T20 Blast round-up: Hain stars but rain wipes out games
Birmingham Bears' Sam Hain was left just two runs short of his second T20 century
- Published
Sam Hain hit an unbeaten 98 off 48 balls as Birmingham Bears beat Yorkshire by four runs in a final-ball finish to strengthen their position at the top of the T20 Blast North Group.
The Bears totalled 214-7, with Hain unable to get on strike in the final over, and despite seven sixes by Donovan Ferreira in his 66, Yorkshire could only reply with 210-5.
Kiran Carlson made 87 off 47 balls as Glamorgan piled up 235-6 in defeating second-placed Sussex in a weather-affected South Group game, and elsewhere there were victories for Durham and Kent Spitfires.
The match between Notts and Leicestershire was abandoned as a no-result after the players went off for rain when the Outlaws were 175-7 after 17 overs.
With heavy rain in the south of England, no play was possible in three games between Northamptonshire Steelbacks and Lancashire Lightning, Surrey and Middlesex and Essex and Somerset.
Birmingham Bears' seventh victory in nine games means they have 14 points and lead North Group by three points from Lancashire and Durham, with Surrey still two points clear of Sussex in the south despite their washout at The Oval.
The Blast was back after a fortnight's break for the County Championship, but Birmingham Bears - winners in 2014 - picked up where they left off by recording their fifth successive victory.
It proved a far closer finish than seemed likely at Headingley after Hain, who hit eight sixes and five fours, propelled the Bears' total well past 200 and Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth early in their reply.
But Dawid Malan laid the foundation for the chase with 54, adding 62 with James Wharton (29) and 57 with Ferreira before he was caught off spinner Danny Briggs at the start of the 16th over.
Ferreira completed his 50 from just 26 balls but holed out off Dan Mousley and the task of scoring 11 runs from the final over, bowled by George Garton, proved too much for the Vikings, who could only manage six.
At Chester-le-Street, Michael Jones hit three sixes in the last over in his 39 not out off 17 balls as Durham reached 190-5 against Worcestershire Rapids.
After Colin Ackermann's dismissal by Brett D'Oliveira left them 80-3 at halfway, the home side lifted the tempo with Ollie Robinson scoring 41 off 30 before Jones and Bas de Leede (22 not out) shared an unbroken 54 for the sixth wicket.
Worcestershire were in the hunt as opener Kashif Ali (45) and Josh Cobb (39) put on 65 in six overs but no-one else reached 20 as Ben Raine and Ben Dwarshuis took three wickets each to bowl the Rapids out for 168 and seal a 22-run win.
Joe Clarke was again in brilliant form for Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge, scoring 79 off 41 balls before being bowled by Ben Mike, but the weather had the final say in their game against Leicestershire Foxes.
The umpires hoped to resume with Leicestershire facing a revised target of 181 from 16 overs, but more rain arrived and the match had to be called off.
Glamorgan make big total at Hove
Kiran Carlson's 87 for Glamorgan was his best score in T20 cricket
Glamorgan looked on course for a T20 club record total of 241 or more when they reached 135-1 at the halfway point against Sussex at Hove.
Following an opening stand of 79 in 5.3 overs by Carlson and Will Smale (43 off 19 balls), Tom Bevan (34 off 17) helped add 72 in six.
Colin Ingram then weighed in with 40 off 19 balls but the visitors only managed to add 34 from their last four overs as Sussex skipper Tymal Mills took 4-29 and finished on 235-6, their third highest T20 score.
Facing such a target, Sussex needed something special at the start of their innings and Australian Daniel Hughes provided it with 62 not out off 34 balls before rain arrived during the 14th over with Sussex on 136-4.
The target was adjusted to 215 off 18 overs, and Hughes hit two sixes in three balls following the resumption before being caught off Chris Sole for 74.
With 32 needed from the last six balls, Nathan McAndrew and Danny Lamb fell to Dan Douthwaite and Sussex ended on 190-8 as Glamorgan won by 24 runs.
Bell-Drummond sets up Kent victory
Daniel Bell-Drummond's half-century was his second in this year's T20 Blast
Earlier in the day, Daniel Bell-Drummond hit 76 off 52 balls as Kent beat Gloucestershire by eight runs in a rain-affected game at Cheltenham.
The Spitfires were bowled out for 150 in 19.2 overs, with David Payne taking 4-25, but only five overs were possible in Gloucestershire's reply and their score of 29-2 meant defeat under the DLS calculations.
Kent were 13-3 in the third over but Bell-Drummond struck two sixes and 10 fours, sharing stands of 56 and 54 with Joey Evison (22) and Grant Stewart (21).
The rain arrived three overs into Gloucestershire's innings and although they managed to squeeze in two more, which saw Cameron Bancroft and James Bracey dismissed by Nathan Gilchrist before play was abandoned.
Saturday fixtures
Radlett: Middlesex v Hampshire Hawks (14:30)
Leicester: Leicestershire Foxes v Derbyshire Falcons (18:30)
Start times BST