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Sam Northeast fell just short of a maiden T20 century as Kent finished on 193-8 from their 20 overs against Surrey.

It was a superb innings from captain Northeast, who was caught on the boundary as he tried to get to his century with a six, but his five boundaries and seven sixes has given Kent a chance of victory.

The Surrey bowlers came back well in the final 10 overs of the game. Tom Curran finishes with three wickets, while debutant Moises Henriques will be satisfied with his 2-24.

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Forget Chris Gayle for a moment, Essex are off to a flying start thanks to their overseas star Jesse Ryder.

The opener has raced to 28 off 16 balls as he smashes Sohail Tanvir for 16 off his second over.

Are you watching Mr Gayle?!

Hampshire pass the halfway point of their innings in Cardiff and it continues to be a struggle for the visitors.

Adam Wheater tries to take on Andrew Salter, but doesn't get enough of it and is caught by the man having a golden debut, Wayne Parnell, at deep mid-on.

Just a day after arriving from Sri Lanka, Tillakaratne Dilshan finds himself opening the bowling, rather than the batting for Derbyshire - that will come later - but there's no sign of jet-lag as a tidy over costs him only five runs.

It's Shiv Thakor from the other end and the attack-minded Liam Livingstone smears a boundary for the visitors to get his innings up and running, but he is then bowled at the start of the third by Ben Cotton.

Jeetan Patel - who finished 2014 as the leading T20 Blast wicket-taker with 25 scalps - is on to bowl.

Josh Cobb hits the first ball for four, but the New Zealander gets his revenge as Tim Ambrose whips off the bails for the Bears' second wicket.

Captain Alex Wakely joins Richard Levi. However, the skipper isn't out there for long as he hits Boyd Rankin straight to Rikki Clarke and is out for a single.

Northants are now 63-3.

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Sam Northeast has registered his highest ever T20 score, but it's been a very good comeback from the Surrey bowlers in the final overs.

Northeast, starved of the strike, lost his rhythm and was struggling to find the boundary. Sadly for Surrey, a free hit from Azhar Mahmood helps Northeast as he flays the ball for six.

Wickets are falling thick and fast at the other end, with Alex Blake bowled by Mahmood for two and Matt Coles dismissed trying to launch his first ball out of the ground.

Worcestershire have already lost Richard Oliver in their chase.

The opener hit Rob Taylor straight to Tom Wells at mid-off.

I've got a feeling this one is going to be close.

The mascots are out, the teams are ready - and it's raining at Chester-le-Street. It's a delayed start in store for Yorkshire and Durham.

It's not entirely unexpected, but Chris Gayle will open for Somerset. However, we'll have to wait a while to see him in action as Somerset have won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Essex make one change to the side which lost at Gloucestershire on Sunday as Greg Smith comes in for Mark Pettini.

Essex: Ryder, Westley, Velani, Bopara, ten Doeschate (capt), Foster, Smith, Napier, Masters, Tait, Topley

Somerset: Gayle, Trescothick, Allenby, Trego, Hildreth, Cooper, Gregory, Tanvir, J Overton, Waller, Thomas (capt)

Hampshire continue their slump. This time Owais Shah fails to connect properly with a Graham Wagg delivery and gives Colin Ingram his second catch of the night.

Adam Wheater comes in to join Sean Ervine.

A disastrous start for Hampshire as they lose another wicket, with Michael Carberry the latest batsman to find himself walking back to the pavilion.

The left-hander edges Graham Wagg into his pads and is somehow caught by wicketkeeper Mark Wallace.

Sean Ervine joins Owais Shah and they will be hoping to build a partnership.

A good catch at Beckenham, but alas it's from a member of the crowd as Fabian Cowdrey strikes James Burke for a huge six.

Cowdrey deposits Burke's final ball down to long-on for four to keep the score ticking over and take 15 from the over, but he reaches for a Moises Henriques slower ball and cuts it straight to point to depart for 42.

A fine return for Henriques on debut, as he finish with 2-24. Darren Stevens, known as a big hitter, has fallen for one, caught by Tom Curran off the bowling of Matt Dunn.

The flow of runs have been stalled by a Birmingham Bears wicket.

David Willey's assault has come to an end as the left-hander is well caught by Jonathon Webb from the bowling of Recordo Gordon.

Richard Levi is joined by Josh Cobb.

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Wales Sport at the Swalec Stadium

"Wayne Parnell's debut was worth the wait. After missing Glamorgan's first two T20 Blast matches of the season through injury, the South African seamer took a wicket in his first over for the Welsh county.

"It was a significant wicket too, as Parnell's angled delivery drew an edge from Hampshire captain James Vince which flew to another South African international, Colin Ingram, at first slip."

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I know it is not all about Chris Gayle tonight, but with stats like this, it is hard not to get a little bit excited.

Let's have a look at his top five T20 innings - they make impressive reading:

175 not out (66 balls) for Royal Challengers Bangalore v Pune Warriors - April 2013

128 not out (62 balls) for Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils - May 2012

122 not out (61 balls) for Jamaica v Guyana - January 2013

117 (57 balls) for West Indies v South Africa - September 2007

117 (57 balls) for Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab - May 2015

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A solid start for the hosts at Wantage Road where Richard Levi has come out swinging.

Oliver Hannon-Dalby is the bowler to suffer as the muscular South African opens his arms to hit two sixes in the third over.

Middlesex will bat first after winning the toss against Sussex Sharks at Hove.

It is the same approach by skipper Eoin Morgan, who batted first on Thursday evening against Kent and then hit 54 off 27 balls to help his side post a total of 205-5 as they beat Kent by the small matter of 115 runs. Middlesex make one change with James Harris back in the side as Steven Finn is rested.

Sussex: Nash, Wright (capt), Jayawardene, Cachopa, Finch, Yardy, Beer, Jordan, Mills, Robinson, Piolet.

Middlesex: Stirling, Malan, Compton, Morgan (capt), Franklin, Burns, Simpson, Roland-Jones, Abbott, Harris, Sowter.

James Burke has tightened things up for Surrey - just five runs from his first over, all of them singles.

Fabian Cowdrey has joined in with Sam Northeast's big-hitting fun, thrashing Tom Curran for two boundaries. Cowdrey and Sam Northeast are also running well between the wickets but some clever bowling by Moises Henriques has momentarily slowed things down.

Wayne Parnell has another! What a start for the South African!

His eighth ball for his new side is cut by Jimmy Adams straight to Craig Meschede at third man.

The Hampshire batsman can't believe it - his side are in trouble already. Owais Shah is the new batsman.

Tom Wells has played an absolute gem of an innings for Leicestershire Foxes in the final few overs at New Road.

The 22-year-old hits Joe Leach for another big six in the final over which goes for 14 runs and Wells finishes 26 not out.

Leicestershire won't be overly pleased with their final total, but they have a decent score to try and defend.