.
Two bowlers on the night, Marchant De Lange (2 for 30) and Luke Hollman (2 for 30) found themselves on hat-tricks but neither managed to complete the feat.
Related: More changes at Middlesex as Leus du Plooy takes over as captain
Michael Pepper led Essex to a rare win this season (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Canterbury: Kent 137-8, Somerset 138-5 - Somerset won by five wickets
Somerset guaranteed themselves a home quarter-final in the Vitality Blast with a five-wicket win over the Kent Spitfires at Canterbury.
Riley Meredith took three for 19 as the hosts were held to a paltry 137 for 8 from 20 overs, Joe Denly their top-scorer with 40.
The visitors survived a mid-innings wobble, when they stuttered to 73 for 4 and were effectively five down with Tom Banton unable to bat, to win with nine balls to spare. Tom Abell was unbeaten on 34 while Lewis Gregory top-scored with 37.
Kia Oval: Glamorgan 222-6, Surrey 224-4 - Surrey won by six wickets
Dan Lawrence's maiden T20 hundred rescued Surrey as they recovered from a dreadful start to chase down 223 against Glamorgan at the Kia Oval and edge closer to clinching a Vitality Blast knockout place.
Lawrence came to the crease with his side in desperate trouble at 16 for 3 – but the wristy right-hander transformed the contest by hammering 120 not out from 54 balls, sharing an unbroken stand of 146 from 60 with Tom Curran, a county T20 record against Glamorgan, to secure victory with five balls to spare.
Glamorgan had looked set to record their first Blast success against Surrey in eight attempts after a century partnership between Colin Ingram, with a season's best of 69 from 33, and Asa Tribe, who finished unbeaten on a 30-ball knock of 56.
Their stand of 105 from 51 for the fifth wicket enabled the visitors to post a challenging 222 for 6, but that proved insufficient in the face of Lawrence's merciless onslaught.
Related: Essex defy Surrey's overseas spin duo to snap winless start
Jack Haynes guided Nottinghamshire to victory over Durham (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Chelmsford: Sussex 145, Essex 148-4 - Essex won by six wickets
Michael Pepper's pyrotechnical 87 off 47 balls led Essex to their first home Men's Vitality Blast victory in exactly a year as Sussex Sharks' quarter-final hopes to a new battering.
The Eagles hadn't won at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground in a T20 since downing Kent Spitfires on July 11, 2024, after a dismal beginning to this season.
Mohammad Amir's 3 for 16, backed by two-fers for Simon Harmer, Sam Cook, and Shane Snater rolled the visitors for 145 – with a lively 52 from John Simpson the only bright spark for the Sharks.
Essex would have almost certainly won the reverse fixture had rain not intervened, and Pepper's season-best made sure they weren't thwarted again to give them just their second win in the competition.
Sussex have lost three of their last four Blast matches to slip into midtable, with Sunday's clash with Hampshire Hawks crucial to their hopes of a quarter-final spot.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.