The 2022 Vitality Blast was the 2022 season of the

T20 Blast The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board ...

, a professional

Twenty20 cricket Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single inni ...

league played in England and Wales. The tournament was held from 25 May to 16 July 2022. It was the fifth season in which the domestic T20 competition, run by the

England and Wales Cricket Board The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is the national governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was formed on 1 January 1997 as a single governing body to combine the roles formerly fulfilled by the Test and County Cricket Board, ...

(ECB), was branded as the Vitality Blast due to the tournament's sponsorship reason. The

Kent Spitfires Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

were the defending champions, having won their second title during previous season. On 20 January 2022, the ECB announced the fixtures for the tournament. On 17 June 2022, in the North Group match between the Birmingham Bears and the Notts Outlaws, the Birmingham Bears set a new record for the highest total in an English T20 match, with 261/2. Four days later, Surrey became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals, with their ninth win out of ten games. Following the conclusion of matches played on 1 July 2022,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, the Essex Eagles, and the Hampshire Hawks from the South Group had all confirmed their places in the quarter-finals. The Birmingham Bears also qualified, after winning the North Group. The

Derbyshire Falcons Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falc ...

and the Lancashire Lightning also qualified from the North Group, with the

Yorkshire Vikings Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

taking the final place in the quarter-finals. The Yorkshire Vikings, the Hampshire Hawks, Lancashire Lightning and Somerset all won their quarter-final matches to secure their places at Finals Day. In Somerset's match, against the Derbyshire Falcons, Somerset set a new record for the highest team total in an English T20 match, with 265/5, breaking the record set earlier in the tournament by the Birmingham Bears. In the final, the Hampshire Hawks beat Lancashire Lightning by one run to win their third title.

Format

Playing format were similar to the previous season, where groups remain the same with the familiar North and South split, while each county will play 14 group-stage matches, seven at home and seven away.

Teams

The teams were divided into the following groups: * North Group: Birmingham Bears,

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, Lancashire Lightning,

Leicestershire Foxes Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the coun ...

Northants Steelbacks Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northa ...

, Notts Outlaws, Worcestershire Rapids,

* South Group: Essex Eagles, Glamorgan,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, Hampshire Hawks,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

, Surrey, Sussex Sharks

North Group

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South Group

Standings

North Group

Advanced to the

quarter-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

South Group

Advanced to the

Knock-out stage

The ECB confirmed the following fixtures for the knock-out stage of the tournament.

Quarter-finals

---- ---- ----

Finals Day

Semi-Finals

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Final

Finals Day clubs' stadiums

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{Domestic Twenty20 cricket in England 2022 in English cricket