2012 Twenty20 Cup
The 2012 Friends Life t20 was the third season of the Friends Life t20, England's premier domestic Twenty20 competition. The competition ran from 12 June to 25 August 2012. The teams in the tournament remained the same as the previous season.
The schedule of the tournament had been widely criticised the previous season and the ECB had decided to reduce the minimum number of days in which a county would play from 92 to 86 for 2012. This meant a change in format from 2 groups of 9, from which the top 4 would qualify to the quarter-finals, to an arrangement with 3 groups of 6. The format of the knock-out rounds remain unchanged. This reduces the number of matches in the competition from 151 to 97 in a return to the format of the 2008 and 2009 editions of the Twenty20 Cup.
Finals Day was at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff for the first time. Hampshire Royals and Yorkshire Carnegie, as the winners and runners-up of the tournament respectively, qualified for the 2012 Champions League Twenty20.
In the quarter-final match between Sussex and Gloucestershire, Scott Styris scored the equal third-fastest century in T20 history, after making 100 not out from 37 balls. In the same match, Gloucestershire's James Fuller conceded 38 runs from one over.
Format
The 18 teams are divided into three groups of six and each group plays a double round-robin tournament. The top two teams from each group and the top two third-placed teams qualify for the knockout stage: a three-round single-elimination tournament. The top team from each group and the best second-placed team will each play in a different quarter-final at their home ground. A free draw determines the placement of the remaining four teams and the semi-final and final match-ups.Teams
Group stage
Midlands/Wales/West Division
Table
Results
| Gloucestershire Gladiators | Northamptonshire Steelbacks | Somerset | Warwickshire Bears | Welsh Dragons | Worcestershire Royals | |
| Gloucestershire Gladiators | ||||||
| Northamptonshire Steelbacks | ||||||
| Somerset | ||||||
| Warwickshire Bears | ||||||
| Welsh Dragons | ||||||
| Worcestershire Royals |
Fixtures
North Division
Table
Results
| Derbyshire Falcons | Durham Dynamos | Lancashire Lightning | Leicestershire Foxes | Nottinghamshire Outlaws | Yorkshire Carnegie | |
| Derbyshire Falcons | ||||||
| Durham Dynamos | ||||||
| Lancashire Lightning | ||||||
| Leicestershire Foxes | ||||||
| Nottinghamshire Outlaws | ||||||
| Yorkshire Carnegie |
Fixtures
South Division
Table
Results
| Essex Eagles | Hampshire Royals | Kent Spitfires | Middlesex Panthers | Surrey Lions | Sussex Sharks | |
| Essex Eagles | ||||||
| Hampshire Royals | ||||||
| Kent Spitfires | ||||||
| Middlesex Panthers | ||||||
| Surrey Lions | ||||||
| Sussex Sharks |
Fixtures
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
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----
Semi-finals
----Final
Statistics
Highest team totals
The following table lists the five highest team scores in the season.| Team | Total | Opponent | Ground |
| Sussex Sharks | 230/4 | Gloucestershire Gladiators | County Ground, Hove |
| Worcestershire Royals | 213/2 | Gloucestershire Gladiators | New Road, Worcester |
| Yorkshire Carnegie | 212/5 | Worcestershire Royals | Headingley Carnegie, Leeds |
| Sussex Sharks | 212/6 | Kent Spitfires | County Ground, Hove |
| Nottinghamshire Outlaws | 210/3 | Durham Dynamos | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
Most runs
The top five highest run scorers in the season are included in this table.| Player | Team | Runs | Inns | Avg | S/R | HS | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| Phillip Hughes | Worcestershire Royals | 402 | 8 | 100.50 | 126.81 | 87* | 0 | 4 | 37 | 7 |
| David Miller | Yorkshire Carnegie | 390 | 11 | 48.75 | 153.54 | 74* | 0 | 4 | 30 | 21 |
| Chris Nash | Sussex Sharks | 319 | 10 | 39.87 | 131.27 | 80* | 0 | 3 | 32 | 8 |
| Steven Croft | Lancashire Lightning | 313 | 8 | 62.60 | 129.33 | 65* | 0 | 2 | 17 | 11 |
| Luke Wright | Sussex Sharks | 312 | 10 | 34.66 | 160.00 | 91 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 11 |
Highest scores
This table contains the top five highest scores of the season made by a batsman in a single innings.| Player | Team | Score | Balls | 4s | 6s | Opponent | Ground |
| James Hildreth | Somerset | 107* | 60 | 15 | 1 | Welsh Dragons | County Ground, Taunton |
| Scott Styris | Sussex Sharks | 100* | 37 | 5 | 9 | Gloucestershire Gladiators | County Ground, Hove |
| Luke Wright | Sussex Sharks | 91 | 61 | 7 | 2 | Middlesex Panthers | County Ground, Hove |
| Joe Denly | Middlesex Panthers | 90* | 66 | 11 | 1 | Kent Spitfires | St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury |
| Alex Hales | Nottinghamshire Outlaws | 88 | 51 | 6 | 4 | Durham Dynamos | Trent Bridge, Nottingham |
Most wickets
The following table contains the six leading wicket-takers of the season.| Player | Team | Wkts | Mts | Ave | S/R | Econ | BBI |
| Mitchell Starc | Yorkshire Carnegie | 21 | 10 | 10.38 | 10.5 | 5.91 | 3/24 |
| Chris Liddle | Sussex Sharks | 17 | 10 | 11.94 | 9.7 | 7.33 | 5/17 |
| Reece Topley | Essex Eagles | 17 | 9 | 14.47 | 11.2 | 7.68 | 3/19 |
| Dimitri Mascarenhas | Hampshire Royals | 15 | 11 | 16.46 | 15.2 | 6.50 | 2/11 |
| Moin Ashraf | Yorkshire Carnegie | 15 | 12 | 23.93 | 18.8 | 7.63 | 4/18 |
| Richard Pyrah | Yorkshire Carnegie | 15 | 12 | 23.93 | 18.0 | 7.97 | 3/21 |
Best bowling figures
This table lists the top five players with the best bowling figures in the season.| Player | Team | Overs | Figures | Opponent | Ground |
| Chris Liddle | Sussex Sharks | 4.0 | 5/17 | Middlesex Panthers | Lord's, London |
| Greg Smith | Essex Eagles | 3.0 | 5/17 | Kent Spitfires | County Ground, Chelmsford |
| Gareth Batty | Surrey Lions | 4.0 | 4/13 | Middlesex Panthers | Lord's, London |
| Max Waller | Somerset | 4.0 | 4/16 | Warwickshire Bears | County Ground, Taunton |
| Ian Saxelby | Gloucestershire Gladiators | 4.0 | 4/16 | Northamptonshire Steelbacks | County Ground, Bristol |