Two of the best bowling attacks in Vitality Blast 2018 go head-to-head at Emirates Riverside this Friday when the Jets take on Sussex Sharks for a place at Finals Day.
Sussex qualified in third place in the South Group & face the trip up north after Durham’s washed out final North Group fixture saw them finish second.
It will be the first time the sides have met in this format since its inception in 2003.
So what we do know about Sussex Sharks?
The Form Team?
After a fast start & mediocre middle, a superb final week booked Sussex’s spot in the quarter-finals after three consecutive wins.
Despite being asked to start on the road, the Sharks responded with comprehensive wins at Essex, Glamorgan & Hampshire, bowling the former out before making light work of chasing 173/4 & 158/7.
But defeat to Surrey by 52 runs at Hove, largely thanks to Aaron Finch’s sensational hundred, sparked a spell of one win in six which put their qualification hopes in jeopardy.
Not helped by two washouts, the latter when looking set for a huge total in the return fixture at Surrey, the Sharks entered the final week of the group stages knowing only three wins would put them back in the frame. Under pressure, they delivered.
Kicked off by a thumping of Glamorgan in front of the Sky cameras, including a hat-trick from Tymal Mills, victory at Gloucestershire last Thursday kept their hopes up & a 31-run win over Middlesex sealed their qualification.
The Shark Attack
Friday’s visitors have one of the most potent bowling attacks in this year’s Vitality Blast – dubbed ‘The Shark Attack’.
Even in the absence of the world’s number one ranked T20 bowler, Rashid Khan, whose spell at Hove ended last week due to international commitments with Afghanistan, the Sharks aren’t short of star quality.
Jofra Archer, team mate of Ben Stokes at Rajasthan Royals during this season’s Indian Premier League, is hot property in T20 cricket. Often bowling in excess of 90mph, Archer took a hat-trick in the Sharks’ win at Middlesex & has bagged 17 wickets in total.
Archer is one half of Sussex’s express pace attack; Mills is the other. The left-armer, also capable of exceeding 90mph on a regular basis, solely plays T20 cricket & featured for England as recently as 2017.
Fellow England international Chris Jordan completes the frontline seam attack, backed up by experienced left-arm spinner Danny Briggs, who averages more than a wicket-per-game from 139 career T20s.
Leg-spinner Will Beer could also feature in Rashid’s absence & South African all-rounder David Wiese provides back up in the seam bowling department.
Batting Firepower
The Sharks’ bowling attack takes the headlines but their understated power with the bat is a very live threat, too.
They’re led from the top by Luke Wright, the ex-England international who recently became the first Englishman to 7,000 T20 runs & featured heavily in Australia’s Big Bash League for Melbourne Stars.
Wright’s 315-run effort through ten games is bettered by only two men in the shape of Laurie Evans & Phil Salt.
Number three Evans has enjoyed a renaissance since his move from Warwickshire in 2017 & is currently in the T20 form of his life, having amassed 491 at an average of 70.
Opener Salt, meanwhile, is enjoying a breakthrough season & is very much a man in form. He’s smashed two half-centuries in his last two T20s & struck a breathtaking 148 off 138 in the Specsavers County Championship match against Derbyshire this week.
Wicketkeeper Michael Burgess & England under-19 international Delray Rawlins complement the top three while all-rounders Wiese & Archer are more than capable of hitting a long ball.
Which way is this one going? All will be revealed on Friday night – & it promises to be a thriller.