2018 T20 Blast Explained

2018 Vitality Blast
Administrator:England and Wales Cricket Board
Cricket Format:Twenty20
Tournament Format:Group stage and knockout
Champions:Worcestershire Rapids
Count:1
Participants:18
Matches:133
Attendance:931455
Most Runs:Laurie Evans (614)
Most Wickets:Pat Brown (31)
Previous Year:2017
Previous Tournament:2017 T20 Blast
Next Year:2019
Next Tournament:2019 T20 Blast
Website:Vitality Blast

The 2018 Vitality Blast was the sixteenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. It was the first season in which the domestic T20 competition, run by the ECB, has been branded as the Vitality Blast due to a new sponsorship deal.[1] The league consisted of the 18 first-class county teams divided into two divisions of nine teams each with fixtures played between July and September. The final day took place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on 15 September 2018.

Nottinghamshire Outlaws were the champions going into the tournament having beaten the Birmingham Bears by 22 runs in the 2017 final.[2]

Competition format

The 18 first-class county cricket clubs are taking part in the competition. Teams are initially split into two divisions on a geographical basis (North and South) for the group stage of the competition, each group having nine teams. During the group stage, which ran from July until the middle of August, each county played 14 matches, playing six of the other sides in their group twice, once home and once away, and the other two teams once.[2] The winners of each match received two points for a win, with one point awarded in the case of a tie or if a match was abandoned. Teams are ranked within their groups by total points, then net run rate. At the end of the group stage, the top four teams from each group entered the knockout stage of the competition.

Teams

TeamDivisionHome groundsCoachCaptainOverseas Player(s)
Birmingham BearsNorthEdgbaston, Birmingham Jim Troughton Grant Elliott Jeetan Patel
Colin de Grandhomme
Derbyshire FalconsNorthCounty Cricket Ground, Derby John Wright Gary Wilson Wahab Riaz
Lockie Ferguson
Henry Nicholls
Durham JetsNorthRiverside Ground, Chester-le-Street Jon Lewis Tom Latham Tom Latham
Imran Tahir
Essex EaglesSouthCounty Cricket Ground, Chelmsford Anthony McGrath Ryan ten Doeschate Neil Wagner
Adam Zampa
Peter Siddle
GlamorganSouthSophia Gardens, Cardiff Robert Croft Colin Ingram Usman Khawaja
Shaun Marsh
Joe Burns
GloucestershireSouthBristol County Ground
College Ground, Cheltenham
Richard Dawson Michael Klinger Michael Klinger
Andrew Tye
Thisara Perera
HampshireSouthRose Bowl, Southampton Craig White James Vince Colin Munro
Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Dale Steyn
Kent SpitfiresSouthSt Lawrence Ground, Canterbury
County Cricket Ground, Beckenham
Matt Walker Sam Billings Adam Milne
Marcus Stoinis
Carlos Brathwaite
Lancashire LightningNorthOld Trafford, Manchester Glen Chapple Liam Livingstone Joe Mennie
James Faulkner
Zahir Khan
Leicestershire FoxesNorthGrace Road, Leicester Paul Nixon Colin Ackermann Mohammad Abbas
Mohammad Nabi
MiddlesexSouthLord's, London
Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground
Old Deer Park, Richmond, London
Daniel Vettori Dawid Malan Hilton Cartwright
Ashton Agar
Dwayne Bravo
Northamptonshire SteelbacksNorthCounty Cricket Ground, Northampton David Ripley Alex Wakely Rory Kleinveldt
Seekuge Prasanna
Nottinghamshire OutlawsNorthTrent Bridge, Nottingham Peter Moores Dan Christian Dan Christian
Ish Sodhi
SomersetSouthCounty Ground, Taunton Andy Hurry Lewis Gregory Corey Anderson
Jerome Taylor
SurreySouthThe Oval, London Michael Di Venuto Jade Dernbach Aaron Finch
Nic Maddinson
Sussex SharksSouthCounty Cricket Ground, Hove Jason Gillespie Luke Wright Rashid Khan
Tom Bruce
Worcestershire RapidsNorthNew Road, Worcester Kevin Sharp Moeen Ali Travis Head
Martin Guptill
Callum Ferguson
Wayne Parnell
Yorkshire VikingsNorthHeadingley, Leeds Andrew Gale Steven Patterson Kane Williamson

North Group

Table

July

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South Group

Table

July

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Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

------------

Finals Day

Final

Statistics

Most runs

!Player!Team!Mat!Inns!Runs!SR!HS!100!50
Laurie EvansSussex Sharks1514614135.849607
Aaron FinchSurrey99589182.35131*23
Ian BellBirmingham Bears1414580139.0913114
[3] Source: ESPNCricInfo

Most wickets

!Player!Team!Mat!Wkts!Ave!Econ!BBI!SR
Pat BrownWorcestershire Rapids163113.357.644/2110.4
Matthew ParkinsonLancashire Lightning152516.607.323/1913.6
Jamie OvertonSomerset162422.5010.255/4713.1
[4] Source: ESPNCricinfo

Notes and References

  1. News: Vitality announced as new title partner for T20 cricket . England and Wales Cricket Board. 2018-07-02. 2018-09-12.
  2. News: Kia Super League & Vitality Blast Tickets on Sale . England and Wales Cricket Board. 2018-03-01. 2018-09-12.
  3. News: Cricket Records Records Vitality Blast, 2018 Most runs ESPNcricinfo. Cricinfo. 2018-09-16.
  4. News: Cricket Records Records Vitality Blast, 2018 Most wickets ESPNcricinfo. Cricinfo. 2018-09-16.