Lancashire pulls off the most successful ever chase in T20 Finals Day history to qualify for the Blast Finals… as they chase 205 against Roses rivals Yorkshire, eight balls down
- Lancashire qualified for the Blast final with a record win over Yorkshire
- Glen Chapple’s team pulled off the most successful chase in T20 Finals history
- Victors will play either Hampshire or Somerset in the final at Edgbaston tonight
Lancashire made easy work of Yorkshire’s target of 205 in the first semi-final of T20 Finals Day, winning by six wickets to create the most successful chase in Finals Day history and advance to the final.
After two Roses thrillers in the group stages at Old Trafford and Headingley, it was this time a sold-out Edgbaston who were treated to a stunning batting show as the red Rose secured their place in the final tonight (7pm) against either Hampshire or Somerset.
Aiming to become the first team to successfully chase more than 200 players on the final day, Lancashire led from the start, with Matthew Revis’ first over 29 runs shattered despite winning the wicket of the dangerous Phil Salt.
Captain Dane Vilas hit 63 from 46 to help Lancashire into the T20 final with ease
Keanton Jennings continued his best career at Southport to come through Lancashire
Not before Salt had blitzed 36 from just 14 deliveries, including four straight borders, and by the end of the power play Lancashire had pretty much gone halfway with 89 for two.
Keaton Jennings, fresh off his career-best 318 at Southport earlier this week, pulled out all shots with an excellent batting 75-of-51 and his partnership of 122 along with skipper Dane Vilas’ 63*-of-46 helped Lancashire, into their 4th T20 final enter their performance on the 9th final day with ease.
When Jennings was sacked by Dominic Drakes, Lancashire needed just 24 from 23. Tim David hit Jordan Thompson for three boundaries before Vilas hit a crunching six over cover to send his side eight balls home.
The 20th edition of the tournament featured Yorkshire versus Lancashire for the first time on the final day and, in the absence of David Willey due to his mandatory spell in England, Harry Brook led Yorkshire as one of five teams to fail the competition in 20 years have won, is still captain .
Vilas will now lead his team to a final against either Hampshire or Somerset at Edgbaston
Fans enjoyed the gripping ‘War of the Roses’ despite the hot conditions at Edgbaston
Brook is also part of England’s squad for the ODI series against India, which ends tomorrow, but he was one of three players released by England for the day, along with Salt and Matt Parkinson.
Yorkshire won the toss, opted for the bat and came blasting out of the blocks, with Adam Lyth beating Luke Wood for a six in the first over before hitting the next ball to a deep back point where Tom Hartley juggled a catch.
But Dawid Malan (33) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (66) continued and played 66:1 on the power play. Richard Gleeson, fresh off his England bow last week, was taken for four consecutive limits before both Malan and Brook were sacked, leaving Yorkshire 87 at halftime of their innings for three.
Kohler-Cadmore grounded his third half-century in as many Roses T20 matches in style with a superb six, but he was swung by Luke Wells and missed to leave Yorkshire on 124 for four with just under six overs to go.
Jordan Thompson hit five sixes in seven ball space but that wasn’t enough for Yorkshire
All eyes were on Pakistan’s Shadab Khan, but it was Jordan Thompson, whose exploits in the quarter-finals helped Yorkshire reach only their third day of finals, who caused the fireworks again. This time with the racquet blasting half a century with 17 balls to catapult Yorkshire past 200.
Thompson was dropped the second ball before initiating carnage by smashing five sixes in seven ball space to record the fastest white ball in half a century for Yorkshire. His wicket, however, gave the Lancashire team a hat-trick with three wickets in three deliveries at the end of the 19th over and the start of the last, as Yorkshire managed just six runs from their final over.
Even so, it was still the second-highest total on finals day at break, but it still wasn’t enough. Unfortunately for Yorkshire, only Lancashire had previously recorded a higher finals day total (217-4 against Surrey in 2005) and it was the White Rose who were left without Saturday night in Birmingham.
