NEWS: NatWest T20 Blast

NatWest T20 Blast competition has has reached the quarter final phase and we take a look back at what happened so far in the thrilling competition.

Renovated, remodeled and re-branded Natwest T20 kicked off back in May and has provided the perfect entertainment tonic for the fans all over the world. The season has some new innovation and has certainly taken the entertainment to new level. Naturally comparisons were were made with the IPL and Big Bash Twenty20 tournaments – such has been the impact of these tournaments. The league has attracted some major talent from all over the world including players like Darren Sammy (Glamorgan) ,Glenn Maxwell (Hampshire), Aaron Finch(Yorkshire). This season has already provided some terrific entertainment with almost 50 sixes a week and some nail biting finishes.

It’s been a really excellent season so far with some brilliant performances already. Luke Wright has been scoring heavily and is the top scorer with 601 runs in 14 innings with a mind blowing average of 50.04 and 2 centuries against his names. Luke Wright smashed an unbeaten 153– the fourth highest ever T20 score with 12 fours and 11 sixes to see Sussex to a score of 226-3, a world-record run chase. Jason Roy and Tom Westley are not far behind with 567 and 525 runs respectively. Meanwhile, Dirk Nannes (Somerset) has topped the bowling charts with 24 wickets followed by Jeetan Patel(Birmingham bears), who has bowled magnificently picking 23 wickets at an mind boggling economy rate of 5.62.Lancashire’s Junaid Khan has been brilliant so has been new English Keeper Jos Buttler.

We are getting to the business end of the competition as the quarterfinals kick off today. The intensity is certainly expected to rise and matches are expected to be really fierce and competitive. Lot is expected from players like Michael Carberry, Danny Briggs and James Vince who are knocking the door for a place in the England Cricket team. Andrew Flintoff’s return for Lancashire has added the spice to the competition and he has certainly risen like a phoenix from ashes.

After the dramatic final round of the Natwest T20 blast, the draw for quarter final contain six sides to never have won the competition. Only Surrey (last year’s runner up) and Hampshire have previously claimed the T20 cup before. Glamorgan, Worcestershire, Essex (south division topper), Warwickshire (who made it due to Yorkshire’s defeat), Hampshire and Surrey are the other qualifying 6 teams. It is really difficult to predict who will win the competition as the nature of T20 format is pretty uncertain and will spring up a surprise.

Will Lancashire do it despite the loss of Buttler and Khan, or will it be underdogs Glamorgan this time or the ever consistent Hampshire do it again?