Hampshire thrashed Vitality Blast South Group leaders Surrey by nine wickets at the Kia Oval to stay on course for a quarter-final place.
A brilliant collective bowling performance by Hampshire, led by John Turner’s three for 17, resulted in Surrey being bowled out for just 124.
Ben McDermott, with 50 off 38 balls, and James Vince, who finished with a superb 62 not out off 40 deliveries, then ensured Hampshire strolled to victory with an opening partnership of 92.
Vince has now scored 476 runs in 10 innings in this season’s Blast at an average of 79.33.
Hampshire sealed their first T20 win against Surrey in nine attempts, going back to 2015.
Essex set a new record Lord’s T20 total as they maintained their bid for a top-four finish by beating rock-bottom Middlesex by 22 runs under the DLS method for their fifth successive win.
Visiting batters Dan Lawrence (53), Michael Pepper (64) and Daniel Sams (67) smashed their highest Blast scores of the year, enabling Essex to post 237 for six, overhauling the previous Lord’s T20 record set by Kent two days earlier.
Essex were well on course to defend that when rain brought the game to a premature close with Middlesex, who have now lost all 10 of their South Group fixtures, reaching 116 for two in the 13th over, needing an unlikely 122 more from 45 deliveries.
Yorkshire’s winning North Group charge came to a shuddering halt at Chesterfield in a 144-run defeat to Derbyshire, who celebrated their biggest-ever T20 win.
Derbyshire put on a stunning batting display to end Yorkshire’s bid for a club record seven straight wins, with Haider Ali hitting 59 off 41 balls before Leus du Plooy (66 not out) and Brooke Guest (39 not out) plundered 93 from 34 deliveries to lift the home side to 212 for four.
Yorkshire all-rounder Ben Mike bore the brunt of Derbyshire’s onslaught, conceding 74 from four overs, the sixth most expensive spell in world T20 cricket and the third worst in this country.
The visitors’ slim chances of chasing down 213 vanished when they slumped to 29 for five in the powerplay and they were skittled for 68 in the 12th over.
Lancashire’s Luke Wells hit a half-century and took two wickets to help his side beat Durham by seven runs under the DLS method at Old Trafford.
Wells’ 56 and a classy knock of 60 by New Zealander Darryl Mitchell had seen the hosts recover from six for two after the first over to post 195 for seven.
A brilliant opening stand of 125 between Alex Lees and Michael Jones had got Durham right back into contention before the rain came with just three overs left, with the visitors slightly behind on DLS on 150 for three at the finish.
Ben Sanderson’s three for 29 helped Northamptonshire to a comprehensive 78-run win over Nottinghamshire at Wantage Road.
With heavy rain circling the ground, the visitors were mindful of staying on top of the run rate as they chased a par score of 177, but lost regular wickets with David Willey (two for nine) taking two wickets in two balls in the third over.
The stage had been set by Ricardo Vasconcelos, who hit a 44-ball 51 and shared a stand of 53 in 6.3 overs with Willey (22), while AJ Tye contributed 21 off just eight balls as Northants plundered 60 runs off their last four overs.
Notts skipper Steven Mullaney (31) played a lone hand in his side’s run chase, but despite useful 20s from Joe Clarke and Samit Patel, they fell well short.
Worcestershire kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages as a comfortable six-wicket win over Leicestershire halted a run of four straight defeats.
Leicestershire, bottom of the North Group table with just two wins from nine matches, were dismissed for just 112 as leg spinner Usama Mir finished with a T20 career-best four for 22 and fellow spinner Brett D’Oliveira took two for 17.
Skipper D’Oliveira’s unbeaten 51 then saw Worcestershire home in the 17th over to raise their points haul to 10.
Glamorgan also kept their knockout-stage hopes alive as they returned to winning ways with a 32-run victory over Gloucestershire in Cardiff.
Sam Northeast’s half-century helped Glamorgan post 183 for five before a very solid bowling display – Gloucestershire lost five wickets for 15 runs at the back end of their run chase – sealed their fifth win of the season.
