What have we learned from the first half of the Vitality Blast?

Within the blink of an eye, the group stages of the Vitality Blast has nearly reached the halfway point with the County Championship returning to centre stage for the next two weeks.

Surrey and Hampshire are already back in red-ball action, whilst there are three Blast games to come tonight at Durham, Essex and Northampton which will see all sides complete six of their reduced 12 group games.

We take a look at the key takeaways from the opening rounds of the competition as the three groups begin to take shape ahead of the run-in which starts on June 26.

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The big boys are stuttering

It has not been a convincing start by the usual sides tipped to go deep in the competition.

Holders Somerset – who have reached Finals Day in the previous five years – find themselves fifth in the Central & West group and hugely up against it to reach the knockout stages after succumbing to a fourth consecutive defeat which is one more than they lost in the entirety of their 2025 campaign.

The batting has been severely weakened by injuries to Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Will Smeed, as well as James Rew’s absence with England for two games, whilst Australia pace bowler Riley Meredith is set to join the squad for the remainder of the group stages.

Staying in the same group, Warwickshire Bears – a typical quarter-final lock – are bottom and nearly out of contention to put an end to their knockout curse after losing their first five games, though Beau Webster did inspire a first win last time out against Somerset.

Elsewhere, Surrey remain in the mix in the South group but have shown a certain fragility with three wins and three losses – two of those victories have come over a lowly Middlesex side which is perhaps not the best indicator.

Meanwhile, Lancashire Lightning are the basement side in the North group with just one win and suffered a record defeat in the Roses clash, with the risk of failing to reach the quarter-final stages for the first time since 2017.

Liam Livingstone has made an impressive return to the side in vain, though Jos Buttler has still not featured since the IPL concluded and overseas all-rounder Chris Green suffered an injury which has ruled out any further involvement.

Getting a grasp on the North

The North group has been a particularly fascinating case to follow with not much to separate all six sides at the halfway stage.

The North have had an inferior record to their South counterparts over the past five seasons and the newly-introduced crossover matches have perhaps highlighted this recent trend, with the North sides winning just two of eight matches against teams from the other two groups.

Yorkshire are the current pace-setters on 16 points, going in search of their maiden title, whilst Notts Outlaws and Leicestershire Foxes have both recovered from losing their opening three matches to propel themselves into contention.

Derbyshire Falcons, who have scored the two highest totals in the competition this season, have lost their last two games and Durham are searching to end a losing run after winning their first two.

Steelbacks set the pace again

Northamptonshire Steelbacks face Worcestershire Rapids on Tuesday evening, looking to go into the County Championship break as the only side with a 100% record.

Darren Lehmann’s side have become a strong T20 outfit after reaching Finals Day last year for the first time since 2016 and they are in a strong position to make a return to Edgbaston for a second year in a row, demonstrating both an ability to chase scores in excess of 200 as they did against Warwickshire thanks to a sublime Chris Lynn century and defend a modest total as they did on a slow pitch up at Durham.

Their campaign bears a strong resemblance to last year, where they raced to six wins from six in the North group, before going on to lose six of their next eight to scrape through in fourth.

The challenge this time around will be to maintain their high standards for the second half of the tournament in what is a hugely competitive Central & West group with less wiggle room for another dramatic drop-off.

Change of format brings change of fortunes

The start of the T20 Blast can come as a welcome distraction for those sides who have had a difficult start to the red-ball season and that has certainly been the case for Gloucestershire and Hampshire Hawks.

2024 champions Gloucestershire are cut adrift at the foot of Division Two after five defeats in six games but flipped that record in the shorter format with five wins out of six to sit second behind unbeaten Northants – South African quick Duan Jansen proved to be an inspired overseas replacement with a competition-high 16 wickets during his stint.

Hampshire are already staring down the barrel of relegation in Division One but have shown they remain a strong white-ball force as the leaders in the South group.

2025 beaten finalists have won five on the bounce after losing their opener at Somerset, including a double triumph over Surrey, with overseas duo Hilton Cartwright and Tristan Stubbs making an immediate impact.

More misery for Middlesex

There has not been much to shout about from a Middlesex perspective for a significant period of time, both on and off the field, particularly in the T20 format where they have advanced to the quarter-finals just twice over the past 17 editions.

Since reaching the knockout stages in 2019, they have won just 21 times in 86 games which implies a real deep-rooted issue in a format built around its unpredictable nature.

Aside from victory over fellow strugglers Sussex Sharks, they have been comfortably dispatched in all five other contests – failing to pass 150 with the bat on four occasions – and were brutally exposed in front of the Sky cameras at the Kia Oval in what was a hugely one-sided affair.

The first two home games played in front of a sparsely populated Lord’s crowd provided a glaring visual representation of their decline, whilst overseas signing Matt Boyle has still remained unavailable to make his debut due to visa complications.

Glamorgan provide the entertainment value

If you are looking for drama, then look no further than Glamorgan who have been involved in four final-ball finishes already.

The first two did not go their way as they failed to score ten off the final over at Northants and were then beaten by a thick outside edge down to third man for four off the bat of Gloucestershire’s Matt Taylor.

They have since gone to Taunton and chased 203, with Jimmy Neesham finding the boundary off the last ball amid floodlight disruption – their third win over Somerset this season – and did the same to Lancashire Lightning in quite remarkable fashion with 41 runs still required from 11 balls – veteran wicketkeeper Chris Cooke the hero this time in Blackpool.

It has been a positive season for the Welsh county, who sit third on their return to Division One and are also still firmly in the mix to progress from the T20 group stages for the first time since reaching Finals Day in 2017.

A surprise struggle

It has been a campaign to forget so far for Notts Outlaws skipper Joe Clarke, who has scored just 62 runs in six innings at the top of the order.

The destructive opener has been a consistent run machine in the T20 Blast and scored 420 runs at an average of 30 last season but has a high score of just 21 this time around and has yet to survive the powerplay overs.

What makes the 30-year-old’s form more noteworthy is that he is currently leading the race to 1,000 runs in the County Championship this season with an average of 74.80 in the middle-order for the Division One leaders.

Despite Clarke’s lack of runs, his opener partner George Munsey has quickly settled into life at Trent Bridge and appears an astute piece of business, with the Scotland international second in the run-scoring charts with an average above 50.

Wildcard watch

There are 16 wildcard spots up for grabs in the Hundred later this summer based on performances in the Vitality Blast.

Essex 21-year-old batter Charlie Allison is one to keep an eye on with two half-centuries in three innings after a productive start to the red-ball season and featuring for the England Lions, whilst Northants all-rounder James Sales – who scored back-to-back centuries in the County Championship earlier in the campaign – has been a revelation with the ball in taking 13 wickets.

Allison’s team-mate Luc Benkenstein has also had a strong start with the bat and made his T20 high score of 67 last time out against Middlesex, whilst Martin Andersson’s stock continues to rise at Derbyshire Falcons.

Glamorgan’s Kiran Carlson has transferred his early season form across formats with a strike rate of 200 and could be a target for the Welsh Fire in line with their local identity, whilst left-arm wrist spinner Jake Lintott has proved very economical on loan with Kent Spitfires (5.89 in 19 overs bowled) and may be in the frame with his unique skillset.

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