The 2023 Vitality Blast was the 2023 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 20 May to 15 July 2023. It was the sixth 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), is branded as the Vitality Blast due to the tournament's sponsorship. The Hampshire Hawks were the defending champions, having won their third title during the previous season. On 30 November 2022, the ECB announced the fixtures for the tournament.

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 ...

and the Hampshire Hawks won their home quarter-finals, while the

Essex Eagles Essex 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 Essex. Founded in 1876, the club had minor county status until 1894 when ...

and Surrey also secured a place at Finals day with away wins against the

Birmingham Bears Warwickshire 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 Warwickshire. Its T20 team is called the Birmingham Bears. Founde ...

and

Lancashire Lightning Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play ...

respectively, thus producing an all South Group finals for only the second time; the last occurrence being in 2021. In the final, Somerset beat the Essex Eagles by 14 runs to win their second title after an 18-year wait. Somerset won 15 of their 17 fixtures in the 2023 Vitality Blast, setting a new domestic T20 competition record for the number of wins in a season.

Format

The playing format is the same as 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 are divided into the following groups: * North Group:

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 ...

, Durham,

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,

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 ...

* South Group:

, 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,

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 ...

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 Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The cl ...

North Group

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

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 ...

*Yorkshire Vikings deducted 4 points on 28 July

South Group

Advanced to the

Knock-out stage

Quarter-finals

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

Finals Day

---- ----

Final

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{Domestic Twenty20 cricket in England 2023 in English cricket T20 Blast seasons Domestic cricket competitions in 2023