LONDON, Saturday : Ravi Bopara was run out on the final ball chasing a second run as Essex tied a thrilling Twenty20 Blast South Group match with fellow strugglers Hampshire on Saturday.
Bopara (39) looked set to guide Essex to victory with just seven needed off five balls, but was run out by a fine piece of fielding by Colin Munro.
Sam Northeast’s fine unbeaten 73 had seen Hampshire recover to post 170-5. Dan Lawrence (49) top-scored for Essex, who like Hampshire still only have one win in this season’s competition.
Essex have played six matches and are seventh, a point above Hampshire, who have played five games. But both sides are still in contention to reach the quarter-finals in a very tight group that sees all nine teams separated by just five points. Lancashire beat rivals Yorkshire by one run in an extraordinary Roses match to stay top of the T20 Blast North group. After rain reduced the game to 14 overs a side, Liam Livingstone made 79 from 37 balls as Lancashire reached 176-2.
Adam Lyth’s 60 gave Yorkshire hope but, needing 17 from the final over, they fell agonisingly short at Old Trafford. Meanwhile, Kent remain top of the South group after rain prevented a result in their match against Surrey.
A crowd of 22,515 at Old Trafford watched the Red Rose county win their fifth match from six in the competition after the start was delayed. Lancashire captain Livingstone got a let-off when he was on five, when confusion between Lyth and Steven Patterson in the field saw a skied effort fall safe. While leg-spinner Adil Rashid had shone as England wrapped up the one-day international series against India on Tuesday, the Yorkshire man went for 44 off his three overs.
England Test captain Joe Root finished on 51 not out for the visitors but with four needed off the final ball, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson could only manage two to leave them on 175-4. Both Northamptonshire and Surrey set new club highest scores in T20 cricket, but both were denied victory. Northants went into their game at Birmingham with five defeats from five
but an unbeaten 95 from Richard Levi and 61 for Josh Cobb from 35 balls helped them to 231-5.
However, bowling has been their issue and former England batsman Ian Bell rolled back the years to make 131 off 62 deliveries as the game ended in a tie.
The 36-year-old’s innings included 11 fours and seven sixes, with Northants now the only side in this year’s competition yet to win. Surrey posted the eighth best ever T20 score but their match at Kent finished as a “no result” because of rain. Aaron Finch struck 83 off just 38 balls and Rory Burns made his first T20 half-century as the visitors reached 250-6 from their 20 overs - the biggest score in the competition this season and Surrey’s highest ever T20 total. West Indies seamer Carlos Brathwaite bore the brunt of Surrey’s efforts,
conceding 55 runs from his three overs. However, persistent rain at Canterbury throughout the innings worsened as the players went in for the break and play was called off before Kent could
start their reply, with the point keeping them top of the South group. Rain also denied Gloucestershire and Essex a result at Cheltenham, with the visitors 172-7 when rain stopped play after 18.2 overs, resulting in a point apiece.
In the battle of the England all-rounders, Ben Stokes claimed career-best T20 figures of 4-16 as Durham eased to a seven-wicket win over Worcestershire with 32 balls to spare. Moeen Ali - captaining the Rapids in his first T20 appearance for them in two years - lasted only three balls with the bat, nicking James Weighell to slip for just four.
Only Travis Head (40) could get going as the visitors limped to 121 all out from 19.2 overs. Durham’s Stokes impressed with the bat as well, hitting five fours and a six before being caught off Moeen for 43 at long-off, but Graham Clark’s 55 helped the hosts to 125-3 and a third T20 Blast victory in a row. The best bowling figures came courtesy of James Fuller, but his 6-28 - \Middlesex’s best ever bowling figures in T20 cricket - could not prevent them from falling to a 21-run defeat by Hampshire, who were all out for 184 before restricting their opponents to 163-9.
Elsewhere, Leicestershire defended 193-6 to beat holders Nottinghamshire by 17 runs and Somerset beat Glamorgan by 30 runs.
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