Paul Stirling plays a brutal stroke in the Birmingham Bears debut, with his 119 from 51 balls, including 34 runs in one over; The Edgbaston side beat the Northants by 125 runs; Middlesex, Durham and Glamorgan also triumphed on Thursday night
Paul Stirling smashed 10 sixes and nine fours in his brutal 51-ball 119 for Birmingham Bears against Northants Steelbacks
Birmingham Bears starter Paul Stirling was at his devastating best in the Vitality Blast with his 46-ball hundred, including victory over Northamptonshire closer James Sales with 34 straight runs.
The Irish international (119-for-51) scored five straight sixes against Sales in the 13th over of Thursday’s North Group match at Edgbaston before cutting a fourth to the third man.
Stirling’s third career T20, which featured 10 sixes and nine fours, came in his debut for the Bears and against one of his former clubs.
He and Sam Hain (66 not for 32) hit the Steelbacks during a 70-ball 170 stoppage, which rocketed the Bears to 207-3 in a game cut to 16 overs a side.
Setting a DLS-adjusted target of 206 of his 16 overs, Northants capitulated to 81 overall in 14.2 overs and a 125-run loss as spinners Jake Lintott and Danny Briggs bagged three wickets apiece.
Only Sales (11th), Chris Lynn (16) and Saif Zaib (16) reached double figures for the Steelbacks.
New Middlesex T20 captain Stephen Eskinazi produced a dazzling 37-ball 87 to propel his team to a 30-run victory over Gloucestershire at Radlett.
Eskinazi’s innings, which included 13 fours and two sixes, set a total of 229, the highest for the Seaxes in the tournament, topping the 227-4 they made against Somerset in 2019.
England cue ball captain Eoin Morgan contributed 41 of 24 balls, hitting two sixes and four fours.
Middlesex then restricted Gloucestershire to 199-9, with Benny Howell’s gutsy 46 from 20 balls going to waste as Martin Andersson bagged 3-33.
Earlier, Eskinazi looked poised for his second Blast century, only to be fooled by the slower ball rebounder of Naseem Shah, who spooned the third man.
Mohammad Rizwan 81 of 60 balls in his Blast arc to sussex came in vain like glamorgan it cost a seven-wicket hit at Hove.
Pakistani international Rizwan received no real support as Sussex went 150-6: Luke Wright and Harrison Ward were the next highest scoring Sharks batsmen with 13.
Sam Northeast (63rd) and Marnus Labuschagne (41st) led Glamorgan’s response as the visitors reached their goal with seven balls to spare.
Plus, Durham defeated leicestershire for 54 runs when Paul Coughlin impressed with bat and ball.
The better all-rounder scored on 42 from 30 balls in Durham’s 184-8 and then went on to catch 4-15 when Leicestershire was sacked for 130 in response.
Rehan Ahmed, 17, spun his legs and bowled beautifully for Leicestershire as he took 2-22 from his four overs on his Blast debut, catching David Bedingham at his own bowling alley with his first delivery.
Ahmad also hit two sixes on a 12-ball 18 cameo with the bat, but the Foxes were well beaten.
Watch the Vitality Blast action live on Sky Sports Cricket on Friday night as the Lancashire Lightning and Yorkshire Vikings meet in a Roses clash at Emirates Old Trafford. Coverage begins at 6:15 pm
