Saturday 13 June 2015 12:12, UK
Hashim Amla played a starring role as the Derbyshire Falcons stumbled to a five-wicket win over the Lancashire Lightning on a busy night of NatWest T20 Blast action around the country.
Amla hit 51 off 36 balls in Derby and put on 93 for the first wicket alongside Tillakaratne Dilshan, but a string of wickets meant Derbyshire were only able to secure victory with 14 balls to spare.
They were only chasing 128 for victory after a fine performance from their bowlers, former Lancashire all-rounder Wayne White taking 3-21 while Ben Cotton and Tony Palladino claimed two wickets apiece.
Alex Davies top-scored for Lancashire with 41 off 26 balls, but only Paul Horton of their remaining batsmen even managed to reach 20.
Amla and Dilshan appeared to have the game in control in their stand, which came off only 63 balls, but they fell in quick succession with Jordan Clark claiming a couple of wickets.
But Chesney Hughes steadied things with an unbeaten 21 and Shiv Thakor hit the winning run with two balls remaining in the 18th over.
A second match in 24 hours was a step too far for Leicestershire Foxes as their challenge took a blow with a six-wicket defeat by the Worcestershire Rapids at New Road.
Daryl Mitchell was the home side's wounded match-winner, accelerating to the only half-century of the evening after taking a fearful crack on his right arm early in the reply to the Foxes' total of 147-6.
Early in his innings Worcestershire's captain was unable to dodge a thunderous straight drive by his partner Tom Kohler-Cadmore - but with his elbow strapped up he was able to lead a well-paced victory charge with 58 from 47 balls.
Three of his six fours came after the Rapids had gone through almost eight overs without a boundary and when he was dismissed by Rob Taylor, thin-edging a cut behind the wicket, Ben Cox and Ross Whiteley wrapped up a first North Group win of the season with 14 balls to spare.
A brilliant 96 by Sam Northeast off 47 balls powered Kent to a 23-run win over Surrey in a South Group local derby at Beckenham.
Northeast, who clubbed seven sixes and five fours, was joined by Fabian Cowdrey (42 from 32) in a thunderous fourth-wicket stand of 98 in nine overs as Kent ran up 193-8 - their highest T20 score against Surrey.
That proved too much for Surrey as they finished on 170-8.
Australia all-rounder Moises Henriques scored a 47-ball 63 on his Surrey debut and also took 2-24 with the ball, but Kent's bowlers were always in control and an asking rate of 13 an over for the last five overs, with half their side out, was too much for the visitors.
Chris Gayle produced fireworks at Chelmsford on his return to English cricket, hitting 92 off 59 balls for Somerset in a tense three-wicket win over Essex.
Gayle hit eight fours and six sixes in a sensational knock as Somerset chased down 177 for victory off the final ball after a flurry of late wickets.
After losing four wickets in 13 balls, Lewis Gregory and Max Waller scampered five runs off the final four balls to claim the points.
Essex earlier made 176 all out in their 20 overs, somewhat disappointing after Jesse Ryder (54) and Tom Westley (68) put on 90 for the first wicket in 8.1 overs.
But they were pegged back by wily Somerset seamer Alfonso Thomas, who claimed 4-37 and James Allenby who grabbed three wickets,
Hampshire bounced back from defeat last week with a victory over Glamorgan by 21 runs on a tired pitch at the SWALEC Stadium.
Those conditions were very much to the liking of the Hampshire attack, who did a fine job of defending 149 in the South Group contest.
Sean Ervine's 49 runs anchored the Hampshire innings, before a brilliant spell from Chris Wood made sure the home side finished a long way short of the target.
Wood claimed figures of 4-16, three of his wickets coming clean bowled, with only Jacques Rudolph (38) and Mark Wallace (37) looking at ease for Glamorgan.
Birmingham Bears claimed their second NatWest t20 Blast victory of the season but were made to wait until the final ball to complete a five-wicket win over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road.
Opener William Porterfield anchored the Bears' successful chase of 147 with an unbeaten 55 as the defending champions followed up their win over Worcestershire.
Richard Levi smashed 58 off 48 balls for Northants as they reached 146-7, with Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Recordo Gordon claiming two wickets apiece.
Porterfield's innings proved the difference for Birmingham, although they only claimed victory when visiting 'keeper Adam Rossington failed to stop an Azharullah delivery from going for four byes off the final ball with the scores still tied.
Azharullah, who made his breakthrough in the 2012 T20 competition, took 3-30.
Opener Dawid Malan smashed an unbeaten 115 off 64 balls as Middlesex cruised to their second convincing victory in 24 hours after beating Sussex by 42 runs at Hove.
The left-hander, who only returned to action on Thursday in the 115-run win over Kent having recovered from a broken finger, underpinned a total of 221-2 with a chanceless century.
It was Malan's second hundred in the format and, with his opening partner Paul Stirling contributing a similarly explosive 88, Middlesex ran up their highest score in the competition.
Facing an asking rate of more than 11 runs an over, Sussex were always up against it although a county-record fifth wicket stand of 84 in 44 balls from skipper Luke Wright and Chris Jordan kept them in touch and entertained a crowd of 5,000.
However, South African fast bowler Kyle Abbott removed both with successive balls at the start of the 17th over and finished with career-best figures of 5-14 as Sussex closed on 179-9.
Durham christened their new floodlights with an exciting six-run win over previously unbeaten Yorkshire.
The hosts made 182-4 batting first with four of their top six scoring in the 30s, and then limited Yorkshire to 176-8 in reply as Keaton Jennings starred with the ball.
Jennings finished with figures of 4-37 with his occasional medium pace, including the key scalps of Jonny Bairstow and Glenn Maxwell.
The victory leaves Durham at the top of the North Group with three wins from four matches, two points ahead of second-placed Yorkshire.
NatWest T20 Blast - Friday's results:
Derbyshire (128-5) beat Lancashire (127-9) by five wickets
Kent (193-8) beat Surrey (170-8) by 23 runs
Worcestershire (149-4) beat Leicestershire (147-6) by six wickets
Hampshire (148-8) beat Glamorgan (127-8) by 21 runs
Birmingham (150-5) beat Northants (146-7) by five wickets
Somerset (177-7) beat Essex (176) by three wickets
Middlesex (221-2) beat Sussex (179-9) by 42 runs
Durham (182-4) beat Yorkshire (176-8) by six runs
