T20 Blast: Northants into quarter-final, Surrey beat Sussex

Jul 08, 2026 - 22:10

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T20 Blast: Northants into quarter-final, Surrey beat Sussex

Chris Lynn, wearing Northamptonshire's red shirt, raises his bat and helmet to celebrate scoring a century against Glamorgan — Northamptonshire Steelbacks opener Chris Lynn is the only player to have scored two centuries in the T20 Blast so far this season [Getty Images]

Australian opener Chris Lynn smashed a 49-ball century to help Northamptonshire Steelbacks ease past Glamorgan and seal their place in the T20 Blast quarter-finals.

Lynn's 117 from 56 balls, his second T20 hundred of the season, set the platform for a comfortable 53-run victory for the Central & West Group leaders over Glamorgan, whose hopes of qualification for the last eight were dented in the process.

Defending champions Somerset have dragged themselves into contention after they won by 27 runs at Derbyshire.

Jason Roy hit an unbeaten 103 as Surrey strengthened their grip on second spot in the South Group with an eight-wicket win at the Oval, while Middlesex stunned group leaders Hampshire Hawks with a five-wicket victory to keep their extremely slim hopes of progressing alive.

And in the North Group, Durham thrashed Leicestershire Foxes by eight wickets to just about stay in the fight for qualification.

Central & West Group: Northants setting the pace

Chris Lynn, wearing Northamptonshire's red shirt, batting against Glamorgan — Chris Lynn hit 10 fours and seven sixes in his century for Northamptonshire [Getty Images]

No other side has won as many games (9) or picked up as many points (36) as Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast so far this season.

The Steelbacks have lost just once, against Somerset in comprehensive fashion on Sunday, and returned to winning ways in style to to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Ben Kellaway (3-22) was the pick of the bowlers for Glamorgan but Lynn's century and a quickfire 25 for both Ricardo Vasconcelos and Saif Zaib propelled the visitors to 217-7 from their 20 overs in Cardiff.

Glamorgan came out the blocks quickly in reply, with skipper Kiran Carlson making 42, but after he was dismissed in the seventh over, Northants started to turn the screw, reducing the Welsh side from 65-2 to 164 all out.

Calvin Harrison took 3-20, while Zaib (2-27) and James Sales (2-21) helped Northants rattle through the hosts batting line-up.

Will Smeed scored 89 for Somerset in a total of 214-6, with Martin Andersson taking 3-33, as they refused to give up hope of retaining their title. It set up a daunting task for North Group strugglers Derbyshire who fell short on 187-7.

Falcons skipper Aneurin Donald hit back with 65 from 27 balls to help them to 74-2 inside six overs, but once Harry Came was dismissed for 28 by Daniel Sams (3-29) in the 11th over, Derbyshire stuttered.

Wayne Madsen made 43 but Somerset were comfortable winners in the end, though they will likely need two wins from their final two games to stand a chance of progressing.

South Group: Roy helps Surrey edge closer to last eight

Jason Roy raises his bat to celebrate getting a century while walking off the pitch after Surrey beat Sussex — Jason Roy scored his first T20 Blast century of the 2026 season against Sussex [Getty Images]

Surrey have all but qualified for the quarter-finals, thanks in large part to Roy, who scored 103 from 58 balls to help the hosts reach their target of 177.

Despite George Thomas hitting 57 and James Coles making an unbeaten 42, Sussex were restricted by Surrey, with two wickets apiece for Chris Jordan (2-23) and Tom Lawes (2-29), and finished on 176-7.

Roy, who notched up his seventh T20 career hundred - and fifth in the Blast - had support from Josh Philippe (31) and Dan Lawrence, who was 28 not out at the end of Surrey's run chase, which never seemed in doubt.

Middlesex knew they had to win to live to fight another day and they did just that at group leaders Hampshire, who have already secured their place in the last eight.

Tight bowling from Zafar Gohar (1-21) and Luke Hollman (1-14) helped Middlesex limit the Hawks to 159-4 at the Utilita Bowl.

Max Holden almost took the visitors all the way to the finish line in reply, as he made 62 before falling in the 17th over with the score on 144-4.

Ben Geddes (44*) was there at the end for Middlesex, who can still chase down Essex for third spot, but even then, 20 points is unlikely to be enough.

North Group: Durham cling on to qualification hopes

Alex Lees, wearing Durham's yellow and navy blue shirt, batting in a T20 game — Durham's Alex Lees is the second highest run-scorer in the T20 Blast so far this season (464) behind only Warwickshire's Beau Webster (552) [Getty Images]

Durham proved far too strong for bottom side Leicestershire, with skipper Alex Lees hitting a brilliant 80 from 44 balls to lead the chase of 157 set by the Foxes.

Callum Parkinson (2-23), Matthew Potts (2-41) and Nathan Sowter (2-30) shared the load with the ball for Durham to set up a comfortable evening with the bat after the Foxes finished on 156-8.

Lees' opening partner Graham Clark made 38 before Ben McKinney (16*) and Colin Ackerman (20*) finished the job with five overs to spare as they reached 160-2.

Durham can still overhaul Lancashire Lightning for third spot and reach 24 points with two wins from their final two games.

As for Derbyshire, their defeat at Somerset means they are on the brink of elimination.