Tom Latham’s sole prior T20 century occurred in 2019 while playing for Canterbury in New Zealand.
New Zealand Test captain Tom Latham showcased his prowess by notching his inaugural T20 Blast century, propelling the Bears into the quarter-finals alongside Durham, Hampshire, and Kent on a dramatic final night of group stage matches.
Latham, in partnership with Alex Davies, orchestrated an impressive opening stand of 187 runs as the Bears decisively defeated Derbyshire by 127 runs at Derby in the North Group.
With Lancashire Lightning and Northamptonshire Steelbacks already securing their spots, Durham understood that a victory over the latter would guarantee their advancement to the final eight. They achieved this with a commanding nine-wicket triumph, highlighted by Alex Lees’ maiden Blast century.
Nottinghamshire’s young talent, Farhan Ahmed, claimed the third hat-trick of this year’s competition as the Outlaws secured a consolation win against Lancashire at Trent Bridge.
In the South Group, Hampshire’s defeat at the hands of Essex on Thursday left them in a precarious position. However, their superior run-rate proved sufficient for them to progress alongside Surrey, Somerset, and Kent.
Match scorecards
T20 Blast final group tables
Nottinghamshire’s Farhan Ahmed recorded the third hat-trick of this year’s T20 Blast
At Derby, Samit Patel aimed to conclude his tenure with the Falcons on a high note, but experienced a disappointing evening as the Bears clinched their qualification with a dominant performance.
Latham (104 off 51 balls, including eight sixes) and Davies (89) forged an opening partnership of 187 runs, marking the joint-fourth highest in the Blast. This enabled the visitors to amass 233-5, with Patel concluding his spell with figures of 0-38 from three overs.
Derbyshire’s response faltered early, as they were reduced to 62-5. Patel’s dismissal for six contributed to their collapse to 106 all out, ultimately placing them at the bottom of the North Group.
“We probably saved our best performance for when it mattered most in a must win game so to get that big score on the board was really pleasing,” stated Bears head coach Ian Westwood.
“It was a special knock (from Tom Latham) – he’s shown glimpses this campaign without really going on to get that big one but that’s why you get great players who are experienced like Tom.”
Northamptonshire skipper David Willey smashed six sixes in his 32-ball 63 and Matthew Breetzke made a rapid 52 as the Steelbacks threatened to derail Durham’s qualification hopes at Chester-le-Street.
However, the home side efficiently chased down their target of 204, securing a second-place finish and a home tie.
Alex Lees (101* off 49 balls, including eight sixes) and Graham Clark (79 off 41) constructed an opening stand of 181, enabling Durham to cruise to victory with three-and-a-half overs to spare.
Young off-spinner Ahmed shone for Nottinghamshire as the Outlaws picked up a consolation five-wicket win over Lancashire at Trent Bridge.
The 17-year-old younger brother of England’s Rehan Ahmed claimed the third hat-trick of this year’s Blast by removing Luke Wood, Tom Aspinwall and Mitchell Stanley as he returned figures of 5-25.
Leicestershire also held an outside chance of sneaking into the last eight but needed to beat Yorkshire and hope for some help from elsewhere – neither of which happened with Matt Milnes hammering the last two balls for six to seal a dramatic win for the visitors at Grace Road
Abdullah Shafique again impressed with the bat for the White Rose as his 64 anchored them to victory, helped by 52 from Matthew Revis before Milnes’ late fireworks ensured Yorkshire avoided finishing bottom of the table.
Kent’s Tawanda Muyeye has scored more than 500 runs in this year’s T20 Blast
Two-times T20 champions Kent made light work of rock-bottom Essex at Canterbury to secure their quarter-final spot from the South Group.
Paul Walter (52) and Charlie Allison (48) helped the visitors reach 172-6 after being asked to bat but former Kent batsman Jordan Cox failed to follow-up his heroics against Hampshire on Thursday as he fell for just six.
Tawanda Muyeye’s 49-ball 80 got the home side off to a good start in their run chase before Harry Finch blasted six fours and three sixes in his 64 as Kent strolled to victory with 16 balls to spare.
“It’s a very special feeling, those scenes at the end there were like watching England in the World Cup, so it was pretty cool,” said Finch.
“Getting into the quarters is great – we know when we’re on it we’re as good as anyone in this competition, we really believe that.”
The situation could have been different for Kent, as they completed their win and subsequently watched as Sussex came agonizingly close to defeating group winners Surrey, potentially displacing them for the fourth qualifying spot.
After Will Jacks (100 off 59 balls, including three sixes and 12 fours) scored his first Blast century to set the home side a victory target of 205 at Hove, Sussex needed 13 runs from the final over only for their former all-rounder Chris Jordan to dismiss John Simpson and leave them eight short of the win.
Glamorgan went into the evening needing to beat Middlesex and wait for results from elsewhere but their 52-run victory in Cardiff proved to be merely a consolation with Kent getting the job done against Essex.
Last year’s runners-up, Somerset, gained some revenge for their defeat by Gloucestershire in the 2024 final with a 16-run win at Taunton to finish second behind Surrey on net run rate.
Surrey v Northants Steelbacks (Wednesday 3 September, 18:30 BST start)
Durham v Hampshire Hawks (Friday 5 September, 18:30 BST)
Lancashire v Kent Spitfires (Saturday 6 September, 14:30 BST)
Somerset v Bears (Saturday 6 September, 18:30 BST)
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