Sam Billings is a brilliant white-ball operator
Sam Billings is a brilliant white-ball operator

Vitality T20 Blast Finals Day preview and predictions, TV info, betting odds and tips


Edgbaston once again stages Vitality Blast Finals Day on Saturday – Richard Mann casts his eye over the four finalists and delivers his verdict.


Cricket tips: Vitality Blast Finals Day, September 18

2pts Kent to win the Vitality Blast at 3/1 (Betway)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook


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Hampshire v Somerset

  • When: 11:00, Saturday September 18
  • How to watch: Sky Sports Cricket
  • Where: Edgbaston, Birmingham
  • Sky Bet odds: Hampshire 5/4, Somerset 8/13

Somerset are warm favourites to progress to the final, and understandably so having enjoyed the better regular season and then sauntered to Finals Day courtesy of a brilliantly-crafted run chase by Tom Abell against Lancashire in the last eight. There were notable contributions on the night, too, from Tom Lammonby and Will Smeed.

Along with the wildly-talented but unfurnished Tom Banton, these four names represent the future of Somerset County Cricket Club, one which is packed full of exciting young batting but doesn't appear to have the bowling depth coming through the ranks to match.

That could be a problem on Finals Day, particularly if the young guns don't fire, or indeed, the surface at Edgbaston requires something more than the crash, bang, wallop approach that is so well catered for at Taunton with its beautiful, true surface and the relatively small dimensions of the ground.

Craig Overton should at least return from international duty to add some fire and nous, while Merchant de Lange and that wily old fox Roelof van der Merwe have picked up 17 and eight wickets respectively in this year's competition so far. Add Jack Brooks to the mix and the bowling is serviceable, if not quite as sexy as the batting.

Hampshire will be no pushovers though, and in James Vince they can lay claim to having the best batsman of any on show on Saturday. Vince is already closing in on 400 Blast runs this season, that on the back of an excellent campaign in The Hundred, his maiden international century against Pakistan earlier in the summer, and fruitful trips to the Pakistan Super League and Big Bash before that.

James Vince in this season's Vitality Blast

Joe Weatherley has been almost as impressive with the bat, though not being able to call upon the experience of Sam Northeast on a big day like this might come back to hurt Hampshire – whose last taste of silverware came in the Royal London One-Day Cup in 2018 when Northeast and Rilee Rossouw did the damage. Hampshire's new breed have got them this far, but they might need more than plucky cricket on Finals Day.

Scrapping was enough to edge them past 2020 champions Nottinghamshire in a thrilling quarter-final at Trent Bridge, though it was the bowlers who did the business when somehow defending 125 as the likes of Scott Currie, who has 17 wickets and counting this year, Brad Wheal, Liam Dawson and Mason Crane squeezed the Nottinghamshire middle order like a boa constrictor, before withstanding a late surge from Matthew Carter.

Winners of this trophy in 2010 and 2012, Hampshire have proven yet again they have the mettle to win big matches, and spin twins Dawson and Crane could be a handful for anyone as the day wears on, or if they receive any assistance from the surface in the morning.

The issue for Hampshire will be if the first semi-final turns into a slug-fest, and not the type of cagey encounter they hustled Nottinghamshire out of in the last eight. Somerset will be banking on their youthful team of power hitters taking them into the final, but Vince and co will have other ideas and if this one gets tight, Hampshire might prove a touch of value at 5/4.


Road to Finals Day

Hampshire

  • Regular season: W 6; L 5; N/R 3
  • Quarter-finals: Beat Nottinghamshire by 2 runs
  • Most runs: James Vince – 371
  • Most wickets: Scott Currie – 17

Somerset

  • Regular season: W 8; L 4; N/R 2
  • Quarter-finals: Beat Lancashire by seven wickets
  • Most runs: Will Smeed – 327
  • Most wickets: Merchant de Lange – 17

Mumbai Indians are defending IPL champions
CLICK HERE to read Richard Mann's team-by-team guide and betting preview for the returning IPL 2021


Kent v Sussex

  • When: 14:30, Saturday September 18
  • How to watch: Sky Sports Cricket
  • Where: Edgbaston, Birmingham
  • Sky Bet odds: Kent 11/10, Sussex 8/11

Two big questions stand out when assessing the second semi-final and the respective chances of both sides: have Sussex missed their chance, and can Kent go all the way without Adam Milne?

Sussex have been blessed with arguably the best bowling attack in the competition over the last few years, with Jofra Archer, Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan forming a brilliant pace trio and Rashid Khan's continued association with the club putting them at an immediate advantage over their rivals.

Still, this current crop weren't able to get the job done when losing to Worcestershire in the 2018 final and this year's side doesn't look as strong. The injured injured Archer will be absent on Saturday, while Laurie Evans is no longer there to control the innings from number three.

In fact, Luke Wright and Phil Salt apart, the batting looks threadbare and Sussex will be in big trouble if losing early wickets. That was just what happened when Yorkshire looked on course to brush past them in the quarter-finals, only for Rashid to turn the game on its head with the bat and blast 27 from nine balls to get them over the line with two deliveries remaining.

It was a staggering hand from a global, cricketing superstar, but he will be in Dubai this weekend as he prepares for the return of the IPL. Without him, you have to fear for Sussex.

As such, this offers KENT a fine chance of contesting their first Blast final since 2008 – having the won tournament 12 months earlier – and it's not one I expect them to pass up.

For some time now, Kent have been the nearly men of the domestic game – in limited-overs cricket anyway – but they have always produced talented cricketers and strong sides. This Kent outfit is no different, topping the South Group with nine wins – and don't forget that the four remaining teams all qualified from the South Group – before outclassing Birmingham Bears in the quarter-finals.

Can Zak Crawley help drive Kent to title glory?

Sam Billings was the star of the show that night, his 37-ball 56 defying a tricky pitch and helping post a score that was always too much for the Bears to chase down.

Billings had hardly featured for Kent this season prior to that match, owing to injury and international commitments, but the likes of Daniel Bell-Drummond, Zak Crawley and Jack Leaning have all enjoyed strong summers to ensure runs have never been an issue for Kent. Joe Denly hasn't needed to be at his best, either.

That batting line-up, for my money, is the strongest of any of the four teams contesting Finals Day, with its depth giving it the nod over Hampshire and their semi-final opponents, Sussex, while its experience and versatility is more appealing than Somerset's army of young guns.

The big issue, as I mentioned at the start of the preview, is whether Kent can win the title with Adam Milne now in Dubai ahead of the resumption of the IPL. One of the stars of The Hundred, Milne has only made four Blast appearances this summer but picked up seven wickets in those matches, and bowled really well in the quarter-final.

He will be a huge loss, but Matt Milnes took four wickets against the Bears to take his tally in the competition this season to 18, while Fred Klaassen has 14 scalps himself. Denly and Leaning can generally be relied upon to chip with handy part-time spin, but crucially, Qais Ahmad is expected to lead the attack.

The Afghanistan wrist spinner has been virtually impossible to score off all summer, only conceding 6.71 runs per over in this year's Blast, and his presence might just be enough to help Kent overcome Milne's absence.

It won't be easy, of course, but Kent aren't the only side missing key players on Saturday and their line-up has less holes to plug than Hampshire, Somerset or Sussex. Their semi-final is one they should really fancy winning and, as such, 3/1 in the outright market makes Kent the only bet worth striking at this stage.


Road to Finals Day

Kent

  • Regular season: W 9; L 4; N/R 1
  • Quarter-finals: Beat Birmingham Bears by 21 runs
  • Most runs: Daniel Bell-Drummond – 392
  • Most wickets: Matt Milnes – 18

Sussex

  • Regular season: W 6; L 3; N/R 5
  • Quarter-finals: Beat Yorkshire by 5 wickets
  • Most runs: Luke Wright – 360
  • Most wickets: Tymal Mills – 14

Published at 1520 BST on 16/09/21


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