Holders Notts Outlaws put one foot in the last eight of this year’s T20 Blast as they battered Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston.

Yorkshire are close to joining North Group leaders Notts and also remained on course for a likely home quarter-final with their first T20 Blast derby win over Lancashire since 2017.

New Zealander Lockie Ferguson finished the game off in Leeds with a hat-trick to win by nine runs, just as Adam Milne did for Kent in their 11-run win over Surrey to go top in the much tighter South Group.

Kent Spitfires now lead by a point from Somerset, who are a point ahead of both Surrey and luckless Sussex, who have had almost half their games washed out.

North Group

It was all done and dusted by nine o’clock at Edgbaston where the 114-run bulldozing by Notts Outlaws of the beleaguered Birmingham Bears set the records tumbling.

After the Bears were stung by the pre-match loss of Carlos Brathwaite following a positive Covid-19 test, Samit Patel top scored with 41 as Notts posted a not especially forbidding 177-9.

But, leading the Notts attack again, wily spinner Patel then struck twice in his first two overs to help reduce the Bears to 19-5 inside just 31 balls – and the hosts never recovered as Jake Ball (4-11) and Calvin Harrison (4-17) ran through to bowl them out for 63.

That was 10 lower than the Bears’ previous record low score of 73 against Somerset at Taunton in 2013, while the defeat was their biggest margin of defeat when chasing, surpassing the 100-run loss to Leicestershire at Edgbaston in 2018 – and it was also Notts’ biggest margin of run victory, comfortably beating their 92-run win over Lancashire in 2005.

New Zealander Lockie Ferguson was one of two players on the night to end the game with a hat-trick as Yorkshire Vikings saw off a late Lancashire Lightning revival in Leeds to win by nine runs.

Harry Brook’s career-best 91 not out off just 50 balls helped Yorkshire post 180-4, taking his tally to 462 in 10 innings – and his average to 115.75, thanks to his sixth not-out.

Steven Croft and Rob Jones then helped Lancashire recover from 70-4 to 20 needed off the last over. Successive boundaries reduced the target to 11 off four balls, before Ferguson removed Luke Wells, Luke Wood and Tom Hartley with the last three balls.

Lancashire are still not out of it, despite a fifth defeat in 11 games. They are just two points behind third-placed Worcestershire Rapids still with three games left – and all of them at home, including a final-day rematch with Yorkshire.

Daryl Mitchell became the first Worcestershire player to take 100 T20 wickets as he helped his side ruin Jade Dernbach’s Derbyshire Falcons debut.

Former England seamer Dernbach took 3-23 as the visitors made 167-6 at Derby after 43 from Brett D’Oliveira and 37 in 21 balls from Derbyshire old boy Ross Whiteley.

But, despite 46 from Tom Wood, Derbyshire collapsed from 123-3 to fall short on 153-8 and lose by 14 runs – and be overtaken by previously bottom side Leicestershire, who enjoyed a DLS win over Durham in a badly rain-affected game at Chester-le Street.

South Group

Sussex soared right back into contention in Cardiff as they eased to a 33-run win over Glamorgan to climb a place from fifth to fourth.

After five rain-offs in their opening 10 games, they owed much to openers Luke Wright and Phil Salt in earning only their fourth win.

England 2010 T20 World Cup winner Wright hit 77 in 41 balls and Salt 63 off 35 in a 144-run stand that was just 12 short of Sussex’s county record, set by Wright with the help of Chris Nash against Somerset five years ago.

Teenage spinner Archie Lenham then improved his T20 best again with 4-26 as Glamorgan were bowled out for 168, of which David Lloyd made 51.

Any faint outside hopes Middlesex had of reaching the knock-out stage were officially ended at Taunton with a seventh defeat in 11 group games, this time by just five runs at the hands of knock-out challengers Somerset.

The hosts maintained their push for a top four finish, but only under the DLS method.

After Somerset lost the toss, Blake Cullen (4-32) and England’s Steven Finn (2-16) helped bowl them out for 152 in 18.1 overs.

But, after another England paceman Craig Overton took 3-28, Middlesex looked in a mess on 114-6 with just four overs left when the rain came.

Bottom side Hampshire Hawks remain at the foot of the table despite a 10-run win over Gloucestershire, Tom Prest top scoring with an unbeaten 49.

But, at the top, it was Kent who went top again as they successfully defended a score of 191-4, aided by Jordan Cox (61 not out) and Jack Leaning (50).

Will Jacks (97) and Laurie Evans (57) had a good go at getting there in a second-wicket stand of 92 which left them needing 57 off 33 balls.

But Fred Klaassen trapped Jacks and Milne removed Jamie Overton before returning to end it all with the scalps of Ollie Pope, Kyle Jamieson and Evans for his own game-ending hat-trick.

Coming next

Next Friday’s fixtures (9 July):

Gloucestershire v Middlesex (Cheltenham College, 14:30 BST)

Worcestershire v Warwickshire (New Road, 17:30 BST)

Durham v Derbyshire (Chester-le-Street, 18:30 BST)

Lancashire v Northamptonshire (Manchester, 18:30 BST)

Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire (Trent Bridge, 18:30 BST)

Surrey v Kent (The Oval, 18:30 BST)

Hampshire v Somerset (Southampton, 19:00 BST)

Sussex v Essex (Hove, 19:00 BST)