Denly is top scorer in T20 Blast

Kent opener Joe Denly was the top run-scorer in NatWest T20 Blast with 567 runs, more than anyone in the group stages.

The 31-year-old recorded the eight best score in English domestic T20 with a club-record 127 from just 66 balls in the NatWest T20 Blast victory over Essex at Chelmsford.

He contributed 57 per cent of Kent’s total of 221 for two and earned him 41 PCA MVP rankings batting points which was the eighth best T20 performance since the PCA MVP system was introduced in 2007.

Denly shared a world record T20 opening stand of 207 with Daniel Bell-Drummond which was also the third-highest for any wicket in T20 cricket.

Denly’s century was his third in T20 cricket and his second of the season, surpassing the 116 he made against Surrey at the Oval.

Denly’s 41 points were also the most in an innings by a Kent player, beating the 40 that Bell-Drummond earned from his century against Surrey last season.

Despite the efforts of Denly and Bell-Drummond in the win over Essex, Kent missed out on a place in the quarter-finals after they were beaten by Surrey in their final group match 24 hours later.

The PCA MVP Rankings system takes into account conditions, quality of opposition, captaincy and strike-rates as well as runs scored and wickets taken.

Denly finished the group stage of the Blast in third place in the competition’s PCA MVP on 164 with only Yorkshire’s David Willey (183 points) and Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen (211) above him.

In the overall PCA MVP, which covers all competitions, Denly is in eighth place with 364 points, a place and five points above all-rounder Darren Stevens.

Bell-Drummond (28^th) and Kent captain Sam Northeast (48^th) are also in the top 50 of the rankings with all-rounder Matt Coles, who is in 57^th place, not far behind.