Hashim Amla signed off his brief stint with Derbyshire with a match-winning half-century against Lancashire Lightning in the NatWest T20 Blast game on Friday night.
The South African Test captain scored 51 off 37 balls and shared Derbyshire’s highest T20 opening stand against Lancashire of 93 with Tillakaratne Dilshan who made 38 on his first appearance for the county, as the home side easily chased down a target of 128 to claim their first North Group win.
Lancashire were not helped by the early dismissal of their Saffa, Ashwell Prince, who has been in imperious form of late. But he managed only four as the top order collapsed to 4-44 off eight overs.
Wayne Parnell made his long-awaited debut for Glamorgan after recovering from a groin injury and immediately made an impact, taking two Hampshire wickets in successive overs. But a mid-order rally saw Hampshire to 148 and Glamorgan faltered at the start, losing three wickets for 13 runs, including Colin Ingram for seven. Captain Jacques Rudolph tried to hold the innings together with a dogged 38 off 34 balls, but there was little impetus and his team slid to 127-8 off their 20 overs, losing by 21 runs.
Richard Levi lead the Northampton attack with an excellent 58 off 48 balls (6×4, 2×6), but his was the only offering of substance as Warwickshire restricted the innings to 146-7. It turned into a thriller as Warwickshire scraped home with four byes off the last ball, with Rory Kleinveldt taking 1-29.
Keaton Jennings made a massive contribution to Durham’s six-run win, taking 4-37 with his occasional medium pace. Among the vitctims were key Yorkshiremen in Jonny Bairstow and the big-hitting Australian Glenn Maxwell.
Jennings opens the batting in first-class games, but comes in low down in T20. He was not called on as Durham posted 182-4, and his expertise with the ball restricted Yorkshire to 176-8.
Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire will have to survive without South African seamer Vernon Philander as he has been recalled by South Africa one game early. He was named in the Test squad to tour Bangladesh in July and August.
‘When you sign an international overseas player, you always know there’s a chance that they could be recalled by their country,’ Nottinghamshire director of cricket Mick Newell said.
‘It’s come right towards the end of his spell with us, albeit we will miss out on him for the game against Sussex, so we’ll need our domestic bowlers to step up and fill the void.’
Compiled by Mark Salter
