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.
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
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.
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