Lancashire, Worcestershire, Somerset and Sussex aiming for title at Vitality Blast Finals Day
Written by News on 15/09/2018
Worcestershire Rapids, Lancashire Lightning, Sussex Sharks and Somerset will be targeting the T20 title at Vitality Blast Finals Day on Saturday.
Finals Day debutants Worcestershire will meet 2015 winners Lancashire in the first semi-final (10.30am, Sky Sports Cricket), before Sussex and Somerset, champions in 2009 and 2005 respectively, square off in the second (2.15pm, Sky Sports Cricket).
The Mascot Race will take place in-between (2.05pm, Sky Sports Cricket), with Gloucestershire’s Alfred the Gorilla, bar any monkey business, looking to triumph for the third year in a row.
Then, it will be the final (6.15pm, Sky Sports Cricket) as we find out who succeeds last year’s victors Nottinghamshire Outlaws as T20 kings.
We’ll also have a special guest on commentary throughout the day with Windies all-rounder Darren Sammy, who skippered the Caribbean side to the World T20 title in India in 2016, in the Pod!
England have permitted Moeen Ali to play for Worcestershire and Jos Buttler and Keaton Jennings to turn out for Lancashire, meaning international names and young guns will go head to head at Edgbaston.
The leading wicket-taker in the tournament is Worcestershire seamer Patrick Brown, with the 20-year-old using his array of variations to pluck 27 scalps in 14 games for the Rapids, who topped the North Group and then beat Gloucestershire to seal a spot at Finals Day for the first time.
Ali will be looked to for runs with Callum Ferguson back in Australia – Ali slammed his maiden T20 ton, against Birmingham Bears, earlier in the competition – while Ross Whiteley and Joe Clarke are frequent six-hitters.
Buttler is back for Lancashire but Lightning’s star performers this season have been Alex Davies, who has struck six fifties en route to 525 runs, and leg-spinner Mathew Parkinson, who has taken 23 wickets.
Somerset’s in-form man is skipper Lewis Gregory, who has cracked 321 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 216.89, including 60 not out from 24 balls as the Taunton team knocked out holders Notts in the quarters.
However, New Zealander Corey Anderson has struck three fifties and 466 runs, while paceman Jamie Overton, being mooted as a contender for an England Test call-up in Sri Lanka, picking up 24 wickets
Sussex, meanwhile, will be without Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan but a potent pace attack will include Tymal Mills, Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan, the first two having claimed hat-tricks earlier in the competition, while Laurie Evans has racked up 554 runs and six half-centuries for the Sharks.
WHAT THEY SAID…
Worcestershire batsman DARYL MITCHELL: “We’ve played some big games this year in front of big crowds and, every time we step out in front of big crowds or on the TV, you get to handle the nerves and the occasions a little bit better. Hopefully those big games this year will stand us in good stead.”
Lancashire batsman ALEX DAVIES: “We went to Finals Day in 2014 and 2015, so we know what it’s like to be on the losing end and the winning end. We’re just going to try and recreate 2015. We didn’t play the first game in 2015, so that’s going to be a new one on us. We’ll have to assess conditions really quickly. It might be a low-scoring affair.”
Somerset coach JASON KERR: “There are pros and cons to being in the second semi-final. A quick turnaround for the final can be challenging but we do get to see the first game. That can be advantageous because we will get to see how the other teams adapt to the surface.”
Sussex spinner WILL BEER: “You watch everyone else playing at Finals Day and you are jealous, it is the one day in the calendar you look forward to and are dreaming of getting there. Hopefully we can bring a trophy home, with mainly Sussex lads, which would be a great day for the club.”
Watch Vitality Blast Finals Day live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.30am on Saturday.
- Worcestershire v Lancashire (10.30am on air, 11am start)
- Sussex v Somerset (2.15pm on air, 2.30pm start)
- Vitality Blast Final (6.15pm on air, 6.45pm start)
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(c) Sky News 2018: Lancashire, Worcestershire, Somerset and Sussex aiming for title at Vitality Blast Finals Day
