T20 Blast round-up: Sixth straight win for Hampshire

Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, Joe Weatherley reached his half-century for Hampshire off just 26 balls Hampshire Hawks sealed a sixth straight victory in the T20 Blast with a thrilling two-wicket win over North Group table-toppers Yorkshire on a scorching evening at the Utilita Bowl. Last season's finalists extended their lead at the top of the South Group standings, aided by a bludgeoning knock from Joe Weatherley worth 63, before Chris Wood hit the winning runs. Elsewhere, Essex were thrashed by Northamptonshire, who maintained their 100% record in this season's competition, while England wicketkeeper-batter James Rew smashed a superb unbeaten century as holders Somerset edged out local rivals Gloucestershire at Taunton. Warwickshire beat Worcestershire to claim just their second win of the T20 season and Lancashire Lightning lifted themselves off the bottom of the North Group table and up to third on net run-rate with a comfortable five-wicket victory at Leicestershire. Glamorgan cruised past struggling Middlesex and there were also wins for Surrey and Notts Outlaws. North Group: Lancashire pick up much-needed victoryImage source, ShutterstockImage caption, Liam Livingstone picked up another half-century following his match-winning knock of 85 not out against Durham last time out Lancashire Lightning picked up just a third win of their Blast campaign with a five-wicket victory at Leicestershire Foxes. Phil Salt and Jos Buttler returned to the line-up for Lightning, who limited their hosts to 156-7 as Leicestershire's Nick Kelly top scored with 49 not out. All-rounder Liam Livingstone took 2-34 for Lightning and then shone with the bat, firing seven sixes in a devastating knock. Livingstone was eventually dismissed lbw by Ashton Turner for 74 but a calm knock from Keaton Jennings (12no), aided by 17-year-old Joe Moores (16no) at the other end, guided the visitors home with seven balls remaining. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Will Jacks' unbeaten 70 was his second successive half-century in the Blast Will Jacks and debutant Josh Philippe shared a century partnership as Surrey coasted to a seven-wicket victory against Sussex Sharks at Hove. Openers Harrison Ward and Daniel Hughes gave Sussex a flying start with a stand of 94 from 46 balls, but the home side were bowled out for 171. Tom Lawes (3-26) and off-spinner Dan Lawrence (2-18) triggered the collapse before Reece Topley (3-16) wrapped up the innings with three deliveries unused – and Surrey maintained that momentum in the chase. Although Ollie Robinson, back on county duty with the Sharks, picked up the early wicket of Jason Roy, Australian Philippe (52 from 28) built a partnership of 103 with Jacks, whose unbeaten 70 from 39 steered Surrey across the line with 4.3 overs to spare. Image source, ShutterstockImage caption, James Rew hit a T20 career-best 116 not out England's Rew, back with his county after a tough Test debut against New Zealand, smashed a century off just 43 deliveries for Somerset as they beat Gloucestershire by 18 runs. The left-hander eventually ended on an outstanding 116 not out off 56 balls, hitting 19 boundaries during his innings, as Somerset ended on 194-7. The dismissal of captain Jack Taylor meant Gloucestershire were 97-4 at the end of the 11th over but a fifth-wicket partnership worth 55 between Liam Scott and Kamran Dhariwal gave them hope. Daniel Sams broke that partnership in the 18th over, though, and Australian seamer Riley Meredith claimed two wickets in the following over to effectively take the game out of Gloucestershire's reach. Warwickshire opener Zen Malik narrowly missed out on a maiden T20 century as his side continued their recovery in the Blast, overcoming neighbours Worcestershire at Edgbaston by 59 runs. The Bears, who began the tournament with five straight defeats – including a six-wicket loss at New Road – looked on course for an enormous total as Malik and in-form Beau Webster racked up a partnership of 177. Malik took just 19 balls to reach 50 but, after he was caught at cover one short of his ton and Ben Allison's pinpoint throw ran out Webster (79 from 44), the home side slid to 224 all out. However, that proved more than enough, with Worcestershire losing wickets at regular intervals and, despite Adam Hose's 49 from 35, they could only muster 165-7 in reply. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Chris Wood starred with the ball for Hampshire before hitting the winning runs In cross-pool play, Hampshire squeezed home on the penultimate delivery against Yorkshire despite a valiant attempt by AJ Tye to end the home side's winning streak. Yorkshire struggled for momentum in their innings, with Chris Wood (3-23) removing both Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali cheaply and they needed some big hitting by Tye (44 from 17) to haul them up to 150. Sonny Baker, dispatched for three successive maximums by Tye, gained his revenge with a yorker, while Scott Currie

T20 Blast round-up: Sixth straight win for Hampshire

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