Lancashire puts on the biggest successful chase EVER in T20 Finals Day history to qualify for the Blast final…as they chase 205 against Roses rival Yorkshire with eight balls left
Lancashire qualified for Blast final in record-breaking win over Yorkshire
Glen Chapple’s team put on the biggest successful chase in T20 final history
Victors will face Hampshire of Somerset in Edgbaston’s final tonight
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Lancashire made light work of Yorkshire’s goal of 205 in the first semi-final of T20 Finals Day who won by six wickets to complete the biggest successful chase in Finals Day history and advance to the final.
After two Group Stage Roses thrillers at Old Trafford and Headingley, this time it was a packed Edgbaston who was treated to a stunning display of punching as the Red Rose booked their place in the final tonight (7pm) against Hampshire or Somerset.
Aiming to become the first side to successfully chase over 200 on Finals Day, Lancashire was ahead of the pace from the start with Matthew Revis’ first oversmash for 29 runs, despite taking the wicket from the dangerous Phil Salt.
Captain Dane Vilas hit 63 out of 46 to help Lancashire blow into the T20 final with ease
Keanton Jennings continued his best career at Southport to help Lancashire through
Not before Salt had flashed 36 of just 14 deliveries including four straight boundaries and by the end of the power play Lancashire had nearly reached the halfway mark at 89 for two.
Keaton Jennings, fresh off his best 318 at Southport earlier this week, got all the shots with an amazing 75 out of 51 and his partnership of 122 alongside skipper Dane Vilas’s 63* out of 46 helped Lancashire reach their 4th T20 final on their 9th Finals Day -perform with ease.
By the time Jennings was fired by Dominic Drakes, Lancashire only needed 24 of 23. Tim David hit Jordan Thompson for three limits, before Vilas hit a cracking six over cover to take his side home with eight balls left.
The 20th edition of the tournament saw the first-ever final day of Yorkshire v Lancashire and in the absence of David Willey due to conscription in England, Harry Brook captained Yorkshire, who are still one of five teams that have not entered the competition in those 20 years. have won .
Vilas will now lead his team to a final against Hampshire or Somerset in Edgbaston
Fans enjoyed the compelling ‘war of the roses’ despite the hot conditions in Edgbaston
Brook is also part of the England squad for the ODI series against India which concludes tomorrow, but he was one of three players, alongside Salt and Matt Parkinson, to be released by England for today.
Yorkshire won the toss, opted to bat and came out of the blocks with Adam Lyth firing Luke Wood for six in the first over before hitting the next ball deep back where Tom Hartley took a juggling catch.
But Dawid Malan (33) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore (66) rode on and ran to 66 for one in the power play. Fresh off his England bow last week, Richard Gleeson was taken for four straight boundaries before both Malan and Brook were sacked, leaving Yorkshire 87 for three halfway through their innings.
Kohler-Cadmore put forth his third half century in as many Roses T20 matches in style with a superb six straight back to the ground but he was bowled swinging and missing by Luke Wells and left Yorkshire at 124 for four with just under six left about .
Jordan Thompson hit five sixes in the space of seven, but wasn’t enough for Yorkshire
All eyes were on Pakistani Shadab Khan, but it was Jordan Thompson whose exploits in the quarter-finals helped Yorkshire reach their third-ever day of finals that once again set off the fireworks. This time with the bat, firing a 17-ball ball for half a century to catapult Yorkshire past 200.
Thompson was dropped as the second ball before unleashing the carnage, breaking five sixes in the space of seven to give Yorkshire the fastest white ball in half a century. However, his wicket led to a hat-trick for the Lancashire team 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 last over.
Nevertheless, it was still the second-highest total of the final day at halftime, but it still wasn’t enough. Unfortunately for Yorkshire, only Lancashire had previously booked a higher total on Finals Day (217-4 v Surrey in 2005) and it was the White Rose who didn’t have a Saturday night date in Birmingham.