ESSEX V HAMPSHIRE HAWKS
VITALITY BLAST FINALS DAY
EDGBASTON, BIRMINGHAM
SATURDAY 15 JULY, 11AM
Essex undertake the 144-mile journey north-west to a sold-out Edgbaston on Saturday for a sixth appearance at Vitality Blast Finals Day, with a target of recapturing the trophy won in dramatic circumstances in 2019.
The Eagles’ squad for the showpiece day is again led by Simon Harmer, and their first order of business is a semi-final clash with Hampshire Hawks, captained by James Vince.
No side has ever defended the T20 title in the two decades it has been in existence, but Vince’s charges, having emerged victorious in the competition last summer, are still in with a shot of becoming the first team to do so.
SQUAD
Feroze Khushi misses the trip to Edgbaston due to a fractured hand injury that kept him out of this week’s Championship fixture against Lancashire.
He will now start his rehabilitation after seeing a hand specialist, and has been replaced by Josh Rymell in the 16-player squad.
THE OPPOSITION
Hampshire squad: James Vince (c), Toby Albert, Ben Brown, Mason Crane, Scott Currie, Liam Dawson, Nathan Ellis, James Fuller, Benny Howell, Ben McDermott, Tom Prest, John Turner, Joe Weatherley, Ross Whiteley, Chris Wood.
Captain: James Vince
Overseas players: Ben McDermott & Nathan Ellis (both Australia)
Previous Finals Day appearances: 9 (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022)
Titles: 3 (2010, 2012, 2022)
2022 finish: Winners
2023 leading run-scorer: James Vince (657)
2023 leading wicket-taker: Nathan Ellis (22)
LAST TIME OUT
The Eagles will be out for revenge after twice falling to Hampshire during the group stages of this year’s competition.
However, they have demonstrated the ability in the recent past to convincingly down the Hawks, with the most recent occasion of that being in a group stage meeting at Chelmsford last summer.
Essex comfortably saw off Vince’s men by eight wickets, as Sam Cook and Simon Harmer both took 2-16 to restrict the visitors to 150/6, before Michael Pepper blasted a 42-ball 75 to win the match with six full overs to spare.
FINALS DAY
HOW TO WATCH
Full coverage of all three matches on Finals Day will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket from 10:30am on Saturday.
Clips, statistics and an interactive scorecard of the Eagles’ semi-final will also be available, alongside full match coverage on the Club’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
THE OTHER COMPETITORS
Should the Eagles see off Hampshire, who finished second in the South Group, they will face either Somerset or Surrey, who contest the other semi-final later in the afternoon.
Somerset squad: Lewis Gregory (c), Tom Abell, Kasey Aldridge, Tom Banton, Shoaib Bashir, Jack Brooks, Sean Dickson, Lewis Goldsworthy, Ben Green, Matt Henry, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tom Lammonby, Craig Overton, Will Smeed, Ish Sodhi, Roelof van der Merwe.
Overseas players: Matt Henry & Ish Sodhi (both New Zealand)
Previous Finals Day appearances: 8 (2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018, 2021, 2022)
Titles: 1 (2005)
2022 finish: Semi-finalists
2023 leading run-scorer: Will Smeed (493)
2023 leading wicket-taker: Ben Green (27)
Surrey squad: Still to be announced…
Overseas players: Sunil Narine (West Indies) & Sean Abbott (Australia)
Previous Finals Day appearances: 7 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2020)
Titles: 1 (2003)
2022 finish: Quarter-finalists
2023 leading run-scorer: Laurie Evans (563)
2023 leading wicket-taker: Sunil Narine (20)
