Middlesex set a new T20 Blast record for the highest successful run chase to beat Surrey by seven wickets in a thrilling London derby at the Kia Oval.
Surrey posted 252-7 from their 20 overs, with Will Jacks scoring 96 off 45 balls and Laurie Evans 85 off 37 as they put on an opening partnership of 177 in 12.4 overs.
But Middlesex set off aggressively in their chase, ending the powerplay 83 without loss, and Jack Davies scored the winning runs with four balls to spare after Stephen Eskinazi’s innings of 73 and Max Holden’s unbeaten 68.
Middlesex had lost all 10 games this campaign and 14 in a row, a run stretching back to last season, while the match aggregate of 506 runs scored is the third-highest in T20 history.
Elsewhere in the South Group, Kent Spitfires recorded their fifth straight victory as they registered a seven-wicket win against Essex and Sussex Sharks cruised to a seven-wicket triumph over Gloucestershire.
In the North Group, leaders Birmingham Bears beat Yorkshire Vikings by four runs, with Bears spinner Dan Mousley taking a career-best 4-28, and 2018 champions Worcestershire Rapids boosted their hopes of qualification with a five-wicket victory over Notts Outlaws.
Fireworks and records in South London
Runs and boundaries were the order of the evening in front of over 20,000 spectators south of the Thames, with Surrey’s Evans hitting nine fours and five sixes in his opening stand with Jacks before being bowled by Middlesex’s Max Harris in the 13th over.
Jacks, meanwhile, blasted eight fours and seven maximums, including five consecutive sixes off one over from Luke Hollman.
The England all-rounder had the chance to complete the over with six sixes – but could only score a single off the spinner’s final ball, a full toss.
Surrey were 191-2 when Jacks departed at the start of the 15th over but still looked on course to overtake Somerset’s highest T20 Blast score of 265-5.
However, they regularly lost wickets in the final six overs, with their stalled momentum eventually coming back to cost them despite posting their highest-ever T20 total at the Oval.
In reply, Middlesex captain Eskinazi helped put on 90 runs in just 6.2 overs in an opening blitz with Joe Cracknell, who made 36 off 16 before being run out by Sam Curran.
Holden then took over with a nerveless 68 not out from 35 balls – adding 105 in 7.4 overs under the lights with Ryan Higgins.
Higgins, who had bowled well amid the carnage of Surrey’s innings to take 2-40 – his 10 runs per over making him the most economical bowler of the whole evening – batted superbly for his 48 off 24 balls.
And when he was caught behind off Jordan in the penultimate over, with Middlesex needing 10 runs off seven deliveries, Davies came in to take a single to keep the strike for the last over.
The left-hander scooped Gus Atkinson for six over fine leg and then sliced another low full toss next ball for four to take his side to 254-3 and spark joyous scenes of jubilation in the visiting dugout.
Their total batting second is only behind South Africa’s 259-4 against the West Indies at Centurion in March.
Bears and Rapids close in on quarter-final spots
Birmingham Bears defended 180 against Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley to make it four wins on the bounce and remain top of the North Group.
The visitors should have scored more having elected to bat, but they lost regular wickets during the second half of an innings ultimately held together by Rob Yates, who top-scored with 66 off 51 in their total of 180-7.
Yorkshire also made a bright start to their innings, but their recent Achilles heel has been batters failing to build on starts and they slipped to 87-5 in the 12th over, with opener Adam Lyth out a couple of overs earlier for a 32-ball 45.
Despite all-rounders Jordan Thompson and Matthew Revis powerfully turning the tide and David Wiese’s lusty late attack with 20, the Vikings fell short after needing 27 runs off the final over from Henry Brookes.
The Vikings have lost their last three games and must now realistically win their last two fixtures to have any chance of finishing in the top four and reaching the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Worcestershire moved up to second in the table, leapfrogging opponents Notts Outlaws in the process, as the Rapids chased down 140 to win at New Road.
The Outlaws lost Alex Hales for a duck to the second ball of the contest, and were restricted to 139-8 after a splendid all-round bowling performance by the home side on a pitch where it was hard to get the ball away.
Opener Brett D’Oliveira made 36 off 27 balls but the Rapids’ chances looked in the balance at 80-5 midway through the 12th over after giving away some cheap wickets.
However, an unbroken stand between Ed Pollock (38 off 25) and Adam Hose (33 off 31) saw Worcestershire home with nine balls to spare.
Kent make it five in a row
Joe Denly joined James Vince and Luke Wright in passing 5,000 T20 Blast runs after his breathtaking 32-ball 76 against Essex reignited Kent Spitfires’ hopes of a last-eight berth.
Denly thrashed his 39th T20 fifty to move ahead of Wright and sit just behind Vince on the all-time top run-scorers list with 5,050 in the competition.
His brutal innings, paired with in-form Daniel Bell-Drummond’s fifth fifty of the tournament in a stand of 110, was key to successfully chasing down 184 with nine balls to spare and for the loss of just three wickets, with Bell-Drummond finishing unbeaten on 69.
Essex, despite Dan Lawrence’s 52, were on the receiving end of a thrashing for the second time in a week but remain third in the group.
In Bristol, Ari Karvelas took career-best figures of 4-20 and Harrison Ward struck a brutal maiden T20 half-century as Sussex Sharks beat Gloucestershire in a one-sided contest.
Karvelas took three wickets in eight balls during the powerplay and Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan weighed in with 4-27 during the middle part of the innings as Gloucestershire were bowled out for 140 in 19.2 overs.
Left-hander Ward smashed 51 from 27 balls, with five sixes and two fours, and dominated a match-winning opening partnership of 83 with Tom Clark as the Sharks chased down their target with 6.4 overs to spare.
Both sides are unlikely to qualify for the knockout stages, lying four points behind fourth-placed Hampshire Hawks with three fixtures remaining.
Friday’s T20 Blast fixtures (all 18:30 BST unless stated)
- Durham v Yorkshire Vikings
- Lancashire Lightning v Derbyshire Falcons
- Leicestershire Foxes v Northamptonshire Steelbacks
- Birmingham Bears v Worcestershire Rapids
- Glamorgan v Sussex Sharks
- Kent Spitfires v Middlesex
- Somerset v Gloucestershire
- Hampshire Hawks v Essex (19:00)
