Aaron Finch struck a sensational unbeaten century as Surrey pulled off the highest-ever T20 chase at The Oval to beat Middlesex by nine wickets in the Vitality Blast.
Chasing 222 for victory, after the visitors’ opener Paul Stirling had scored his maiden T20 hundred, Finch shared a brutal 194-run first-wicket stand with Jason Roy (84) as the pair cleared the boundary ropes 15 times between them.
The Australian opener smashed countryman Ashton Agar for a six to reach his ton off 45 balls as Surrey romped home with four overs spare, Finch finishing on an unbeaten 117.
Stirling, who was dropped at cover off the first ball of the match, smashed 15 boundaries in his innings as he took 54 balls to reach three figures in a T20 match for the first time.
The Irish batsman shared a 111-run second-wicket partnership with Stevie Eskinazi but was at fault when his captain Eoin Morgan was run out for a duck without facing a ball.
Rikki Clarke bowled Stirling for a brilliant 109 but James Franklin powered 21 off eight balls as the visitors posted 221-5.
However, with a short boundary to aim at, Finch and Roy blasted a joint second-highest powerplay of 98-0 which included 12 fours and six maximums.
England T20 opener Roy flicked James Fuller for six to bring up his fifty off 24 balls before eventually being caught off the seamer by Agar in the deep for 84.
To add insult to injury, Surrey chalked off the win with an overthrow to claim the bragging rights in London.
Ross Whiteley’s 60 off 26 balls saw Worcestershire Rapids clinch a three-wicket victory over Durham Jets to end their five-match winning run at New Road. SCORECARD
Despite hitting only five boundaries in his 49-ball innings, Tom Latham ran exceptionally well between the wickets before being caught off Moeen Ali on the mid-wicket boundary for 78. Durham managed just 19 runs in the final three overs following his dismissal as they closed on 194-7.
Although Joe Clarke was caught behind in the second over off James Weighell, Ali and Callum Ferguson (39) counter-attacked but the match swung back in Durham’s favour when McCarthy dismissed the Worcestershire opener and Brett O’Oliveria in the space of five balls.
Whiteley came to the crease with the Rapids requiring 91 off 42 balls and smashed seven fours and three sixes in his innings to guide the hosts to victory.
Johann Myburgh’s excellent 103 off 49 balls, saw Somerset cruise to a commanding 10-wicket over Essex Eagles at Taunton in the South Group. SCORECARD
Varun Chopra top-scored for the visitors before he was run out seven runs short of his half-century by Tom Abell at mid-on at the non-striker’s end, looking to go for a quick single.
Jerome Taylor and Jamie Overton both picked up three wickets as the Eagles were restricted to a paltry 135-9 and the hosts’ openers Myburgh and Tom Banton (29 not out) smashed their side home in 11.2 overs.
Mohammed Nabi struck an unbeaten 86 off 32 balls as Leicestershire Foxes pulled off an unlikely five-wicket win over Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford. SCORECARD
The Afghanistan all-rounder came in with his side 92-5, requiring a further 99 off nine overs to chase down the hosts 190-5 – with the hosts indebted to opener Alex Davies for his unbeaten 94.
Nabi smashed eight sixes in his innings with his partner Ateeq Javid making a run-a-ball 15 as the away side sealed the win with eight balls spare.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson’s unbeaten half-century helped Yorkshire Vikings earn a simple six-wicket victory over the winless Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Headingley.
Steven Patterson took 2-26 as all of the hosts’ bowlers chipped in to restrict the away side to a below-par 129-7. Williamson (52 not out) then shared a 51-run fourth-wicket stand with Gary Ballance (24) to ease the hosts home in 18.4 overs. SCORECARD
Glamorgan pulled off a thrilling two-run victory over Gloucestershire after Timm van der Gugten took two wickets in the final over of the match in Cardiff.
With leading run-scorer and captain Colin Ingram still sidelined, Meschede stepped up to power five sixes in his 77 off 47 balls with the hosts closing on 201-6. SCORECARD
In reply, Jack Taylor’s 52 meant the visitors required 16 runs off the final over to win. Van der Gugten then took the wicket of Taylor, before Andrew Tye came in and smacked two sixes, but the spinner had the last laugh as he bowled Tye with the final ball of the match.
Adam Milne and Marcus Stoinis spearheaded Kent Spitfires’ attack as they bowled Hampshire out for 88 in a demolition at the Ageas Bowl.
The pace duo grabbed seven wickets between them to send Kent back to the top of the South Group as Stoinis ended with figures of 4-17 while Milne celebrated 3-14 in the 51-run thrashing. SCORECARD
Heino Kuhn’s 29, alongside Stoinis’ 26 and Calum Haggett’s quickfire 19, took Kent to what still seemed a below-par 139-7 – but Hampshire lost their first three wickets for seven and continued on a downward curve.
Ian Bell wrote his name in the record books but finished on the losing side as Birmingham Bears fell to a 16-run defeat against Derbyshire Falcons in a low scoring at Derby.
Bell passed Jonathan Trott’s total of 1,911 runs to become the Bears’ highest run scorer in T20 cricket but his 65 from 51 balls on a sluggish pitch was not enough as the visitors came up short chasing 144.
Grant Elliott claimed 3-16 runs as the Falcons managed only 143-9, with Calum MacLeod top-scoring with 39 – but Wahab Riaz took 3-27 as superb bowling limited the Bears to 127-9. SCORECARD
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