WICKETpublished at 1.3 overs
Crawley c van der Merwe b Davey 4 (Kent 8-1 v Somerset)
Top-edge and Zak Crawley falls cheaply in the second over.
Joe Denly is the new man in.
Summary
Opening night of 2022 T20 Blast competition
Yorkshire Vikings beat Worcestershire Rapids by seven wickets
Harry Brook's 60 not out takes Yorkshire to target of 173
Somerset ease to eight-wicket win at 2021 champions Kent Spitfires
Kent make 162-6, Rilee Rossouw's 81 not out sees Somerset home
WICKETpublished at 1.3 overs
Postpublished at 19:04 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Kent 7-0 v Somerset (1 overs)
That's more like it. Head over the ball and Crawley drives Lammonby down the ground for four.
Good start this.
Postpublished at 19:01 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Kent 0-0 v Somerset (0.1 overs)
First ball and Tom Lammonby finds some movement.
Swing and a miss from Zak Crawley. How he could do with some runs today.
Postpublished at 19:00 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Kent 0-0 v Somerset
The holders walk out to bat as 'Stronger' by Kanye blasts out the PA system.
GAME TWO IS UNDER WAY!
Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger.
Head to headpublished at 18:57 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Kent v Somerset (19:00 BST)
Image source, Getty ImagesThe two sides have met 22 times in T20 cricket. Somerset have won on six occasions, Kent have won 13 times and three matches have been abandoned.
The highest team total in the series for Somerset is 226 for five at Canterbury in 2018, while for Kent it is 231 for five in the same match.
The highest individual innings for Somerset is the 151 not out by Chris Gayle at Taunton in 2015.
The players are on their way out at Canterbury...
Root takes a wicketpublished at 18:54 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Yorks v Worcs 70-2 (6 overs)
Joe Root brings himself into the attack and after being hit for a six apiece by Brett D'Oliveira and Jack Haynes, D'Oliveira miscues him to backward point.
The Rapids opener is out for a quickfire 32 off 16 balls.
Team newspublished at 18:52 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Kent v Somerset (19:00 BST)
Kent have won the toss and decided to bat.
Are we in for some Zak Crawley - Daniel Bell-Drummond heroics?
Meanwhile, Qais Ahmad arrives for his second stint as a Kent Spitfire after being a part of the victorious 2021 Vitality Blast squad. And South Africa's George Linde makes his first Kent appearance.
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End of X postLewis Gregory is set to make his 100th T20 appearance for Somerset. Watch out for Tom Abell who needs 19 runs to reach the 1200-run mark for Somerset in T20 cricket.
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End of X post 222 off the overpublished at 18:50 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Yorks v Worcs 50-1 (5 overs)
Brett D'Oliveira has just taken Jordan Thompson to the cleaners.
The Rapids opener hit the Yorkshire paceman for a couple of sixes - one a flat leg-side max and the other straight down the ground - along with two more boundaries.
This has now turned into a good start for the 2018 champions.
Can Kent create history?published at 18:48 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Kent v Somerset (19:00 BST)
Image source, Getty ImagesKent Spitfires head coach Matt Walker has challenged his side to become the first to win back-to-back T20 Blast titles.
Kent beat Somerset in last year's showpiece at Edgbaston to lift the trophy for a second time, 14 years after their first.
This year marks the 20th season of T20 cricket in England after the tournament launched in 2003 as the Twenty20 Cup.
Of the 18 first-class counties, 12 have won the competition, but no side has claimed the title two years in a row.
"We've got a challenge on our hands," former batter Walker told BBC Radio Kent.
"No-one's ever won it back-to-back, that's the challenge we face and that's the challenge I'll put to this group."
Postpublished at 18:46 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Yorks v Worcs 28-1 (4 overs)
First maximum of this season's T20 Blast!
Worcestershire's in-form batter Jack Haynes launches Dom Bess into the stands.
Good couple of overs for the Rapids.
Bess makes breakthroughpublished at 18:40 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Yorks v Worcs 7-1 (2 overs)
Spinner Dom Bess takes the new ball with Haris Rauf and claims a wicket with his fifth ball.
Ed Pollock is bowled for five.
Great start for the hosts.
Postpublished at 18:30 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Yorks v Worcs 0-0
Big-hitting Ed Pollock and four-day captain Brett D'Oliveira are opening for Worcestershire Rapids at Headingley.
Haris Rauf has the new ball for Yorkshire Vikings.
THE 2022 T20 BLAST IS UNDER WAY!
Postpublished at 18:27 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Yorkshire v Worcestershire (18:30 BST)
Image source, Getty ImagesYorkshire are one of only five counties never to win the T20 Blast and they have only reached Finals Day twice - in 2012 and 2016 - but they finished second in North Group in 2021, only to lose to Sussex Sharks in the quarter-finals.
Listen livepublished at 18:24 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports ExtraYou know the drill. You can listen to every ball live on BBC local radio.
Plus Radio 5 Sports Extra has coverage of Kent v Somerset from 20:00 BST.
Click the play icon at the top of this page.
Root named captain but no Moeenpublished at 18:21 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Yorkshire v Worcestershire (18:30 BST)
Joe Root is available for the first three games of Yorkshire Vikings' T20 Blast campaign, and has been named captain for tonight's match.
Root has played three County Championship matches for Yorkshire since stepping down from his England role, making one century and a 50 in the Roses fixture earlier this month.
The Vikings' usual T20 captain David Willey is absent as he is still involved in the Indian Premier League with Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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End of X postWorcestershire Rapids are without captain Moeen Ali and overseas players Dwayne Bravo and Colin Munro for their T20 Blast opener.
Moeen and Bravo are being given extra time to recuperate after playing for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League and won't be available until June.
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End of X post 2How does it work?published at 18:18 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Image source, Getty ImagesEach side will play 14 group matches, seven home and seven away, before Finals Day at Edgbaston on Saturday, 16 July, which has been moved forward from its traditional September date.
Champions Kent are one of four sides in action on the tournament's opening night, along with Yorkshire and Worcestershire in North Group, as they host Somerset in a repeat of last year's final.
In last season's competition all four sides at Finals Day came from South Group, having beaten their northern opponents at the quarter-final stage.
Guess that settled the north-south debate once and for all then...
Hello!published at 18:15 British Summer Time 25 May 2022
Image source, Rex FeaturesBring the noise!
The T20 Blast has returned and we've got two huge games tonight to kick the tournament off.
Holders Kent Spitfires are taking on Somerset at 19:00 BST. But first we've got Joe Root in action as Yorkshire Vikings host Worcestershire Rapids at 18:30.
The party is officially back. Come for the cricket, stay for Neil Diamond and 10cc.