T20 Vitality Blast Finals Day at Edgbaston September 13th
Neil Whitaker reports
Semi Final 1
SOMERSET reached their eighth Vitality Blast T20 final as they beat Lancashire Lightning by 23 runs.
The Lightning were on course for victory when Liam Livingstone was given out leg before to Somerset captain Lewis Gregory for 29. Livingstone, who had hit a big stray six off Goldsworthy and was threatening to take the game away from Somerset, Gregory trapped him leg before. Livingstone reviewed it straight away and couldn’t believe it when the replay showed the ball had hit the pad before the bat. After that the Lightning were never at the races.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore top scored for Somerset with 81, his third 50 in this year’s competition. He hit Jack Blatherwick for three consecutive fours. He made it four in a row when he placed Blatherwick over gully’s head to the third man boundary.
Kohler-Cadmore pulled George Balderson early in his innings over square leg for a massive six. He drove Tom Hartley for another six and he thought he had got another six when he clubbed Balderson but this time he only got an outside edge and found Blatherwick on the mid-wicket boundary.
With his captain Gregory, Kohler-Cadmore added 47 in four overs giving some hope to the Somerset fans. Gregory clubbed Hartley to the mid-wicket boundary for a one bounce four but two balls later he drove Sir James Anderson to Hartley on the cover boundary.
Put into bat Somerset lost their first wicket in the third over when Will Smeed was beaten by Balderson’s first ball which came back and beat him.
Tom Abell moved across his stumps and scooped Anderson for a six over fine leg and drove the next ball to the cover boundary. After hitting Anderson for 15 Abell tried to cut one that was too close to him and he played on to the last ball of the powerplay. James Rew clipped Tom Aspinwall off his toes to Hartley at mid-wicket.
Sean Dickson and Kohler-Cadmore had to get Somerset’s back on track and they did with a partnership of 31 in five overs it may have been slow but they did their job. Dickson swept Livingstone to the square leg boundary for the first boundary for 19 balls. But there was no repeat of his batting performance in the quarter final as Hartley dragged him out of his crease and Matty Hurst completed the stumping.
Balderson finished his four overs with another wicket when Ben Green repeated Kohler-Cadmore’s shot to the same fielder and the same result.
Craig Overton started the final over by hitting two fours off Aspinwall. Migael Pretorius smashed Aspinwall for a massive six over long-on as Somerset reached 182 for seven and Aspinwall’s last over cost him 21 runs.
In their chase Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings hit 15 off the first over by Overton. Wells edged Gregory through the vacant slip area to the third man boundary. He clipped the next ball off his toes thinking he had got another boundary but Pretorius at short fine leg leapt to his right and took a fantastic catch.
Jennings drove Overton down the ground for another six and he thumped Gregory to the cover boundary. The aggressive attitude shown by Jennings took the Lightning past 50 in five overs. He edged a hook off Jake Ball for a six.
He went for another straight six this time the left arm spinner Goldsworthy but Kohler-Cadmore ran in long-on and to his right took a great diving to his right.
Lancashire lost their second wicket when Hurst moved across his stumps and was plumb leg before. Adam Shetty slapped Green to the covers where Gregory who had tightened the angle dove to his right to take the low catch.
Blatherwick clipped Green off his toes and over the square leg boundary. Michael Jones hit consecutive sixes off Pretorius and the latter was off a free hit.
Blatherwick clipped Pretorius off his leg looking for another six but found Overton running around the boundary who did well to take the catch with Dickson run towards him.
Balderson was retired out and replaced by Hartley but he only faced one ball which he drove straight to Kohler-Cadmore at long-off who took a low catch.
With 29 needed off the final over Jones squeezed the first ball for a four. After a dot ball M Jones smashed Pretorius to Overton on the long-on boundary. Aspinwall drove the next ball to that man Overton on the long-off boundary.
Semi Final 2
AUSSIE Chris Lynn became the first player to hit a century on finals day as hit an unbeaten 108 to take Hampshire Hawks into the final against Somerset.
His ton came from 49 balls and included 10 sixes and five fours. Five of those 10 sixes came from five consecutive balls of leg spinner Lloyd Pope’s final over. He missed out on hitting six as he was wrapped on his pads going for another. Lynn was given out but Lynn reviewed it and the replay bowed be was hit outside the line.
Chasing 155 to win Lynn and Toby Albert raced to 21 in their second over. Lynn cleared his front leg and smashed David Willey over the square leg boundary for a big six.
He greeted Procter’s arrival to the attack by clipping him into the Hollies stand for another six. A full toss from Procter was dispatched into the Hollies for another six by Lynn.
A full toss from Ben Sanderson was dispatched by Lynn for another six into the Hollies. The next ball was a free hit and followed the fate of the previous ball.
With Hampshire on 38 Albert went down the pitch to Saif Zaib to blast him to the long-on boundary but didn’t get any power in the shot and chipped it to Willey at mid-on.
James Vince went down the pitch to Pope to smash him straight but got a thick outside edge and skied the ball to Luke Procter at cover.
Ravi Bopara put down a return chance from Ben Mayes on one. He added another eight when he reversed pull off Zaib and George Scrimshaw at short third man took a good running catch with the ball coming over his shoulder. Ali Orr pulled Zaib to Bopara on the square leg boundary. Could the Steelbacks pull off the victory but then came that over and the match was as good as over. It was left to James Fuller to hit the winning runs as he pulled Scrimshaw for a couple of fours.
A seventh wicket partnership of 70 between Justin Broad and Procter rescued the Northamptonshire Steelbacks innings and gave them a score they could defend. But at 86 for six in the 11th over it looked they would be lucky to get to 120. Despite scoring 158 DLS adjusted the winning target for the Hampshire Hawks to 155.
Broad, who top scored with an unbeaten 61, upper cut Scott Currie to Sonny Baker on the third man boundary and despite getting both hands to it he could only parry it over the boundary. He hit consecutive boundaries off Chris Wood to reach his 50. In Baker's last over he scooped Baker for a six over fine leg.
Procter clubbed Wood to the long-on boundary and scooped the next ball to the fine leg boundary. The partnership was broken in the final over when Currie clipped Procter’s leg stump.Procter made 30.
As in their quarter final at the Kia Oval Northamptonshire Steelbacks lost one of the openers in the first over. Wood got one to seam and find the edge of Wiley’s bat and stumper Albert took the catch.
The Hawks thought they had got a second wicket when Baker’s first ball hit Bopara’s pad but he was given not out. Vince reviewed it and after an age the replay showed it to be missing.
After successfully scooping Currie over the legside and offside Ricardo Vasconcelos tried it once too often and Wood at short fine leg took a good catch with the ball coming over his shoulder. Bopara edged a drive off Baker and Wood at short third man took a juggling catch.
Fresh from South Africa’s mauling from England on Friday night Bjorn Fortuin got a wicket with his fifth ball when Tim Robinson came down the pitch and the ball turned past him.
Zaib pulled Benny Howell to Orr on the square leg who dove to his left to take the catch. With the rain falling harder Lewis McManus drove Currie to Vince at mid-off and set off for a single. Vincent’s underarm throw hit the stumps and at first McManus thought he was safe. But a replay showed McManus was just short.
T20 Vitality Blast FinalSeptember 14, 2025 12:42 pm
SOMERSET won the Vitality Blast T20 for the third time as they beat Hampshire Hawks by six wickets with an over to spare.
The 195 they scored was the highest score by a team batting second in a final. Captain Lewis Gregory hit the winning runs by pulling Scott Currie over the square leg boundary into the Hollies stand for a six. His first scoring shot was a lucky four when he squeezed Currie away to the fine leg boundary. He flat batted his third ball straight for a six.
The real hero for Somerset was opener Will Smeed who hit 94 before he smashed Currie straight to Hampshire Hawks captain James Vince on the long off boundary. With Sean Dickson he added 88 for the fourth wicket in nine overs.
As in their quarter final with the Bears, Somerset looked beaten until the 15th over. Smeed hit Fuller's first two balls to the cover boundary. He glanced James Fuller off his legs to the fine leg boundary and another seven came off that Fuller over. He turned Bjorn Fortuin off his legs to the fine leg boundary to bring up his 50 from 35 balls with nine fours.
He hit a three of boundaries off Fortuin last over: the first off his legs, the second to the cover boundary and the final one was straight as 17 came from it.
In the 17th over when they needed 12 an over he clipped Currie off his toes into the Hollies stand for another six and 11 in all came from it. He smeared the first ball of the 18th over to the mid-wicket boundary to take him into the 90’s.
On seven Dickson pulled Benny Howell and Currie set himself to take the catch but as he squatted to take the ball he dropped it. With 59 needed off five overs Dickson scooped the first ball of the 16th over from Sonny Baker to the fine leg boundary. He drilled the fifth ball to long-off boundary.
Dickson reversed swept Howell for a six over the third man boundary. He ended the over by pulling a slower ball from Howell for a six over mid wicket with 19 coming from it.
Chasing 195 to win, Smeed and his opening partner Tom Kohler-Cadmore started confidently. Kohler-Cadmore pulled Chris Wood over the Hollies stand and out of the ground. In the next over he uppercut Currie for a six over third man. He slapped Baker to the extra cover boundary. But he was soon back on his way to the hutch when Baker’s yorker hit the base of his middle stump.
Tom Abell clipped Fuller off his toes and Ben Mayes on the square leg boundary waited an age to take the catch. After losing two quick wickets James Rew hung about with Smeed adding 34. But after he edged Currie just wide of stumper Albert to the third man boundary, Rew chopped on with the next ball.
A second wicket partnership of 97 in nine overs between Toby Albert and Vince laid the foundations for the Hampshire Hawks to reach 194 for six in their 20 overs. Albert fell 15 short of hitting the second century on finals day. He gracefully drove Migael Pretorius over mid-wicket to bring up the Hawks hundred. Two balls later he thrashed Pretorius squarer for another six. Pretorius’ first over cost him 25 runs and taken out of the attack and never to return.
He pulled Lewis Goldsworthy to the square leg boundary after a mistake by the fielder. His 50 came from 29 balls with two sixes and six fours. Albert reversed chipped Ben Green to the third man boundary. He did the same to Jake Ball in the next over, and again this time for a boundary.
Albert backed away from Gregory, who had taken the pace off the ball, had a big swing and was bowled. During his knock he became the leading run scorer in this year’s Vitality Blast.
Vince hit 15 of the last over of the powerplay to take the Hawks score to 83. He top edged Gregory just wide off stumper Rew to the third man boundary to bring up the Hawks hundred in the ninth over. The partnership was broken when Vince, who reached his 50, pulled Goldsworthy to Dickson on the square leg boundary.
After his century in the semifinal Chris Lynn could only hit 12 in the final. He drove Craig Overton but didn’t get the full face of his bat and the ball went up in the air. Goldsworthy at cover stood under the ball and waited for the ball to drop as his captain raced in. Lynn started the final as he finished the semi final by smashing a straight six off Overton.
Fuller was pushed up the order but it didn’t work as he chipped Ball back to the bowler when he dove to his right in his follow through.
From the 10th over to the 15th Hampshire Hawks only scored 29 runs while losing two wickets. But eventually the Hawks got back on track. Howell clipped Ball off his toes and the ball just cleared Dickson on the boundary for a six.
With only five runs scored from the first three balls of the final over Mayes tried to turn Ball, bowling around the wicket, off his legs and was hit on his pads. Mayes was given not out but Somerset reviewed it and the replay showed it to be out.
Somerset have now beaten Hampshire Hawks three times in this year’s competition.
Hawks captain Vince said: “At one stage 200 plus looked on but they bowled well. We kept giving them an easy boundary every over. I thought the pitch played better than in the semi final. We’ve got a few aging players who struggled with cramp but we didn’t execute our plans well enough to build pressure.
I thought that Lynn’s innings in the semi final was unbelievable. He’s had a few injuries but in the few games he’s played for us he’s been outstanding.”
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