The 2018 Vitality Blast was the sixteenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league in England and Wales. It was the first season in which the domestic T20 competition, run by the ECB, has been branded as the Vitality Blast due to a new sponsorship deal. The league consisted of the 18 first-class county teams divided into two divisions of nine teams each with fixtures played between July and September. The final day took place at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham on 15 September 2018.
Nottinghamshire Outlaws were the champions going into the tournament having beaten the Birmingham Bears by 22 runs in the 2017 final.
Competition format The 18 first-class county cricket clubs are taking part in the competition. Teams are initially split into two divisions on a geographical basis (North and South) for the group stage of the competition, each group having nine teams. During the group stage, which ran from July until the middle of August, each county played 14 matches, playing six of the other teams in their group twice, once home and once away, and the other two teams once. The winners of each match received two points for a win, with one point awarded in the case of a tie or if a match was abandoned. Teams are ranked within their groups by total points, then net run rate. At the end of the group stage, the top four teams from each group entered the knockout stage of the competition.
Results and standings
North Group
Table
Results
July
South Group Table
Results
July
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Finals Day
Semi-finals
Final
Personnel Team Coach Captain Overseas player(s)Birmingham Bears Jim Troughton Grant Elliott Jeetan Patel Colin de GrandhommeDerbyshire Falcons John Wright Gary Wilson Wahab Riaz Lockie Ferguson Henry NichollsDurham Jets Jon Lewis Tom Latham Tom Latham Imran TahirEssex Eagles Anthony McGrath Ryan ten Doeschate Neil Wagner Adam Zampa Peter SiddleGlamorgan Robert Croft Colin Ingram Usman Khawaja Shaun Marsh Joe BurnsGloucestershire Richard Dawson Michael Klinger Michael Klinger Andrew Tye Thisara PereraHampshire Craig White James Vince Colin Munro Mujeeb Ur Rahman Dale SteynKent Spitfires Matt Walker Sam Billings Adam Milne Marcus Stoinis Carlos BrathwaiteLancashire Lightning Glen Chapple Liam Livingstone Joe Mennie James Faulkner Zahir KhanLeicestershire Foxes Paul Nixon Colin Ackermann Mohammad Abbas Mohammad NabiMiddlesex Daniel Vettori Dawid Malan Hilton Cartwright Ashton Agar Dwayne BravoNorthamptonshire Steelbacks David Ripley Alex Wakely Rory Kleinveldt Seekuge PrasannaNottinghamshire Outlaws Peter Moores Dan Christian Dan Christian Ish SodhiSomerset Andy Hurry Lewis Gregory Corey Anderson Jerome TaylorSurrey Michael Di Venuto Jade Dernbach Aaron Finch Nic MaddinsonSussex Sharks Jason Gillespie Luke Wright Rashid Khan Tom BruceWorcestershire Rapids Kevin Sharp Moeen Ali Travis Head Martin Guptill Callum Ferguson Wayne ParnellYorkshire Vikings Andrew Gale Steven Patterson Kane Williamson
Statistics Most runs +PlayerTeamMatInnsRunsSRHS10050Laurie EvansSussex Sharks1514614135.849607Aaron FinchSurrey99589182.35131*23Ian BellBirmingham Bears1414580139.0913114 Source: ESPNCricInfo
Most wickets +PlayerTeamMatWktsAveEconBBISRPat BrownWorcestershire Rapids163113.357.644/2110.4Matthew ParkinsonLancashire Lightning152516.607.323/1913.6Jamie OvertonSomerset162422.5010.255/4713.1 Source: ESPNCricinfo
References