T20 Blast 2018, Day 27: Round-up

A total of three games were played on the 27th day of the Vitality T20 Blast. Four teams from the North group were in action while only a couple pulled up their socks from South Group. Hampshire faced the challenge of Somerset and Durham and Derbyshire were up against Leicestershire and Northamptonshire respectively in the other two encounters.

Durham has raced past Worcestershire to grab the top position even as Northamptonshire registered their first victory of the season courtesy a fabulous knock from Joshua Cobb. Somerset humbled Hampshire comfortably to continue topping the points table with 8 wins from 11 matches.

Derbyshire vs Northamptonshire – North Group

In their home ground, Derbyshire won the toss and opted to bat first. Their opener B Godleman played a gem of a knock and scored 77 runs off 55 balls up front. Wayne Madsen scored 38 off 21 deliveries and the skipper Gary Wilson joined the party by scoring a 16-ball 24 towards the end. The hosts ended up posting 177 runs on the board for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. Nathan Buck picked two wickets in the innings.

Northamptonshire’s openers Ricardo Vasconcelos and Ben Duckett provided the side with a good start. They added 67 runs for the opening wicket. However, the best innings came from the Joshua Cobb’s willow who is doing really well this season. He scored 73 off just 37 balls and was unbeaten till the end as he ensured that his team got over the line for the first time this season with 10 balls to spare.

Brief Scores:

Derbyshire: 177/6 in 20 overs (B Godleman 77, W Madsen 38, N Buck 2/30)

Northamptonshire: 179/3 in 18.2 overs (J Cobb 73*, Ben Duckett 41, Alex Hughes 2/28)

Result: Northamptonshire won by 7 wickets

Durham vs Leicestershire – North Group

Durham won the toss and opted to bat first at Chester-le-Street. Their skipper Tom Latham continued his good form. He scored 52 off 48 balls on a track that was tough to bat on. His opening partner Graham Clark scored 23 off 14 balls. The duo of Will Smith and James Weighell scored 26 and 28 runs respectively as the team put up a fighting total of 156 runs on the board for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. Zak Chappell picked two wickets in the innings.

Leicestershire struggled in the chase as their top three failed to reach even the double-figure mark. Although skipper Colin Ackermann tried hard to get his team through, it was too much of an asking for him with literally no support from the other end. He got out in the 19th over after scoring 74 off 52 deliveries as the team ended up losing the game by 14 runs.

Brief Scores:

Durham: 156/6 in 20 overs (Tom Latham 52, James Weighell 28, Zak Chapell 2/40)

Leicestershire: 142/6 in 20 overs (Colin Ackermann 74, N Eckersley 39, Nathan Rimmington 3/23)

Result: Durham won by 14 runs

Hampshire vs Somerset – South Group

Batting first, Hampshire failed to put on a good total on the board. Sam Northeast with 30 off 36 balls was the highest run scorer while the other men failed to get going. In the end, Hampshire managed to put 129 runs on the board in 20 overs. Jerome Taylor picked 3 wickets.

It was supposed to be a straightforward chase for Somerset. But they took their own sweet time to get to the target. Johann Myburgh, who recently announced his retirement played a brilliant knock and stayed unbeaten on 54 off 47 deliveries. Corey Anderson playa handy inning of 25 runs as Somerset gunned the target down with more than an over to spare. Dale Steyn, who joined Hampshire back recently picked one wicket and was economical as well.

Brief Scores:

Hampshire: 129/8 in 20 overs (Sam Northeast 30, G Berg 11, J Taylor 3/39)

Somerset: 130/4 in 18.5 overs (Johann Myburgh 54*, Corey Anderson 25, Dale Steyn 1/21)

Result: Somerset won by 6 wickets

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