Sussex Sharks v Essex
Vitality Blast
The 1st Central County Ground, Hove
Saturday 13 July, 2:30pm
Team News
Sussex Sharks: Daniel Hughes, Harrison Ward, Tom Clark, James Coles, John Simpson+, Tom Alsop, Danny Lamb, Nathan McAndrew, Jack Carson, Ollie Robinson, Tymal Mills*
Essex: Adam Rossington+, Dean Elgar, Michael Pepper, Paul Walter, Robin Das, Matt Critchley, Charlie Allison, Simon Harmer*, Eathan Bosch, Shane Snater, Sam Cook
Match Details
Umpires: Hassan Adnan & Jack Shantry
Match Referee: Dean Cosker
Scorers: Graham Irwin & Paul Parkinson
Toss: Essex won the toss and elected to bowl first
Result: Essex won by five wickets
Scorecard: View here
Match Reaction: Michael Pepper
Match Highlights
Match Report
Michael Pepper’s stunning second century of the 2024 Vitality Blast led Essex to a sensational five-wicket win over high-flying Sussex in Hove.
Pepper, who has shone brightly in this year’s competition, hammered 120 from 53, with his ton taking just 46 balls as the Eagles overhauled a challenging target of 208 in 18.3 overs.
Daniel Hughes and Tom Clark’s earlier speedy knocks for the hosts of 81 in 43 deliveries and 72 from 52, respectively, had seen the Sharks post 207-2.
However, Pepper’s efforts, in conjunction with Charlie Allison’s 44 from 26, meant that Essex came away with a hugely important two points as the jostle for quarter-final qualification reaches a climax.
The duo also put on an unbroken partnership of 114 and completed a sensational win when Pepper flicked Danny Lamb for four in the penultimate over.
Having been put in after Essex won the toss, the hosts, underpinned by Australian opener Hughes, made a confident start that put them on 94-1 at the halfway point.
Shane Snater removed Harrison Ward, who miscued to Dean Elgar at mid-off for 15, but that aside, Essex found the first half of the innings tough going, especially where Hughes was concerned.
The experienced New South Welshman hit a 50 that included five fours and three sixes in 26 balls, posting the landmark by cutting Snater for a single just before the ten-over mark.
With Tom Clark for company after Ward’s departure, he continued to press on, hitting boundaries in all of the next four overs, but his stumping off Matt Critchley ensured there would be no century.
Overconfidence finally got the better of Hughes by the time he faced the fifth ball of Critchley’s second over, and his mighty slog sweep attempt was beaten, allowing Adam Rossington to whip the bails off.
His innings had lasted just 43 deliveries, and the mantle was picked up by Clark after his dismissal to maintain Sussex’s momentum, with the 23-year-old becoming the second Sharks batter to fifty.
He did so in slightly more emphatic fashion than Hughes, hitting down the ground for four to reach the milestone in 42 balls, proceeding to underpin the second half of the innings alongside Tom Alsop.
There was no further joy with the ball for the visitors, as Sussex pushed past 200 in the final over, their second score above that mark in the space of 24 hours, to set an extremely challenging target.
An early wicket in the first over, that of Rossington, gave Essex a difficult start to their efforts to overhaul it, but the in-form Michael Pepper’s blasting in the powerplay ensured the reply was swift.
Either side of the bizarre dismissal of Dean Elgar for 11, bowled by Tymal Mills as the ball brushed off stump but somehow knocked the other bail off, Pepper leathered six boundaries in the first six overs.
That included two sixes, but the wickets that were falling at the other end – Robin Das and Paul Walter in successive balls – meant that Essex were in a difficult spot at 61-4 at the end of the powerplay.
However, after Critchley became the fifth man to go to leave the Eagles 90-5 just before halfway, Pepper put on a stunning display of pyrotechnics to charge towards the target.
Having belted a superb century against Middlesex a little under six weeks ago, he matched that and more by going to a ton in 46 balls and then blasting six more to mark a new career high score.
Although naturally playing the supporting role, Allison was not to be outdone, either, as he displayed his full range of shots to take 20 off one Jack Carson over.
His knock was comfortably a new career-best in T20 cricket, but so too was Pepper’s, and together, their partnership handed the Eagles one of their most sensational wins of recent years.
It was a new record T20 sixth-wicket partnership for Essex, as well as the team’s second-highest successful T20 chase in history.
The Eagles Have Landed: The 2024 Vitality Blast at The Cloud County Ground
Fresh from a Finals Day appearance last summer, Essex are now back in Vitality Blast action for 2024.
With the Eagles sitting in fourth, and firmly in contention for another knockout match as the group stage reaches its climax, demand for tickets remains exceptionally high.
As Essex continue to aim towards going one better in 2024, there is no time to waste to snap up your seats.
Thursday 11 July, 7:00pm: Essex v Kent Spitfires – buy here
Sunday 14 July, 2:30pm: Essex v Surrey – buy here
