Quarter-final line-up secured after thrilling final day of T20 Blast

A thrilling final day in the group stages of the NatWest t20 Blast saw the quarter-final line-up decided as Derbyshire, Birmingham and Leicestershire all won to join Nottinghamshire as the North Group qualifiers.

Defending champions Northamptonshire failed to make it out of the group along with Yorkshire who had started the day second in the standings.

Glamorgan topped the South Group after a seven-wicket victory over Middlesex and progress along with Surrey, Hampshire and Somerset, the latter edging out Sussex as their run rate of 0.491 was marginally better than the Sharks’ 0.423 after the both finished on 14 points.

Here, we wrap up the pick of the action.

Game of the day

Leicestershire’s two-run victory over already-qualified Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge earned the Foxes a place in the NatWest T20 Blast quarter-finals.

The Outlaws’ Billy Root, brother of England captain Joe, faced the final ball but could only score a single when a boundary would have put his home county, Yorkshire, in the next stage of the tournament.

Foxes bowler Mathew Pillans claimed the wicket of Ish Sodhi and conceded just five runs in a tight final over which edged Leicestershire to the all-important win.

Player of the day

Leicestershire’s Cameron Delport showed just how much South African batsmen love the shortest form of the game. The Durban-born player scored over half the Foxes’ runs as they hit 203 for five against Nottinghamshire. Delport’s 109 not out came off 59 balls and included four sixes and nine fours.

Stat of the day

Middlesex lost a wicket in each of the first five overs they faced against Glamorgan. First to go was Paul Stirling when he was caught by Michael Hogan off Marchant de Lange.

Next over John Simpson fell to Hogan, this time caught by Jacques Rudolph, before De Lange claimed the prize wicket of England limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan with the first ball of the third over, Colin Ingram taking the catch.

Not to be outdone Hogan removed Stevie Eskinazi who he bowled with the opening delivery of the fourth. De Lange was at it again in the fifth, bowling James Franklin.

Nail-biting for Yorkshire

Yorkshire fans were left to spend the final day of the competition watching how other results unfolded. Having started the day in second position in the North Group the Tykes ended it outside the top four. At one point Yorkshire fans were even faced with the unpalatable thought of hoping for a Lancashire victory to see them through but Birmingham won that contest to edge Yorkshire out.

No joy for Jennings

Durham opener Keaton Jennings has not found it any easier for his county than for his national side who dispensed with his services after he flopped during the 3-1 Test series victory over South Africa.

Jennings was run out for the second time this week, this time for just three runs. North Group bottom side Durham did okay anyway as they ran up 208 for three, with Graham Clark scoring 71. But the match was rained off without Northamptonshire getting a chance to start their reply.

Blinded by the light

Essex’s Callum Taylor incurred the wrath of bowler Mohammad Amir when he failed to take a regulation catch from Sussex’s Chris Nash on the boundary.

Taylor was left claiming he had not seen the ball because of the bright sun which led to Amir remonstrating and gesturing that his team-mate should have been wearing his sunglasses which were perched on his cap.

Amir had no cause for complaint later in the innings as he dropped a catch. Sussex won the game by 55 runs but narrowly missed out on qualification.

It’s wet in Wales

Rain caused Glamorgan’s match with Middlesex in Cardiff to be delayed and reduced the contest to 14 overs per side. it also brought an early end as Northants did not get to bat against Durham at the County Ground. The other six final day matches escaped the downpours.