Here are all the Vitality Blast 2025 Match Results, Reports and Reactions for July 4th
Points Table
By Alex Smith, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Vitality Blast Men – Essex vs Gloucestershire at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford
Gloucestershire 184/7 beat Essex 171 by 13 runs
Jack Taylor’s second fifty in three matches made it three wins in a row for Gloucestershire to spark hopes of retaining the Men’s Vitality Blast.
Gloucestershire had begun their defence with five straight defeats but victories over Kent Spitfires, Hampshire Hawks and now Essex have given hope they can sneak back to finals day via the back door.
Captain Taylor had dragged his side to a par score of 184 with 50, to go with Ben Charlesworth’s 47 not out, before Josh Shaw’s three for 29 made sure the Eagles fell 13 runs short.
The 2019 champions Essex remain winless, with their only points coming from a wash-out. They can now only get a maximum of 22 points with fourth placed Glamorgan already on 20 points.
For the third home match in a row, Simon Harmer chose to bowl first but it was Gloucestershire who edged the powerplay.
They managed 58 runs, par for the first six overs at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, but lost Miles Hammond just about caught at slip by a juggling Paul Walter and Cam Bancroft attempting back-to-back sixes.
But Essex demonstrably won the middle overs by holding the visitors to just four boundaries from the end of the seventh over to the start of the 16th.
Darcy Short failing to kick on from reaching 33 and Ollie Price barbequing himself didn’t help their cause, but tight bowling closed off their scoring options.
Jack Taylor’s hard running dragged Gloucestershire back into the innings before his hard-hitting got them closer to a defendable score.
Firstly, he took Matt Critchley for three fours in an over and then he carted Luc Benkenstein for two huge sixes – one of which smashed a press box window.
It helped the Gloucestershire skipper reach his seventh T20 fifty in 34 balls.
A wicket in each of the last three overs kept the away side to 184, with Mohammad Amir taking two of them to return three for 33, while Ben Charlesworth’s useful 31-ball cameo left him unbeaten on 47.
In the two previous games at Chelmsford, Essex had been set targets of 221 and 220 and it had quickly been apparent the chase would be above them.
On this occasion, they stayed in the fight despite losing regular wickets. Michael Pepper and Jordan Cox each went big then got out in the powerplay, while Dean Elgar suffered a tortured nine balls in a half-hour spell in the middle.
Paul Walter threatened to be the man to put Essex in complete control with a spritely 39 but he and Benkenstein fell in the same Charlesworth over leaving the hosts needing 82 in eight overs.
Critchley and Charlie Allison clubbed 21 and 17 off the 14th and 15th overs, but then Critchley was bowled by Josh Shaw as the momentum swung like a Newton’s cradle.
But Harmer clothed to point, Allison holed out, Noah Thain picked on long on, and Amir was run out as the game fell out of Essex’s grasp as Gloucestershire squeezed at the death.
Lancashire Lightning 181-5 beat Northamptonshire Steelbacks 177 by five wickets.
By Ben Kosky, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Phil Salt shrugged off an enforced change of bat to blaze 80 from 57 balls and power Lancashire Lightning to a win that lifted them above Northamptonshire Steelbacks to the Vitality Blast North Group summit.
The England white-ball international, playing his first game since winning the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore a month ago, had to call for a replacement bat after umpires Simon Widdup and Rob Bailey inspected his original blade early in the Lancashire chase.
But it made little difference as Salt and Jos Buttler (54 from 42), making his first Blast appearance in two years, pummelled the Steelbacks bowling with a stand of 123 from 86 to set up victory.
Earlier, paceman Saqib Mahmood became only the second Lancashire bowler to take a Blast hat-trick, capturing the last three wickets to finish with four for 49 as the Steelbacks – who have now lost three in a row – were bowled out for 177.
Opting to bat first, the Steelbacks handed a Blast debut to New Zealander Tim Robinson, who slashed successive boundaries off James Anderson’s first over before the next delivery straightened to send his off stump flying.
Anderson (two for 24) then had David Willey caught at short third man off a thick edge and the home side were three down when Ricardo Vasconcelos skied Mahmood’s first ball to mid-on.
Having got away with two miscued hooks, Ravi Bopara (32 from 25) launched a rebuilding job alongside Justin Broad (30 from 18) and Northamptonshire’s innings appeared to be back on track until both fell in quick succession.
Broad was bowled swinging at Jack Blatherwick before Bopara pumped Chris Green’s full toss to short cover, but Lewis McManus (30 from 24) regained momentum, bludgeoning successive fours as Mahmood’s third over went for 16.
McManus shared a stand of 54 with Saif Zaib (32 from 19), whose run-out was the first of four consecutive wickets as Mahmood’s brace of yorkers removed Ben Sanderson and Lloyd Pope before George Scrimshaw was caught in the deep.
Lancashire’s reply was held up after a single over while the umpires inspected Salt’s bat – and ordered its replacement – and they soon lost Keaton Jennings, caught paddling Willey to backward square leg.
Buttler looked in good touch, smashing Willey and Broad for straight sixes and milking the spinners during the post-powerplay overs.
There was a close call for Salt when he pulled Bopara to deep midwicket, but Zaib was slow to make ground and the opener responded by punching six over long-off and hooking Scrimshaw for another to bring up his half-century from 37 balls.
Buttler was one ball faster to his 50, but Lightning faltered when he was bowled attempting to reverse sweep Pope and Sanderson’s crafty spell of one for 28 removed Salt, holing out off a low full toss.
Scrimshaw took two wickets in the 19th over to leave Lancashire needing 11 from the last, but Luke Wells hammered Luke Procter for successive sixes to clinch victory with three balls to spare.
Northamptonshire Steelbacks head coach DARREN LEHMANN said:
“They keep fighting and that’s all we’re asking. I’m proud of the way they went about it, to hang in there until the last over.
“We were probably 10 short with the bat, but all in all it was a pretty good performance. The Broad and Ravi (Bopara) partnership came at the perfect time, they just got out too close together.
“All the moves the skipper made were perfect and it was actually a really good fielding performance – just slightly off where we could have taken a couple of half-chances.
“We had to bring back Sando (Ben Sanderson) earlier to keep us in the game. We got it slightly wrong at stages tonight but if we carry on playing like that, we’ll be OK.”
Lancashire Lightning bowler SAQIB MAHMOOD, who became the county’s first player to take a T20 hat-trick since Dominic Cork in 2004, said:
“It was a great win, obviously it got a bit tight at the back end. Sando bowled a great over and nailed his yorkers, so it got a bit nervy but with the wickets we had in hand we were always pretty confident.
“We thought it was a hard wicket to bowl on but with the quality we have in our batting line-up we felt we could chase that.
“Momentum is key. I think that run-out Jos (Buttler) got on the third ball (of the final over) was massive, then it was just trying to shut them down really and keep the new batter on strike.
“I’ve been on a hat-trick four or five times in the last 12 months, mainly for England and I’ve missed every time so it was nice to get my first one. Also I hadn’t ever gone for 50 runs in a T20 so I was trying to not do that either!”
Batting Stats T20
Glamorgan beat Somerset by 2 runs
Ned Leonard claimed five wickets against his former county as Glamorgan shocked South Group leaders Somerset with a nail-biting two-run Vitality Blast win at Taunton.
The visitors posted 176/7 after losing the toss, Dan Douthwaite top-scoring with 56 off 32 balls, with 3 fours and 4 sixes, while Colin Ingram hit 55 from 33 deliveries. Matt Henry finished with two for 15 from four overs.
In reply, Somerset fell just short on 174 for nine, Will Smeed making 72 off 49 balls and Leonard claiming five for 25. It was only Glamorgan’s fifth victory in 20 Blast visits to Taunton.
Henry’s first two overs of the match saw Will Smale caught by Craig Overton over his shoulder at mid-on and Alex Horton top-edge a pull shot to Meredith at fine leg to make it 22 for two.
Ben Kellaway hit successive boundaries off Overton in the fifth over and the end of the power play saw Glamorgan 42 for two. That became 66 for three when left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy had Kiran Carlson, on 14, brilliantly caught by the diving Tom Abell at deep mid-wicket.
When Kellaway, who had moved to 28, top-edged an attempted reverse sweep off Goldsworthy to Tom Kohler-Cadmore at short third-man, Glamorgan were struggling on 75 for four in the 11th over.
It was 94 for five when Riley Meredith dismissed Asa Tribe, caught behind cutting, but the Australian’s next over saw Douthwaite, on two, dropped by wicketkeeper Tom Banton and it proved a costly error.
Ingram moved to a powerful 31-ball half-century with a six off Meredith. Ben Green struck a big blow for Somerset when having the South African caught at short third-man off a top edge with the total on 143 in the 18th over.
Douthwaite smacked Lewis Gregory for 4,4,6 at the start of the 19th over and another six took him to fifty off 29 balls. He was run out off the final delivery of the innings, having cleared the ropes again off Meredith.
Somerset had reached 25 off 3.5 overs when Banton was caught at mid-off miscuing a delivery from Leonard, who followed up by bowling Kohler-Cadmore behind his legs.
The hosts had posted 41 for two at the end of the power play and were in some bother when Tom Abell fell for a duck, superbly caught by Douthwaite off his own bowling to make it 44 for three. Sean Dickson and Smeed lifted the tempo with sixes off Kellaway and at the halfway point in their innings Somerset were 77 for three, needing exactly 100.
Dickson had made 27 off 17 balls when top-edging a slog sweep off Andy Gorvin to make it 97 for four after 12 overs. Smeed moved to a 35-ball fifty, but Gregory fell quickly to Leonard and at 100 for five the home side were in a deepening hole.
The target became 55 off five overs and then 35 off three as Green and Smeed produced some clean hitting against tight Glamorgan bowling. Green hit a straight six of Jamie McIlroy, who quickly responded by having Smeed caught at wide long-off.
Leonard then had Green caught off a skyer and Craig Overton taken at deep mid-wicket to complete his five-for and 16 off the final over, bowled by Douthwaite, proved just too many for Somerset.
Somerset top scorer Will Smeed said: “Ned Leonard is a great mate of mine, so while I am gutted to lose the game, I am buzzing for him.
“I thought when Ben Green and I were together we could reach the target, but in all honesty, we were always an over behind where we needed to be and Glamorgan deserved their win.
“The pitch was a bit slower than we are used to here and it was a case of trying to adjust. Their total shouldn’t have been a problem for us, but we didn’t bat as well as usual.”
Glamorgan’s Ned Leonard said: “It was one of those days when everything went to hand, which isn’t always the case, but I bowled nicely.
“I’m mates with all the Somerset lads, but it was good to come back here and do so well. It’s always an amazing crowd here and that was the case again. There were some familiar faces in it for me.
“I thought our total was about par. They bowled really well, but Colin Ingram and Dan Douthwaite got us to a decent score.
“Colin has a wealth of experience and Dan is one of the biggest hitters around. The closing overs of our innings were really important
“Dan also took an amazing catch off his own bowling, which was probably my favourite wicket of the night.”
Wicket Takers T20
Sussex Sharks (4 points) 195 for 9 beat the Kent Spitfires 161 (0 points) by 34 runs.
The Sussex Sharks have comprehensively beaten the Kent Spitfires by 34 runs in the Vitality Blast at Canterbury.
Daniel Hughes top-scored with 48 as Sussex made 195 for 9, despite no one passing 50.
Kent’s Nathan Gilchrist took 3 for 31 and Harry Finch then hit his highest Blast score against his former county, making 56 off 25 balls, but when he was out the chase fell apart. Danny Lamb took key wickets at crucial moments, claiming five for 15 and Tymal Mills claimed three for 20. Lamb wrapped up the win with two balls to spare when he bowled Fred Klaassen.
Kent lived to regret putting Sussex in. The visitors were 30 without loss when Jack Leaning bowled Harrison Ward for 11 at the start of the fifth but Hughes then blazed 48 from 28 balls and although Tom Rogers bowled him at the end of the tenth, the Sharks were 112 for two at halfway.
Wickets at least slowed the scoring rate. Joey Evison bowled James Coles for 12, hitting off and middle and Tom Clark was furious with himself when he tried to scoop Gilchrist to fine leg and was lbw for 43.
Klaassen looked as surprised as anyone when he had Tom Alsop caught behind for 15, given by the square leg umpire Nigel Llong, John Simpson tried to hook Gilchrist and was caught on the boundary by Tom Rogers for 12 and Rogers bowled Nathan McAndrew for five
The 19th over, however was expensive, going for 18. Gilchrist bowled a wide, Danny Lamb caught behind off a bottom edge, then bowled three no balls, one of which was a head-high beamer.
Not for the first time this season Kent missed the cut off, but Mills was run out by Billings and Klaassen help them to six off the 20th, despite the last ball being fumbled over the boundary for four.
Sussex looked favourites, especially after Coles bowled Tawanda Muyeye for seven in the second over, but the Hastings-born Finch came in and blasted 50 off 21 balls before Henry Crocombe had him caught by Hughes at third man.
The momentum switched again, this time for good, when Joe Denly was bamboozled by Lamb’s slower ball and bowled for three. Crocombe then took a stunning catch to get Daniel Bell-Drummond for 26 after he skied Lamb, sprinting in from the boundary and somehow keeping the ball off the turf.
Mills got Sam Billings for 16, caught on the boundary by Coles and Evison holed out to Lamb and was caught by Robinson.
When Mills bowled Jack Leaning for 16 Rogers was left with the tail and the run rate was nearly 15 an over. Mills got him for four, caught at short third man and the crowd started streaming for the exits.
Klaassen and Gilchrist needed a theoretically possible 36 off the last over, but Lamb bowled Gilchrist off the first ball and clinched the win when he cleaned up Klaassen three balls later.
Sussex’s Danny Lamb said: “It was excellent, I think it was set up really well with the bat with the top four on what was a really tricky wicket. It felt at half-time the score was really competitive and obviously that turned out to be the case. Slower balls worked into the surface really well and it was really tough to score. I found it hard at the end batting and that’s what they were doing.
“I think it was a new ball pitch with the bat, it seemed to slide on a bit better but as soon as the lacquer came off it started gripping and slightly more and it became tough to score.
“It’s been a tough year with injuries etc, etc. It’s been a lot of hard work and finally it’s paid dividends. I’ve still got PTSD (from the catch that injured him) to be honest it as not very nice so I’ve got a nice scar to show for it and yeah, we’ll move on from that.
“It’s difficult but I think I’ve got a pretty good work life balance, my home life’s good and , I walk the dogs, that’s how I keep sane. It’s part and parcel of being an athlete, you’re going to pick up injuries along he way. I think I’ve had my fair share now so hopefully it’ll be plain sailing form now on, touch wood!”.
“I’ve been patient and had to wait my turn, there have been a few injuries here and there but I’ve contributed tonight and we’ve got the win.
(On is career best figures)
“It’s quite popular with the lads. I’ve got to get a round in at The Cricketers after the game tomorrow, so it’s a bit disappointing isn’t it? It’ll cost me a few quid. It’s a £150 round at least, isn’t it and I’m a tight northerner!”
Kent’s Nathan Gilchrist said: “I think maybe we let them get off to too much of a good start. I think we did well to drag it back in the end but losing wickets consistently didn’t help us when we were batting but that’s the nature of T20 and we’ll go again in the next game on Sunday.
“It (the pitch) was a bit of a weird one at the start. I think it was just gripping at the surface so cross seam balls seemed to have a bit more bounce than usual so I was bowling cross seam balls and hoping to get a bit of extra bounce and holding the surface which helped me.
“I think we’ve been lucky so far in this tournament to have Deebs and Tawanda at the top of the order. They’ve been pretty consistent putting bowlers under pressure. Harry stepped up today when we needed it. It’s just a shame that the other guys got out when they did but it happens.
“He obviously had big shoes to fill, Zak played really well when he was with us but we all know what Harry can do and tonight he showed us. He started very, very slow but caught up quickly.
“They’re very experienced bowlers with Tymal and Robinson. There were a few young bowlers who did well tonight and Danny Lamb took five for so they have a really good bowling attack. In this competition anyone can beat anyone and unfortunately it wasn’t our night tonight.”
Durham 231 for five beat Nottinghamshire 182
Durham 4pts Nottinghamshire 0pts
Colin Ackermann made 83 off 33 balls and Durham made their record T20 score as they returned to Vitality Blast action with a 49-run defeat of Nottinghamshire Outlaws at the Banks Homes Riverside.
On a run-stuffed evening in the North East, the home side made 231 for five and the visitors replied with 182 all out, Kasey Aldridge, who had only taken two T20 wickets previously, finishing with a career-best five for 29 from 2.4 overs. The win is Durham’s sixth in this year’s Blast and clearly strengthens their bid to qualify for the knockout stages.
The home openers, Alex Lees and Graham Clark, began in uncompromising fashion, by putting on 70 runs in six overs. They were particularly hard on Olly Stone, who was playing in his first match of the season after recovering from injury and conceded 27 runs in his first two overs.
Joe Clarke’s decision to use the spinners, Farhan Ahmed and Calvin Harrison, in tandem slowed the run rate but it was Matthew Montgomery who took the first wicket on 83 when he had Clark caught on the cover boundary by Daniel Sams for a 27-ball 40
Nevertheless, Durham’s hundred came up in the eleventh over and Lees reached a 34-ball fifty a few deliveries later. By now faced with a battery of slow bowlers that also Liam Patterson-White, Lees and his partner, Ackermann, sought to attack at every opportunity.
Stone was reintroduced and was whacked for three successive boundaries before gaining his revenge with the next ball when he had the Durham skipper caught by Harrison on the deep backward square leg boundary for a 46-ball 77 that included eleven four and one six.
The dangerous Jimmy Neesham was bowled by Harrison for three and Ben McKinney was caught on the long-on boundary by Harrison off Montgomery for three. Nevertheless, Durham had been well placed on 154 for three after 16 overs and despite the loss of three wickets for ten runs, they were able to pillage an astonishing 77 runs in the final four overs.
Those efforts were assisted by two no-ball beamers from Daniel Sams, which necessitated the Australian being withdrawn from the attack. And the wheels really came off the Nottinghamshire attack in the 19th over when Colin Ackermann smashed 32 runs of Montgomery, reaching a 25-ball fifty in the process.
The Durham batsman was eventually caught at deep midwicket by Sams off Harrison but by then he had done the damage, hitting 83 off 33 balls with seven fours and six sixes, all those maximums being scored off the last 11 balls he received. Harrison escaped with the least punishment, taking two for 33, but every other visiting bowler conceded at least ten runs an over.
Nottinghamshire’s pursuit of their distant target began poorly when Freddie McCann was dismissed off the fourth ball of their innings, caught by Will Rhodes off Callum Parkinson for five, but the visitors were going well on 37 for one after 3.2 overs until Jack Haynes was brilliantly caught by Lees off Kasey Aldridge for 14 , the Durham skipper running back twenty yards from mid off to take the steepling chance.
But the fall of wickets could make no difference to the Outlaws’ approach. Lyndon James hit his first two balls for four and Jimmy Neesham’s first over cost 19 runs. Nottinghamshire scored 76 runs in their powerplay, six more than their hosts, but their onslaught was halted by Nathan Sowter, who conceded five runs in his first six balls and had James caught at deep midwicket by McKinney for 30.
Clarke was the next to go, caught at short third man by Sowter for a 25-ball 41 when attempting to ramp Neesham and the visitors reached the midpoint of their innings on 112 for four, still needing 120 to win. That task seemed tougher still when Aldridge struck twice in four balls, bowling Moores for five and having Liam Patterson-White caught at long off by Rhodes for eight.
Parkinson conceded 19 runs off his next over as the Outlaws dispensed with any scrap of caution but Sams was bowled by Sowter for nine. With seven overs remaining, 76 runs were still required and that was reduced to 61 off six thanks to Montgomery taking 14 off three deliveries from Parkinson.
Aldridge took his fourth wicket when he had Harrison caught at backward point by Clark for seven and Olly Stone was run out for nought next ball after a complete mix-up. Aldridge completed his career-best figures when he had Montgomery caught behind by Ollie Robinson for 41.
Peter Moores, Nottinghamshire’s head coach, said:
“It was a great pitch and the ground had small boundaries. We’ve played on a lot of small-boundary pitches this year and that’s made for a lot of exciting cricket.
“I think we had a good stab at it with the bat, we were well ahead of the run-rate required, but the problems came with the ball. We didn’t get it right tonight and we have to take that on the chin. Ackermann played really well but think we saw that about 200-210 was about par on that pitch.
“I don’t think Colin Ackermann will hit a ball better than that but we’ve chased big totals before this season. It’s disappointing when you end the first innings like that but you try to pick the lads up and I thought they came out of the blocks really well. We kept up with the rate but we kept on losing wickets at thew wrong time and that meant we needed a partnership. We got it down to ten an over, which was very gettable on that pitch, but by that stage we were seven down and we needed to be five down.
Kasey Aldridge, Durham all-rounder, said:
“It was an exciting night, wasn’t it? The boys got off to a great start, Alex Lees and Graham Clark had an epic powerplay and then Colin did the business at the end. It was pretty impressive ball-striking.
“I get to see big hitting quite a lot in Somerset on those wickets but to see it on this ground shows how good Colin’s been tonight. He was epic there and it was really impressive.
“It’s great to be here [on loan from Somerset] and get an opportunity to play. For me to produce a performance of note is really pleasing.
“It was a great feeling at the end because they’re a class team who play on wickets like that at home in high-scoring games. So to put it to bed like that at the end was a bit of a relief because they came hard there and were chasing.”
Most 6’s T20
Bears 158 for four (4pts) beat Leicestershire Foxes (154) by six wickets with 10 balls to spare
Match report
Bears boosted their chances of qualifying for the Vitality Blast quarter-finals for a fifth consecutive season as they eased past Leicestershire Foxes at the Uptonsteel County Ground, winning by six wickets with 10 balls to spare.
The Foxes were bowled out for 154 in 19.3 overs, Pakistan international pace bowler Hasan Ali finishing with four for 22 with all four wickets in the opening powerplay. Sol Budinger made 51 off 24 balls but all-rounder Logan Van Beek’s 26 was the next best score, Richard Gleeson and Danny Briggs picking up two wickets each for the Bears.
Half-centuries from Sam Hain (55 from 38 balls) and Dan Mousley (64 not out from 48) then got the job done as Bears move level on 20 points with the Foxes in a tight North Group.
After the Birmingham-based visitors chose to bowl, an extraordinary opening powerplay saw Budinger smash 40 off 17 balls but the Foxes careered from 38 without loss to 71 for four after two stunning overs from Hasan.
There were eight boundaries from the first 13 deliveries, culminating in Budinger walloping Hasan’s first ball over the rope at midwicket in what looked potentially another big night for the explosive left-hander, who smashed a 15-ball half-century against Derbyshire on the opening night of Leicestershire’s season.
But how the picture changed. Hasan, who took a hat-trick against Derbyshire in figures of six for 23 a month ago, now dismissed Rishi Patel, caught at long-off, and international team-mate Shan Masood, tamely bunting to extra cover, with consecutive balls. Budinger picked up a second six in taking 19 off Mousley but Hasan immediately grabbed back the spotlight by bowling Rehan Ahmed, stepping across, and trapping Louis Kimber in front with the first and fifth balls of his second over.
By the 12th over, the Foxes were 102 for seven after Budinger had been caught on the slog-sweep, Liam Trevaskis holed out to wide long-on and Ben Cox was bowled playing back to Gleeson.
Van Beek (26 from 25) and Tom Scriven (19 from 17) added 36 but it took five overs and the momentum from the start of the innings had completely dissipated, Gleeson (2-24), Mousley and Ed Barnard picking up a wicket apiece at the death as the home side were dismissed in 19.3 overs.
Leicestershire took two wickets in the powerplay but the Bears were comfortable at 59 for two from six, although New Zealand batter Tom Latham made only a single before he was caught at cover off Sam Wood after Alex Davies had been caught behind attempting to hook Van Beek.
By halfway the target was down to 60 at 95 for two with Hain and Mousley able to progress without taking too many risks with no need to chase boundaries beyond those that were there for the taking.
Hain and Mousley both survived difficult chances but with the last five overs arriving with only 21 more needed, the result was effectively decided, even though Hain would be caught at long-on off Kimber before the Foxes skipper collected a second wicket in Moeen Ali with a return catch. Mousley struck Josh Hull to the cover boundary for the winning runs.
Bears’ top-scorer Dan Mousley said:
“We needed a win and to come here and get four points, we’re over the moon.
“Hasan was outstanding in the powerplay to get four wickets – and four of their main batters, really. That goes a long way for us and I thought after that we brought it back really well with the ball. The skipper went quite attacking with his bowling changes, Danny Briggs was brilliant tonight, then getting Richard Gleeson back in at the right moments. The more wickets that went down, the lower the target was going to be.
“The pitch was a bit of a strange one to be honest. With the new ball it felt okay and then with the older ball it felt like it gripped a little bit slowly into the wicket. You’ve just got to understand that as a batter. But when you do get in and create a partnership, you can kill the game. I thought Hainy played beautifully.
“I was pleased with my own innings. As a young batter, I’m trying to learn as much as I can about how to play in different situations. It was something that Westy (head coach Ian Westwood) and Matthew Walker, the batting coach, spoke about with me and said that if you get the opportunity again make sure you’re the one to kill the game. That’s what I was thinking about to be honest, to make sure I was there at the end.”
Leicestershire top-scorer Sol Budinger said:
“I think we probably lost too many wickets at crucial times when the run rate was pretty good. And that didn’t set us up for the back end of the batting innings.
“It was quite a difficult wicket when the ball got a bit softer. They’ve got a lot of spinners and the ball started to spin. I think probably 180 on there, another 20 runs is probably a good score, but they’re the fine margins and in T20 cricket that’s the way it goes.
“When Dan Mousey came out, there were a few opportunities, a few edges, but him and Hainy are experienced players for them in the middle, especially Hainy, the way he batted. They were able to take no risks and that kind of just deflated us.
“But we’ve got a young squad, and we’re doing very well this year. We just need to keep going, game by game. We’re being competitive against bigger teams. Having that belief in going out there and doing your job and putting on a show and backing yourself, that’s the big thing the club’s worked on the last few years in red ball and white ball cricket and it’s definitely going the right way.”
Yorkshire 233-6 v Worcestershire 192 all out, Vitality Blast North Group. Yorkshire win by 41 runs
Yorkshire 4 points, Worcestershire 0 points
By Graham Hardcastle, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Superb scores in the eighties for third-wicket pair Will Luxton and James Wharton helped Yorkshire maintain their slim quarter-final hopes in the Vitality Blast with a dominant 41-run win over fellow strugglers Worcestershire Rapids at Headingley.
Wharton, a T20 centurion against the Rapids here in 2023, top-scored with 88 in Yorkshire’s 233 for six. He shared 134 inside 12 overs with Will Luxton, whose 81 represented a career best score. Both faced 47 balls.
All seven bowlers used by Worcestershire captain Brett D’Oliveira went at nine or more runs an over before their night got worse. New Zealand overseas fast bowler Will O’Rourke struck twice in two balls twice en-route to his his maiden five-wicket haul, five for 22, in a 192 all out reply.
Yorkshire have now won three of nine North Group games, drawing level on 12 points with Worcestershire. They suffered their sixth defeat in nine, with D’Oliveira’s opening 56 off 33 unrewarded.
Jonny Bairstow, opening for the first time in this season’s Blast, miscued the contest’s fourth ball from new-ball seamer Tom Taylor to mid-off, falling for four.
Yorkshire’s other big gun, Dawid Malan, followed for eight at the start of the fifth over when he pulled Ben Allison’s seam out to deep square-leg with the score on 42.
Luxton lofted Australian overseas quick Ben Dwarshuis over cover for the first of two early sixes and Wharton hit the left-armer for four fours to end the powerplay at 67 for two.
Four times in the previous three games at Headingley this season had sides topped 200.
Luxton and Wharton ploughed on and brought up their century stand in the 13th over of the innings – 142 for two.
Both had just reached quick-fire fifties, and the visitors will rue two Ben Allison drops in the deep with Luxton on nine and 74.
Allison did remove him caught at deep cover shortly after the second drop before Wharton and Jordan Thompson – he hit three sixes in the last over in a quick-fire 22 – were run out at the death.
The Rapids needed to posted their highest ever T20 total to win this game.
Opener Isaac Mohammed made a breezy start with 17. But when he miscued a slower ball from O’Rourke behind to Bairstow, it was 24 for one at the start of the third over
Worcestershire needed everything to go their way to have a chance of overhauling this target. And hardly anything did on a true pitch with a lightning outfield.
Kashif Ali clothed O’Rourke’s second ball to mid-off before the big Kiwi took a stunning one-handed catch diving to his left at short third off Matt Milnes.
At 37 for three in the fourth over, the visitors had a mountain to climb.
D’Oliveira and Ethan Brookes at least helped them reach base camp with an 83-run stand, the former hitting a trio of sixes all around the ground.
But just when hopes started to increase, with D’Oliveira reaching 50 off 33 balls, Brookes was lbw on the reverse against Jafer Chohan’s leg-spin – 120 for four in the 12th.
And when D’Oliveira dragged O’Rourke out to deep midwicket in the next, at 132 for five, it was game over.
Dwarshuis clattered a consolatory 42 not out, but Matt Milnes bowled a wicket maiden in the 17th and O’Rourke had both Matthew Waite and Taylor caught at deep midwicket and cover as Yorkshire’s win was secured.
Yorkshire’s James Wharton said
“It was a good team performance. Losing the toss and putting 230 on the board is a great effort. I thought everybody batted really well, but we bowled magnificently.
“I thought Matt Milnes’s over near the end (wicket maiden, 17th over) was absolutely unbelievable. Dwarshuis was striking at 300 or whatever it was, so you just never know with a short side. That, for me, was massive.
“Myself and Luxy (Will Luxton) love batting together. We’ve had a few good partnerships in T20, last year and the year before in the seconds. It was nice to go and do it in a first-team game. I think he’s just going to get better and better with the experiences he’s having this year. He’s unbelievable.
“We’ve got good momentum in all formats, to be fair, and lads are starting to put in good performances.”
Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson said
“Here at Yorkshire, certainly this year, scores have generally been over 200. It was a really good wicket, a fast-scoring outfield. It was not too surprising with how it went.
“Unfortunately, we were on the wrong end of it.
“Yorkshire, fair play to them, there were a couple of outstanding individual performances. I thought Luxton and Wharton played really well. It was a match-winning partnership.
“When you look at it, 234 sounds a lot. I think 210 would have been very achievable.
“But we barely bowled any dot balls in that middle period to create any pressure. Then, I thought Will O’Rourke was outstanding for them.
“If we win every game, we’ll qualify. It’s a massive ask, but the game’s about momentum.”
NB. Richardson said new overseas signing Khurram Shahzad didn’t debut because of a neck issue.
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