T20 Blast Finals Day

NORTHANTS BEAT BIRMINGHAM BEARS BY FIVE WICKETS
Northants 135-5 (18 overs) v Birmingham Bears 131-6 (20 overs)

Holders Birmingham Bears were unable to capitalise on home advantage as they were beaten by Northants in the first T20 Blast semi-final at Edgbaston.

David Willey had Birmingham on the back foot early on with three wickets in his first eight balls to leave them 14-4.

Ateeq Javid's maiden T20 half-century off 49 balls helped the Bears reach a creditable 131-6.

But Richard Levi struck 63 off 46 balls as 2013 champions Northants progressed to the final by five wickets.

England limited overs all-rounder Willey, the star of the quarter-final victory against Sussex with a century off 41 balls, proved his value to the Steelbacks once again as he finished with figures of 3-30.

He struck the early and ultimately decisive blows to the Birmingham top-order after Northants captain Alex Wakely won the toss and elected to bowl.

Varun Chopra was trapped leg before to a yorker in the second over before Will Porterfield was bowled two balls later.

Rory Kleinveldt took a sharp return catch from Tim Ambrose before Ashes winner Ian Bell edged to Ben Duckett to give Willey his third victim and Northants the Bears' fourth wicket in just the fourth over.

Javid (51 not out) and Rikki Clarke (41) mounted a recovery with in a fifth-wicket partnership of 93 but it was Laurie Evans who gave the innings late impetus by hitting two sixes and a four off Willey as the Bears mustered 18 runs from the final over.

In reply, Levi, who batted throughout the innings, was unflustered by the early loss of opening partner Willey (15) and the rest of his top order as Birmingham sensed a comeback at 95-5 in the 14th over.

But Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, returning to the Northants side for the first time since the group stages, settled the nerves to finish unbeaten on 19 and help complete victory with 12 balls to spare.


LANCASHIRE BEAT HAMPSHIRE BY SIX WICKETS
Lancashire 119/4, Hampshire 115 

Lancashire reached their second successive T20 Blast final beating Hampshire by six wickets in a low-scoring semi-final at Edgbaston.

Skipper James Vince (69) was the only batsman to adjust to conditions as Hampshire were dismissed for just 115.

Spinners Stephen Parry and Arron Lilley combined to take five wickets for only 32 runs for the Red Rose county.

Karl Brown hit an unbeaten 45 to guide Lancashire to 119-4 and set up a clash with Northants in the final.

The Steelbacks, who won the competition in 2013, earlier beat Birmingham Bears by five wickets in the day's first match

In a repeat of last year's semi-final, Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat.


Vince and Michael Carberry made steady progress, but their opening stand of 31 was broken when Carberry was caught by Ashwell Prince off George Edwards.

Edwards, playing only his sixth T20 for Lancashire, then had wicketkeeper Adam Wheater caught behind down the leg-side a ball later.

Owais Shah and Vince put on 32 for the fourth wicket but Lancashire's introduction of Parry (3-21) and Lilley (2-11) changed the tempo of the innings dramatically.

The pair combined to restrict Hampshire to 77-5 and then 93-8 as runs proved difficult to come by.

Vince continued to see wickets fall around him as he reached a half-century from 47 balls. 

But he missed the chance to carry his bat for a fifth time in this year's competition as he skied a ball off James Faulkner to the waiting gloves of Jos Buttler.

Hampshire were dismissed with a ball remaining of their innings for the lowest-ever score in a semi-final batting first.

Lancashire lost Prince early in their reply and Alex Davies received a reprieve when he was caught off a Fidel Edwards no ball.

But Brown held firm despite losing his captain Steven Croft and then England wicketkeeper Buttler to a stunning diving catch by Sean Ervine at long-off.


Faulkner put any fears of a Lancashire wobble aside as he struck Chris Wood for consecutive sixes over mid-wicket to finish the game.


Lancashire v Northants - 18:45 BST 


Lancashire 166-7 (20 ovs): Davies 47, Prince 43; Afridi 3-14, Willey 2-21
Northants 153-6 (20 ovs): Cobb 44no, Afridi 26; Faulkner 2-25

Lancashire won by 13 runs

Lancashire Lightning won their first T20 title with a 13-run win over Northants in the final at Edgbaston.

Chasing 167 to reclaim the trophy they won in 2013, the Steelbacks needed 21 to win off the final over.

It proved beyond them as the Red Rose county triumphed in their third final appearance, having finished runners-up last year.

Alex Davies top-scored with 47 off 26 balls in Lancashire's 166-7, with Northants mustering 153-6 in reply.

Not even a late display of power-hitting from Shahid Afridi (26 off 18 balls), who dislocated the finger of James Faulkner with one shot drilled back at the Australian, could see the Steelbacks to their target.

Lancashire, led by former Warwickshire and England one-day coach Ashley Giles, had earlier conquered tricky batting conditions to launch their innings with a stand of 77 between Davies and Ashwell Prince (43) and then add 31 runs from the last three overs to post an imposing total.


In reply, Josh Cobb finished unbeaten on 44 from 37 balls for Northants, but he was left stranded at the wrong end as they came up short.