Super Sharks splash through the rain and on to the Quarter Finals - Tuesday 3rd July
Sussex booked their place in this year's Friend Life t20 quarter finals with a six wicket victory against Surrey as the weather once again dominated the evening's play.
Surrey batted first and struggled to reach 106-6 off 16.2 overs before the rain came to end their innings prematurely. De Bruyn top-scored for the Lions with (30) as Kevin Pietersen failed to build a big score again contributing only 8 runs. Sussex were given a revised target of 109 off of 15 overs which they reached with ease during a strong batting performance from the whole team. Luke Wright (32), Matt Prior (25), Chris Nash (22) and Murray Goodwin (18) all chipped in to help the Sharks achieve their total with more than 3 overs to spare. The result leaves Surrey rooted to the bottom of the table as Sussex sail through to the next round in an imperious fashion.
In another rain affected match, Nottinghamshire maintained their unbeaten record thanks to the D/L method against Lancashire. Batting first, the Lightning started with great fervour as Stephen Moore (80) and Tom Smith (56) shared 119 runs in a huge opening partnership before Steven Croft (31 no) added extra impetus at the end of the innings to take Lancashire to an impressive 178-4 before the heavens opened. After a lengthy rain delay Nottinghamshire were handed an adjusted total of 49 from five overs. Michael Lumb scored 22 and Rikki Wessels smashed 21 runs off of just 8 balls (including 5 boundaries) as the outlaws made it home with just 2 balls to spare. The result may have seemed harsh on Lancashire who had performed well to reach such an imposing total and leaves them facing a battle to reach the quarter finals as Nottinghamshire moved one step closer to the next stage.
The Welsh Dragons had their second match in as many days abandoned due to the weather as heavy rain prevented play against Worcestershire at the SWALEC. The Welsh Dragons have now had 4 of their 8 matches called off due to the weather, dropping crucial points which has now ended their hopes of progressing from their group. In comparison the Royals are well positioned to reach the quarter finals with three games remaining.
