LONDON, Friday - The Roses match between Yorkshire and Lancashire ended in a tie after rain brought their T20 Blast contest at Old Trafford to an early conclusion.
Chasing 177 for victory, the Tykes were 64-2 when the players went off with the scores tied on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern. Joe Denly smashed 116 not out as several Kent records tumbled in their brilliant victory against Surrey. Clint McKay took 5-11 - the best-ever T20 figures by a Leicestershire bowler - as the Foxes beat Worcestershire.
Northants overcame Warwickshire by five wickets in a final-ball thriller at Edgbaston, while Michael Carberry’s superb 77 led Hampshire to a comfortable 29-run win over Middlesex.
But Friday’s T20 Blast headlines belonged to Denly and McKay, whose record-breaking feats inspired their teams to success.
Given Kent had never chased more than 200 in a T20 match prior to Friday, they could have been forgiven for feeling pessimistic about hunting down Surrey’s 205-5.
But, clearly inspired by Jason Roy (55) and Aaron Finch’s (49) opening stand of 108 for Surrey, Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond embraced the prospect of breaking new ground for their county.
They shared 163 for the first wicket - a new Kent record partnership - before the latter fell for 64, setting the platform for an eight-wicket win at The Oval. Denly was in fine form throughout, smashing six sixes and 10 fours in his 63-ball unbeaten 116, also a T20 record individual score for Kent.
Veteran Australian seamer McKay was out to prove that bowlers can still thrive with the white ball.
The 34-year-old, who played 59 one-day internationals for his country, returned career-best figures in helping limit Worcestershire to 148-8, also taking the first five-wicket haul of this year’s competition.
English county scores on Friday:
T20 Blast
NORTH GROUP
* At New Road, Worcester: Worcestershire 148-8
(B Cox 51; C McKay 5-11) v Leicestershire 149-5
Leicestershire (2pts) beat Worcestershire by five wickets
* At Edgbaston: Warwickshire 156-4 (I Bell 50) v Northamptonshire 160-5
Northamptonshire (2pts) beat Warwickshire by five wickets
* At Old Trafford: Lancashire 176-4 (K Brown 61) v Yorkshire 64-2
Lancashire (1pt) tied with Yorkshire (1pt) on DLS method
SOUTH GROUP
* At The Oval: Surrey 205-5 (J Roy 55) v Kent 207-2
(J Denly 116 no, D Bell-Drummond 64)
Kent (2pts) beat Surrey by eight wickets
* At the Rose Bowl: Hampshire 189-8 (M Carberry 77; T Roland-Jones 4-39,
J Franklin 3-19) v Middlesex 160-7 (T Southee 64 no, M Crane 3-15)
Hampshire (2pts) beat Middlesex by 29 runs. – AFP