ESPNcricinfo previews the latest round of matches in the T20 Blast with both groups tightly packed
Will Macpherson03-Jul-2015North GroupDurham v Leicestershire, Chester-le-Street, 5.30Leicestershire head into a weekend double-header riding high after pulling off a remarkable heist – with a wicket from the final ball – to claim a tie against Yorkshire last week. They sit third in the congested North Group and have both O’Briens – Kevin and Niall – available before they join Ireland’s bid to qualify for next year’s World T20. Durham’s Scotland star Calum McLeod is also available before he heads off to the qualifiers.So crowded is the North Group that while Durham sit sixth, they are just two points behind second-placed Worcestershire and two ahead of table-proppers Derbyshire. As with the County Championship defeat to Yorkshire earlier this week, the injured Paul Coughlin is replaced in the squad by Jamie Harrison, who hopes to make his T20 bow three seasons after his maiden first-class and List A appearances for the club. Leicestershire face four Blast matches in ten days – as well as a Championship match against Kent – and have named a 15-man squad for this match, including youngsters Lewis Hill, Aadil Ali and Rob Sayer, as well as in-form former Durham man Ben Raine.Lancashire v Yorkshire, Old Trafford, 6.30The Roses clash, following one for the ages at Headingley last month which Jos Buttler’s outrageous 71 won for Lancashire, has a distinctly Australian feel, with Yorkshire’s Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch lining up opposite their World Cup winning team-mate James Faulkner. Lancashire have lost three of their four games since Buttler’s knock but still sit a point ahead of Yorkshire in the table – both are outside the top four – as they scramble for qualification. Finch will have fond memories of this fixture last season, when he smashed 88 in 55 balls to help Yorkshire to a five-wicket win.Aussies aplenty, but both sides are missing England stars, with Buttler unavailable for Lancashire and Adil Rashid joining Joe Root, Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance among Yorkshire’s absentees. Man of the moment Jonny Bairstow remains, but Liam Plunkett is injured, while spinners James Middlebrook and Karl Carver are called up in Rashid’s stead. Lancashire have named the eleven who lost by one run to Warwickshire last week, plus Tom Bailey and Saqib Mahmood.Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire, Trent Bridge, 6.30Seventh-placed Nottinghamshire can draw level with second-placed Worcestershire with a win but they will have to do without star men James Taylor and Luke Fletcher, who both picked up hamstring injuries in the Championship match between the two sides this week. Riki Wessels, playing his 100th T20 in England, will captain the side in Taylor’s place. Even with the group so tight, Nottinghamshire can barely afford another defeat if they are to continue their run of five consecutive home quarter-finals. Sam Wood and Will Gidman take places in the squad after missing out against Northamptonshire on Sunday. Worcestershire are hoping to win four away games on the bounce for the first time in this format.Birmingham v Derbyshire, Edgbaston, 6.30It is top plays bottom at Edgbaston as star draw Brendon McCullum makes his home debut for high-flying Birmingham Bears who have won six of their first eight matches and 12 of their last 14 in the format. They sit two points clear at the top of the North Group after their dramatic, traffic-defying, weather-beating one-run win over Lancashire last Friday. Birmingham have named an unchanged squad while Derbyshire – who are bottom of the group but just four points off second after an important victory over Nottinghamshire last week – have named a squad containing the 11 players involved in that game, as well as batsman Ben Slater.South GroupSomerset v Gloucestershire, Taunton, 5.30Gloucestershire’s dramatic last-ball defeat to Surrey at Kia Oval on Wednesday leaves them a point and a position behind sixth-placed Somerset, leaving plenty riding on this game as the group stages reach the business end. Gloucestershire boast the tournament’s joint leading run-scorer – Michael Klinger with 520 – and wicket-taker – Tom Smith with 20 – but captain Klinger said after the defeat to Surrey that they now need to win all of their remaining fixtures to qualify for the knockouts.Recent history, however, is not in Gloucestershire’s favour. Somerset have won the last five fixtures between the two teams, including last month’s five-wicket win in Bristol. For Gloucestershire, Liam Norwell – is replaced in the squad by Miles Hammond, while Somerset add Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory to the XI that were pipped by Glamorgan at Taunton on Sunday.Surrey v Middlesex, Kia Oval, 6.30The first London derby of 2015 takes place after the two bottom sides in the South Group enjoyed contrasting midweek home games. Surrey will be in confident mood; Azhar Mahmood’s last-ball six against Gloucestershire gave them their second win on the spin, and they’ve won seven of their last eight against their rivals from across town. Mahmood, meanwhile has 11 more T20 wickets against Middlesex than anyone else (32) and has dismissed skipper Eoin Morgan six times in the format. Only the seven times Zaheer Khan’s has snared MS Dhoni gives a bowler more dismissals of a single batsman in T20 cricket.For Surrey, Freddie van den Bergh has been added to the 13-man squad for the win over Gloucestershire, while bottom-placed Middlesex, seeking to avoid a sixth consecutive defeat, have overhauled the squad that was thrashed by Sussex at Lord’s on Thursday. Mitchell McClenaghan is out with a badly broken and dislocated finger, while experienced men James Franklin and Nick Compton make way, with Ryan Higgins, Nick Gubbins, George Scott and Gurjit Sandhu all vying for places in the side.Hampshire v Glamorgan, Ageas Bowl, 7.00pmThese two sides are jostling for position in mid-table in the South Group. Hampshire – who have qualified for the knockout stages for the last five seasons – are battling to avoid losing three consecutive T20s for the first time since 2007 and the only change to the squad for the defeat to a Jesse Ryder-inspired Essex last Friday is the absence of allrounder Liam Dawson, who has headed to Chelmsford on loan, while Joe Gatting is expected to make his first T20 appearance of the season in place of the injured Sean Ervine.Glamorgan’s hopes of qualification for the knockout stages took a boost with their outstanding win at Taunton last Sunday but in that game they bid farewell to South African Wayne Parnell, whose stint with the county ended. Graham Wagg misses out with a lower back injury, while England U-19 star Aneurin Donald – who is available after completing his A-Levels – is in line to make his T20 debut.Sussex v Kent, Hove, 7.00pmSussex thrashed Middlesex at Lord’s on Thursday – their fourth win on the spin – to go top of the South Group but Kent, who have played a game less, can overtake them with a win in front of a sell-out crowd at Hove.Kent will be without death bowling specialist David Griffiths for the rest of the campaign after he underwent surgery on his back this week, but they welcome back Sam Billings from England duty, as well as Matt Coles and Darren Stevens, who sat out their clash with the Australians with minor injuries. Stevens needs just eight runs to become the first man to 3000 domestic runs in English cricket, while Oxford MCCU captain Sam Weller – a 20-year-old pace bowler – is also named in the squad for the first time. Sussex have named an unchanged squad.