T20 Blast

Taunton is a difficult ground to defend & 200 has been a par score this season, especially after a fast start the Bears were short of runs. But credit to Somerset for bowling well in the second half. The Bears bowler learned what had worked best on this wicket & had put Somerset behind, before Abell (51) & Dickson (71 no) added 54 in 28 balls. The wicket of Abell & then 2 in the 18th over by Hannon Dalby pushed the equation to 33 runs from the final 2 overs. But Dickson was timing the ball well & cleared the ropes 3 times as well as 2 boundary fours to see his side home.

Sat September 13

Semi-Final 1 - 11am
Lancashire v Somerset

Semi -Final 2 - 2.30pm
Northamptonshire v Hampshire

Final - 6.45 pm

Semi Final 1
Somerset v Lancashire
Toss - Lancashire elected to field
Somerset 182-7 (20 overs) Kohler-Cadmore 81 Abell 26 Balderson 3-31 Anderson 2-34
Lancashire 159 (19.5) Jennings 44 Jones 36 Livingstone 29 Pretorius 3-27 Gregory 2-21 Green 2-21
Somerset won by 23 runs

It looked a very depleted Lancashire side & it showed on the day, conceding to many runs. In the chase the experience of Jennings in partnership with Livingstone set them on course. Once Jennings was dismissed it was vital for Livingstone to guide his side home, what looks like an error from the 3rd umpire seemed to be the turning point in the match. Jones struck a few lusty blows but wickets fell at regular intervals with good death bowling & catching.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore made 81 from 52 with 6 fours & 4 sixes, he punished anything wayward & was by far the stand-out batsman in the contest & deserved the Man of the Match award.

Semi Final 2
Northamptonshire v Hampshire
Toss - Hampshire elected to field
Northamptonshire 158-7 (18/18 overs) Broad 61 no Procter 30 Vasconceclos 19 Currie 2-34
Hampshire 155-4 (15.4 overs) Lynn 108 no Vince 12 Zaib 3-18
Hampshire won by 6 wickets (DLS)

Northamptonshire got the worst of the conditions, as rain forced them off in the 11th over & on resumption they lost their 6th wicket with 86 on the board. Broad 61 no & Procter 30 got them up to a target that they had a chance to defend which was adjusted using the DLS Method & became 155 off 18 overs.
The reply was all about one man Chris Lynn 108 no from 551 balls with 5 fours & 11 sixes. Zaib kept Northamptonshire in the contest with 3-18. With the required rate approaching 10 run per over, Lynn pushed the turbo button & shacked his Adelaide Strikers teammate Lloyd Pope for 5 consecutive sixes in the 15th over. Fuller found the boundary in the next over on 2 occasions to win comfortably with 14 balls remaining.

Lynn is no stranger to hitting sixes, he currently holds the record in the Big Bash League with 208 in 120 matches, & is one of asmall number of players to score more runs from sixes than fours

Final
Somerset v Hampshire
Toss - Somerset elected to field
Hampshire 194-6 (20 overs) Albert 85 Vince 52 Howell 26 Ball 2-39
Somerset 195-4 (19 overs) Smeed 94 Dickson 33 no Kohler-Cadmore 23 Rew 20 Gregory 18 no Currie 2-44
Somerset won by 6 wickets

Two evenly matched side made for a great final, Hampshire set a great foundation reaching 121-2 in the 12th over when captain Vince (52) was dismissed. Opener Albert fell in the 18th over & Howell made a nice cameo of 26 no. But Somerset never let them run away with it, after the start they maybe left 15 or 20 runs out there.
The chase was superbly marshalled by Smeed who was caught on the boundary in the 19th over inches away from bringing up a deserved hundred. Captain Gregory settled any nerves with 18 from 5 balls including 2 mighty sixes the last one brought victory. Of the rest of the batting only Abell went for a duck, the others all scored close to the required rate which never got out of site.

Well done, Somerset; Lancashire did OK to make the top 4.

Hopefully next seasons version means that teams can maintain the bulk of their squad throughout. With the long gap between the group games & the knockout stages many overseas players were unable to return & to have Finals day sandwiched between an England T20 I series mean that some teams were robbed of International stars. Lancashire were hurt the most with no overseas players & Buttler, Salt, Wood & Mahmood missing, their side was unrecognizable.
The comp will play through from start to finish in July with 3 regional groups & 2 games less. It will mean 2 to 3 fixtures per week which could impact attendance, but at least there should be more consistent selections with a smaller turnover of players.
It can never be perfect with 4 comps there's always a compromise. If this small tweak fails to satisfy the future for the Blast will be uncertain, & the potential expansion in The Hundred could see this comp downgraded or completely scrapped with only 2nd XI T2o cricket to fall back on.