This is building up to be a HUGE Surrey score.

There are a few dark clouds skirting close by to The Oval - stay away please!

for Will Jackspublished at 19:02 British Summer Time 22 June 2023

19:02 BST 22 June 2023

Surrey 92-0 (8.2 overs) v Middlesex

Will Jacks begins Luke Hollmann's latest over with successive fours through the covers. Lovely shots!

That brings up his 50 off 28 balls. Seven fours and two sixes in that.

A nod to the England selectors maybe that he is in form if they want cover for Moeen Ali.

Will Jacks gets lucky as he mis-times a pull and it drops just short of mid-on. Lucky!

He is then hit on the pads next ball. Another piece of luck as he got his pad outside the line of off stump.

And then luck for Laurie Evans as Jack Davies lets one through his legs on the cover boundary. One turns into four!

Gloucestershire have recovered after that early triple strike by Ari Karvelas, with Grant Roelofsen and Ollie Price guiding them to 43-3 at the end of the powerplay against Sussex Sharks.

Meanwhile, the final South Group clash of the night is about to begin at Chelmsford, where Kent Spitfires have won the toss and bowl against hosts Essex.

The leg spin of Luke Hollmann is introduced into the attack.

After two dots in the first four balls, Laurie Evans rocks back to steer one to the backward point fence.

But an over of relative calm, all told.

Surrey have had four scores of over 200 in this season's T20 Blast and two scores of 190+.

Their biggest total was 258-6 against Sussex - could they go bigger tonight?

Will Jacks swats a full toss from Ryan Higgins into the crowd for six as they rack up their highest powerplay score of the season.

Some powerful hitting by Tom Moores at New Road has at least given Notts Outlaws something to bowl at.

Moores struck an unbeaten 31 from 24 balls and Pat Brown's final over yielded 15 - so Worcestershire will need 140 to pick up a third straight win and leapfrog their opponents in the table.

At Headingley, Birmingham Bears have reached 49-1 after five overs against Yorkshire Vikings.

for Surreypublished at 5 overs

5 overs

Surrey 57-0 v Middlesex

Will Jacks flashes hard at Martin Andersson's first ball and it flies just over the reach of Tom Helm at short third.

It's another four though, and the half-century stand for Jacks and Laurie Evans.

Evans gets a boundary of his own and it's another double-figure over.

Max Harris is in for his first T20 game of the season - and this is a baptism of fire for the 21-year-old seamer.

When he strays leg-stump, he gifts four to Will Jacks, who then bludgeons one through the offside for another four.

Surrey are purring.

Anything Pat Brown can do, Sussex Sharks seamer Ari Karvelas can do just as well.

Karvelas has given the Sharks a great start at Bristol by dismissing Miles Hammond and Ben Charlesworth in successive deliveries - and then removing Ben Wells in his next over.

Both these sides would need something spectacular to reach the quarter-finals, but you never know. Sussex in a great position after three overs.

The difference in the two line-ups is stark.

Surrey have a powerhouse T20 team, the Curran brothers, Jamie Overton, Chris Jordan, Sunil Narine, Sean Abbott, Will Jacks.

Middlesex do not have a single international and no overseas player in their side.

A lovely extra-cover drive from Laurie Evans is the highlight of the over, until a brilliant lofted drive from Jacks off the last ball.

Two overs left for Notts Outlaws to up the ante, but they're running out of wickets - Worcestershire's Pat Brown has just taken two in two balls and they're eight down.

We're under way in the other North Group game, with Yorkshire Vikings - smarting from two heavy defeats - trying to get their campaign back on track against front-runners Birmingham Bears at Headingley.

Birmingham have won the toss and they've might a bright start with the bat, Rob Yates hitting 14 of their 16 runs from the first two overs.

Josh De Caires' off-spin to open up at the Pavilion End.

When he drops short from round the wicket, Laurie Evans rocks back and pushes through the covers for four.

A loose shot from Will Jacks is almost caught in the deep by Tom Helm. No such problem next ball, as Jacks launches it back towards the Pavilion for a maximum.

Tom Helm generating some decent bounce from this Oval wicket. Always a good sight for a seam bowler.

But when he drops short, Will Jacks skilfully guides it to the vacant boundary at third for the first four of the innings.

The Oval pitch looks a good one, as ever. Surrey openers Will Jacks and Laurie Evans will expect to make a flying start.

Tom Helm to bowl.

Middlesex captain Stephen Eskinazi has called correctly and has decided that his team will have a bowl in The Oval sunshine.

Given that they have conceded three scores over 220 bowling first, it is a brave move as they look to end their wretched run.

Image source, Rex Features

The highlight of tonight's games is one of the stand-out fixtures of the county summer - the London derby between Surrey and Middlesex.

Unlike a reluctant cab driver, we are travelling south of the river to The Oval where a big crowd will expect loads of sunshine, runs and a home win.

Just a reminder that Middlesex have lost all 10 of their T20 Blast fixtures this season and their last 14 stretching back to last season.

Image source, Rex Features

Somerset's commanding eight-wicket win away to Glamorgan last night put them back on top of the South Group and they could qualify for the quarter-finals tonight.

Second-placed Surrey will expect to move level with the Cider Boys as they welcome Middlesex to The Oval for the London derby.

Middlesex have lost all 10 of their T20 Blast matches this season and their last 14 overall and it would be a major upset if they upset the all-powerful Surrey line-up.

Monday's defeat by Somerset was a first in six games for Essex, but they will aim to get back to winning ways against Kent at Chelmsford.

Victory for the hosts will be a big step towards another last-eight appearance, while the Spitfires could move above Hampshire into the fourth and final qualifying spot if they win tonight.

Qualification for both Gloucestershire (7th) and Sussex (8th), who meet in Bristol, appears unrealistic, but they will each need to win all four of their remaining matches to stand a chance.

1. Somerset - P11 W9 L2 RR 1.658 - 18pts

2. Surrey - P11 W8 L3 RR 1.673 - 16pts

3. Essex Eagles - P10 W7 L3 RR 0.272 - 14pts

4. Hampshire Hawks - P11 W6 L5 RR 0.602 - 12pts

5. Kent Spitfires - P10 W5 L5 RR 0.108 - 10pts

6. Glamorgan - P11 W5 L6 RR -0.867 - 10pts

Image source, Getty Images

We're already heading towards the end of the first innings in the key New Road clash between Worcestershire Rapids and Notts Outlaws - and it's going the home side's way at the moment after 14 overs.

Notts lost Alex Hales to a first-ball duck and have struggled since, with Rapids skipper Brett D'Oliveira picking up two wickets.

Haseeb Hameed - believe it or not - is making his Blast debut in place of the injured Colin Munro and has 14 from 13 balls.

It is all to play for in the North Group with the top six separated by only three points and four of those sides are in action tonight.

Leaders Birmingham Bears have travelled up the M1 to Headingley to face Yorkshire Vikings - a meeting of sides in contrasting form.

The Bears have won their last three while the White Rose have suffered two successive hammerings to slip out of the top four.

The match at New Road, which began at 17:30 BST, sees Worcestershire Royals (3rd) welcome Notts Outlaws (2nd). Victory for either side would be a big step towards locking in one of those spots for the knockout stages.

1. Birmingham Bears - P10 W7 L3 RR 0.762 - 14pts

2. Notts Outlaws - P11 W7 L4 RR -0.182 - 14pts

3. Worcestershire Royals - P10 W6 L4 RR 0.523 - 12pts

4. Lancashire Lightning - P11 W6 L5 RR 0.223 - 12pts

5. Yorkshire Vikings - P11 W6 L5 RR -0.787 - 12pts

6. Derbyshire Falcons - P11 W5 L5 T1 RR 0.436 - 11pts

Image source, Getty Images