Friday 11 July 2014 21:55, UK
Jonny Bairstow blasted the first Twenty20 century at Chester-le-Street off only 58 balls as Yorkshire beat Durham by 49 runs.
In front of a crowd of 6,747 Bairstow hit six sixes and his second 50 came off 18 balls, as the last eight overs produced 102 runs to take Yorkshire to 186-8.
With two overs of the innings left Bairstow was on 71 but he drove the first three balls of the 19th, bowled by off-spinner Gareth Breese, over the rope at long-on.
He then took a single and was on 90 with four balls left. An improvised shot off Chris Rushworth produced a four just wide of the wicketkeeper, followed by two to long-on before the fifth ball was pulled for six. He remained unbeaten on 102, while the next highest scorers were Alex Lees and Adil Rashid with 29.
The target seemed to induce panic in Durham as four of the top six mustered one between them. It was left to Australian John Hastings to spare their blushes as he followed up his 3-20 by hammering a 25-ball half-century.
After hitting four sixes he was bowled by Ryan Sidebottom for 62 in the 19th over and Durham were all out for 137 with two balls unused.
Andrew Flintoff took three wickets as Lancashire clinched their place in the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast with victory over Leicestershire.
The 36-year-old former England star claimed 3-26 in the second match of his comeback to help Lancashire to an 18-run win, with the Foxes bowled out for 133 in 19.4 overs chasing a target of 152.
Steven Croft also took three wickets and three catches as Lancashire successfully defended their total of 151-7 to secure their eighth victory of the Twenty20 campaign.
The defeat virtually ended Leicestershire's slim chances of reaching the knockout stages of a competition they have won three times.
Flintoff, batting for the first time in a T20 game since June 2009, was out for one off four balls, lbw to Josh Cobb attempting to hit through midwicket.
There was a cameo innings from Butler that brought him a quickfire 20 before he became one of Jigar Naik's three victims, the Foxes off-spinner finishing with three for 30.
However, Lancashire were worthy winners in the end and Croft said: "It was a great team effort. We were a few runs light with the bat but turned things round with the ball."
Northamptonshire kept their slim hopes of reaching the quarter-finals alive with a four-wicket defeat of Derbyshire Falcons at the County Ground.
Chasing the visitors' 191-6, the hosts reached the target in relative comfort with four balls remaining.
Wins for the Birmingham Bears and Yorkshire Vikings mean that they will probably need to win all of their three remaining matches but all that could be asked was that they finished the evening still in contention and that aim has been achieved.
Fifty-seven were needed from the final five overs but Adam Rossington quickly rounded this down with a mix of baseball-esque hitting and more orthodox fare.
Both he and Ben Duckett fell in the 19th over bowled by Greg Cork but Graeme White hit his first two balls over the ropes to wrap things up.
A 29-ball half-century from acting captain Varun Chopra reignited Birmingham's campaign in a five-wicket win over Worcestershire in front of crowd of 12,500 at Edgbaston.
Making light work of a chase to overhaul the Rapids' 175-6, Chopra put on 73 with William Porterfield in the first seven overs and went on to 74 in guiding his side to a first victory in six games with four balls to spare.
The Bears were in a make-or-break situation in terms of progressing to the knock-out stage, whereas Worcestershire still have a little bit more room for manoeuvre, despite suffering a first home defeat against Lancashire last Sunday.
