Lancashire Lightning moved second above beaten opponents Notts Outlaws in the T20 Blast North Group, after a dominant 87-run victory at Trent Bridge.

England’s Sam Curran took four wickets for 14 runs in Surrey’s rain-affected 37-run win over Gloucestershire.

There were also wins for Yorkshire and Essex against Derbyshire and Hampshire.

South Group

Surrey beat Gloucestershire after a devastating bowling display from Curran in a game reduced to 16 overs per side after rain at The Oval.

Curran bowled Gloucestershire’s top-scorer Ryan Higgins (37) and had New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips caught and bowled, while fellow England left-arm seamer Reece Topley took 2-6 from his three overs as the visitors collapsed for 92.

Earlier, openers Will Jacks (51) and Jason Roy (28) gave Surrey a good start before they were bowled out for 129, with Kieron Pollard (14) the only other player to make double figures.

It proved enough to help Surrey go third in the table with two wins from two.

Also in the South Group, Essex Eagles thrashed Hampshire Hawks by eight wickets to pick up their first win of the Blast campaign, thanks to a turbo-charged display of batting by Michael Pepper.

Pepper’s 75 not out from 42 balls was a thrilling masterclass of strokes, from ramps and reverse sweeps to cuts and outright clubbings, including back-to-back sixes into a block of flats behind the Hayes Close End.

Matt Critchley was his able assistant, with an unbeaten 45 from 24 balls, after Will Buttleman and Adam Rossington went early on.

The Hawks had struggled for runs in their first half of their innings and were 59-3 when opener Ben McDermott fell for 38 in the 11th over.

It was left to Ross Whiteley (23) and Joe Weatherley (37) to steady the ship before the in-form James Fuller hit 24 from 15 balls to guide the visitors to a total of 150-6 that the hosts overhauled with more than six overs to spare, leaving Hampshire without a win from three games.

North Group

Lancashire Lightning arrived at Trent Bridge with the city of Nottingham in party mode following football club Forest’s promotion to the Premier League on Sunday.

There was to be no extension of the celebrations across Radcliffe Road though, as Notts Outlaws struggled to make enough headway with ball or bat, and slumped to defeat.

After opener Phil Salt was caught behind early on, Liam Livingstone (30) and Jennings supplied some big hitting before the middle order carried the Lightning to a reasonable score.

Dane Vilas (24) and Steven Croft (22) produced useful knocks, as the Notts bowlers enjoyed some success, with two wickets apiece for Luke Fletcher, Jake Ball and Dane Paterson.

But Notts failed to gain any advantage from the powerplay overs, losing four wickets from the opening two to slide to 11-4 – with Ben Duckett, Samit Patel and skipper Steven Mullaney all gone in three balls – the latter run out.

From there, Lancashire removed the big-hitting Alex Hales (15) before he could cause too much damage, and it was left to Luke Fletcher to top score with 21 before he was caught by Croft for Livingstone’s third wicket.

The visitors were bowled out for 91, barely halfway to their target.

Rain limited Yorkshire Vikings and Derbyshire Falcons to an eight-over game at Headingley, with the visitors winning by nine wickets in the last over to go third behind Lancashire.

England’s Dawid Malan helped set the platform with a half-century for Yorkshire, after Adam Lyth and Shadab Khan made just one run between them.

David Willey and Will Fraine carried the hosts to 83-3 in their restricted overs, but Derbyshire chased it down with three balls to spare.

Luis Reece was run out in the second over for six, but skipper Shan Masood (32 not out) and Wayne Madsen (39 not out) held their nerve under pressure to secure the points.