Denly cracks century as Kent topple Middlesex

Joe Denly’s 110 provided the platform for Kent Spitfires to register their first victory of the season, overcoming Middlesex by 55 runs; Birmingham Bears hold on to beat Notts Outlaws by one run while Northamptonshire Steelbacks and Leicestershire Foxes also win

An explosive century from Joe Denly helped defending Vitality Blast champions Kent Spitfires to their first win of the season as they beat Middlesex by 55 runs at Canterbury.

Denly scored his fifth Blast century, hitting 110 from 58 balls against his former team, including six sixes and nine fours and sharing a record second-wicket stand of 175 with Jordan Cox (45) as Kent posted 192-8.

• Kent vs Middlesex scorecard

Chris Green took 3-29 and Martin Andersson 3-32 as Middlesex reined the Spitfires in during the death overs, but they were always behind the run-rate in reply, closing on 138-7.

Kent spinners Jack Leaning and George Linde claimed 3-30 and 2-26 respectively as their side finally tasted success in any format for the first time this campaign.

Glamorgan‘s match against South Group leaders Surrey ended without a result after persistent rain meant that only 21.3 overs were possible at Cardiff.

• Glamorgan vs Surrey scorecard

Surrey batted first and posted 160-9 from their 20 overs, thanks to 48 from Jamie Overton and 31 from Sam Curran.

It looked as if the visitors would struggle to make it past 150 after Glamorgan put on the squeeze in the middle overs, but big hitting from Overton enabled them to post a competitive score.

Glamorgan had made it to nine without loss before the rain arrived and, despite the best efforts of the ground staff, they could not get back out to finish the game.

In the North Group, Birmingham Bears held on to squeeze past Notts Outlaws with a thrilling one-run win in a rain-reduced game at Edgbaston.

• Birmingham vs Notts scorecard

Needing three to win and two to tie from the last ball, Outlaws batter Tom Moores could only scuff Craig Miles for a single.

Defending 98-5 from eight overs, the Bears looked in trouble as Alex Hales thrashed 30 from just nine balls to propel the visitors to 55-1.

But spinner Jake Lintott, with 2-6 from two overs, turned the tide by dismissing both Hales and Ben Duckett and the Outlaws, needing 15 from the final over, fell just short.

A fine knock of 61 from 47 balls by Chris Lynn guided Northamptonshire Steelbacks to a four-wicket victory over Durham at the Riverside.

• Durham vs Northamptonshire scorecard

Steelbacks spinners Graeme White and Josh Cobb combined for five for 38 from their eight overs, with White sending down a miserly spell of 3-14 to limit Durham to 154-8.

Their total looked under par and proved to be just that, with Lynn’s effort providing a platform for the rest of the visitors’ line-up to bat around.

There was late drama amid a fine spell of bowling from Andrew Tye, who claimed 3-28, but the Steelbacks kept their composure to get over the line with three balls to spare.

A superb spell of bowling from Naveen-ul-Haq secured a third win in four games for Leicestershire Foxes as they saw off Worcestershire Rapids by 26 runs at New Road.

• Worcestershire vs Leicestershire scorecard

The Afghanistan pace bowler returned career-best T20 figures of 5-10 from four overs as the Foxes comfortably defended a total of 162-6.

He claimed the prized wickets of Brett D’Oliveira and overseas duo Colin Munro and Dwayne Bravo before cleaning up the innings as the Rapids were dismissed for 136 in 19 overs.

All of the Foxes’ wins have come on the road and they were aided by poor shot selection from the home batters, with Worcestershire remaining bottom of the table.