T20 Blast Finals Day: Somerset beat Hampshire in first semi-final

3 years ago 54
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Hampshire's Joe Weatherley hammered five sixes in his 71 - the highest Finals Day score in three yearsHampshire's Joe Weatherley hammered five sixes in his 71 - the highest Finals Day score in three years
Vitality T20 Blast Finals Day - first semi-final, Edgbaston
Hampshire 150 (20 overs): Weatherley 71, Davey 4-34
Somerset 153-8 (19.4 overs): Abell 50, Green 35; Wood 2-26, Currie 2-30
Somerset won by two wickets
Scorecard

Somerset rallied superbly at Edgbaston to beat Hampshire by two wickets and reach a first T20 final in 10 years.

The 2005 winners looked set for defeat, chasing Hampshire's 150 all out, when they slumped to 79-6 in the 14th over.

But skipper Tom Abell (50), Ben Green (35 off 18 balls), Craig Overton and Josh Davey turned it round.

They got home on 153-8 with two balls to spare to reach their fifth final - and first since losing to Leicestershire in Cardiff in 2011.

In this first all-southern Finals Day, and Somerset's fifth, Abell's men now play the winners of the afternoon's second semi-final between Sussex and Kent.

Joe Weatherley looked to have been the Hampshire match-winner with 71 off 50 balls after the Hawks had got off to a poor start.

They slumped to 26-3 after four overs - and it could have been worse if Weatherley had gone early when he was caught on the leg side from a skier off Josh Davey.

But he was called back after a recount of fielders within the fielding circle and Somerset were no-balled - and Weatherley slapped the free hit back over Davey's head for six.

As it was, it counted for nothing, even when Abell was out in the 17th over with 44 still needed.

Green turned the match on its head, hitting Brad Wheal and then Chris Wood for three sixes, only to hole out with seven balls left.

Somerset needed nine from the final over, bowled by Wheal, but Davey drilled the third ball over long-on before flicking off his toes for four to hit the winning runs.

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