T20 Blast: Surrey beat Somerset as Birmingham Bears and Yorkshire win

England international Sam Curran took 5-26 as Surrey beat Somerset to leapfrog their opponents and move top of the South Group on a night which saw two centuries and a tied match in the T20 Blast.

Opener Will Jacks hit 60 and Chris Jordan added an unbeaten 36 off 12 balls as Surrey posted 195-9 at Taunton, with the hosts only managing 167-9 in reply.

Birmingham Bears moved to the top of the North Group with a 21-run win over Worcestershire Rapids, but Yorkshire joined them on 12 points, with Adam Lyth’s 90 not out helping to guide the Vikings to an eight-wicket victory over Leicestershire Foxes.

Steven Croft hit a maiden T20 century, scoring 101 from 52 balls, in Lancashire Lightning’s win against Northants Steelbacks but Max Holden’s unbeaten 121 from 59 balls against Kent was in vain as Middlesex suffered a ninth straight defeat.

Meanwhile, Derbyshire Falcons needed 10 runs off the final over to win at Durham, but Haider Ali could only hit the final ball from Wayne Parnell for four, with both sides finishing on 178 runs.

Elsewhere, debutant Brad Currie picked up 3-27 and took a sensational diving catch on the boundary as Sussex Sharks sealed a six-run win against Hampshire Hawks and Essex registered their fourth straight victory by beating Glamorgan.

Surrey looked to be heading for a sub-par total at Somerset before taking 31 runs off the 19th over, which was bowled by Matt Henry, as captain Jordan thrashed four sixes.

That cameo lifted Surrey to 195-9, with Ben Green cementing his position as the leading wicket-taker in the competition this season by taking 4-33.

Somerset were typically positive with the bat in response, ending the powerplay 51-2 despite losing Will Smeed and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, but two overs ultimately proved their undoing.

Three wickets fell for one run – including Tom Banton for 53 – when Curran, who was later made an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list, bowled the 14th over and then Jordan took two more for as many runs in the 17th.

Both sides have now won seven of their nine games and look well placed to reach the knock-out stages.

Birmingham Bears cemented their bid for a quarter-final spot with a derby win over Worcestershire Rapids at New Road, but the visitors were indebted to late hitting from Dan Mousley and Jacob Bethell for setting a challenging target after the duo helped the visitors reach 196-5.

Mousley’s unbeaten 49 was his T20 best this summer while Bethell’s 32 not out was his highest in the competition.

Club captain Brett D’Oliveira struck his first T20 half-century of the season for the Rapids, top scoring with exactly 50, but his side struggled to break free from the Bears spinners and finished on 175-6.

After winning their opening four games, Worcestershire have now lost four in a row as they suffered another dent to their qualification hopes.

Yorkshire Vikings went second, edging ahead of Notts Outlaws on net run-rate, as Dawid Malan and Lyth laid the foundations for chasing down Leicestershire’s total of 195-5.

The openers put on 158 before Malan, the leading run-scorer in the competition this season, fell to Michael Finan for 79.

The left-armer picked up the wicket of James Wharton in his following over but Lyth saw the Vikings home with 11 balls to spare.

Croft hit five fours and seven sixes to reach his ton in 50 balls, and helped Lancashire Lightning recover from losing England duo Jos Buttler (0) and Phil Salt (12) in slipping to 25-3 to post 204-7 against Northants at Wantage Road.

Croft took the attack to the Steelbacks, sharing a 146-run partnership in 12 overs with Daryl Mitchell (48).

With Luke Wood (3-39) taking three wickets in one over in the powerplay, the hosts’ hopes rested once more on Chris Lynn.

But when the Australian big hitter fell for 21, it was left to all-rounders Tom Taylor (40) and AJ Tye (35) to entertain the crowds in a lively stand of 58 in five overs as the Steelbacks fell to their sixth defeat of the campaign.

Lightning now have five wins from nine games, keeping them firmly in contention for a play-off spot.

Middlesex fell to a 13-run defeat despite Max Holden’s magnificent century against Kent Spitfires, who had posted 228-3 – a record T20 total at Lord’s.

Daniel Bell-Drummond struck 66 from 42 balls before Joe Denly savaged his former side’s ragged bowling attack with an unbeaten 73 from 37.

Holden led his side’s assault on an improbable target, with a career-best T20 knock which included 10 fours and six sixes, but Kent held on for their second successive South Group win.

Durham and Derbyshire played out a thrilling tie at Seat Unique Riverside, with the hosts left to rue a batting collapse, losing their final five wickets for only 17 runs in their total of 178.

Brydon Carse top scored with a career-best 58 for Durham, as Zaman Khan took 4-21 and Zak Chappell 4-41 for the Falcons.

Derbyshire made a rapid start to their chase as Harry Came progressed to 34 from 17 balls before Wayne Parnell removed the opener in the final over of the powerplay.

Luis Reece and Wayne Madsen kept the visitors well ahead of the run rate before Paul Coughlin drew a false shot from Madsen and Nathan Sowter added the wicket of Leus du Plooy to put the visitors back under pressure at 132-3, elevating the required run rate beyond 12 per over.

Haider responded with consecutive boundaries in the 17th over to set up a tense finale, leaving Derbyshire requiring 31 from the final three overs.

Parnell and Liam Trevaskis turned the screw for the hosts, combining twice to prise out Reece for 58 and Brooke Guest for five, swinging the momentum back to Durham.

But Haider and Mattie McKiernan drilled Bas de Leede’s penultimate over for 14, aided by two wides from the Netherlands international, leaving the game in the balance heading into the final six balls.

Parnell cost a run with his first ball, throwing it needlessly back at the stumps after holding McKiernan in check, but his following four balls were on the money to leave Derbyshire needing five from the final delivery.

And Haider found the gap in a leg-side boundary to snatch a tie for the Falcons on the road.

Oli Carter made a career-best 64 in Sussex’s 183-6 against Hampshire at Hove.

The Hawks, who had won the reverse fixture by 10 wickets, were reduced to 24-4 but Liam Dawson’s 59 and Joe Weatherley’s 33 kept the visitors in contention.

Currie pulled off a one-handed catch to dismiss Benny Howell in the penultimate over and Ari Karvelas trapped Nathan Ellis leg before with the penultimate ball of the match to secure victory.

And academy graduate Feroze Khushi crashed a 37-ball 61 as Essex comfortably chased down 176 to beat Glamorgan, despite losing three early wickets at Chelmsford thanks to Jamie McIlroy’s 4-36.

Paul Walter added 43, before Matt Critchley and Daniel Sams saw off most of the remaining runs with 24 balls to spare.

Captain Kiran Carlson was the top-scorer for the visitors as Glamorgan scored 175-6.