Vitality Blast Finals Day, Edgbaston - First semi-final
Surrey 153-9: Sibley 48; Gregory 3-15, Davey
3-34
Somerset 159-4: Dickson 78, Rew 62*; Worrall
2-15
Somerset win by six wickets
Scorecard
Somerset produced one of the great T20 Finals Day
comebacks as they recovered from 7-3 to beat Surrey in comfort by six wickets
and reach their third final in four years.
Just two days after Somerset beat Surrey in dramatic
style in the County Championship, it looked like the Brown Caps might get
their revenge.
Defending a total of 153-9, Surrey quickly took the wickets
of Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Abell and Will Smeed in the space of just 13 balls.
But James Rew and Sean Dickson both hit half-centuries as
they posted a highest-ever Finals Day partnership of 144 for the fourth wicket
to see their side to a record seventh final with eight balls to spare.
The Cider Boys have only won two of their previous six
finals - in 2005 against Lancashire at The Oval, and then again at Edgbaston 14
months ago, when they also beat Surrey en route to overcoming Essex.
They will become the first county to defend the T20 title if
they can now also go on to beat the winners of the second semi-final between
Sussex and Gloucestershire.
After being put into bat, Dan Lawrence made a blistering
start for the south London side, hitting three fours as he raced to 19 off 10
balls - but then he went for one big shot too many off his 11th and hoisted a
skier to Abell off Josh Davey.
Two more of Surrey's England contingent, Ollie Pope and Dom
Sibley, who hit the first six of the match, then added 43 in four and a half
overs before two wickets went down in as many balls.
Gregory bowled both stand-in England Test captain Pope and
England Test keeper Jamie Smith - and was then involved again when he ran out
Rory Burns.
Gregory took his third wicket when Sibley lofted a catch to
the deep mid-wicket boundary on 48, before Jake Ball got in on the act when he
bowled Tom Curran.
But it was left to Laurie Evans - the only non-England
international in Surrey's top eight - to bludgeon a few late blows, including
the only other six of the innings, to see his side past the 150 mark.
Somerset got off to a nightmare start in reply when they
lost Kohler-Cadmore first ball to Dan Worrall.
It then got worse in the next over when Curran got rid of
Abell before Worrall made it 7-3 four balls later, when he had opener Smeed
caught behind.
But 20-year-old Rew, only playing because of the cruel
midweek ankle injury to quarter-final match-winner Tom Banton, was having none
of that - as he came together with Dickson to forge a fabulous partnership.
Dickson hit three sixes and eight fours in his 78, his
highest score in T20 cricket, before holing out just before the end, while Rew
stayed to see it across the line on 62 not out as Gregory finished it all off
with a six over third man.
'One of the best partnerships I've seen'
Somerset fast bowler Josh Davey:
“What a partnership that was between Sean and James. There
was definitely a few of us wondering of it might be a recurrence of what
happened to us in the 2021 final but that partnership was one of the best I’ve
ever seen.
"Playing under that kind of pressure on Finals Day, and
for Rewy on his Finals day debut to put in a performance like that it shows the
talent that he has.
“It definitely felt like a new-ball pitch. Dan Worrall
managed to swing the ball, which is one of the best assets you can have in the
powerplay, but as the ball became softer it became harder to score and we
bowled brilliantly through the middle part of their innings to haul them back.
“When Lewis Gregory got their two England boys out it
completely changed the momentum of the game."
Surrey skipper Chris Jordan:
“We would have bowled first on that pitch as well but we got
off to a pretty good start with the bat and, with the wicket being a little bit
tacky we felt it was a score we would have taken if you’d offered it to us.
“The way the boys started in the powerplay, to knock over
three of their key players, we were in a good position but you have to give
credit to Dickson especially. It would have been easy to come out and rebuild
in a more conventional fashion but he took a punt and it came off.
"After that it was tough to stop them. In between
boundaries, he was rotating the strike really well. The way they played the
spin made it tough for me in particular.
“I don’t want to make any excuses because we had players
missing. Any eleven that we put out as a club we would back 100% and I fully
trusted the players that we put out. It has been a tough week but that’s part
of cricket.”
