After a temporary pause in play for the County Championship, the Vitality Blast is back for the run-in because the road to Finals Day at Edgbaston heats up.
The FIFA World Cup is about to embark on the highly-anticipated knockout stages but there remains to be plenty to be decided before we get to that stage within the T20 Blast.
With England and India going head-to-head in a bumper series concurrently, it is bound to be an exciting few weeks of T20 cricket to kickstart the guts of summer.
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The state of play
On the halfway stage, it’s Yorkshire, Northants Steelbacks and Hampshire Hawks leading the best way of their respective groups.
Northants have raced out of the traps for the second season running and are the one side to have won all six of their games to place all but confirm their place within the quarter-finals.
Yorkshire head a competitive North section, where each Notts Outlaws and Leicestershire Foxes recovered from disastrous starts to place themselves well in the combination.
Meanwhile, 2025 beaten finalists Hampshire are in a powerful position but have three sides chasing them down, whilst Middlesex’s woes within the format have continued.
Despite being bottom of their group, Warwickshire’s overseas Beau Webster tops the run-scoring charts on 288, though closely followed by Notts’ George Munsey, Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow and fellow Aussie Chris Lynn at Northants.
With Duan Jansen of Gloucestershire having departed, Northants all-rounder James Sales is the lively leading wicket-taker with 16 wickets which earned him a Hundred wildcard spot at Manchester Super Giants alongside Worcestershire’s Adam Finch who has taken 12.
Scott Currie has once more impressed for Hampshire and maybe a little bit unlucky to not be included within the England squad, whilst experienced Pakistan duo Mohammad Ali (Notts Outlaws) and Hasan Ali (Yorkshire) are also amongst probably the most prolific bowlers.
Fresh faces to make their mark?
There are few recent names aiming to make an impact within the second half of the campaign.
Lancashire Lightning have signed Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan for his third county stint to exchange the injured Chris Green, whilst Australian wicketkeeper-batter Josh Philippe has joined Surrey to cover England call-ups.
Pakistan wrist spinner Sufyan Moqim – the leading wicket-taker within the recent edition of the PSL – will now link up with Derbyshire Falcons after having to tug out of the primary block, whilst experienced seamer Mohammad Amir has signed a short-term deal across the A52 with Notts Outlaws as a domestically-qualified player.
Elsewhere, Australian all-rounder Liam Scott is now available for Gloucestershire after international commitments with big shoes to fill instead of the departed South African Duan Jansen, who took a competition-high 16 wickets.
Middlesex fans will finally get a likelihood to see Kiwi top order batter Matt Boyle, whose debut had been delayed attributable to visa issues, whilst former England batter Dawid Malan can be set to make his first appearance for brand new side Gloucestershire.
PICTURE: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images
North Group: Can Livingstone encourage Lancashire recovery?
Lancashire Lightning resume their Vitality Blast campaign bottom of the North group with just two wins, though are still close by of leaders Yorkshire in what’s probably the most tightly-packed of the three groups.
After losing each rounds of the County Championship, the Red Rose desperately need to search out a run of form to appease their increasingly-disgruntled members.
Liam Livingstone made scores of 81 and 85* within the previous two T20 games, the latter of which led a remarkable chase of 129 in a reduced overs game at Durham, and he could hold the important thing for Lancashire reaching the knockout stages once more.
Jos Buttler and Phil Salt are also within the squad to face Leicestershire Foxes on Friday, though that can only be a temporary sighting as England prepare to tackle India in a five-match T20I series starting on July 1.
Lancashire face three consecutive away trips to the East Midlands, before ending with a run of home games which incorporates a potentially crucial Roses clash within the penultimate round.
Yorkshire are leading the best way on the halfway stage but face a troublesome reintroduction with a visit to fellow group leaders Hampshire Hawks, before heading to Chesterfield to face Derbyshire Falcons, where they’re hoping to finish a run of eight consecutive defeats within the fixture.
Central & West Group: Returning firepower to spice up Somerset?
It has been an uncharacteristically poor Blast campaign for the holders Somerset with 4 defeats in a row which has left them facing an uphill battle to avoid failing to succeed in the knockout stages for the primary time since 2020.
Northants Steelbacks have been the standout side within the competition with a 100% record and together with Gloucestershire, have established a healthy cushion at the highest of the group.
Somerset host Gloucestershire on Friday, with a defeat at Taunton all but ending their top two possibilities ahead of two meetings still to come back with leaders Northants.
It is probably going Somerset will need not less than 4 wins from their six games but they do have destructive batters Will Smeed and Tom Kohler-Cadmore making welcome returns from injury, whilst Australian pacer Riley Meredith – the leading bowler within the competition last 12 months – is back and may provide a much needed edge to their attack.
PICTURE: Alamy
South Group: Can Surrey handle the expectation?
Surrey’s bid to reclaim the County Championship crown has not gone to plan with only one win in eight games which sees them in seventh and closer in points to the relegation places than the summit but they will now turn their attention to ending a drought in white-ball cricket.
They last won a white-ball trophy in 2011 and have only won the T20 competition once, within the inaugural 2003 season, despite eight Finals Day appearances since.
Surrey currently sit third with a 50% record, having lost twice to South group pace-setters Hampshire Hawks and being thrashed by Kent Spitfires, with two of their wins coming against a poor Middlesex side.
Gareth Batty’s side are 4 points behind Essex, whom crucially they’re still to face twice – including in the ultimate game on the Kia Oval in what may very well be a decider – in addition to two difficult games away at Gloucestershire and Kent.
They may even likely be without key players Sam Curran and Will Jacks for a big period of the run-in, with the pair within the England squad to face India, though leaders Hampshire could similarly be without talisman Liam Dawson.
The battle for third
Keen viewers of the continuing FIFA World Cup can have been going over the varied permutations across the group stages for the perfect third-placed teams to progress to the knockout stages.
There’s an analogous situation within the T20 Blast this 12 months, though fortunately not quite as complex because the football, with just the 2 better of the three third-placed sides reaching the quarter-finals.
Currently all third-placed teams are on 12 points which means around six wins (24 points) may very well be the goal, though Net Run Rate may prove a decisive factor.
Middlesex, Sussex Sharks and Warwickshire Bears, particularly, would want a near perfect second half of the campaign to be in with a shout.
The cross-over fixtures could also carry extra significance.
There are 4 tonight – Glamorgan vs Middlesex, Hampshire Hawks vs Yorkshire, Kent Spitfires vs Notts Outlaws and Northants Steelbacks vs Essex.
Also on the best way is Middlesex vs Durham (June 28), Warwickshire Bears vs Sussex Sharks (July 1), Worcestershire Rapids vs Kent Spitfires (July 3) and Derbyshire Falcons vs Somerset (July 8).
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