Vitality Blast: Alex Hales smashes 91 against Derbyshire, Yorkshire chase down 208

Alex Hales hit 12 fours and five sixes in his innings

Alex Hales smashed 91 from 33 balls as Notts Outlaws beat Derbyshire Falcons on a high-scoring day in the T20 Blast.

Chasing 179, Hales and opening partner Joe Clarke hit 89 runs from the six-over Powerplay to set up a seven-wicket win.

Former England opener Hales produced a brutal display of hitting, crashing 12 fours and five sixes in his blistering knock.

Elsewhere in the North Group, Yorkshire Vikings chased down 208 to beat Durham by six wickets at Chester-le-Street.

Adam Lyth struck 77 from 33 balls and David Willey an unbeaten 75 from 39 deliveries as they won with 2.2 overs to spare.

David Willey struck an unbeaten 75 from 39 balls as Yorkshire chased down 208 against Durham

Worcestershire Rapids kickstarted things earlier on Friday as they racked up 217-5 against local rivals Birmingham Bears to register their first win of this season’s Blast.

Brett D’Oliveira and Jack Haynes made 71 and 54 not out respectively to post the large total, and the Bears struggled to stay in touch despite finishing on 202-8.

Lancashire Lightning kept their place at the top of the North Group with a dramatic two-wicket victory against Northamptonshire Steelbacks.

Needing three to win from the final ball, Jimmy Neesham delivered a wide to allow the Lancashire batters to win from the extra delivery.

The high scores continued in the South Group, with Somerset youngster Will Smeed striking a sublime 94 not out from 41 balls to chase down Glamorgan’s total of 173-7 in just 14.1 overs.

Smeed added 100 for the first wicket with Tom Banton, who hit 45 from 30 balls, to set up a comfortable nine-wicket victory at Taunton after seamer Ben Green took 5-29 in Glamorgan’s innings.

Somerset went level on points with group leaders Surrey, who maintained their unbeaten start with a 32-run victory over defending champions Kent Spitfires.

Surrey stay top of the South Group after beating defending champions Kent by 32 runs

Surrey’s powerhouse batting line-up stuttered to 159-6 but their bowlers ensured it was a winning total with Reece Topley taking 3-24 to restrict Kent to 127-9.

The Spitfires have now lost all five matches this year.

There were two rain-affected games in the South Group. Gloucestershire against Essex at Bristol was abandoned without a ball bowled, while Sussex were set a revised target of 146 from 17 overs against Middlesex, who were bowled out for 163 before the rain fell.

Sussex captain Ravi Bopara’s unbeaten 54 guided his side to a five-wicket win as they won with three balls to spare. Bopara was well supported by Harrison Ward, who finished 22 not out, as the pair led Sussex’s recovery from 89-5.