Suffolk launched their National Counties T20 campaign with back-to-back victories over Cambridgeshire on a record-breaking day at Sawston.

In the opener Jacob Marston (89) and Darren Ironside (67) set up a 37 runs win by sharing a third wicket partnership of 148, a Suffolk record for any wicket in the competition.

Former Essex batter Feroze Khushi then made 106, Suffolk’s highest individual T20 score, to establish the position from which they secured a runs win.

Khushi’s innings was only the second century for Suffolk in the competition and he surpassed the 102 that Ben Claydon made against Lincolnshire at Ipswich School in 2022.

Marston and Ironside also made their competition-best scores in the opener which helped Suffolk to recover from being five for two early on to reach 187 for four. Cambridgeshire were restricted to 150 for nine in reply with Joe Tetley top scoring with 57 not out.

Khushi then took centre stage by striking 12 fours and three sixes in his 64 ball innings but Suffolk were made to scrap hard for their 12 runs victory after Ben Saunders (80) and Aum Patel (61) had added 113 in a county record second wicket partnership.

Lincolnshire also did the double over Hertfordshire at Louth to finish the day top of Group Two but having played two more matches than Suffolk.

Former Leicestershire batter Sam Evans improved his competition-best score twice in the day with 47 not out in a seven wickets win in the opener followed by 49 in Lincolnshire’s 25 runs victory.

James Laud also completed an excellent day’s work with scores of 39 and 64 with Finn Kelsey’s efforts (30 and 31) proving in vain for Hertfordshire who have lost three of their first four matches.

Shropshire opening batter Sahal Malvernkar enjoyed himself at the expense of his former county, Staffordshire, at Wem.

Malvernkar made 91 not out in the second match of the day to steer Shropshire to an eight wickets victory after they had gone down by 32 runs in the opener.

Malvernkar’s 52-ball innings included ten fours and four sixes and he dominated partnerships of 74 for the first wicket with Joe Johnson (23) and 68 for the second with Tom Fell (27).

Staffordshire’s innings was based around a half-century from Ollie Walker and a breezy 33 not out from contracted Derbyshire all-rounder Joe Hawkins. Their total of 148 for five was five more than they scored in the opening match but on this occasion their pace bowlers were unable to defend it and save Staffordshire from their first defeat.

Jake Garlick (four for 17) and Liam Hurt (three for 17) both returned competition best figures in the opener while Shropshire relied on their slow bowlers to slow Staffordshire’s progress.

Northumberland banked two wins against Cumbria in the other Group One double-header at Allendale.

An unbroken seventh wicket stand of 47 in 21 balls between former Durham all-rounder Jonny Bushnell (50 from 25 balls) and Sean Tindale (21 from 10 balls) boosted Northumberland’s total to 149 for six in the opener.

Slow left-armer Joe Stuart then took a T20 best four for 21 to restrict Cumbria to 127 for seven and secure a 22 runs win.

Cumbria opted to bat first in the second match and made 156 for five thanks to solid contributions from skipper Matt Sempill (35), Calum Rowe (31) and Max Winskill (29).

But Northumberland paced their chase to perfection and got home by four wickets with 11 balls to spare thanks to a third wicket partnership of 61 between Ross Whitfield (67) and Durham staff man Robbie Bowman (45) with Harry Crawshaw piloting them home with 23 not out.

There were also doubles for Wales NC and Devon over Oxfordshire and Dorset respectively.

Wales won the opener at Challow & Childrey by 43 runs after Owain Baxter (83) and Glamorgan man Callum Nicholls (53) had added 97 for the third wicket to take them to 199 for three.

Oxfordshire’s 156 for nine featured a half-century on debut for 15-year-old Evan Cowley (37 balls, six fours and three sixes) but they were kept in check by three wickets from Ollie Sherwood.

Nicholls followed up with 38 in the second match but it was Rhodri Lewis’s 76 that was largely responsible for getting Wales to 210 for seven.

Oxfordshire’s reply comprised of a series of cameos headed by Hayden Rossouw’s 38 and they were beaten by 30 runs.

Ben Privett made 98, Devon’s highest individual T20 score, to set up an 18 runs victory over Dorset in the opener at Wimborne in Group Four.

Privett’s score was one more than Rob Woodman made against Wiltshire at Sidmouth in 2015, the first season of the T20 competition.

James Matravers weighed in with 44 to take Devon to 204 for five with Dylan Church top-scoring with 45 in Dorset’s 186 for seven.

Church followed up with 81 not out in the second match but Dorset fell 21 short after they had been set a target of 162.

Bedfordshire lead Group Three, two points clear of Wales, despite being shot out for 85 by Buckinghamshire in the second match at Leighton Buzzard.

Bedfordshire got themselves in a tangle against the left-arm spin of Buckinghamshire captain Conner Haddow and were beaten by 107 runs which was Buckinghamshire’s record victory by runs margin.

Rhys Nicholas had a productive day for Buckinghamshire with 62 in the second match to go with 46 in the opener which Bedfordshire won by seven wickets with almost five overs to spare.

Jamie Dunk’s competition-best 82 from 37 balls and an unbeaten 42 from Danyaal Khalid, with whom he shared a third wicket stand of 92, made light work of a target of 165.

The closest matches of the day were both at Westbury where Wiltshire and Cornwall tied the opener before Wiltshire edged the second by nine runs.

Until this season there had been only one tie in the history of the competition but there have now been two in successive Sundays after Staffordshire and Northumberland finished level last week.

At Westbury each side finished on 146 for eight with Cyrus Shafi (47) and Will Naish (42) the main contributors to Wiltshire’s total and former Kent and Sussex spinner Elliot Hooper taking three for 21.

Alfie MacDonald, who had batted only once in his five previous matches in the competition, led the chase with 59 not out from 42 balls with Hooper supporting him with 30. MacDonald needed three from Will Brown’s last ball to win the game but, having scampered two to level the scores, Ben Ellis was run out going for the third run.

In the second match Wiltshire captain Ed Young’s competition best 83 not out from 57 balls and a fourth wicket partnership of 63 with Shafi (21) rescued them from 18 for three.

Will Macvicar kept Cornwall in the hunt with 68 not out from 47 balls but Tom Orpe (28) was the only other batter to reach 20 and they were  reined in by Brown (one for 19) and Sam Freestone (two for 22).

National Counties T20

Group One

Wem. Match one: Staffordshire 143-7, Shropshire 111-9 (Jake Garlick 4-17, Liam Hurt 3-17). Staffordshire won by 32 runs.

Match two: Staffordshire 148-5 (Ollie Walker 51 not out), Shropshire 151-2 (Sahal Malvernkar 91 not out). Shropshire won by eight wickets.

Allendale. Match one:  Northumberland 149-6 (Jonny Bushnell 50 not out, Ben Walkden 3-18), Cumbria 127-7 (Joe Stuart 4-21). Northumberland won by 22 runs.

Match two: Cumbria 156-5, Northumberland 161-6 (Ross Whitfield 67, Robbie Bowman 45). Northumberland won by four wickets.

Group Two

Sawston. Match one: Suffolk 187-4 (Jacob Marston 89, Darren Ironside 67, Jack Loveday 3-33), Cambridgeshire 150-9. Suffolk won by 37 runs.

Match two: Suffolk 202-7 (Feroze Khushi 106, Mo Rizvi 3-38), Cambridgeshire 190-5 (Ben Saunders 80, Aum Patel 61, Dan Shanks 3-23).Louth.

Match one: Hertfordshire 121 (Tom Currie 4-18), Lincolnshire 124-3 (Sam Evans 47 not out, Ben Waring 3-16). Lincolnshire won by seven wickets.

Match two: Lincolnshire 173-8 (James Laud 64, Sam Evans 49, Sam Davis 3-30), Hertfordshire 148. Lincolnshire won by 25 runs.

Group Three

Leighton Buzzard. Match one: Buckinghamshire 164 (Rhys Nicholas 46, Archie Houghton 3-16), Bedfordshire 165-3 (Jamie Dunk 82, Danyaal Khalid 42 not out). Bedfordshire won by seven wickets.

Match two: Buckinghamshire 192-7 (Rhys Nicholas 62, Jake Tarling 3-25), Bedfordshire 85 (Conner Haddow 3-6). Buckinghamshire won by 107 runs.

Challow & Childrey. Match one: Wales NC 199-3 (Owain Baxter 83, Callum Nicholls 53), Oxfordshire 156-9 (Evan Cowley 50, Ollie Sherwood 3-26). Wales NC won by 43 runs.

Match two: Wales NC 210-7 (Rhodri Lewis 76), Oxfordshire 180. Wales NC won by 30 runs.

Group Four

Wimborne. Match one: Devon 204-5 (Ben Privett 98, James Matravers 44), Dorset 186-7 (Dylan Church 45, Craig Penberthy 3-42). Devon won by 18 runs.

Match two: Devon 161-8 (Henry Dunlop 3-31), Dorset 140-9 (Dylan Church 81 not out, Sam Read 3-22). Devon won by 22 runs.

Westbury. Match one: Wiltshire 146-8 (Cyrus Shafi 47, Will Naish 42, Elliot Hooper 3-21), Cornwall 146-8 (Alfie MacDonald 59 not out). Match Tied.

Match two: Wiltshire 153-4 (Ed Young 83 not out), Cornwall 144-6 (Will Macvicar 68 not out). Wiltshire won by nine runs.