Postpublished at 3 overs

3 overs

Yorkshire 24-1 v Sussex (Willey 11, TKC 2)

A loud appeal by George Garton for a catch by the keeper but umpire Peter Hartley - a former Yorkshire player - is unmoved and Tom Kohler-Cadmore picks up a single from the next ball.

There's another appeal, this time against David Willey, and once again Hartley shakes his head.

Garton's response is to drop short and Willey square cuts for four before pulling the next one over mid-wicket for a maximum. An expensive over.

Skipper David Willey is the new Yorkshire batsman, who blocks out Archie Lenham's final three deliveries.

After a couple of dot balls, Adam Lyth clips left-arm paceman George Garton effortlessly off his legs for the game's first boundary.

A single follows, but it for the remainder of the over.

Right then, the pyros are triggered, and it's almost time for the action to start.

Adam Lyth and Tom Kohler-Cadmore will open for Yorkshire - who won the toss and chose to bat - and George Garton will bowl the first over.

With the rope brought in, the boundary seems ridiculously short.

Image source, Rex Features

Consistency is one of the hallmarks of good batsmen and Yorkshire's Harry Brook has amassed 485 runs in the T20 Blast so far this summer.

His average of 80.83 is perhaps inflated as he was not out in half of his 12 innings, but only Josh Inglis of Leicestershire (531) and Gloucestershire's Glenn Phillips (500) have higher run tallies in 2021.

Apart from a second-ball duck in a seven-over slog against Notts Outlaws, Brook has reached double figures in every innings, with a best of 91 not out off 50 balls against Lancashire and a lowest score of 22.

He is also fifth in the list of T20 six-hitters with 20, and has maintained his good form recently in The Hundred with 62 off 30 balls in his first innings for Northern Superchargers.

You can also follow this evening's game on BBC radio - there are links to 5 live sports extra and local radio commentary streams at the top of this page.

Image source, Rex Features

No team had more incomplete games during the group stage than Sussex - with five ending as no-results or being abandoned without a ball bowled.

Despite that, a four-wicket victory over Kent Spitfires in their final group game was enough to secure third place and put the 2018 winners into the knockout phase of the competition.

Yorkshire, by contrast, only lost two matches for non-cricket reasons and seven wins saw them qualify second from Group One.

Jonny Bairstow's 112 off 51 balls against Worcestershire was an individual highlight - and even though he will not be in action against Sussex, they are hopeful to reach Finals Day for the first time since 2016.

Image source, Rex Features

Sussex have certainly shown themselves willing to give youth a chance this summer and one of the main beneficiaries has been leg-spinner Archie Lenham, who made his first-team debut aged just 16.

Lenham, whose grandfather Les and father Neil both played for Sussex, took a wicket, but conceded 34 from his four overs in his first match against Gloucestershire on 11 June.

But he showed he is a quick learner and ended the group stage with 10 wickets, including figures of 4-26 against Glamorgan.

Now a 'seasoned veteran' of 17 years and 32 days, he also picked up eight wickets in the longer format One-Day Cup and is definitely one to keep an eye on in future years.

In case you are wondering why Yorkshire are playing their T20 Blast quarter-final at the home of Durham CCC, the answer is very simple.

The third Test between England and India begins at Headingley tomorrow, and preparations for that match meant their home ground was not an option.

Neither were the outgrounds at Scarborough and York because they don't have floodlights or the facilities to accommodate live TV cameras.

Looks like we are set fair for the evening as this helpful BBC Weather graphic for Chester-le-Street shows.

Image source, BBC Weather

Yorkshire have won the toss and chosen to bat first - with the rope brought in at the Riverside to match the boundary distance at Headingley.

The Vikings are without fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, their leading wicket-taker in the competition with 14, because of Covid, and Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Dawid Malan are on England Test duty, but there are compensations in the return of Adil Rashid and David Willey.

Sussex include pacemen Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills and George Garton, who were all members of Southern Brave's trophy-winning side in The Hundred final at Lord's, but there is no Ollie Robinson, who is also set to play in tomorrow's Test against India.

Yorkshire: Lyth, Kohler-Cadmore, Willey, Brook, Ballance, Fraine, Thompson, Waite, Fisher, Duke, Rashid.

Sussex: Wright, Salt, Bopara, Rawlins, Wiese, Garton, Khan, Jordan, Mills, Beer, Lenham.

Image source, Rex Features

This evening's match between Yorkshire Vikings and Sussex Sharks is the first of four to be played on successive evenings to decide which teams will make it to Finals Day at Edgbaston on 18 September.

Tomorrow it's the turn of Notts Outlaws and Hampshire Hawks, followed by Somerset versus Lancashire Lightning on Thursday and Kent Spitfires against Birmingham Bears on Friday.

To read a full preview of all four games - click here.

We have reached the stage of the season when silverware is being handed out.

First, it was Glamorgan in the One-Day Cup, then Oval Invincibles (women) and Southern Brave (men) in The Hundred.

Tonight, we begin the process of whittling the eight teams still hoping to lift the T20 Blast trophy down to four.

It's Yorkshire v Sussex in the first quarter-final. Welcome to our coverage.

Image source, Rex Features