Dale Steyn and David Wiese both played their part in T20 Blast victories, but Cameron Delport was given a cold and soggy welcome on a rain-ravaged night in England.
Johann Myburgh, though, was the hero of the night for Somerset when he out-gayled Chris Gayle, hammering an unbeaten 86 off 53 balls (4×4, 5×6). Gayle had set the tone in the chase to 186 with a typical 31 off 13 (1×4, 4×6), meaning he only ran three. Myburgh settled in well with Roelof van der Merwe (39 off 26) in an unbeaten partnership of 87 as they met their target with six wickets and fur balls remaining.
Myburgh was another huge loss to South Africa, when he emigrated in 2007. As a 17-year-old schoolboy, Myburgh broke Graeme Pollock’s record to become the youngest double-centurion in South African first-class cricket and went on to become a regular in the South Africa U19 side, alongside the likes of Graeme Smith, Jacques Rudolph, Jonathan Trott and Michael Lumb.
Delport, signed this week by Leicestershire, can at least point to his T20 Blast strike-rate record: It sits at 200, but then he has faced just three balls and smashed one for six.
That was the closing salvo as Leicestershire ended on 131-3 off 14 overs; while Lancashire, after rain intervened again, needed to score 74 off seven overs. Alviro Peterson contributed 23 off 17 balls as Lancs came home with nine wickets standing, smacking Delport for 13 off his one over on the way.
Wiese, whose two-match weekend contract with Sussex was extended as Mustafizur Rahman struggles to get fit, took 2-33 to help roll out Kent for 140. He was 10 not out off four balls, hitting boundaries off successive deliveries to pass the target for a four-wicket win with just three balls remaining.
Steyn also picked up two wickets, for 21, off four overs, combined well with his old pals Colin Ingram and Jacques Rudolph to help Glamorgan to a six-wicket win over Gareth Roderick‘s Gloucestershire. Ingram was in belligerent mood, smashing 64 off 30 balls with fours fours and fie sixes, while Rudolph added 16 off 14, with Chris Cooke weighed in with 16 off 12 to cruise to the target of 168
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