SAM MORSHEAD AT EDGBASTON: The Hawks defended a target of 191 with some ease, despite facing a top three of Will Smeed, Tom Banton and Rilee Rossouw, as their bowlers varied lengths and pace intelligently and left their opponents swinging
Edgbaston: Hampshire Hawks 190-7, Somerset 153 - Hampshire Hawks won by 37 runs
Hampshire Hawks produced a disciplined bowling display against a potent Somerset batting line-up to reach their T20 Blast final for a decade.
The Hawks defended a target of 191 with some ease, despite facing a top three of Will Smeed, Tom Banton and Rilee Rossouw, as their bowlers varied lengths and pace intelligently and left their opponents swinging more in hope than expectation.
Liam Dawson's controlled left-arm spin was particularly impressive, going at just five runs per over on an otherwise run-laden Finals Day, but there was no weak link.
Throw a near-perfect fielding performance into the mix - three marginal run outs executed with skill and precision - and Hampshire made sure that cheap runs were not easy to come by for Somerset, who once again miss out on silverware.
Nathan Ellis celebrates a wicket during Hampshire's win over Somerset [Getty Images]
The first semi-final earlier in the day gave both sides a clear indication that 200 would barely be par, and James Vince and Ben McDermott set about the task with that front and centre in their minds.
Both targeted the short boundary towards the Hollies Stand, but no corner of the ground was safe in the first four overs as the pair put together a first-wicket partnership worth 47 in 26 balls before Roelof van der Merwe snagged the crucial wicket of Vince, caught at extra cover after mistiming an aerial drive.
McDermott followed soon after for 37, caught by Tom Abell in a similar position off Lewis Goldworthy, but Hampshire had by then assembled a strong framework for the innings come the end of the powerplay.
And on they pushed. Prest, batting with a level of composure which belied his 19 years, never looked like clearing the boundary but rotated the strike and picked the gaps with enough regularity to keep the scoreboard ticking as his teammates motored around him.
Joe Weatherly struck 24 in 19 balls, and Ross Whiteley clobbered 27 from 19 before being caught in the deep off Ben Green, while Prest advanced to 64 from 45. He finally departed after picking out long-on off van der Merwe in the final over of the innings.
Tom Abell, the Somerset captain, cuts a dejected figure following his dismissal [Getty Images]
On a hybrid track offering little to the bowlers, a target of 191 felt low, especially against the power-packing Somerset top order.
Hampshire required early inroads to give themselves a sniff, and they achieved just that when Will Smeed tried to pull a length ball from Nathan Ellis and top-edged to mid-off with the score on 20.
Tom Banton too departed cheaply, run out by a bullet throw from backward point to the non-striker's end by Mason Crane for 12, and when Rilee Rossouw skied to deep midwicket off James Fuller's third delivery, the Hawks had turned the game in their favour.
Liam Dawson removed Abell for 27, caught by Weatherley on the slog sweep at deep midwicket, and Lewis Gregory picked out Ellis in the deep off Brad Wheal, as Somerset's staccato innings struggled to established any sense of flow.
Smart work by McDermott behind the stumps led to the run out of Ben Green for 8 - the Hampshire wicketkeeper collecting a throw from the deep before quickly offloading a tidy underarm shy at the stumps to beat Green's dive - and the tail was simply left with far too much to do.
Crane produced his second piece of magic in the field to run out Tom Lammonby, who top scored for Somerset with 34, while Chris Wood bowled Lewis Goldsworthy and Ellis did for Jack Brooks with a slower delivery which clattered into middle stump to send the block of Hawks supporters into a late-afternoon frenzy.
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