2018 T20 Blast

2018 Vitality Blast

Dates	4 July 2018 (2018-07-04) – 15 September 2018 (2018-09-15)
Administrator(s)	England and Wales Cricket Board
Cricket format	Twenty20
Tournament format(s)	Group stage and knockout
Champions	Worcestershire Rapids (1st title)
Participants	18
Matches	133
Attendance	931,455 (7,003 per match)
Most runs	Laurie Evans (614)
Most wickets	Pat Brown (31)
Official website	Vitality Blast

The 2018 Vitality Blast was the sixteenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. It was the first season in which the domestic T20 competition, run by the ECB, has been branded as the Vitality Blast due to a new sponsorship deal. The league consisted of the 18 first-class county teams divided into two divisions of nine teams each with fixtures played between July and September. The final day took place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on 15 September 2018.

Nottinghamshire Outlaws were the champions going into the tournament having beaten the Birmingham Bears by 22 runs in the 2017 final.

Competition format

The 18 first-class county cricket clubs are taking part in the competition. Teams are initially split into two divisions on a geographical basis (North and South) for the group stage of the competition, each group having nine teams. During the group stage, which ran from July until the middle of August, each county played 14 matches, playing six of the other sides in their group twice, once home and once away, and the other two teams once. The winners of each match received two points for a win, with one point awarded in the case of a tie or if a match was abandoned. Teams are ranked within their groups by total points, then net run rate. At the end of the group stage, the top four teams from each group entered the knockout stage of the competition.

Teams

Team	Division	Home grounds	Coach	Captain	Overseas Player(s)
Birmingham Bears	North	Edgbaston, Birmingham	Jim Troughton	Grant Elliott	Jeetan Patel Colin de Grandhomme
Derbyshire Falcons	North	County Cricket Ground, Derby	John Wright	Gary Wilson	Wahab Riaz Lockie Ferguson Henry Nicholls
Durham Jets	North	Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street	Jon Lewis	Tom Latham	Tom Latham Imran Tahir
Essex Eagles	South	County Cricket Ground, Chelmsford	Anthony McGrath	Ryan ten Doeschate	Neil Wagner Adam Zampa Peter Siddle
Glamorgan	South	Sophia Gardens, Cardiff	Robert Croft	Colin Ingram	Usman Khawaja Shaun Marsh Joe Burns
Gloucestershire	South	Bristol County Ground College Ground, Cheltenham	Richard Dawson	Michael Klinger	Michael Klinger Andrew Tye Thisara Perera
Hampshire	South	Rose Bowl, Southampton	Craig White	James Vince	Colin Munro Mujeeb Ur Rahman Dale Steyn
Kent Spitfires	South	St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury County Cricket Ground, Beckenham	Matt Walker	Sam Billings	Adam Milne Marcus Stoinis Carlos Brathwaite
Lancashire Lightning	North	Old Trafford, Manchester	Glen Chapple	Liam Livingstone	Joe Mennie James Faulkner Zahir Khan
Leicestershire Foxes	North	Grace Road, Leicester	Paul Nixon	Colin Ackermann	Mohammad Abbas Mohammad Nabi
Middlesex	South	Lord's, London Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground Old Deer Park, Richmond, London	Daniel Vettori	Dawid Malan	Hilton Cartwright Ashton Agar Dwayne Bravo
Northamptonshire Steelbacks	North	County Cricket Ground, Northampton	David Ripley	Alex Wakely	Rory Kleinveldt Seekuge Prasanna
Nottinghamshire Outlaws	North	Trent Bridge, Nottingham	Peter Moores	Dan Christian	Dan Christian Ish Sodhi
Somerset	South	County Ground, Taunton	Andy Hurry	Lewis Gregory	Corey Anderson Jerome Taylor
Surrey	South	The Oval, London	Michael Di Venuto	Jade Dernbach	Aaron Finch Nic Maddinson
Sussex Sharks	South	County Cricket Ground, Hove	Jason Gillespie	Luke Wright	Rashid Khan Tom Bruce
Worcestershire Rapids	North	New Road, Worcester	Kevin Sharp	Moeen Ali	Travis Head Martin Guptill Callum Ferguson Wayne Parnell
Yorkshire Vikings	North	Headingley, Leeds	Andrew Gale	Steven Patterson	Kane Williamson

North Group

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Ded	Pts	NRR
1	Worcestershire Rapids	14	9	4	0	1	0	19	0.595
2	Durham Jets	14	9	4	0	1	0	19	0.556
3	Lancashire Lightning	14	8	5	0	1	0	17	0.683
4	Nottinghamshire Outlaws	14	8	6	0	0	0	16	0.073
5	Yorkshire Vikings	14	7	7	0	0	0	14	−0.035
6	Birmingham Bears	14	6	7	1	0	0	13	0.033
7	Derbyshire Falcons	14	5	7	0	2	0	12	−0.047
8	Leicestershire Foxes	14	5	8	0	1	0	11	−0.380
9	Northamptonshire Steelbacks	14	2	11	1	0	0	5	−1.398

Source: BBC Sport

July

4 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Northamptonshire Steelbacks 218/3 (20 overs)	v	Leicestershire Foxes 219/6 (19.4 overs)
Ben Duckett 96 (54) Callum Parkinson 1/25 (3 overs)		Colin Ackermann 66* (31) Ben Sanderson 2/47 (4 overs)

Leicestershire Foxes won by 4 wickets County Ground, Northampton Umpires: David Millns and Jeff Evans Player of the match: Ben Duckett (Northants Steelbacks)

• Leicestershire Foxes won the toss and elected to field.

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4 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Nottinghamshire Outlaws 155/7 (20 overs)	v	Birmingham Bears 159/2 (17.2 overs)
Riki Wessels 41 (29) Colin de Grandhomme 2/24 (4 overs)		Ian Bell 82* (57) Harry Gurney 1/26 (2.2 overs)

Birmingham Bears won by 8 wickets Trent Bridge, Nottingham Umpires: Mike Burns and Steve O'Shaughnessy Player of the match: Ian Bell (Birmingham Bears)

• Birmingham Bears won the toss and elected to field.
• Henry Brookes (Birmingham Bears) made his T20 debut

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5 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Yorkshire Vikings 200/3 (20 overs)	v	Durham Jets 156/4 (20 overs)
Adam Lyth 92* (54) Ryan Pringle 1/17 (2 overs)		Ben Stokes 90* (68) Jack Brooks 3/21 (4 overs)

Yorkshire Vikings won by 44 runs Headingley, Leeds Umpires: Jeff Evans and Paul Baldwin Player of the match: Adam Lyth (Yorkshire Vikings)

• Durham Jets won the toss and elected to field.
• Harry Brook and Jonathan Tattersall (Yorkshire Vikings) made their T20 debuts

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5 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Lancashire Lightning 188/6 (20 overs)	v	Worcestershire Rapids 190/5 (19.5 overs)
Keaton Jennings 50 (33) George Rhodes 2/27 (3 overs)		Joe Clarke 42 (24) Jordan Clark 2/26 (2.5 overs)

Worcestershire Rapids won by 5 wickets Old Trafford, Manchester Umpires: Mike Burns and Peter Hartley Player of the match: Brett D'Oliveira (Worcestershire Rapids)

• Lancashire Lightning won the toss and elected to bat.

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6 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Worcestershire Rapids 192/7 (20 overs)	v	Birmingham Bears 188/9 (20 overs)
Martin Guptill 51 (40) Henry Brookes 2/28 (4 overs)		Sam Hain 70 (44) Pat Brown 3/28 (4 overs)

Worcestershire Rapids won by 4 runs New Road, Worcester Umpires: Jeff Evans and Paul Pollard Player of the match: Pat Brown (Worcestershire Rapids)

• Birmingham Bears won the toss and elected to field.

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6 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Nottinghamshire Outlaws 219/6 (20 overs)	v	Northamptonshire Steelbacks 161 (17.3 overs)
Dan Christian 113* (40) Ben Sanderson 2/41 (4 overs)		Ben Duckett 88 (45) Luke Fletcher 3/21 (3 overs)

Nottinghamshire Outlaws won by 58 runs County Ground, Northampton Umpires: Graham Lloyd and Paul Baldwin Player of the match: Dan Christian (Nottinghamshire Outlaws)

• Northamptonshire Steelbacks won the toss and elected to field.
• Will Fraine (Nottinghamshire Outlaws) made his T20 debut

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6 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Durham Jets 153/7 (20 overs)	v	Leicestershire Foxes 120 (18.3 overs)
Paul Collingwood 36 (33) Zak Chappell 3/23 (4 overs)		Neil Dexter 35 (32) Imran Tahir 4/14 (4 overs)

Durham Jets won by 33 runs Grace Road, Leicester Umpires: Ben Debenham and Peter Hartley Player of the match: Imran Tahir (Durham Jets)

• Leicestershire Foxes won the toss and elected to field.

South Group

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	NR	Ded	Pts	NRR
1	Somerset	14	10	4	0	0	0	20	0.786
2	Kent Spitfires	14	8	2	0	4	0	20	0.627
3	Sussex Sharks	14	7	3	0	4	0	18	0.737
4	Gloucestershire	14	8	4	0	2	0	18	0.381
5	Surrey	14	7	5	0	2	0	16	0.989
6	Glamorgan	14	7	6	0	1	0	15	−0.144
7	Essex Eagles	14	2	8	1	3	0	8	−1.035
8	Hampshire	14	2	9	1	2	0	7	−0.824
9	Middlesex	14	2	12	0	0	0	4	−1.128

Source: BBC Sport

July

4 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Sussex Sharks 181/6 (20 overs)	v	Essex Eagles 145 (19.4 overs)
Laurie Evans 61 (45) Jamie Porter 2/26 (4 overs)		Varun Chopra 64 (48) David Wiese 5/24 (4 overs)

Sussex Sharks won by 36 runs County Ground, Chelmsford Umpires: Ben Debenham and Graham Lloyd Player of the match: David Wiese (Sussex Sharks)

• Sussex Sharks won the toss and elected to bat.
• Sam Cook (Essex Eagles) made his T20 debut

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5 July 2018 (D/N) Scorecard

Surrey 158/6 (20 overs)	v	Middlesex 161/7 (19 overs)
Rikki Clarke 50 (25) Paul Stirling 3/26 (4 overs)		Paul Stirling 66 (36) Gareth Batty 2/18 (4 overs)

Middlesex won by 3 wickets Lord's, London Umpires: David Millns and Neil Bainton Player of the match: Paul Stirling (Middlesex)

• Surrey won the toss and elected to bat.
• Jamie Smith and Will Jacks (Surrey) made their T20 debuts

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

N1

Worcestershire Rapids

137/5

S4

Gloucestershire

136/8

N1

Worcestershire Rapids

169/6

N3

Lancashire Lightning

149/9

N3

Lancashire Lightning

134/4

S2

Kent Spitfires

133/9

N1

Worcestershire Rapids

158/5

S3

Sussex Sharks

157/6

N2

Durham Jets

140/7

S3

Sussex Sharks

144/5

S3

Sussex Sharks

202/8

S1

Somerset

167/8

N4

Nottinghamshire Outlaws

190

S1

Somerset

209/5

Quarter-finals

23 August (D/N) Scorecard

Kent Spitfires (H) 133/9 (20 overs)	v	Lancashire Lightning 134/4 (18.4 overs)
Sam Billings 37 (37) Matt Parkinson 3/27 (4 overs)		Keaton Jennings 46 (40) Imran Qayyum 2/17 (4 overs)

Lancashire Lightning won by 6 wickets St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Umpires: Mike Burns (Eng) and Alex Wharf (Eng) Player of the match: Matt Parkinson (Lancashire Lightning)

• Kent Spitfires won the toss and elected to bat.

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24 August (D/N) Scorecard

Durham Jets (H) 140/7 (20 overs)	v	Sussex Sharks 144/5 (18.2 overs)
Ben Stokes 34 (24) Will Beer 2/17 (4 overs)		Laurie Evans 63* (47) Mark Wood 2/25 (4 overs)

Sussex Sharks won by 5 wickets Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Umpires: David Millns (Eng) and Martin Saggers (Eng) Player of the match: Laurie Evans (Sussex Sharks)

• Durham Jets won the toss and elected to bat.

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25 August Scorecard

Gloucestershire 136/8 (20 overs)	v	Worcestershire Rapids (H) 137/5 (18.4 overs)
Miles Hammond 45 (31) Brett D'Oliveira 4/26 (4 overs)		Callum Ferguson 64* (47) Benny Howell 2/22 (4 overs)

Worcestershire Rapids won by 5 wickets New Road, Worcester Umpires: Nick Cook (Eng) and Graham Lloyd (Eng) Player of the match: Callum Ferguson (Worcestershire Rapids)

• Worcestershire Rapids won the toss and elected to field.

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26–27 August Scorecard

Somerset (H) 209/5 (20 overs)	v	Nottinghamshire Outlaws 190 (20 overs)
Lewis Gregory 60* (24) Samit Patel 1/16 (3 overs)		Alex Hales 45 (28) Jamie Overton 5/47 (4 overs)

Somerset won by 19 runs County Ground, Taunton Umpires: Neil Mallender (Eng) and Steve O'Shaughnessy (Eng) Player of the match: Lewis Gregory (Somerset)

• Nottinghamshire Outlaws won the toss and elected to field.

Finals Day

Semi-finals

15 September 11:00 Scorecard

Worcestershire Rapids 169/6 (20 overs)	v	Lancashire Lightning 149/9 (20 overs)
Ben Cox 55* (34) Matt Parkinson 2/23 (4 overs)		Keaton Jennings 51* (40) Patrick Brown 4/21 (4 overs)

Worcestershire Rapids won by 20 runs Edgbaston, Birmingham Umpires: David Millns (Eng) and Martin Saggers (Eng) Player of the match: Ben Cox (Worcestershire Rapids)

• Lancashire Lightning won the toss and elected to field.

15 September 14:30 Scorecard

Sussex Sharks 202/8 (20 overs)	v	Somerset 167/8 (20 overs)
Luke Wright 92 (53) Jerome Taylor 4/20 (4 overs)		Tom Abell 48 (29) Jofra Archer 3/32 (4 overs)

Sussex Sharks won by 35 runs Edgbaston, Birmingham Umpires: Mike Burns (Eng) and Alex Wharf (Eng) Player of the match: Luke Wright (Sussex Sharks)

• Sussex Sharks won the toss and elected to bat.

Final

15 September 18:45 (D/N) Scorecard

Sussex Sharks 157/6 (20 overs)	v	Worcestershire Rapids 158/5 (18.3 overs)
Laurie Evans 52 (44) Moeen Ali 3/30 (4 overs)		Ben Cox 46* (27) Danny Briggs 2/19 (4 overs)

Worcestershire Rapids won by 5 wickets Edgbaston, Birmingham, Warwickshire Umpires: Martin Saggers (Eng) and Alex Wharf (Eng) Player of the match: Ben Cox (Worcestershire Rapids)

• Sussex Sharks won the toss and elected to bat.

Statistics

Most runs

Player	Team	Mat	Inns	Runs	SR	HS	100	50
Laurie Evans	Sussex Sharks	15	14	614	135.84	96	0	7
Aaron Finch	Surrey	9	9	589	182.35	131*	2	3
Ian Bell	Birmingham Bears	14	14	580	139.09	131	1	4
Source: ESPNCricInfo

Most wickets

Player	Team	Mat	Wkts	Ave	Econ	BBI	SR
Pat Brown	Worcestershire Rapids	16	31	13.35	7.64	4/21	10.4
Matthew Parkinson	Lancashire Lightning	15	25	16.60	7.32	3/19	13.6
Jamie Overton	Somerset	16	24	22.50	10.25	5/47	13.1
Source: ESPNCricinfo