It has been a busy week or so for the Twenty20 squads, with some counties shoehorning five matches into the diary. Remarkably, Kent Spitfires won all five, lifting them from oblivion to the very heart of the quarter-final qualifying places. For that, they ought to thank Daniel Bell-Drummond, who plundered more than 300 runs, including a 58-ball 111 against Middlesex.
At least by this time Middlesex had broken their embarrassing tournament duck, and they did so in a style so at odds with the rest of their T20 season. In front of 20,000 fortunate fans at the Oval, Surrey amassed another huge score. Will Jacks smashed Luke Hollman for five sixes in an over but misdirected a full-toss when aiming for number six. Uncharacteristically, Middlesex paced their chase – a Blast record 254 – to perfection. Eskinazi and Holden, who already had a century to his name this week, led the charge but it was young Jack Davies whose last over boundaries sealed their solitary success.
It was a mixed week for Surrey, who had temporarily deposed Somerset from the top spot by beating their rivals at Taunton. However, they were taken apart by Hampshire at home. The South Coasters also boosted their quarter-final credentials by edging past Essex in a tight finish. Meanwhile, Somerset got their title push back on track with victories against Essex, Glamorgan and, less easily, Gloucestershire in the local derby.
In the North division, the Birmingham Bears ensured a top-four finish by defeating Derbyshire at Old Trafford. In a rain-restricted tie, Livingstone and Buttler peppered the roof of the ground’s new hotel and the ‘keeper’s 83 off 36 balls propelled him past 10,000 career runs in T20 cricket, only the ninth man to do so. With Damen D’Oliveira in fine form, Worcestershire need to beat Durham and Derbyshire to proceed, and the Roses encounter in Manchester takes on an extra edge with both counties vying for a place in the quarters.
Nottinghamshire are still very much in the hunt, but their batting has been very inconsistent. Not so, Alex Hales. His last three scores of 0, 5 and a first-ball 0 have been the model of consistency. Am I wrong to snigger at his misfortune?
Team of the Week:- D’Oliveira (Wor), Bell-Drummond (Ken), Jacks
(Sur), Buttler (Lan +), Holden (Mid), S Curran (Sur), Jordan (Sur), Van der
Gugten (Gla), Sams (Ess), T Taylor (Nor), Zaman Khan (Der)
