Hampshire 152 for 8 (McDermott 62, Parkinson 4-26) beat Lancashire 151 for 8 (Croft 36, Fuller 2-19, Dawson 2-23) with 1 run
Ellis had switched. Enough to have piqued the television referee’s interest and in a split second that a few glances were needed when the fireworks had gone off and the stumps were ripped out of the ground. And so the players reset, but not before taking their jaws off the floor and setting their eyes on it. How someone went on, even for one more ball, was a testament to the way these professionals can switch on and off in the blink of an eye.
How different could a successful 2022 Blast campaign have turned out for Hampshire in many ways? From the start it was one of coming back from the brink: overcoming a start of four defeats in a row to win 11 out of 12 to reach this final. Halfway through, they thought they were about 25 to 30 short at 152. A few hours earlier, Lancashire had chased 205 in their semi-final against Yorkshire, with no fewer than eight balls left. This one? Certainly no trouble.
But Hampshire scrambled back from 72 for 1 in the eighth over, then had to avoid 11 of the last seven deliveries. And then back from the brink of their own cheers and, of course, the very real possibility of what might have been one of the most outrageous twists in the history of this format. Heck, maybe even sports themselves. As the mural in their players’ dining room indicates, under a photo of Australian and Hampshire legend Shane Warne: “Never give up. Just absolutely never give up.” Well, they didn’t.
James Vince celebrates victory with Liam Dawson•Getty Images
The Australian took it on well, hitting 30 of the 48 runs of power play on just 17 deliveries, then did everything he could to shift the scoreboard, all while having more partner changes than a bride at her Cèilidh. In the 11th over, he took the muffler off and carried Luke Wells for 21 runs, including a six in the Hollies Stand and another long distance.
What impulse there was at the end of that blitz, with 90 to 4 and nine overs left, was snatched away by a throw from Parkinson’s at the start of the next over that passed to McDermott and tossed him with his leg stump. The right-hander dragged himself away, clearly furious at being persuaded to play to turn away from him, and perhaps also wondering who would be the one to step up and fill the void he left behind. After all, of the 11 border crossings, up to 11.1 overs, all but one – a four over extra cover by Joe Weatherley – came from his bat.
In the end, the answer was no one. Well, at least not really. Hampshire got just two more fours and two more sixs as Dane Vilas stuck to tried and true death plans with Gleeson, Hartley, Luke Wood and Danny Lamb splitting the last five overs, for 40 runs.
A remaining comparison of 76 more to come out of 68 balls was still in Lancashire’s favour, especially with Vilas in the fold. Not nearly as smooth as his 63, no more than an hour earlier, a six deliberately slashed over the third man suggested he caught his eye. It also carried over the hundred at the end of the 12th, but that satisfaction was dampened when Vilas fell in the 13th, failing to hit his enemy captain Vince on cover for Dawson’s second.
Then came the turning point that wasn’t – or was, depending on your loyalties and views of fate. Crane appeared to have ambushed Wells lbw, handed out by umpire Millns. The left-hander seemed to resign himself to his fate, but rolled the dice with a review and came out big. Tracking the ball showed a predicted path past the leg stump, even hinting that Crane sent down a googly, leaving the leg spinner and his teammates utterly stunned as they watched the big screen.
Even when the big Australian hype Tim David came and went for 8, this time Hampshire ended up on the right side of a review for a perpendicular lbw from James Fuller. And so Wells’ continued presence became more important as the game progressed into death.
Wells was on strike for the start of the penultimate against Wood, with a seemingly improbable 23 required. With one ball left in the 19th, that had dropped to 11 thanks to a six lifted over a deep back square leg, a four cut through the midwicket and then a heartbreaking skier who inexplicably ended up between McDermott and Wheal with a short fine leg.
Just when it looked like the gods were smiling at Wells and Lancashire, a tip-and-run to get the strike over for the final turned into disaster. Vince gathered perfectly, sat up and threw the stumps at the non-striker from cover. Given how business was going, the value of the run saved was just as important as the man who left.
Luke Wells being ridden by James Vince•Getty Images
Four runs from the first three of the 20th and a perfect run under Wood from McDermott’s arm meant that the unlikely sources of Hartley and Gleeson had to try and find four of the last two without being fired to win. Even with their unlikely rematch, they fell one short.
However you decide to counter all this, be it Hampshire, Lancashire or neutral, you will not doubt the glory of this game. At a time when the Vitality Blast found itself as a mainstay for an ongoing culture war within English cricket, there was something very beautiful in the fact that it had a real hall-of-fame moment, at the end of what was the perfect example was of the light and shade, boom and bust, rhythm and blues of Twenty20 cricket. The next time they talk about whether the Vitality Blast is really everything, tell them the 2022 final sent you.
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor for ESPNcricinfo