The Cricketer runs down the who, what, where, when, why, how much, which channel and how wet will it be for T20 Blast Finals Day
The Vitality Blast Finals Day returns, as this season’s top four sides battle it out to be crowned champions for 2021.
Two semi-finals will be held earlier in the day, before the winners face off in a showpiece final to determine the tournament winners.
Hampshire Hawks take on Somerset in the first semi-final, followed by Sussex Sharks against Kent Spitfires.
Finals Day is on Saturday, September 18.
The first semi-final is scheduled to start at 11am BST, before the second kicks off at 14.30pm BST. The final is set to start at 18.45pm BST.
Edgbaston has become the regular home of Finals Day and again plays host to Finals Day in 2021 for what will be the ninth consecutive year.
Hampshire arrive at Edgbaston in red-hot form. The Hawks have won their last six matches in the Blast, including a six-wicket annihilation of Glamorgan at the Ageas Bowl, chasing down a total of 184 with some seven overs to go.
Their place at Finals Day was confirmed after a nail-biting finish at Trent Bridge, which saw the Hawks scrape past the Notts Outlaws with just two balls to spare. They finished fourth in the South Group, on equal points with Surrey but qualifying for the quarter-finals on account of their superior net run rate.
Their opponents Somerset head into Finals Day having won four of their last six Blast matches, including their last three on the bounce.
Kent beat Birmingham Bears to secure their place at Finals Day
They booked their place at Edgbaston with an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Lancashire Lightning at the Cooper Associates County Ground, thanks to an unbeaten 78 from red-ball captain Tom Abell. In the group stage, they finished second, just one point behind Kent Spitfires.
Sussex Sharks, meanwhile, ended the group stage in third place, with 17 points. Their campaign was more rain-affected than any other South Group side: the Sharks were involved in five no-results, two more than Hampshire and Surrey. Perhaps because of this, Sussex arrive at Edgbaston having lost less often than anyone else, with just three defeats to their name. A quarter-final victory against Yorkshire at Riverside Emirates was enough to see them through to Finals Day.
Table-toppers Kent Spitfires reached Edgbaston after a comprehensive 21-run victory over Birmingham Bears at Canterbury. Since a ten-wicket drubbing at the hands of Somerset in June, Sussex have been the only team to have stopped them in the Blast, with four wins in their last five matches, including a 77-run drubbing of Middlesex away at Lord's.
For Hampshire, captain James Vince has led the way with the bat this season. Vince has scored 371 runs in the Blast so far, at a strike rate of 138.43. Fresh off the back of being named as a travelling reserve in England’s T20 World Cup squad, and having led Southern Brave to victory in The Hundred earlier in the season, Vince comes into Finals Day in what is arguably the form of his life.
As for the bowling, the duo of Mason Crane and Brad Wheal were arguably the brightest sparks of a calamitous campaign for London Spirit. The Hawks will be hoping they can pick up where they left off.
Somerset boast one of the most exciting batting line ups in the country, with the likes of Tom Banton, Will Smeed and Tom Abell all featuring for the Taunton side. Smeed in particular is in ferocious touch, after ending his breakthrough season with the Birmingham Phoenix with 166 runs at a strike rate of 172.94.
With the ball, express pace merchant Marchant De Lange is enough to strike fear into many a batter, while wily slow left armer Roelof van der Merwe brings a wealth of experience and guile to the table.
Somerset defeated Lancashire at Taunton to clinch their place at Edgbaston
Sussex Sharks are blessed with a genuinely elite bowling unit. Even without Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, they will still be able to call upon the likes of Tymal Mills, George Garton, Chris Jordan and Ollie Robinson. Mills has had a superb summer, with his vital performances for Southern Brave helping them to the title, and is thoroughly deserving of his call-up to the England World T20 squad.
There are fewer better at the death than him. Captain Luke Wright is worth a mention, too. The highest run-scorer in T20 Blast history, Wright will be looking to add to his tally of 4,498 and lead Sussex to the title.
The Spitfires, meanwhile, possess the highest run scorer of the season from the four teams present at Finals Day in Daniel Bell-Drummond. His 392 runs have come at a rate of 156.8, including two fifties, hitting 47 boundaries along the way. The returns of Sam Billings and Zak Crawley from Hundred and England duty respectively only serves to further bolster what is an impressive batting line up.
With the ball, Kent can turn to arguably two of the finest overseas performers in the competition in Afghan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad and New Zealander Adam Milne. The pair were standout performers for their Hundred sides, and will be key to the Spitfires’ progress at Edgbaston.
Inside the Mascot Race, an annual bout of glorious silliness
All three matches will be shown live on Sky Sports Cricket (Sky Channel 404) and Sky Sports Main Event (Sky Channel 401).
Coverage of Hampshire v Somerset begins at 10.30am BST, Kent v Sussex at 14.30pm BST, and the final is scheduled to start at 18.30pm.
For radio listeners, Finals Day will be covered by BBC Radio 5 Live, with ball-by-ball commentary starting from 10.45am BST.
A light cloud covering is expected in Birmingham, with temperatures up to 20 degrees Celsius. There is thankfully little chance of rain wreaking havoc as it did last season.
Somerset and Sussex will make it through to the final, but Sussex’s superior bowling attack will come up trumps. The Sharks to win...
Oddschecker are giving odds of 3/1 for Kent, 7/2 for Hampshire, and 5/2 for both Sussex and Somerset.
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.