Malan stars as Yorkshire win T20 Blast Roses match

Dawid Malan starred but Jos Buttler was out for one on his T20 Blast return as Yorkshire Vikings beat Lancashire Lightning by 15 runs in the Roses match at Headingley.

Buttler skied Dom Bess to go second ball and Tom Hartley’s breezy top score of 39 was too late as Lightning’s stellar batting line-up failed to fire and were kept to 180-8.

Elsewhere, spinner Simon Harmer took a hat-trick with his first three deliveries as Essex beat Sussex, and Derbyshire edged Leicestershire after Wayne Madsen made an unbeaten century.

Vikings make Roses statement

Lancashire had dominated this fixture in recent seasons, including a semi-final win at Edgbaston last summer, but the Vikings were good value for just a fifth Roses T20 win in 10 seasons.

Adam Lyth took four consecutive boundaries off the expensive Luke Wood (0-55) in the opening over, while Malan was soon into his stride as Yorkshire smashed 59-0 from the six-over powerplay.

New Zealand all-rounder de Grandhomme broke the 88-run opening stand with his first ball and went on to remove Will Luxton and skipper Shan Masood in four economical overs.

But, making his 300th career T20 appearance, Malan followed up his match-winning unbeaten 95 against Notts Outlaws on Tuesday with an array of high-class strokes to bring up a 52nd career T20 fifty, off 33 balls.

The England batter enjoyed a lifeline on 63 when Matt Parkinson let a steepling catch through his fingers to the noisy delight of most of the Headingley crowd, and looked set for a ton before he was pouched by Phil Salt.

De Grandhomme checked the Vikings progress, but quick runs from Jordan Thompson (18), snared by a superb one-handed Buttler catch, left Lightning chasing 196.

What looked a slightly light total on a quick outfield looked much better when Buttler miscued Bess’ first ball to Masood at long-off and the visitors then lost Steven Croft in the powerplay.

Luke Wells smacked back-to-back sixes off Matthew Revis in his 21 off eight balls, but Ben Mike removed both him and an out-of-sorts Phil Salt (16) in the same over to reduce Lancashire to 64-4.

Daryl Mitchell (21) and Liam Livingstone (15) looked to rebuild, but as the rate climbed, both perished trying to accelerate against a disciplined Vikings attack, spearheaded by David Wiese (2-31), to slip to 101-6.

Hartley provided some late fireworks, including back-to-back maximums off Ben Mike (2-31), but it always looked in a losing cause.

Harmer hat-trick sinks Sharks

Essex made it two wins out of two in South Group as Harmer’s hat-trick heroics helped secure a 25-run victory over Sussex at Hove.

Visiting opener Feroze Khushi moved to a 35-ball fifty, but struggled for support at the other end as Shadab Khan (3-28) helped reduce the visitors from 56-1 to 82-4 in the middle overs.

Academy graduate Khushi followed soon after, for 55, to Tymal Mills (2-32), but Robin Das (31 not out) and Harmer (21 not out) added ultimately decisive late runs to drag the total to a defendable 163-7.

Former Essex all-rounder Ravi Bopara fell in the first over to Sam Cook before the spin of Harmer took control, removing Tom Alsop and Khan with his first two balls and then trapping Michael Burgess with his next for a remarkable hat-trick as Sussex slumped to 15-4.

Opener Tom Clark stood alone as wickets tumbled with 31, but James Coles (35), Oli Carter (27) and Henry Crocombe (12 not out) were the only other batters to reach double figures as Sharks were bundled out for 138 in 18.4 overs.

Falcons break their duck in derby thriller

In an East Midlands basement battle at Grace Road, both Leicestershire Foxes and Derbyshire Falcons came in with identical winless records from three matches.

Callum Parkinson struck in his opening two overs to remove opener Luis Reece and Haider Ali and leave Falcons 22-2, but 39-year-old Madsen continued his imperious form, bringing up his fourth T20 half-century of the season in stylish fashion.

He shared a 95-run stand with Tom Wood who rode his luck for 37 before England spinner Rehan Ahmed (2-20) took two wickets in five balls.

Madsen went to three figures off his 56th ball, in the 19th over, before ending unbeaten on 109 with four sixes and 12 fours, while Brooke Guest (25 not out) helped the Falcons post 189-5.

Sol Budinger fell cheaply in the chase, but Nick Welch (30) gave the innings impetus before Rishi Patel (44) and Colin Ackermann kept the Foxes in the game.

Ackermann brought up a 33-ball half-century on his way to an unbeaten 59, but the hosts fell behind the rate as wickets tumbled at the other end.

Needing 14 off the last over, Rehan Ahmed (28 not out) hit George Scrimshaw’s first ball for four, but Falcons held on to win by two runs and leave the Foxes rooted to the bottom of the North Group.

Friday fixtures (18:30 BST start unless stated):

Riverside: Durham v Lancashire Lightning

Northampton: Northamptonshire Steelbacks v Leicestershire Foxes

Trent Bridge: Notts Outlaws v Worcestershire Rapids

Cardiff: Glamorgan v Kent Spitfires

Taunton: Somerset v Middlesex

Bristol: Gloucestershire v Surrey (18:45)

Derby: Derbyshire Falcons v Birmingham Bears (19:00)

Chelmsford: Essex v Hampshire Hawks (19:00)