Somerset beat their west country rivals Gloucestershire at the County Ground in Bristol, by five wickets, with just three balls remaining in a tight affair. 

Somerset take West Country spoils

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first, and were soon 7-1, when Australian Peter Handscomb's poor form continued, as he was removed for a duck by Lewis Gregory. 

Michael Klinger and Ian Cockbain then added 58 for the second wicket, before the latter departed to Gregory for 34, with Klinger following a few overs later for 44 when he was caught by James Hildreth on the boundary off the bowling of Jim Allenby. 

Some clean striking by Benny Howell and Jack Taylor gave the Gloucestershire attack something to bowl at, as they posted 165-8 from their 20 overs.

Somerset got off to a flyer in their reply, with Allenby scoring a quickfire 27 before he was the first batsman to be dismissed when he was caught off the bowling of Craig Miles. 

Johann Myburgh then took over, contributing 32 in a partnership of 40 with Peter Trego, taking a particular liking to Howell and David Payne.

Sohail Tanvir was sent up the order in the search for boundaries, but he didn't last long, dismissed for just 13 off the bowling of Howell to leave Somerset needing 62 from 44 balls. 

Hildreth joined Myburgh out in the middle, with the pair adding 39 in under five overs as Somerset edged towards victory, before the latter was dismissed for 63 by Tom Smith. 

Tom Cooper then slaughtered a pair of maximums off Payne, before the bowler got his revenge at the end of the over, having the Dutch international caught at third man, leaving Somerset needing five off the last over. 

The bowler handed the responsibility for the home side was James Fuller, and it proved to be the wrong choice, after he bowled a pair of wides, before Gregory hit the winning runs with three balls still remaining in the over for an important victory. 

Stevens' runs riot at The Oval

Kent continued their excellent batting form, with a big 54-run win away at Surrey, thanks mainly to a brilliant all-round performance from veteran Darren Stevens. 

Kent batted first, making 231-7 from their 20 overs, with Stevens the mainstay, adding 90 runs from 39 balls, with 10 fours and five sixes in an astonishing knock with gave Kent their second win in consecutive evenings. 

The form batsman of the competition, Sam Northeast added 32 off 18 balls, sharing a 57-run partnership with Daniel Bell-Drummond who scored 38 from 27 balls at the top of the innings. 

In reply, Surrey were never really in with a shout of chasing down the huge total, with only four batsman making it to double-figures. 

Tom Curran got the innings of to a good start, scoring 41 from 22 balls, before being run out by Joe Denly during the 7th over. 

Zafar Ansari (33) and Gary Wilson (55) put together an excellent partnership of 59 in double-quick time before both were dismissed by that man Stevens, who ended up with four wickets from his allotment of overs to go with all the runs he made earlier in the evening. 

The rest of the innings fell apart, with Surrey collapsing from 124-3, to 177 all out as the visitors came out on top, winning by 54 runs. 

Essex and Sussex stay in chase for playoffs with wins

Essex defeated Glamorgan at Chelmsford by 16 runs, on the back of another half-century by Ravi Bopara. 

Essex made 187-7 from their 20 overs, with Bopara (52) recieving useful support from Nick Browne (38) and Graham Napier, who was at his swashbuckling best with the bat, adding 27 from seven balls, including four maximmums. 

Michael Hogan was, as always, the pick of the Welsh counties bowling attack, picking up 3-33 from his four overs, as well as instigating the run-out which dismissed dangerman Napier. 

At 83-2 at the start of the ninth over, Glamorgan were on track for victory with Graham Wagg and Colin Ingram going along well, before Bopara dismissed Wagg for 41 from 19 balls as the home side wrestled back control. 

The chase became tough once Wagg was removed, and despite Ingram's 70, they fell 16 runs short, with Reece Topley celebrating his recent England call-up, with two late wickets to see Essex home. 

In Southampton, an unbeaten partnership of 144 between Craig Cachopa and Matt Machan saw Sussex home by seven wickets to beat Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl. 

Hampshire scored 157 from their 20 overs, with James Vince following his call-up to England's T20 squad, with 41 from 25 balls opening up before he was stumped off the bowling of Mike Yardy. 

Owais Shah added 36, and Adam Wheater 26, before the pair were both removed by Olly Robinson (2-37) as Hampshire ended their innings on 157-6. 

Sussex then found themselves in major problems with Hampshire restricting them to 14-3 from the opening three overs thanks mainly to a brace of wickets for Chris Wood, who removed dangermen Luke Wright and Mahela Jayawardene for three and four runs respectively.

From then on though, Sussex did not lose a further wicket, with Cachopa (89 not out from 54 balls), and Machan (52 not out from 45 balls) taking the side home with eight balls remaining.