Birmingham Bears guaranteed a home quarter-final in the Vitality Blast and Surrey moved to the brink of one after wins on Sunday.
While fifties from Moeen Ali, Dan Mousley and Sam Hain helped the Bears, top of the North Group, see off Derbyshire by 44 runs; Surrey, who sit at the summit of the South Group, defeated Essex by 13 runs.
Moeen’s buccaneering 59 off 32 balls was followed by 60 not out off 44 and 52no off 30 from Mousley and Hain respectively in an unbroken stand worth 111, underpinning a Bears total of 198 for two.
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Moeen Ali got our innings off to a flyer: 59 off 32 balls with 9️⃣ boundaries. 💪
🐻#YouBears | #BIRvDER | @VitalityBlast
— Bears 🏏 (@WarwickshireCCC) July 14, 2024
Danny Briggs then took three for 24 as none of Derbyshire’s batters made more than 30 despite all of the top-seven reaching double figures. They were all out for 154 in 19.2 overs at Edgbaston, which guarantees the Bears a top-two finish in the group.
Down at Chelmsford, Will Jacks’ swashbuckling 86 off 46, containing six fours and five sixes, lifted Surrey to 189 for nine before England team-mate Chris Jordan’s three-wicket haul in the reply restricted Essex to 176 for eight.
Surrey will be guaranteed a top-two finish by winning one of their final two matches.
Defending champions Somerset need just one more point to guarantee progression to the knockout stage after ending Hampshire’s hopes at the Utilita Bowl.
Hampshire’s middling 157 for seven was reeled in with two overs to spare following Tom Banton’s 79no off 52 and Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s 43no off 28 as Somerset recorded a comprehensive nine-wicket victory.
Gloucestershire remain in the hunt for a top-four finish after Jack Taylor starred in a 121-run rout of Glamorgan at Cheltenham.
Taylor thumped seven sixes in his 80no off 35 to lift Gloucestershire to 206 for six, with Glamorgan getting nowhere close as they were all out for 85 in 15.5 overs, with David Payne and Tom Smith collecting three wickets apiece.
To go through to the quarter-finals, Gloucestershire must win their final group match at Middlesex on Thursday and hope either Essex lose at Hampshire 24 hours later or Somerset are defeated in both of their last two matches.
In the North Group, Dawid Malan’s unbeaten 93 off 50, allied to Jordan Thompson’s 40no off 14 carried Yorkshire to a 206-run victory target with six wickets and three balls to spare at Worcestershire.
Already-eliminated Worcestershire posted 205 for six, with Jafer Chohan following up his five-for against Durham with four for 30 at New Road, before Malan and Thompson combined to get Yorkshire home.
The White Rose were edged out of the final qualifying spot after Northamptonshire leapfrogged them and Durham with a six-wicket win over the north-east county in an eight-over shootout at Chester-le-Street.
While Durham posted 90 for five, Ashton Agar’s 31 off 14 was followed by Lewis McManus thumping his only two deliveries for six as Northamptonshire got over the line with five balls left.
Lewis Goldsworthy’s 67 off 39 ushered Leicestershire to a five-wicket win over Nottinghamshire at Grace Road. After Nottinghamshire’s 160 for six, Goldsworthy’s knock and James Neesham’s 44no off 22 carried Leicestershire to their target with six balls to spare.
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