T20 Blast: Sam Curran & Laurie Evans propel Surrey to fine win at Somerset
- Published
Sam Curran hit six sixes and five fours in his 36-ball 72
England all-rounder Sam Curran smashed an unbeaten 72 as Surrey's batsmen fired again in beating Somerset.
Having set a new Lord's T20 record of 223-7 in beating Middlesex on Thursday, the Brown Caps chased down a testing 188 in just 16 overs at Taunton to make it two wins out of two.
Elsewhere, Australian spinner Chris Green's hat-trick proved in vain as Middlesex lost to Kent.
Birmingham Bears and Derbyshire both surpassed 200 in impressive away wins.
Surrey's star-studded line-up are looking in ominous form, recording a second win in consecutive days to set the early pace in the South Group.
Tom Abell passed 1,000 career T20 runs as his 44-ball 69 helped Somerset reach a decent total of 187-6, after Curran had removed key man Tom Banton for one.
England opener Jason Roy set the tempo with a typically brisk 30 off just 13 balls before Laurie Evans (65) and Curran piled up a rapid 104-run partnership to guide the Brown Caps to a hugely impressive seven-wicket win.
It was a case of what might have been for Middlesex after Green (5-32) took the wickets of Jack Leaning (64), Darren Stevens and Matt Milnes with the final three balls of the Kent innings, having also removed Jordan Cox (64) with the first ball of the over.
But Cox and Leaning had already done the damage as their 123-run stand helped Kent recover from a shaky start to post 178-8.
In reply, England white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan fell for 26 as the visitors slumped to 55-5 and eventually went down by 16 runs despite Luke Hollman's battling 51 down the order as Kent also chalked up a second win.
It was a night for the bowlers at Chelmsford as Hampshire Hawks bowled out Essex Eagles for 142 to win by 13 runs.
Sam Cook (2-21) and Simon Harmer (2-25) helped restrict the visitors to what appeared a below-par 155-6, Joe Weatherley top-scoring with 42 not out.
Opener Tom Westley gave the Eagles a good start with a 29-ball 44, and Kiwi international Jimmy Neesham made a quick 28, but Mason Crane took two wickets and claimed two run-outs as the visitors defended their unlikely winning total.
Opener Phil Salt hit an unbeaten 77 as Sussex Sharks completed a five-wicket win with 16 balls to spare against Gloucestershire at Bristol.
Salt shared a decisive stand of 92 with George Garton (46), who had earlier taken 3-19 to keep the hosts down to 177-7, Glenn Phillips top-scoring with 42.
Bears hold on to beat holders
Ed Pollock top-scored with a rapid 62 as fans at Trent Bridge saw 440 runs plundered
Birmingham Bears posted their highest T20 score away from Edgbaston to beat holders Notts Outlaws by 18 runs as the sides racked up a mammoth combined 440 runs at Trent Bridge.
Ed Pollock (62), Sam Hain (53 not out) and Carlos Braithwaite did the damage, the West Indian clouting 31 off one Peter Trego over in an 18-ball knock of 44, as the visitors posted a mighty 229-5.
The Bears had only twice bettered that total, hitting 242-2 against Derbyshire in 2015 and 231-5 against Northants in 2018 - both at Edgbaston.
Facing their biggest-ever T20 run chase, Notts lost chief weapon Alex Hales to a second-ball duck, and despite a 25-ball 50 from Ben Duckett (51) and 38 from Tom Moores, the hosts' brave reply fell just shy on 211-9.
Worcestershire Rapids maintained their unbeaten start as Moeen Ali starred in a convincing 32-run win over Northants Steelbacks.
England all-rounder Ali (52) smashed a sparkling 28-ball half-century - his 21st 50 in T20s - backed up by 43 from Brett D'Oliveira and Ben Cox's late 10-ball cameo of 26 to take the Rapids to 185-7 at Northampton.
Skipper Josh Cobb hit 29 off just 11 balls and Saif Zaib a battling 36 in reply, but the Steelbacks never seriously threatened the target as Moeen followed up with 2-21.
Derbyshire opener Luis Reece hit a 27-ball 50, and Matt Critchley hammered a T20 career-high 80 off 45 balls as the Falcons finished strongly to rack up 209-6 at Leicester.
Leicestershire Foxes lost Scott Steel to the first ball of their reply and never really recovered, Rishi Patel top-scoring with 35 and Arron Lilley making 29 as the hosts were bowled out for 189.
Fast bowler Brydon Carse helped Durham open their campaign with an impressive 20-run victory over Yorkshire Vikings at Chester-le-Street.
Carse led the recovery after the hosts had slipped to 90-5, making 51 off 31 balls to help compile 181-8 as Jordan Thompson claimed 4-44 for the Vikings.
England's Jonny Bairstow led the reply with a 50-ball 67 and Harry Brook hit a swift 41, but the visitors were always behind the rate against economical bowling from Ben Raine (2-17) and Matty Potts (2-28) to end on a disappointing 161-6.