The T20 Blast opened its 2019 campaign in style, dazzled by whirlwind running and impressive death bowling from Lancashire Lightning and Sussex Sharks, respectively. In the North Group, Lancashire Lightning recorded their first win of the 2023 season. They squeezed past Worcestershire Rapids, winning by only seven runs. At the same time, in the South Group, Sussex Sharks defeated Middlesex, pulling off a sensational 16-run victory at Lord’s.
Openers Keaton Jennings and Phil Salt were key as Lancashire Lightning cruised to victory over Worcestershire Rapids in the quarter-finals. Jennings was just as critical to building a deep bench. He led his side with the bat to a mind-boggling 176 runs with just eight wickets dismissed. His efforts were absolutely key. No Worcestershire batter made a score higher than 39 runs, helping to restrict the Rapids to a paltry 169 runs. The match demonstrated Lancashire’s resilience after a challenging start to the season, particularly following the recent departure of head coach Dale Benkenstein. In light of this dramatic shift, Steven Croft has now taken over as the interim head coach.
In the other South Group clash, a powerful Sussex Sharks performance earned them victory against Middlesex. James Coles led from the front as the star of the match, smashing an unbeaten 77. In fact, this milestone is just his third fifty in T20s. Sussex had stacked the deck against their opponents, their total of 202 runs for four wickets in just 34 overs an intimidating one.
Middlesex schools encountered obvious hurdles in the race. They have not made the quarter-finals in six years. Their most recent visit to Finals Day was in 2008 – when they went on to win the trophy. Kane Williamson made his debut for Middlesex in this match and scored 29 and 7. He unfortunately fell for just 14 runs when Harrison Ward pulled off an incredible catch on the boundary at deep point. Despite some notable individual performances, such as Ben Geddes scoring 51 and Ryan Higgins hitting 44 runs off just 16 balls, Middlesex fell short.
Oh, and Ollie Robinson’s absolutely ridiculous bowling for Sussex was a big reason in their win too. He ended with exceptional figures of three for 27, just about sealing any chance of a Middlesex fightback.
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