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 (E ...

, a professional Twenty20 cricket 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 (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 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 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 Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

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, 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 the

Hampshire Hawks Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamps ...

from the South Group had all confirmed their places in the quarter-finals. The

also qualified, after winning the North Group. The Derbyshire Falcons and the

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 ...

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:

, Derbyshire Falcons, 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,

* South Group:

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, Gloucestershire,

, Middlesex, Somerset,

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

South Group

Advanced to the quarter-finals

Knock-out stage

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

Quarter-finals

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

Finals Day

Semi-Finals

----

Final

Finals Day clubs' stadiums

References

External links

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