T20 Blast: Sussex v Surrey cut short by rain, and no play possible between Bears and Somerset
- Published
Groundstaff mop up at Edgbaston where T20 Blast Finals Day will take place on 3 October
Rain again disrupted the start of this summer's T20 Blast as Sussex's game against Surrey ended in a no-result.
Opening batsman Phil Salt smashed 28 from one over at Hove before he was caught off Surrey skipper Gareth Batty for 40, made from 22 balls.
But bad weather forced the teams off with Sussex 116-5 after 15.2 overs and no further play was possible.
The evening game between Birmingham Bears and Somerset fared even worse with not even a single ball possible.
Umpires Tom Lungley and Nick Cook abandoned the match after taking a look at conditions at 19:45 BST, 75 minutes after the scheduled start time at Edgbaston.
"You can never control the weather. We're all disappointed, players and coaches, we wanted to get under way, albeit on a Friday night with no-one in," Bears skipper Will Rhodes told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire.
The washout followed seven out of eight games on Thursday being ruined by rain, with Lancashire the only winners so far, as they beat Durham.
Birmingham Bears, the 2014 winners, will hope for better luck on Sunday when they play Glamorgan in Cardiff, with Somerset away to Northamptonshire.
Salt's assault
In Friday's afternoon game, Seam bowler James Taylor was the Surrey bowler to suffer at the hands of Salt as his first over disappeared for 4-6-6-4-4-4.
Salt, who put on 41 for the first wicket with Luke Wright (31), underlined his growing reputation as a clean hitter with both sixes superbly timed over deep mid-wicket.
Sussex, though, lost their way when Batty turned to spin and he had Salt caught at deep backward square in the 10th over, with the total on 91.
England Test opener Rory Burns took a boundary catch as Harry Finch departed for 10, and Delray Rawlins was run out after being sent back by Ravi Bopara, who was making his first Sussex appearance.
Bopara only managed a single before he became the third batsman caught in the deep on the leg-side and George Garton and Aaron Thomason were not out on 13 and eight when the rain arrived.
Rory Burns showed a safe pair of hands as he caught Harry Finch off Dan Moriarty for 10
Sussex are next in action against Hampshire at Hove on Sunday, with Surrey at home to 2019 winners Essex Eagles
Surrey, meanwhile, will be permitted a crowd of 2,500 members for their game against Hampshire on Thursday, 3 September (start 1830 BST), as part of the government trial of fans returning to elite sporting venues.
Coming up
Saturday fixtures:
Worcester: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire (1300)
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Glamorgan (1400)
Chester LS: Durham v Nottinghamshire (1400)
Leicester: Leicestershire v Lancashire (1400)
Lord's: Middlesex v Kent (1400)
- Published27 August 2020
