T20 Blast Update: Northamptonshire and Somerset Continue Winning Ways
The T20 Blast competition continues to thrill fans with its fast-paced action, and this weekend’s matches did not disappoint. According to The Guardian, several teams maintained their winning momentum, while others struggled to find their footing.
Northamptonshire and Lancashire Clash
In a highly anticipated top-of-the-table clash between Lancashire and Northamptonshire in the North Group at Old Trafford, Northamptonshire emerged victorious. The visitors, having elected to bat, posted a total of 180, with David Willey top-scoring with 37. The home side’s England duo, James Anderson and Liam Livingstone, shared five wickets between them. However, Lancashire’s reply was curiously similar, with no partnership realising more than the 34 between top scorer Michael Jones and Jack Blatherwick for the seventh wicket.
Australian leg-spinner Lloyd Pope and pacer George Scrimshaw were the key men for Northamptonshire, taking six for 46 from their eight overs as the home side toiled in vain. As The Guardian reports, "Lancashire had suffered their first defeat of the campaign earlier in the week to Leicestershire but had the chance to retain top spot with a home win." Northamptonshire are top of the group with a 100% record after five matches, while Lancashire are still handily placed in second.
Leicestershire Thrash Yorkshire
Leicestershire, with three wins from four, travelled to Headingley to face winless Yorkshire and secured a convincing win. The visitors’ bowling unit was led by Jafer Chohan, who took four for 27 and underlined his potential. As quoted in The Guardian, Chohan has played four matches in Australia’s Big Bash and, after three wicketless outings in the Blast, has now repaid the faith shown in him by his captain.
Hampshire Maintain Top Spot
Despite suffering a first defeat to Kent, Hampshire head the group of three teams with 12 points at the top of the South Group. The second of their consecutive wins was a pasting of Gloucestershire at the Utilita Bowl, the visitors subsiding from 90 for three to 119 all out. A fine effort by the bowling unit was led by John Turner, who has four England caps in white-ball cricket but had to go on loan earlier this season to play first-class cricket.
Somerset’s Sunny Start
Somerset beat their fellow 12-pointers, Sussex, to maintain their 100% record in the South Group, nestling just behind their vanquished hosts on net run rate having played a game fewer. Each of their four international seamers (Craig Overton, Matt Henry, Lewis Gregory, and Riley Meredith) chipped in with a wicket, and the four Toms (Lammonby, Kohler-Cadmore, Abell, and Rew) mowed down the target with 12 balls to spare.
Showers Bring Sixfers
The stars of T20 tend to be batters, but not Ben Sanderson, who returned the John Player Sunday League-esque figures of 4-0-8-6, including a hat-trick as Worcestershire lost four wickets in the 19th over. Not to be outdone, just a couple of days later another canny pacer, Hasan Ali, also picked up a six-wicket haul for the Birmingham Bears to deliver a win over hapless Derbyshire, also bagging a hat-trick en route.
A Concerning Incident
In a concerning incident, a young spectator was injured during the match between Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire at Trent Bridge, with "claret" (a colloquialism for blood) spilling from a head wound. The commentators reminded us of the importance of keeping your eye on the ball, but it raises questions about the safety of spectators in the T20 Blast.
This article is based on a report from The Guardian.
