T20 Blast: Devon Conway steers Somerset to win, Notts close in on quarter-finals
- Published
Devon Conway scored a double century for New Zealand in the recent Test series against England
New Zealand opener Devon Conway hit an unbeaten 81 off 65 balls as Somerset defeated Gloucestershire by eight wickets in the T20 Blast.
After skipper Lewis Gregory took 5-24 in Gloucestershire's 161-7, Conway saw them to 165-2 with four balls to spare.
Notts remained on top of North group with a six-wicket victory over Leicestershire despite Alex Hales only making 13 in his 300th T20 match.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Middlesex, Essex and Lancashire.
Somerset outplay neighbours
Gregory made short work of Chris Dent at Bristol, but Gloucestershire rebuilt their innings as Benny Howell and Miles Hammond (44) shared a stand of 56 for the second wicket.
Glenn Phillips and James Bracey fell cheaply in the same Gregory over and the Somerset seamer later repeated the two-in-one trick when Howell was caught off a leading edge at mid-off for 52 and he then removed Tom Smith.
Gregory's figures were his best in a T20 game and the second best analysis of the season - behind Matt Milne's 5-22 for Kent Spitfires against Glamorgan.
Lewis Gregory's previous best figures in a T20 match were 4-15
Conway stroked the first two balls of Somerset's reply, bowled by Daniel Worrall, through the covers for four and relied more on stylish strokeplay than sheer power for most of the 12 boundaries in his innings.
He put on 78 with Will Smeed (36) and an unbroken 79 with Lewis Goldsworthy, who hit the first two deliveries of the final over for four to reach 39 not out and end the game.
In-form Notts subdue see-saw Foxes
Notts went into their match with Leicestershire unbeaten in seven, following five wins and two ties, but they were without Joe Clarke and Sol Budinger as a Covid precaution and Tom Moores because of illness.
It meant a first T20 appearance since August 2018 for Ben Slater and he contributed 48 to a stand of 99 with Samit Patel, who was unbeaten on 63 from 50 deliveries when the Outlaws reached 156-4 with 13 balls remaining.
Leicestershire now have a lost five, won three, lost the next three record after Calvin Harrison (3-20) and Luke Fletcher (3-31) helped bowl them out for 154.
Lancashire's Tom Hartley had never before taken more than two wickets in a T20 innings
Also in the North group, 2015 winners Lancashire Lightning achieved their first win in six games as they beat Worcestershire Rapids by 34 runs at Old Trafford.
Rob Jones' unbeaten 49 saw them to 159-6 and Worcestershire's hopes of a third win in a row came to nothing thanks to fine bowling by Saqib Mahmood and Tom Hartley.
Fast bowler Mahmood, who had Brett D'Oliveira caught at cover in his opening over, claimed 4-25 and spinner Hartley dismissed Riki Wessels (27) and Ross Whiteley with consecutive deliveries as he returned 4-16.
Ben Cox made 36 off 30 balls but the innings fell away after he came down the wicket to Matt Parkinson, failed to make contact with a big heave and was bowled leg stump, as they were all out for 125 in the 19th over.
Sussex second best at Lord's
Stevie Eskinazi has scored 386 T20 runs this season with a strike-rate of 141.91
Middlesex opener Stevie Eskinazi became the T20 Blast's leading run-scorer this season as they beat Sussex by 63 runs at Lord's - only their second win in seven games.
Eskinazi followed scores of 102 not out, 64 and 91 not out with 59 off 35 balls and shared an opening stand of 85 in nine overs with Max Holden, who made 38.
The home side totalled 166-7 and Sussex - who only had one completed match in their previous six because of rain - were never in contention after losing Luke Wright in the second over.
Only three batsmen reached double figures - with Travis Head's 23 the highest score - as they struggled to 103-9 from their 20 overs, with Nathan Sowter and Blake Cullen taking three wickets each.
Essex Eagles, winners in 2019, recorded the earliest win of the evening despite theirs being the last game to start, as they outplayed Glamorgan at Chelmsford to win by eight wickets with 46 balls in hand.
The Welsh county were bowled out for 104 in 17 overs as Sam Cook, Arron Nijjar and captain Simon Harmer took two wickets each.
Dan Lawrence then added 70 with Adam Wheater (39) and having reached 50 off 30 balls with a six and four off Andrew Salter, found the boundary again in the next from Sam Pearce to take Essex to 108-2 and finish on 55 not out.
The Eagles remain sixth in South group, but are only two points behind leaders Surrey with three more group games to play.
Coming next
Friday's fixtures
Glamorgan v Sussex Sharks, Cardiff (17:30 BST)
Durham v Leicestershire Foxes, Chester-le-Street (18:30)
Birmingham Bears v Notts Outlaws, Edgbaston 918:30)
Yorkshire Vikings v Lancashire Lightning, Headingley (18:30)
Somerset v Middlesex, Taunton (18:30)
Derbyshire Falcons v Worcestershire Rapids, Derby (19:00)
Hampshire Hawks v Gloucestershire, Ageas Bowl (19:00)
Kent Spitfires v Surrey (19:00), Canterbury