.jpg?fm=webp&h=800&q=80&w=1024&s=944acd02f82f1641ce5202e85697e364)
Semi-final 1, Hampshire v Somerset
Hampshire 150 in 20 overs (Weatherley 71; Davey 4-34) lost to Somerset 153/8 in 19.4 overs (Abell 50; Wood 2-26) by 2 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Josh Davey.
Somerset reached their first Vitality T20 Blast final in 10 years following a nerve-racking two-wicket win against Hampshire in the first semi-final at Edgbaston.
Somerset were chasing 151, but slumped to 79/6 in the 14th over. Tom Abell (50), Ben Green (35 off 18 balls), Craig Overton and Josh Davey all chipped in with useful contributions with urgency to help their side reach the target with two balls to spare.
Earlier, Joe Weatherley top-scored with 50-ball 71 in Hampshire’s 150 after Lewis Gregory won the toss and asked them to bat. Josh Davey returned 4-34, and was later adjudged the Player of the Match.
Semi-final 2, Kent v Sussex
Kent 168/8 in 20 overs (Bell-Drummond 82; Mills 3-33) beat Sussex 147 in 19.1 overs (Garton 41; Klaassen 4-17) by 21 runs. Player of the Match: Daniel Bell-Drummond.
Kent qualified for their third Vitality T20 Blast final after beating Sussex by 21 runs in the second semi-final.
Batting first, Kent piled 168/8, courtesy Daniel Bell-Drummond’s 51-ball 82 and Darren Stevens’ unbeaten 28-ball 47. For Sussex, Tymal Mills and George Garton shared five wickets.
Sussex needed a good start, but were reduced to 57/5 in 8.4 overs. Garton (41 in 23 balls) and Harrison Ward (21) exhibited resilience under pressure. However, with the damage that had been done early, the chase was never on the cards. They were skittled out for 147 in 19.1 overs. With 4-17, Fred Klaassen did the most damage for Kent.
Final, Kent v Somerset
Kent 167/7 (Cox 58*; Van der Merwe 3-19) beat Somerset 142/9 (Smeed 43; Denly 3-31) by 25 runs. Player of the Match: Jordan Cox.
Kent won the Vitality T20 Blast 2021 title by beating Somerset by 25 runs in the final of the season at Edgbaston.
After being put in, Jordan Cox (58*) and Zak Crawley (41) starred with bat to help Kent rack up 167/7. Roelof van der Merwe returned excellent figures of 4-0-19-3.
Somerset were never really on the chase. Will Smeed (43) and Tom Abell (26) tried, but rest of their teammates could not even reach 17. As a result, they fell short on 142/9. Kent spinners Joe Denly (3-31) and Qais Ahmad (2-19) shared five wickets.