Last night was a make-or-break night for several teams, with the final pieces of the qualifying puzzle supplied in the last round of games, today.
In last night's report I - idly - assumed that the ECB would apply common sense and that the same Tie-breakers would apply in the Blast as in the Royal London One Day Cup. They have not, and they do not!
The relevant extract from the playing conditions is:
The tie-breakers for teams finishing on equal points will be:
16.11.4.1 The team with the higher net run rate in the Group Matches will be placed in the higher
position (see below).
16.11.4.2 If teams cannot be separated by 16.11.4.1 above, this will be done by drawing
lots.
So, unlike in the ODC, where a number of wins in group matches is the first tie-breaker, here only Net Run Rate is important. With 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd in the other group at home in the Quarter Finals, there is a distinct advantage both to obtaining a top-two place and to topping the group. So, even for sides that have already qualified before these games (Durham, Lancashire and Worcestershire from North Group and Somerset and Gloucestershire from South Group), like grid position in Formula 1, the higher you are, the more significant your advantage.
In North Group, Notts Outlaws, Birmingham Bears and Yorkshire Vikings are all after the remaining spot while, in South Group, Kent Spitfires, Glamorgan, Surrey and Sussex are in a blanket finish for two places. According to results, Kent could top South Group, or fail to qualify: it is that close.
An additional factor is a band of heavy rain moving south-east which, at midday, was hammering London, East Anglia and the home counties. With the West country dry and the rain about to reach Kent, Gloucestershire and Sussex were no doubt feeling happier than Yorkshire, Kent and Somerset about the prospects of play.

North Group:
Just one game in North Group as Northamptonshire host Yorkshire Vikings. Northamptonshire are already guaranteed to finish bottom of the group, while the Vikings need to win this game in hand by a wide margin to keep open their chances of a Quarter-Final place. Of the three teams chasing one place, the Vikings have the worst NRR and, with the Vikings playing the Outlaws in the final game, would be eliminated if rain does not allow a result against the Outlaws unless tonight’s result pushes them ahead on NRR. To complicate things further, the Bears are 1 point ahead and also have a better NRR going into the game. Yorkshire welcome back Liam Plunkett, but Kane Williamson has bone damage to a finger taking a catch against the Outlaws on Friday. David Willey captains the side in the absence of Steve Patterson with a broken finger.
Northamptonshire won the Toss and elected to bat. Despite a slowish start, 68 from 39 balls from Josh Cobb kept the score moving. David Willey took three wickets in 4 balls in the penultimate over to knock back their chances of a big total but, despite this, 162-8 was strongly competitive. Chasing 163 to stay alive in the competition, Yorkshire lost Kohler-Cadmore for a duck to the fourth ball of the innings, but Lyth and Willey then set off in pursuit of the target at a furious pace and then accelerated. Yorkshire, needing the victory and, preferably a big one to improve run-rate, were cruising, with Willey and Lyth utterly dismantling the Northants attack, with Willey eschewing boundaries to score mainly in sixes. When Lyth fell for 66 from 41 balls, the job was all but done with Willey out for 79 from 42 with 7x6 from the next ball. Yorkshire won by seven wickets with 27 balls remaining and keep themselves alive.
Mission accomplished for Yorkshire who go ahead of Notts Outlaws by 0.05 on NRR and thus just need to match their result in the last game to go through.

South Group:
Two big games and a dead rubber here. Gloucestershire host Sussex and Kent host Somerset, with a lot riding on both games. In the third match, Middlesex and Essex are in a three-way battle with Hampshire to avoid the wooden spoon in South Group. Victory for Gloucestershire would put them level on points with Somerset at the top of the Group, although their NRR is currently inferior and would all but eliminate Sussex, who would have to win their last game and hope for either rain in the Glamorgan v Surrey game or a narrow Surrey win combined with a big Sussex victory against Middlesex on the previous evening. For Kent, a win would seal qualification and open the chance of winning the South Group; defeat though would leave a must-win match on the last evening against Essex.
Unlike the final round of games, which all start at 1930 BST, Somerset had the advantage of starting at 2000 BST, half an hour after their rivals from across the River Avon and knowing how that match has ended before their own game did.

Gloucestershire v Sussex
Sussex may point to their four rained-off games if they fail to qualify, but a hit or miss attack also has a lot to do with it. When the Sussex pace attack comes off, as demonstrated by the two T20 hat-tricks that it has obtained this season, it is well-nigh irresistible; when it is off target, balls race to the boundary so much faster. Sussex went into the game without ace gunslinger, Luke Wright, injured, with Danny Briggs captaining the side. Gloucestershire picked the same squad as for their well-nigh miraculous win against Surrey, expecting to play the same XI, but gave Jacob Lintott a first start for Gloucestershire, having played T20 for Hampshire last season. Sir Robert Hunt described Jacob Lintott as “not looking very athletic, in fact, he makes Noema-Barnett look like Kate Moss”.
At the Brightside Ground at Bristol, Gloucestershire won the Toss and elected to bat. Tymal Mills immediately showed what a threat he is with a brutal fast over, including a delivery that hit Maxy Klinger and a brutal short ball that was neck high. Some tight bowling, particularly from Rashid Khan, who the batsmen were entirely unable to pick and Chris Jordan, made scoring tricky in the middle overs. 85-3 after 12 overs presaged a total around 170 but, despite some quite wild bowling from Tymal Mills, mixed with more brutal deliveries, Gloucestershire were never allowed to get away. With real difficulties to get the ball away, wickets started to fall quickly as the batsmen hit out. Jofra Archer’s last oversaw three wickets fall (a catch in the deep, a clean bowled from a hoik and a run-out) and just six runs scored. Gloucestershire’s final total of 159-9 was bitterly disappointing. With Michael Klinger’s back giving him a lot of trouble, it appeared initially that Chris Dent, who has been playing for the 2nd XI this week, was going to field for him, with Ian Cockbain took over the captaincy. However, after a delay, Klinger, who has been taking strong analgesics to allow him to play recently, joined the side on the field. The first over from David Payne was extraordinary, with three skied balls, two that went close to Lintott without being chances and a huge skier that Andrew Tye just missed over his shoulder, with the ball bouncing off his hands: 13 off the over, but it could so easily have been two wickets. Early omens for Gloucestershire were not good as Salt swung merrily and the bowling and fielding were, at times, shoddy. Salt finally fell after scoring 60 from 30 balls and then Jacob Lintott, captain of Clevedon CC, came in, gave the ball some air and, after two dot balls that were cheered loudly by the crowd and two singles, then took wickets with the last two balls of his over, the second of which utterly bamboozled Deloy Rawlins and clean-bowled him.
However, Finch and Wiese hammered the ball to all parts and Sussex seemed to be cruising, before Benny Howell got both with consecutive balls and, again, hope, however forlorn, returned as the crowd came to life, before the comment “that’s a terrible ball” started to repeat itself persistently. Sussex won eventually by four wickets with six balls to spare and were far from flattered by that margin. Gloucestershire were left to watch nervously events at Canterbury, while Sussex knew that they were still very much alive in the competition.
Sussex move ahead of Glamorgan into fourth in South Group and only have to avoid defeat in their last game to go through: a tie or a rained-off game would suit them nicely as their NRR is massively superior to Glamorgan. Surrey must win and hope that Sussex lose to Middlesex to go through on NRR.

Kent v Somerset
Kent have won 10 of the 14 previous meetings, with one abandoned and 3 Somerset victories so, on paper, the odds were stacked against Somerset. Unusually, Kent picked a 15-man squad, with Marcus Stoinis back after his hamstring injury, although not in the final XI. With the heavy rain clearing more than an hour before the start, the danger of a drastically shortened, or abandoned match was lifted.
Somerset won an on-time Toss after some great work from the groundsmen to make the outfield playable and put Kent in. The decision became debatable when Kent reached 58-0 from just five overs, with Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denley enjoying themselves immensely. However, Denly and the Bell-Drummond fell in quick succession, and the scoring rate slowed considerably, with Max Waller taking two, cheap wickets. Sam Billings and Alex Blake then put together a rapid partnership before exploding and putting Jerome Taylor especially, to the sword. Blake fell for 42 from 22 balls, but Sam Billings kept on swinging, finishing with 57 from 35 balls, with able support from Sean Dickson’s 20 from 9 at the end, leading Kent to 231-5, including six penalty runs. Somerset needed a huge innings from someone but lost Myburgh quickly. Peter Trego scored swiftly, but fell for 30 from 18 and Somerset could see the run rate required rising rapidly. Steven Davies looked to be the main hope, but then fell for 45 from 25 balls, the RRR over 13 when he fell to make it 91-3. However, incredibly, after ten overs, Somerset were actually slightly ahead of Kent’s score at the same stage. Corey Anderson joined James, and 29 came from their first ten balls together, 42 from the first 16. One six went into the flats overlooking the ground; a top edge flew over the boundary.
Eventually, Corey Anderson swung once too often and a swirling edge went high in the air allowing Sam Billings to chase 30 yards and pull off a brilliant catch. 138-4 after 12.5 after a partnership of 47 from 21 balls. With the fall of Anderson, singles came at will, but Somerset needed at least two boundaries each over and could not get them. Hildreth fell finally for 45 and, with it, any remote chance that Somerset had of victory departed with him. However, Lewis Gregory was not going to die wondering and swung for his life, helped by a catch off a no-ball. The equation came to 30 from 8 when Milne bowled a high full toss that Gregory skied and was caught off, before John Lloyds, the TV umpire (and ex-Somerset player) called the delivery a new ball and, Milne had to be removed from the attack, with Tom Abell taking a boundary of the subsequent Free Hit. Grant Stewart came on to finish the over and went for two boundaries and bowled a wide, leaving 18 needed from the last over.
1st ball, Claydon to Gregory: boundary, 14 required.
2nd ball, Claydon to Gregory: a single, 13 needed from 4.
3rd ball, Claydon to Abell: Abell misses… a bye to the ‘keeper, 12 needed from 3.
4th ball, Claydon to Gregory: swung to leg, cut off on the boundary by Heino Kuhn who appeared to touch the rope as he fielded, two runs after a long delay. 10 needed from 2.
5th ball, Claydon to Gregory: Yorker, missed. Cut off just short if the boundary for three byes. Six need to tie.
6th ball, Claydon to Abell: a single on the On side and Somerset lose by five runs.
Somerset’s seven-match unbeaten streak ended and Kent, Somerset and Gloucestershire will dispute the top 3 places in South Group in the last round of matches, with Somerset who have finished their games, having the NRR advantage over Kent in second and Gloucestershire.

Middlesex v Essex
Yet another disappointing T20 campaign comes to an end at Lord’s, with rumours circulating that Dan Vettori may pay the price for two wins in 12 matches to date, six straight defeats and a battle to avoid coming bottom in South Group. Steve Finn and Nathan Sowter return to the squad for the “Machines”, who are captained by Dawid Malan now that he has no international commitments. Essex won the Toss and put Middlesex in.
This proved to be an evening when the stuttering Middlesex batting functioned reasonably well, even if the commentary stream did not. 210-3, built around 77 from 38 balls by Eoin Morgan and 78 from 52 by Paul Stirling powered Middlesex past 200, although the fans had seen Middlesex score 220+ and still lose comfortably this season. Essex though set off with gusto and, although they fell to 33-2 in the fourth over, Varun Chopra and Dan Lawrence kept Essex well up with the run-rate: the Middlesex nightmare of being unable to defend 220+ was repeating itself. Essex cruised to victory, winning by six wickets with four balls remaining. Poor bowling, dropped catches and generally shoddy fielding contributed to the Middlesex nightmare.

Love it or hate it, you cannot deny that the T20 Blast is pulling in the fans. Most teams are reporting record crowds, and we are now at the sharp end of the season. The last three evenings of games will decide Quarter-Final places, and the Quarter-Final crosses. Most of the games still have something riding on them. The pictures of crowds streaming into the Kia Oval more than an hour before their must-win match against Hampshire are proof of product.

Tonight we have had two games: Surrey v Hants and Bears v Lancs.

The long and short of it before the start is that only Hants have nothing riding on the games. If Surrey win, their fate will be decided on the last two evenings; if Surrey lose, they are out, and the last two qualifying places in South group will be decided between Kent, Glamorgan and Sussex. In North Group, the slim chances of the Bears ride on winning their last two games and hoping that other results fall the right way, while Lancashire are in a tight battle with Durham and Worcestershire for a top-two spot and a home Quarter Final: win and they all but guarantee it; lose and their fate will lie in the hands of Worcestershire.

Surrey brought in Aaron Finch and Tom Curran for Rory Burns and Matthew Pillans to add some firepower, needing to win well and for things to fall their way. That Surrey are in this position, their hopes balancing on a knife-edge is mostly their own making: they were cruising to a facile win against Gloucestershire in their previous game, needing just 12 to win from the last two overs with plenty of wickets in hand and, incredibly, lost by five runs. Hampshire, One Day Cup Champions, have been far less successful in the Blast and are in a tight battle with Essex and the hapless Middlesex for the wooden spoon in South Group.

Hampshire’s innings started well, with James Vince scoring quickly, but began to run out of steam in the second half of the innings, after the fall of the top three. From looking set to set a total of 170+ if you apply the rule of doubling the score after 12 overs, the innings subsided, with the run-rate slowing steadily as it progressed. Just 16 runs were added in the last three overs, 30 for the loss of 4 wickets from the previous five. From a promising high of 107-3, the final total of 133-7 was illustrative of Hampshire’s struggles in the competition, in complete contrast to their One Day Cup success. Tom Alsop struggled along at well under a run-a-ball when Hampshire needed far more, and no one was able to compensate. For Surrey, Morne Morkel was expensive, his first two overs going for 21 as Vince and Roussouw took advantage of the powerplay, but Dernbach and, especially, Batty, were particularly mean, pulling the advantage back and stifling the batsmen, the two combining for 8-0-37-3.
Chasing just 134 to win, with Finch and Roy opening, there was a possibility that Surrey could win with a lot of overs un-bowled, what was not in the script was that, after a confident opening from Finch, Jason Roy was clean bowled by off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman for a golden duck to the fifth ball of the opening over, looking to sweep. Just a single came off Chris Wood’s opening over, as Surrey struggled initially in the Power Play overs, giving the Hampshire fans brief hope. Five wides at the end of Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s second over seemed to have opened the flood-gates but, with time, not an issue, Will Jacks backed away from Steyn and offered a slogged catch to Sam Northeast. Incredibly, after four overs, Surrey were actually behind the run-rate and in need of some sensible batting. Aaron Finch though was still there and, in partnership with Nic Maddison, accelerated the scoring. Together they pushed Surrey to the target and, although Maddison fell to Mujeeb Ur Rahman, stumped for 41, to make it 117-3 after 15.3 overs, Aaron Finch powered Surrey over the line with 15 balls to spare, ending 67*. Liam Dawson’s spell of 0-14 from 4 overs and Chris Wood’s 0-16 from 3, kept the scoring under check, but Hampshire needed quick wickets and did not get them.

Surrey now need to beat Glamorgan on Friday and hope that either Gloucestershire or Middlesex beat Sussex to obtain a Quarter Final place. If Sussex lose to Gloucestershire, even though they could still finish on the same points as Surrey by winning their final game, against the hapless Middlesex, they would have one win fewer than Surrey and thus be eliminated.
In the other game, Lancashire’s batting struggled against a Birmingham Bears attack that needed a big win to keep their hopes alive. After Davies and Brown added 22 for the first wicket in the first three overs, it was all downhill. Lancashire limped to 102ao from 19 overs, with Oliver Hannon-Dalby taking 4-20, as only Danny Lamb, at #8, with 24, passed 13. It was a pretty miserable performance from a side looking to top the North Group. The Bears only needed a reasonable start, and they were well on their way to a huge win and a significant boost in NRR. Bell and Pollock supplied an opening partnership of 68 in 9.2 overs and, despite both falling in the space of 8 balls, the match was all but over. Young leggie, Matt Parkinson, took 2-16 from his four overs but lacked any kind of effective support. When the Bears took 13 from Zakhir Khan’s final over, which included three wides, any remote chance of a Lancashire comeback ended, and Sam Hain duly finished the match with a boundary from the first ball of the fifteenth over. The Bears won by seven wickets with 35 balls remaining, to put a significant dent in the Lancashire NRR.

If Worcestershire win their last game, against the Bears, on Friday, they will eliminate their rivals and send Lancashire into an away Quarter Final. However, even if Warwickshire win that game, Yorkshire Vikings, with two games left – against bottom place Northants and against Notts Outlaws – will eliminate them. Similarly, a win for the Outlaws against the Vikings will seal the final qualifying spot for the Outlaws. The North Group is in for a tense finish.

County Championship review:
With only one going up it was always going to be imperative to get off to a good start, one abandonment and four draws in the first five games meant we were always going to be playing catch up.
 
We ended up winning six, but crucially losing four, including a crushing defeat to champions Essex that sealed our fate.
 
As in the last few seasons, we could not quite score enough runs, Joe Clarke stood out but lacked any real support. Captain Daryl Mitchell had a very average season and has now paid the price.
 
One Day Cup review:
A real hit and miss competition where we would lose one, then win one. We could never go on a run so were never in serious contention of making the Semi-finals.
 
T20 review:
This was the real disappointment of the season, having never ever made a finals day it’s the one competition most fans wanted a bit of success in now. We started like a train winning four of the first five fixtures meaning just steady results would have seen us through to a Q/F. We then proceeded to lose 5 of the next 7 (the other 2 rained off) curtailing all hopes of progression in the competition.
 
Moment of the season:
Hammering Warwickshire (sorry Birmingham) on the TV with a masterful performance from young Brett D’Oliveira.
 
MVP:
Joe Leach - The bowler narrowly missed out on ending as top wicket-taker in the County Championship finishing behind the evergreen Graham Napier at Essex, but he enjoyed a stellar season in the main and continues to improve as a cricketer.
 

​Low point of the Season:
Those run of T20 cup losses.
 
Ones to watch for next season?:
Brett D’Oliveria & Joe Leach. They just keep improving year on year.
 
Where do you need to strengthen for next season?
Top of the order, as previously mentioned runs have continued to be a real problem and if we have any chance of finishing in and around those promotion places next season we need a batsman or two that can push around the 1,000 run mark year on year. 
 
Hopes for next season?:
It is always going to be tough getting promoted so I just hope we maintain our annual promotion fight. To make a finals day before it disappears has to be a real aim to for the Pears.
 
Describe your season in a sentence:
Forgettable, with some unforgettable moments. Classic Worcester #COYP

Review by Neil Harris (@njhcricket)

County Championship Review: The County Championship started slowly for Northamptonshire drawing 7 of their first 8 matches. However, once the white ball cricket was out the way, Northants finished well with 4 wins from the last 6 games giving the club a 5th placed finish in Division 2; which will be a cause for optimism for Alex Wakely’s men going into next season.
 
One-Day Cup Review: Northants played some superb cricket to win the North group of the One Day Cup. Northants faced Surrey at the County Ground at the Quarter Final stage and were agonisingly beaten on the last ball of Surrey’s run chase of 279-9, which included a glorious 130 from Kumar Sangakkara. 
 
T20 Review: Northants have enjoyed T20 cricket of late and hopes were high this season, having won the T20 Blast in 2013, and reaching the final last year in 2015. Northants came 2nd in the North group with 7 wins from their 14 games with scores of 160 plus a regularity. At Finals day, Northants beat Notts in the semi-final with an explosive 84 from star man Ben Duckett. In a tense final, Northants collapsed to 9-3 chasing 154 against Durham, but an 110-run stabilising partnership from Josh Cobb and skipper Alex Wakely secured a glorious victory at Edgbaston.
 
Moment of the Season: Winning their 2nd T20 trophy was undoubtedly the highlight of the season for Northants. Additionally, part-time spinner Rob Keogh getting 9/52 in the innings and 13/125 in the match against Glamorgan was extraordinary and the best match figures for the club for 40 years.

 MVP: Without any question, the MVP for Northants this season has been Ben Duckett, is there any limit to this man’s ability? 1,338 runs at an average of a shade over 58 in Championship cricket, including 282    against Sussex has seen England come calling for the Bangladesh tour this winter – not to mention becoming the first cricketer to win both the PCA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the same year.

Low point of the season: In a largely successful season for the club, there were not too many low points. Losing on the last ball in the Quarter Final of the One-Day Cup was tough. Although the injury suffered by Olly Stone which ruled him out for the season whilst celebrating the wicket of Moeen Ali was a huge blow for the club.
 
Ones to watch for next season: In addition to Ben Duckett (who may find himself occupied on England duty), Ben Sanderson has impressed everyone in his return to professional cricket after playing in the minor counties league. Sanderson took 55 wickets at an average of 21 in the championship, including career-best figures of 8/73 in the victory against Gloucestershire, form which earned him a new three-year contract with the club.
 
Where do you need to strengthen next season?: With the loss of Olly Stone to Warwickshire, Northants look light in pace bowling without having to rely on the all-rounder Rory Kleinveldt to get through so many overs. The recent addition of Nathan Buck from Lancashire is a brilliant signing, but one more addition to the bowling attack could push Northants on to taking 20 wickets more regularly.
 
Hopes for next season?: For next season, I’d like to see Northants really push to turn more of the 9 draws they had this season into more wins and to compete near the top of division 2. The County ground has always been spin friendly so White, Keogh and Panesar may be the key to success next season. It is notoriously difficult to defend a title, but Northants will aim to once again be in the knockout stages with the white ball next season.
 
Describe your season in a sentence: Northamptonshire have once again proven the worth of good coaching, leadership and team spirit. 

Review by Harry Hill (@HarryHill96) 

Friday night T20 Blast action returns with a bumper set of action including some tasty Derby ties. There are three South Group games including the Battle of the Bridge between Essex and Kent, and a West Country derby between Somerset and Gloucestershire, whilst in the final game in the South Group Sussex tackle Middlesex.
 
In the North Group, there are four important group games, including a tasty looking Roses affair at Headingley with Yorkshire looking for revenge on Lancashire after the Red Rose defeated their rivals in the reverse fixture. Elsewhere, Worcestershire take on Derbyshire in a Midlands clash, whilst Nottinghamshire take on Durham and finally Warwickshire face Northamptonshire at Edgbaston.
 
Should the weather hold we could be in store for some absolute classic T20 action, and we are here to tell you everything you need to know.
 
South Group:
 
Somerset v Gloucestershire:
Where? Taunton, Somerset
When? 17.30
Form:
Som:  P8, W3, L4, NR 1 (6th)
Glo:  P8, W5, L2, NR1 (2nd)
Last time out:
Som: Lost by four-runs v Middlesex
Glo: Won by 11-runs v Sussex
Last Meeting: Gloucestershire won by Four wickets, Bristol, 2016
Who?
Som: Allenby ©, Myburgh, Trego, Jayawardene, Hildreth, Leask, van der Merwe, Gregory, Davies (w/k), C. Overton, J. Overton, Groenewald, Davey and Waller
Glo: Klinger ©, Marshall, Cockbain, Dent, Howell, Noema-Barnett, Roderick (w/k), J. Taylor, Smith, Van Buuren, Tye, Miles, Norwell, M. Taylor and Payne
Danger men:
Som: Jayawardene
Glo: Klinger
Weather: Sunny intervals with highs of 16c
Match Odds:
Som: 11/12
Glo: Evens
VFTO Predicts: Away win
 
Essex v Kent:
Where? The Essex County Ground, Chelmsford
When? 19.00
Form:
Essex: P7, W3, L4 (7th)
Kent: P8, W3, L5 (8th)
Last time out:
Essex: Won by eight-wickets v Surrey
Kent: Won by 10-runs v Sussex
Last meeting: Kent won by six-wickets, Canterbury, 2015
Who?
Essex: Bopara ©, Foster (w/k), Velani, Napier, Westley, Walter, ten Doeschate, Lawrence, Ryder, Quinn, Zaidi, Taylor, Porter and Masters
Kent: (probable) Northeast ©, Latham, Denly, Cowdrey, Stevens, Blake, Billings (w/k), Tredwell, Rabada, Thomas, Claydon, Griffiths and Ball
Danger men:
Essex: Ryder
Kent: Rabada
Weather: Sunny intervals with a chance of light rain with highs of 16c
Match Odds:
Essex: 13/16
Kent: 11/10
VFTO Predict: Away win
 
Sussex v Middlesex:
Where? Hove, Brighton and Hove
When? 19.00
Form:
Sussex: P8, W3, L3, NR2 (4th)
Middlesex: P7, W4, L2, NR1 (3rd)
Last time out:
Sussex: Lost by ten-runs v Kent
Middlesex: Lost by 40-runs v Kent
Last meeting: No result, Lords, 2016
Who?
Sussex: Beer, Briggs, Cachopa (w/k), Jordan, Kulasekara, Machan, Mills, Nash, Salt, Shahzad, Taylor and Wright ©
Middlesex: Malan ©, Bailey, Eskinazi, Franklin, Fuller, Gubbins, Harris, Higgins, Podmore, Rayner, Roland-Jones, Simpson (w/k), Sowter and Stirling
Danger men:
Sussex: Chris Jordan
Middlesex: George Bailey
Weather: Sunny interval with highs of 16c
Match Odds:
Sussex: 13/16
Middlesex: 15/13
VFTO Predicts Home win
 
North Group:
 
Worcestershire v Derbyshire:
Where? New Road, Worcester
When? 17.30
Form:
Worcs: P9, W4, L3, NR2 (3rd)
Derbys: P7, W2, L4, NR1 (7th)
Last time out:
Worcs: No result v Durham
Derbys: Lost by seven-wickets v Nottinghamshire
Last meeting: Worcestershire won by four-wickets, Derby, 2015
Who?
Worcs: Kohler-Cadmore, Mitchell ©, Clarke, Kervezee, D’Oliveria, Whiteley, Cox (w/k), Leach, Barnard, Henry, Abbott and Shantry  
Derbys: Rutherford, Durston ©, A. Hughes, Broom, Madsen, Elstone, Neesham, C. Hughes, Thakor, Critchley, Poynton (w/k), Milnes and Carter
Danger men:
Worcs: Kyle Abbott
Derbys: Wayne Madsen
Weather: Sunny Intervals with highs of 16c
Match Odds:
Worcs: 4/6
Derbys 7/5
VFTO Predicts: Home win
 
Nottinghamshire v Durham:
Where? Trent Bridge, Nottingham
When: 18.30
Form:
Notts: P7, W3, L2 NR2 (4th)
Durham: P8, W3, L4, NR1 (6th)
Last time out:
Notts: Won by seven-wickets v Derbyshire
Durham: No Result v Worcestershire
Last meeting: Durham won by 66-runs, Chester-Le-Street, 2016
Who:
Notts: Ball, Broad, Christian ©, Gurney, Hutton, Lumb, Mullaney, Patel, Smith, Tahir, Taylor, Wessels (w/k) and Wood
Durham: Stoneman ©, Mustard (w/k), Stokes, Muchall, Pringle, Jennings, Richardson, Coughlin, Borthwick, Arshad, Rushworth, McCarthy and Macleod
Danger men:
Notts: Stuart Broad
Durham: Phil Mustard
Weather: Sunny intervals with highs of 16c
Match Odds:
Notts: 8/15
Durham: 7/4
VFTO Predicts: Home win
 
Yorkshire v Lancashire:
Where? Headingley, Leeds
When? 18.30, Live on Sky Sports
Form:
Yorkshire: P7, W1, L4, NR2 (9th)
Lancashire: P8, W3, L4, NR1 (5th)
Last Time out:
Yorkshire: Lost by six-runs (D/L) v Durham
Lancashire: Won by 96-runs v Worcestershire
Last meeting: Lancashire won by 26-runs, Old Trafford, 2016
Who?
Yorkshire: Ballance, Bresnan, Carver, Coad, Gibson, Hodd (w/k), Leaning, Lees ©, Lyth, Patterson, Rafiq, Rhodes, Shaw and Williamson
Lancashire: Croft ©, Brown, Buck, Clark, Edwards, Jones, Lilley, Livingstone, Mahmood, Moores, Parry, Petersen, Procter and Reece
Danger men:
Yorkshire: Williamson
Lancashire: Livingstone
Weather: Sunny intervals with highs of 14c
Match Odds:
Yorkshire: Evens
Lancashire: 10/11
VFTO Predicts:  Away win
 
Birmingham v Northamptonshire:
Where? Edgbaston, Birmingham
When? 19.00
Form:
Birmingham: P7, W5, L1, NR1 (2nd)
Northants:  P7, W5, L1, NR1 (1st)
Last time out:
Birmingham: Won by eight-wickets v Leicestershire
Northants: Won by six-wickets v Leicestershire
Last Meeting: Northampton won by five-wickets, Edgbaston, semi-final 2015
Who?
Birmingham: Bell ©, Adair, Clarke, Evans, Gordon, Hain, Hannon-Dalby, Javid, Patel, Porterfield, Ronchi (w/k), Poysden and Thomason
Northants: Levi, Rossington, Cobb, Duckett (w/k), Crook, Wakely ©, Keogh, White, Gleeson, Azharullah, Ashraf, Sanderson and Newton
Danger men:
Birmingham: Rikki Clarke
Northants: Josh Cobb
Weather: Sunshine with a chance of rain with highs of 13c
Match Odds:
Birmingham: 4/5
Northants: 6/5
VFTO Predicts: Away win
 
Match Odds provided by Oddschecker.com, please gamble responsibly.
 
Previews brought to you by David Bowden (@Bowdenwhu)

​For those who are not fans of the longer format of the game, fear not, there is still the wham, bam, thank you ma’am cricket that is T20 Blast cricket to keep you entertained with three Sunday fixtures taking place. 

In the South Group, Somerset take on Hampshire looking to bounce back from a disappointing defeat against rivals Gloucestershire whilst Yorkshire and Lancashire will look to finally get a game after a series of washouts when they tackle Derbyshire and Birmingham respectively.

As always we will bring you everything you need to know ahead of these three big clashes in the Natwest Blast. 

South Group: 

Somerset v Hampshire:
Where? Taunton, Somerset
When? 14.30
Form:
Som: P6, W2, L3, NR1 (6th)
Hants: P6, W1, L4, NR1 (8th)
Last time out:
Som: Lost by four-wickets v Gloucestershire
Hants: No result v Sussex
Last Meeting: Hampshire won by 6-runs, Ageas Bowl, July 2015
Who?
Som: Allenby ©, Trego, Jayawardene, Myburgh, Hildreth, van der Merwe, Gregory, C. Overton, J. Overton, Waller, Groenewald, Davies (w/k) and Arafat  
Hants: Afridi, Smith, Ervine, Dawson, Alsop, Berg, Vince ©, Carberry, McManus, Wheater (w/k), Best, Stevenson, Andrew and Sammy 
Danger men: 
Som: Chris Gayle
Hants: Adam Wheater 
Weather: Light rain with highs of 18c
Match Odds:
Som: 14/19
Hants: 5/4
VFTO Predicts: Home win

Birmingham v Lancashire
Where? Edgbaston, Birmingham
When? 14.30
Form:
Bears: P5, W3, L1, NR1 (3rd)
Lightning: P6, W2, L3, NR1 (7th)
Last time out:
Bears: Won by four-wickets v Derbyshire
Lightning: No Result v Northamptonshire
Last Meeting: Lancashire won by eight-runs, Edgbaston, July 2015
Who?
Bears: Team news to follow…
Lightning: Croft ©, Brown, Buck, Buttler (w/k), Clark, Edwards, Guptill, Jones, Lilley, Livingstone, Parkinson, Parry, Procter and Wagner
Danger men:
Bears:
Lightning: Liam Livingstone
Weather: Thick Clouds with a chance of rain with highs of 17c
Match Odds:
Bears: Evens
Lightning: Evens
VFTO Predicts: Away win

Yorkshire v Derbyshire:
Where? Headingley, Leeds
When? 14.30
Form: 
Yorks: P5, W0, L3, NR1
Derbys: P5, W2, L2, NR1
Last time out:
Yorks: No Result v Nottinghamshire
Derbys: Lost by four-wickets v Birmingham
Last Meeting: Derbyshire won by four-wickets, Chesterfield, July 2015
Who?
Yorks: Bairstow (w/k), Ballance, Bresnan, Carver, Coad, Lees ©, Lyth, Patterson, Plunkett, Rafiq, Root, Willey and Williamson
Derbys: Godleman, Rutherford, C. Hughes, Broom, Madsen, Neesham, Slater, A. Hughes ©, Thakor, Critchley, Poynton (w/k), Cotton and Carter
Danger men:
Yorks: Joe Root
Derbys: Wayne Madsen 
Weather: Cloudy with a chance of rain with highs of 18c 
Match Odds:
Yorks: 3/5
Derbys: 6/4
VFTO Predicts: Away win

Previews by David Bowden (@Bowdenwhu) 

Saturday sees second-placed Worcestershire look to return to winning ways after seeing their last fixture abandoned due to poor weather, a win will put them back at the summit of the North Group.

Nottinghamshire meanwhile, have seen two games in a row postponed in the Blast due to poor weather they welcome England's Alex Hales into the team which will add some vital class to the top order alongside the in-from Michael Lumb and Riki Wessels. It is set to be a cracker if the weather stays kind. Below is our preview ahead of Saturday's only Natwest Blast game.

​Saturday 18th June 2016

T20 North Division:

Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire:
Where? New Road, Worcester
When? 2:30pm, live on Sky
Form:
Worcs: P6, W4, L1, NR1 (2nd)
Notts: P5, W1, L2, NR2 (8th)
Last Time Out:
Worcs: match abandoned without a ball bowled v Leicestershire
Notts: match abandoned without a ball bowled v Yorkshire
Last Meeting: Worcestershire won by 20 runs. Trent Bridge, 2015
Who?
Worcs: Mitchell ©, Kohler-Cadmore, Moeen Ali, Clarke, Kervezee, D’Oliveira, Whiteley, Cox (w/k), Leach, Henry, Barnard, Shantry and Russell
Notts: Ball, Christian ©, Fletcher, Gurney, Hales, Hutton, Lumb, Mullaney, Patel, Russell, Smith, Taylor, Wessels (w/k) and Wood
Danger men:
Worcs: Ali
Notts: Hales
Weather: cloudy with highs of 18c
Match Odds:
Worcs: 5/4
Notts: 8/11
VFTO Predicts: Home win

It was an exciting Friday night of T20 Blast action as the matches that survived the again horrendous weather provided the thrills and spills that we have so come to love of this format. In the South, Surrey ran home comfortable victors over London rivals Middlesex, taking bragging rights by a margin of 29 runs. In Cardiff, David Lloyd struck the highest score of the evening, blasting 97 in Glamorgan's 55 run D/L win over Kent. Elsewhere, Gloucestershire snuck home with a single ball remaining in negotiating a tricky chase of 159 to overcome rivals Somerset.
Two matches made it past the rain in the North group – wins for Birmingham and Northamptonshire to consolidate their positions at the top of the standings. Birmingham's Ateeq Javid struck a last-ball four to reach a nervy four-wicket win against the Derbyshire Falcons while in Northampton, Durham stumbled out of the blocks and never recovered in their chase of 162 and despite a Paul Coughlin hattrick, Northamptonshire recorded a solid 26 run win.

South Group

Surrey vs Middlesex
At a sold out KIA Oval, Surrey recorded a derby victory over Middlesex by 29 runs – Middlesex were always struggling in their chase of 174 which always looked a step too far as wickets fell at regular intervals to give Surrey the edge. West Indian Ravi Rampaul took an impressive 3 for 21 from 3 overs including the big scalp of Brendon McCullum, while there were two wickets apiece for spin twins Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari. James Franklin's top score of 39 from 30 balls including two sixes but it came too late in the piece for Middlesex to mount a serious challenge. Earlier, Jason Roy hit a quickfire 35 from 19 balls with a couple of sixes, while Ansari and Tom Curran provided late impetus striking 46 in the 22 balls they were together. Surrey now sit second in the standings and look in a strong position to qualify for the quarter-finals, while Middlesex are not out of the question by any means – sitting fifth with 5 points, just 3 points behind their rivals. 

Gloucestershire vs Somerset
In the South Group's second derby of the evening, Gloucestershire took the bragging rights over West Country rivals Somerset in a thrilling finish which saw the 11,000 strong crowd get the result many of them will have wanted. Skipper Michael Klinger's 60 was the lynchpin of the hosts' innings before it was left to Gareth Roderick to hit Yasir Arafat's penultimate ball of the match to the boundary to seal a four-wicket win. The match began in peculiar fashion, Chris Gayle playing out a maiden off Jack Taylor – but it wasn't long until he gave the crowd what they wanted, after taking nine balls to score his first run the West Indian hit 6 fours and blasted two huge sixes to top score for the visitors with 40. Jim Allenby and Mahela Jayawardene provided ample support for the Jamaican, scoring 27 and 24 respectively before Lewis Gregory and Roelof van der Merwe took Somerset beyond 150 to set Gloucestershire 159 for victory. Australian Klinger lost partner Hamish Marshall to the first ball of the innings but soon had the runs flowing alongside Ian Cockbain – making 40 together in 5 overs before the latter departed to Jamie Overton. Chris Dent then made 22 before he was the first of Dutchman van der Merwe's three victims – an impressive bowling performance from the experienced spinner who's four overs yielded just 16 runs. Klinger fell in the 17th over, leaving Roderick and Andrew Tye to see their side nervously home. With 14 runs required from the final over, Tye's six swung the momentum before two singles, a three and then a boundary from Roderick sealed the win to the joy of the highest crowd seen at Bristol.

Glamorgan vs Kent
In a rain-affected match at the SWALEC stadium in Cardiff, Glamorgan's powerful batting performance overwhelmed an off-colour Kent to have them beaten by 55 runs (D/L). David Lloyd launched a brutal assault on Kent's bowling attack to make 97 not out from 48 balls and set Kent an unlikely victory target of 177 from 16 overs. Lloyd's innings contained 10 fours and 4 maximums, and in partnership with Colin Ingram who contributed 60, took the game away from the Spitfires to leave them chasing the game. Fabian Cowdrey, in particular, took some tap but then again he was not alone on a sorry night for Kent. No bowler went for less than 8 an over, Mitch Claydon's figures looking the most respectful at 2-27 from 3 overs. Kent's chase stumbled from the get-go, the in-form Daniel Bell-Drummond falling to the international quality of Dale Steyn in the first over for four-ball duck. From then, wickets fell regularly and consistently and Kent eventually stumbled to 121 all out. Steyn took three more to end up with 4-18 from his four overs and was ably assisted by Michael Hogan who took 3-12 from 2.5 overs and Timm van der Gugten who finished with 2-18 off three. The only real resistance to the Glamorgan bowling was provided by Joe Denly (23 from 17, 1 six), Alex Blake (30 from 25, 1 six) and Matt Coles (31 from 16, 2 sixes) but Glamorgan never looked troubled in the field, and eventually cruised to victory.

Hampshire vs Sussex
It was somewhat of a farce at the Ageas Bowl as Hampshire's interesting looking context with Sussex was abandoned without a ball bowled after somewhat of a shambolic turn of events. A heavy 15-minute shower put pay to the match, with the groundstaff slow to cover the pitch, meaning water damaged the wicket. Indeed, the announcement was met with a bad reception as the soon to be sun-kissed ground would be left without any cricket.

North Group

Birmingham vs Derbyshire 
A last ball four from all-rounder Ateeq Javid sealed victory for Birmingham at the 3aaa County Ground, who had let the game slip from a comfortable looking position to a situation of peril with the visitors requiring 10 from the final over. Ian Bell's 67 from 54 balls was invaluable to the Bears' cause and set up the last minute scramble for victory. Derbyshire had earlier been restricted to what looked like a below-par 141-7,  Wayne Madsen making a well-paced 38 from 34 balls including two sixes on a track that lacked pace. Hamish Rutherford also chipped in with 33 at just over a-run-a-ball with three fours before two late sixes from Shiv Thakor took Derby to a competitive total. Rikki Clarke, once again, provided four cheap overs at the top of innings – taking outstanding figures of 2 for 17, while there were also two wickets for Oliver Hannon-Dalby. Ian Bell and Sam Hain got the Bears' reply off to a flyer, amassing 48 runs without loss from the first six overs to have their side in the box seat. However, the innings soon stagnated and when Hain holed out to Matt Critchley for 28 the Bears lost their momentum. It was left to captain Bell to bat through the majority of the innings for his 67, but when he fell in the penultimate over 15 runs were still required. That came down to ten from the last six balls, Aaron Thomason fell to the second ball of Jimmy Neesham's last over before Rikki Clarke's movement on the crease fooled Derbyshire wicket-keeper Tom Poynton and the ball ran away for four byes. There was still drama afoot, Chris Woakes was run out from the penultimate ball chasing a match winning second after a misfield before the cool head of Ateeq Javid saw the Bears over the line with a drive past Neesham's desperate dive. 

Northamptonshire vs Durham
The first hat-trick of this year's Blast from Paul Coughlin was not enough to prevent Northamptonshire from achieving a comfortable victory over Durham by 26 runs. Coughlin's 5 for 42 included a hat-trick in the final over of the innings, an astounding triple-wicket maiden which helped to restrict Northants to what looked a beatable score of 161-9. Northamptonshire began at an alarming pace, Alex Wakely made a 15-ball 28 before his dismissal brought Josh Cobb to the wicket. Cobb top scored with 68 from 48 balls, his four sixes and five fours keeping up his fine record to date in this year's competition. Stephen Crook too chipped in with 18 before it was left for Coughlin to mop up the tail. He removed Rob Newton, Graeme White and Richard Gleeson to claim his five-fer and his hat-trick, albeit at the expense of a hefty 42 runs. Durham's reply began shambolically. Mark Stoneman, Jack Burnham and Michael Richardson were dismissed for ducks, and Phil Mustard went for 2 to leave the Jets reeling at 9-4 in the fourth over of the innings – three wickets for Moin Ashraf on debut and one for Richard Gleeson. Paul Collingwood and Scott Borthwick went about bringing some respectability to the chase, and even attempted to take Durham towards an unlikely victory. They put on 59 together before Collingwood holed out to long on trying to up the tempo. Borthwick soon followed and despite a six from Keaton Jennings in the final over of the match, Durham had limped to a sorry 135-8 to fall 26 short. Ashraf's debut figures of 3-17 will have impressed, and Josh Cobb topped a fine all-around performance with 2-29 in a victory that never looked out of sight.  

Yorkshire vs Nottinghamshire
Both sides look to be struggling for momentum in this year's group stage as their match was abandoned without a ball bowled at Headingley. Yorkshire captain Alex Lees had earlier sacrificed his place at the top of the batting order to find room for England's Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to come into the side – but neither were able to showcase their talent as persistent rain took another match from the schedule. 

Leicestershire vs Worcestershire
Rain again was the victor at Grace Road as neither side could advance on their strong start to this year's Blast as each side suffered their first wash-out of the competition.

Reports by Charlie Jennings (@AVCJX)

​Gloucestershire’s unbeaten run on the road continued as they eased past Essex at Chelmsford to claim their first ever T20 success at the County Ground. The Bristolians dominated their hosts in every department to secure a comfortable eight-wicket success. For Essex, this latest defeat extends their winless run at home and it was yet another below-par performance in the shortest format of the game. After being inserted by Gloucestershire, their start rather summed up their day. Jesse Ryder who has been in some form of late in the 50-over cup could only inside edge an in-swinging delivery from Matt Taylor to depart for a golden duck. Tom Westley was the only Essex man to show any fluency on a track that was slow and often saw the ball stick in the wicket. The highly thought of 27-year-old struck a decent 42 before falling to a ball that kept low off the bowling of the impressive Benny Howell. Howell produced a plethora of slower balls, including a deceiving ‘knuckle ball’ which left the Essex batting attack somewhat dumbfounded at times. Indeed, the former Hampshire man bowled twelve dot balls in his four-over spell to ensure the Eagles were left well behind the eight-ball. The Essex innings lacked any real momentum as the visitors continued to take pace off the ball meaning the hosts found run scoring and boundary making hard. Most of the Essex attack fell playing closed batted shots and offered up simple catches to the infield. Only Bopara (28) and Ashar Zaidi (17) added any real contributions after Westley’s departure. Credit has to go to the Gloucestershire bowlers who read the pitch well and early and stuck to their game plan manfully. Howell and Taylor were the pick of the bowlers taking a combined 3-29 from seven overs to leave the hosts well below-par on 153/8 from their 20-overs. In reply, Gloucestershire’s ever-reliable opening pair Hamish Marshall and the brilliant Michael Klinger put Essex to the sword to lead the response. Marshall was dropped early by James Foster off the bowling of Matt Quinn, who later exerted his revenge by removing the New Zealander but by then it was all too little too late, as the damage had already been done. Klinger, so often the nemesis for Essex showed his class again hitting the Essex attack all around the park. It is becoming a familiar sight for the Eagles faithful who saw his strike a magnificent century in a losing cause in this fixture last summer. This time, the Australian struck four fixes and seven fours to top score for the visitors with 78 before Wahab Riaz finally removed the opener caught behind by Foster. But with just 22-runs needed in six overs, Gloucestershire were already effectively home and hosed by the time he had returned to the dugout. Indeed, Ian Cockbain (15 not out) and the in-form Chris Dent (10 not out) saw the job through to continue the visitors fine unbeaten run on the road. Essex, though, will reflect on a poor day at the office, they failed to pick up on the effectiveness of the slower ball on a pitch the was offering a little bit of grip and their out fielding was abysmal, to say the least, and rather fittingly the winning runs came via a misfield in the deep from Kishen Velani who had endured a difficult evening in the field. The Eagles will need to find some form and fast if they are going to progress in the competition whilst Gloucestershire will look to continue their fine start and qualify through to the quarter-finals. 

 The other two matches in the Blast were ruled by poor weather in Manchester and London with no ball bowled in both fixtures involving Middlesex and Sussex and Lancashire and Northampton.

Reports by David Bowden (@Bowdenwhu)

Friday night means T20 Blast cricket, and it returns with a bumper fixture list with eight group games taking place.
 
Providing the weather stays kind the Natwest Blast is likely to provide another exciting night of Twenty Twenty action with North Group leaders and South Group leaders both in action.
 
There is also the small matter of a London Derby, West Country Derby and a South Coast derby to whet the appetite. It’s set to be a thrilling night of action and we will as always provide you with everything you need to know below.
 
Unfortunately the fixture between Leicestershire and Worcestershire has already been postponed due to a waterlogged outfield.
 
South Group:
 
Surrey v Middlesex
Where? The Kia Oval, London
When? 18.30, Live on Sky
Form:
Surrey: P5, W3, L2 (3rd)
Middlesex: P4, W2, L1, NR1
Last time out:
Surrey: Lost by six-wickets v Somerset
Middlesex: Match abandoned v Sussex
Last meeting: Middlesex won by 43 runs at Lords, 2015
Who?
Surrey: Batty ©, Ansari, Bravo, Burke, Burns, S. Curran, T. Curran, Davies, Foakes (w/k), Kapil, Meaker, Pillans, Rampaul. Roy and Sangakkara
Middlesex: Malan ©, Finn, Franklin, Fuller, Gubbins, Higgins, McClenaghan, McCullum, Morgan, Rayner, Roland-Jones, Simpson (w/k) and Sowter
Danger men:
Surrey: Dwayne Bravo
Middlesex: Brendon McCullum
Weather: Sunny intervals with highs of 17c
Match Odds:
Surrey: 4/5
Middlesex: 15/13
VFTO Predicts: Home win
 
Gloucestershire v Somerset
Where? The Brightside Ground, Bristol
When? 18.30
Form:
Gloucs: P5, W3, L2 (4th)
Som: P5, W2, L2, NR1
Last time out:
Gloucs: Won by eight wickets v Essex
Som: Match abandoned v Glamorgan
Last meeting: Gloucestershire won by eight-wickets at Taunton, 2015
Who?
Gloucs: Klinger ©, Marshall, Cockbain, Dent, Howell, Noema-Barnett, Roderick (w/k), J. Taylor, Smith, Van Buuren, Tye, Miles, Norwell and M. Taylor
Som: Allenby ©, Gayle, Trego, Jayawardene, Myburgh, Hildreth, van der Merwe, Gregory, C. Overton, J. Overton, Waller, Groenewald, Davies (w/k) and Arafat
Danger men:
Gloucs: Klinger
Som: Jayawardene
Weather: Sunny intervals with highs of 17c
Match Odds:
Gloucs: 6/5
Som: 4/5
VFTO Predicts: Away win
 
Glamorgan v Kent
Where? SWALEC, Cardiff
When? 18.30
Form:
Glam: P5, W3, L1, NR! (1st)
Kent: P5, W2, L3 (7th)
Last time out:
Glam; Match abandoned v Somerset
Kent: Lost by four wickets v Sussex
Last meeting: Glamorgan won by one run, Tunbridge Wells, 2015
Who?
Glam: Rudolph ©, Lloyd, Ingram, Donald, Cooke (w/k), Wagg, Meschede, Steyn, van der Gugten, Cosker, Hogan, Salter and Wallace
Kent: Northeast ©, Denly, Bell-Drummond, Latham, Billings (w/k), Stevens, Blake, Cowdrey, Coles, Tredwell, Claydon, Griffiths and Thomas
Danger men:
Glam: Timm van der Gugten
Kent: Joe Denly
Weather: cloudy with highs of 17c
Match Odds:
Glam:10/11
Kent: 11/10
VFTO Predicts: Home win
 
Hampshire v Sussex:
Where? Ageas Bowl, Southampton
When? 19.00
Form:
Hants: P5, W1, L4 (9th)
Sussex: P5, W3, L2, NR1 (3rd)
Last time out:
Hants: Lost by 80 runs v Surrey
Sussex: Match abandoned v Middlesex
Last meeting: Hampshire won by four runs, Hove 2015
Who?
Hants: Carberry, Vince, Alsop, Wheater (w/k), Dawson, Ervine ©, Afridi, Sammy, Smith, McManus, Berg, Stevenson, Andrew and Best
Sussex: Beer, Briggs, Brown (w/k), Cachopa, Finch, Garton, Jordan, Machan, Mills, Nash, Salt, Shahzad, Taylor, Wiese and Wright ©
Danger men:
Hants: Darren Sammy
Sussex: Tymal Mills
Weather: Sunny intervals with highs of 18c
Match Odds:
Hants: 6/5
Sussex: 4/5
VFTO Predicts: Away win
 
 
North Group:
 
Northamptonshire v Durham:
Where? The County Ground, Northampton
When? 18.30
Form:
Northants: P5, W3, L1, NR1 (2nd)
Durham: P5, W2, L3 (7th)
Last time out:
Northants: No result v Lancashire
Durham: Lost by six wickets v Leicestershire
Last meeting: No result, County Ground, 2015
Who?
Northants: Rossington (w/k), Cobb, Duckett, Wakely ©, Crook, Keogh, White, Gleeson, Azharullah, Sanderson, Zaib and Ashraf
Durham: Stoneman ©, Mustard (w/k) Borthwick, Burnham, Collingwood, Richardson, MacLeod, Coughlin, Pringle, Jennings, Arshad, Rushworth and Harrison 
Danger men:
Northants: Alex Wakely
Durham: Chris Rushworth
Weather: Cloudy with highs of 16c
Match Odds:
Northants: 4/5
Durham: 5/4
VFTO Predicts: Home win

Derbyshire v Birmingham:
Where? The 3aaa County Ground, Derby
When? 19.00
Form:
Derbys: P4, W2, L1, NR1 (3rd)
Bears: P4, W2, L1, NR1 (4th)
Last time out:
Derbys: No Result v Nottinghamshire
Bears: No Result v Yorkshire
Last meeting: Birmingham won by 60 runs, Edgbaston, 2015
Who?
Derbys: Godleman, C. Hughes, Rutherford, Broom, Madsen, Neesham, Slater, A. Hughes ©, Thakor, Critchley, Poynton (w/k), Cotton and Carter
Bears: Bell ©, Adair, Clarke, Evans, Gordon, Hain, Hannon-Dalby, Javid, Patel, Poysden, Ronchi (w/k), Thomason and Woakes
Danger men:
Derbys: Jimmy Neesham
Bears: Chris Woakes
Weather: Thick Clouds with a chance of rain with highs of 15c
Match Odds:
Derbys: 13/10
Bears: 8/11
VFTO Predicts: Away win
 
Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire:
Where? Headingley, Leeds
When? 19.00
Form:
Yorks: P4, L3, NR1 (9th)
Notts: P4, W1, L2, NR1 (8th)
Last time out:
Yorks: No Result v Birmingham
Notts: No Result v Derbyshire
Last meeting: Yorkshire won by 40 runs, Headingley, 2015
Who?
Yorks: Lees ©, Bairstow (w/k), Ballance, Bresnan, Carver, Coad, Lyth, Patterson, Plunkett, Rafiq, Rashid, Root, Willey and Williamson
Notts: Ball, Christian ©, Fletcher, Gurney, Hales, Hutton, Lumb, Mullaney, Patel, Russell, Smith, Taylor, Wessels and Wood
Danger men:
Yorks: Jonny Bairstow
Notts: Andre Russell
Weather: Light rain that will later turn to clouds with highs of 14c
Match Odds:
Yorks: Evens
Notts: Evens
VFTO Predicts: Home win
 
Previews by David Bowden (@Bowdenwhu)