T20 Blast: Jofra Archer returns as Sussex and Surrey tie match
- Published
Jofra Archer (left) was the third-highest wicket-taker at the World Cup, with 20 wickets in 11 matches for England
World Cup winner Jofra Archer could not inspire Sussex to victory on his return to action as the Sharks tied with Surrey in the T20 Blast on Friday.
Archer, who bowled the super over which secured England's triumph in the final, took 2-21 from his four overs.
The 24-year-old paceman was aiming to prove his fitness ahead of the Ashes squad announcement on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Durham Jets' Ben Potts and Middlesex's Toby Roland-Jones both took hat-tricks to help their sides win.
Kent Spitfires continued their perfect start in the South Group with a 22-run over Essex, despite 58 not out from Ryan ten Doeschate, while half-centuries from Ben Duckett (64) and Alex Hales (63) set Notts Outlaws on their way to overcome Derbyshire Falcons.
Having set the Falcons 199 to win, Harry Gurney took a career-best 5-30 as Notts won by 27 runs.
In the North Group, Lancashire Lightning and Northamptonshire Steelbacks both came out on top in rain-affected matches against Worcestershire Rapids and Birmingham Bears respectively.
Archer returns in tight match
Archer, who has spent time recovering in Barbados following victory over New Zealand at Lord's 12 days ago, was given a loud ovation by the Hove crowd as he came out to bat against Surrey - but he only made one run in his three-ball innings.
Sharks skipper Luke Wright top-scored with an unbeaten 76 off 59 as Sussex posted what appeared to be an under-par 144-8.
Surrey were 12-2 after Archer removed Australia one-day international captain Aaron Finch in the fourth over, but Will Jacks (35) and Ollie Pope (43) fought back, meaning the visitors needed 12 runs from the final over to win, with two wickets remaining.
Imran Tahir swept David Wiese for six over cover point to leave them needing three from the final ball, and the South Africa spinner and Gareth Batty ran two to tie the match.
Hat-tricks abound as Durham tee off
Toby Roland-Jones is now the leading wicket-taker in this year's T20 Blast, with 11 wickets in four games
After Tom Curran's hat-trick for Surrey on Thursday, there were career-best T20 figures for both Durham's Potts and Middlesex seamer Roland-Jones, with the latter taking 5-21 to help the north Londoners to an eight-wicket victory at Glamorgan.
The Welsh outfit were dismissed for 136 as Roland-Jones dismissed Marchant de Lange, Dan Douthwaite and Andrew Salter at the start of the final over.
Stevie Eskinazi's 51 from 29 balls got Middlesex off to a good start and England international Dawid Malan (45 off 43) guided the visitors, who were again without the injured AB de Villiers, to victory.
Durham recorded a thumping nine-wicket win over Leicestershire at Grace Road, chasing down the 159 required to win with 8.5 overs to spare.
Foxes captain Colin Ackermann top-scored with 58 as the hosts were bowled out, with Jets bowler Potts (3-28) ending the innings with a hat-trick in just his third T20 appearance.
Openers D'Arcy Short and Scott Steel made short shrift of the chase, putting on a partnership of 133 runs for the first wicket.
Steel hit nine fours and four sixes in his 30-ball knock of 70, while Short (77 not out off 36) hit five fours and six sixes.
Blues for Babar as rain makes its mark
Pakistan batsman Babar Azam scored 474 runs at an average of 67.71 at the World Cup this summer
An unbeaten 95 off 61 balls from Pakistan batsman Babar Azam was in vain as Somerset were beaten by Hampshire by four wickets at Taunton.
Babar, 24, hit nine fours and a six as he batted through the Somerset innings in their score of 172-3.
Hampshire were in trouble at 9-2 in their chase but 48 from opener Aneurin Donald and an unbeaten 47 from Liam Dawson helped see them home in the final over.
Lancashire Lightning beat defending champions Worcestershire Rapids by 21 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method,
Rain halted the hosts' reply to Worcestershire's 130-9 when the Lightning were 71-1 after nine overs, with no further play possible.
Meanwhile, Birmingham Bears were set a revised target of 133 from 16 overs after rain delayed the start of their reply to Northamptonshire Steelbacks' 155-6.
The Bears lost Ed Pollock to the first ball and slumped from 91-3 in the 12th over to 111-8 as they fell short.
What's next?
There are two T20 Blast matches on Saturday, with Notts Outlaws hosting neighbours Leicestershire Foxes, while Gloucestershire visit Essex Eagles.