Hampshire thrashed Vitality Blast South Group leaders Surrey by nine wickets at the Kia Oval to stay on course for a quarter-final place.
A brilliant collective bowling performance by Hampshire, led by John Turner’s three for 17, resulted in Surrey being bowled out for just 124.
Ben McDermott, with 50 off 38 balls, and James Vince, who finished with a superb 62 not out off 40 deliveries, then ensured Hampshire strolled to victory with an opening partnership of 92.
Vince has now scored 476 runs in 10 innings in this season’s Blast at an average of 79.33.
Hampshire sealed their first T20 win against Surrey in nine attempts, going back to 2015.
Essex set a new record Lord’s T20 total as they maintained their bid for a top-four finish by beating rock-bottom Middlesex by 22 runs under the DLS method for their fifth successive win.
Visiting batters Dan Lawrence (53), Michael Pepper (64) and Daniel Sams (67) smashed their highest Blast scores of the year, enabling Essex to post 237 for six, overhauling the previous Lord’s T20 record set by Kent two days earlier.
Essex were well on course to defend that when rain brought the game to a premature close with Middlesex, who have now lost all 10 of their South Group fixtures, reaching 116 for two in the 13th over, needing an unlikely 122 more from 45 deliveries.
Yorkshire’s winning North Group charge came to a shuddering halt at Chesterfield in a 144-run defeat to Derbyshire, who celebrated their biggest-ever T20 win.
Derbyshire put on a stunning batting display to end Yorkshire’s bid for a club record seven straight wins, with Haider Ali hitting 59 off 41 balls before Leus du Plooy (66 not out) and Brooke Guest (39 not out) plundered 93 from 34 deliveries to lift the home side to 212 for four.
Yorkshire all-rounder Ben Mike bore the brunt of Derbyshire’s onslaught, conceding 74 from four overs, the sixth most expensive spell in world T20 cricket and the third worst in this country.
The visitors’ slim chances of chasing down 213 vanished when they slumped to 29 for five in the powerplay and they were skittled for 68 in the 12th over.
Lancashire’s Luke Wells hit a half-century and took two wickets to help his side beat Durham by seven runs under the DLS method at Old Trafford.
Wells’ 56 and a classy knock of 60 by New Zealander Darryl Mitchell had seen the hosts recover from six for two after the first over to post 195 for seven.
A brilliant opening stand of 125 between Alex Lees and Michael Jones had got Durham right back into contention before the rain came with just three overs left, with the visitors slightly behind on DLS on 150 for three at the finish.
Ben Sanderson’s three for 29 helped Northamptonshire to a comprehensive 78-run win over Nottinghamshire at Wantage Road.
With heavy rain circling the ground, the visitors were mindful of staying on top of the run rate as they chased a par score of 177, but lost regular wickets with David Willey (two for nine) taking two wickets in two balls in the third over.
The stage had been set by Ricardo Vasconcelos, who hit a 44-ball 51 and shared a stand of 53 in 6.3 overs with Willey (22), while AJ Tye contributed 21 off just eight balls as Northants plundered 60 runs off their last four overs.
Notts skipper Steven Mullaney (31) played a lone hand in his side’s run chase, but despite useful 20s from Joe Clarke and Samit Patel, they fell well short.
Worcestershire kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages as a comfortable six-wicket win over Leicestershire halted a run of four straight defeats.
Leicestershire, bottom of the North Group table with just two wins from nine matches, were dismissed for just 112 as leg spinner Usama Mir finished with a T20 career-best four for 22 and fellow spinner Brett D’Oliveira took two for 17.
Skipper D’Oliveira’s unbeaten 51 then saw Worcestershire home in the 17th over to raise their points haul to 10.
Glamorgan also kept their knockout-stage hopes alive as they returned to winning ways with a 32-run victory over Gloucestershire in Cardiff.
Sam Northeast’s half-century helped Glamorgan post 183 for five before a very solid bowling display – Gloucestershire lost five wickets for 15 runs at the back end of their run chase – sealed their fifth win of the season.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
Sri Lanka breeze to series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka cruised to a nine-wicket victory over West Indies to seal a T20I series triumph.
With the series delicately poised at 1-1 heading into the final match on Thursday, Sri Lanka started with intent in Dambulla.
Maheesh Theekshana (2-19) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2-24) led the charge as Sri Lanka skittled through the Windies' top order.
Rovman Powell's stubborn 37 and a contribution of 32 from Gudakesh Motie steered West Indies to a reasonable total of 162-8, but it was one well within reach of Sri Lanka.
Pathum Nissanka clipped seven fours and one six in a 22-ball 37 to get Sri Lanka's chase rolling at pace, before he was bowled by Gudakesh Mottie (1-31).
Yet the damage was mostly done, with Kusal Mendis powering his way to an unbeaten 68 and Kusal Perera plundering 55 from 36 balls to get the job done with the minimum of fuss.
Data Debrief: Perera closing in on Sri Lanka record
Perera is now just nine runs away from surpassing Tillakaratne Dilshan (1,889) as the leading scorer in Sri Lanka's T20I history.
His efforts, combined with those of Nissanka and Mendis, saw Sri Lanka win for a fourth time in their last six T20Is at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, although this is the first time they have won at the venue in that run when batting second.
The Windies' miserable record in Asia has continued, meanwhile. They have won only one of their last 11 T20Is in Asia (L10), with that victory coming in the first match of this series. They have now lost 33 T20Is on the continent in total, with only Ireland (35) having lost more.
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