Image source, Rex Features
Vitality Blast, The 1st Central County Ground, Hove
Sussex Sharks: 207-2 (20 overs) Hughes 81, Clark 72
Essex Eagles: 211-5 (18.3 overs) Pepper 120*; Robinson 3-27
Essex Eagles won by five wickets
Essex’s Michael Pepper smashed a career-best unbeaten 120 from 53 balls – the highest score of this year’s T20 Blast – to stun Sussex and earn his side a remarkable victory at Hove.
Sussex had seemed clear favourites after racking up 207-2, built around a century partnership between Daniel Hughes and Tom Clark, and then reducing their visitors to 90-5 in reply.
But Pepper turned the contest on its head with a fearless display of hitting, sharing an unbroken stand of 121 from just 56 deliveries with Charlie Allison (44*) as the Eagles romped home with nine balls to spare.
The win all but guarantees Essex a quarter-final spot alongside their opponents, who had already qualified for the knockout stage but are not yet certain of a home tie.
The Eagles won the toss and put Sussex in, but soon found themselves under pressure as Hughes and Harrison Ward burst out of the traps, laying the foundations with a swift partnership of 34.
Although Shane Snater removed Ward, who top-edged to mid-off, Hughes (81) continued to savage the seamers with a string of powerful leg-side sixes as he and Clark added 110 from 69 deliveries.
The Australian’s hopes of a maiden Blast hundred were dashed by neat work from Adam Rossington to stump him off leg-spinner Matt Critchley, but Clark and Tom Alsop kept up the pace as they lifted Sussex above 200.
Clark completed his first T20 half-century, reaching 72 not out from 53 to set Essex a target of 208 – a figure that looked even more daunting when they lost four wickets inside the powerplay overs.
Three of those, including two in as many deliveries, fell to seamer Ollie Robinson (3-27) while skipper Tymal Mills picked up the wicket of Dean Elgar to leave the Eagles in some difficulty.
Critchley began the rebuilding work with Pepper, whose pugnacious approach ensured Essex did not fall too far behind the required rate and 19-year-old Allison proved a more than capable foil.
Pepper completed his second ton of the campaign from 46 balls, striking nine sixes and nine fours – the last two of them coming from successive Danny Lamb deliveries to round off the job.
In scoring 120 not out, Pepper, who also hit a century against Middlesex in June, now has the highest score of this year’s T20 Blast competition and is also its highest run-scorer with a combined total of 488 from 11 innings.
Sunday’s fixtures
North Group (all 14:30 BST)
Edgbaston: Birmingham Bears v Derbyshire Falcons
Worcester: Worcestershire Rapids v Yorkshire Vikings
Leicester: Leicestershire Foxes v Notts Outlaws
Chester-le-Street: Durham v Northamptonshire Steelbacks
South Group (all 14:30 BST)
Southampton: Hampshire Hawks v Somerset
Chelmsford: Essex v Surrey
Cheltenham: Gloucestershire v Glamorgan