All-round Sams slams 24-ball 71 in T20 Blast win

Australian Daniel Sams has again showcased his destructive all-round potential with a brutal 24-ball 71 in his return from illness for Essex in England's T20 Blast.

Sams top scored as Essex posted their highest ever T20 score of 7-244 against Sussex in Chelmsford on Friday night after missing their two previous matches against Hampshire and Middlesex last week.

The 29-year-old blasted six sixes and six fours, taking England quick Tymal Mills for 29 runs in the 17th over and Henry Crocombe for 26 in the penultimate over, striking at almost 300 before he was out on the third last ball of the innings.

It's not the first time Sams, primarily known for his crafty left-arm bowling, has proven his all-round capabilities in T20 cricket – he has four half centuries, including a dazzling 98 not out from 44 balls for the Sydney Thunder in last summer's Big Bash.

An exhausted Sams also claimed 1-41 from his four overs as Sussex threatened to reel in the huge target with Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan crunching 66 off 32 balls with five fours and five sixes of his own.

Sams removed the dangerous Ravi Bopara for 51 (26) in the last over of the match to effectively ice the game as Sussex finished 11 runs short on 6-233.

"An unbelievable game, it's probably one of the best pitches I've batted on for a long time and obviously the ground being small here just make for a high scoring game," Sams said after the match.

"It was just one of those high energy games, we had to put everything on the line and we got there."

Image Id: 42C64240E86F4710B54E49AF0C3BDF5D Image Caption: Sams hit six sixes and six fours in his 24-ball knock // Getty

Western Australia allrounder Ashton Turner also made his return from a shoulder injury for Durham but it was a disappointing evening for the home side as they suffered a heavy defeat to Yorkshire.

Turner, who is Durham's captain for this T20 Blast season, didn't bowl as Adam Lyth's 46-ball 81 helped Yorkshire post an imposing 5-201 from their 20 overs.

In reply, Durham finished on 8-136 with Turner only able to manage three runs before becoming one of Jack Shutt's (4-35) four victims.

"I'm not bowling at the moment but I'm probably not far away," Turner said.

"I'm very thankful to be out playing, there was probably a time there where I thought my tournament was over so I'm very appreciative to all the support staff to be able to help me to get back on the field but unfortunately we didn't play well enough tonight."

Durham's other West Australian recruit, AJ Tye, missed the match through illness.

Big Bash free agent Chris Lynn, fresh off his second century of the tournament, also missed Northamptonshire's win over Tim David's Lancashire after failing a fitness test on the calf strain he picked up during his 113no in their match against Worcestershire last week.

David crashed 31 from just 11 balls with four sixes – which took him past 300 runs for the tournament – but Lancashire suffered their second loss of the season as their under par 7-153 was overhauled by Northants with more than three overs and seven wickets to spare.

Nottinghamshire's Australian skipper Dan Christian (0-59 from three overs) went the journey as Birmingham Bears racked up the eighth highest T20 score of all-time with 2-261 at Trent Bridge, the same venue where England beat New Zealand earlier in the week during a Test that yielded 1675 across the five days.

The veteran allrounder scored 33 from 16 balls during the chase but the required rate of 13.1 an over proved too much an ask as they were bowled out for 206 in the penultimate over.

Ageless Tasmanian seamer Peter Siddle claimed 3-30 as Somerset downed Gloucestershire by seven runs, while Nathan Ellis picked up 2-26 in Hampshire's dominant 54-run win over Kent.

Hayden Kerr (Derbyshire) and Michael Neser (Glamorgan) are the only Aussies in action tonight unless Lynn passes a late fitness test before Northants' clash with Worcestershire.

Australians in 2022 English T20 Blast

Birmingham: Nathan McAndrew

Derbyshire: Hayden Kerr

Durham: Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye

Essex: Daniel Sams

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser

Gloucestershire: Marcus Harris

Hampshire: Nathan Ellis, Ben McDermott

Lancashire: Tim David

Middlesex: Jason Behrendorff, Chris Green

Northamptonshire: Matthew Kelly, Chris Lynn

Nottinghamshire: Dan Christian, James Pattinson

Somerset: Peter Siddle

Sussex: Josh Philippe