Worcestershire celebrate
Worcestershire celebrate

Worcestershire and Sussex will contest the final of the Vitality Blast


Sussex will take on Worcestershire for the right to become Vitality Blast champions after respective victories over Somerset and Lancashire at a sold-out finals day at Edgbaston.

Moeen Ali let his cricket do the talking in the first semi-final after hitting the headlines overnight with claims that an unnamed Australia player had called him "Osama" during the 2015 Ashes.

He was fully focused on the task at hand against the Red Rose, though, striking a vibrant 41 for Worcestershire and then turning in exemplary figures of two for 16 - including the scalp of Test team-mate Jos Buttler.

Worcestershire posted 169 for six after being asked to bat first, despite losing Moeen, Brett D'Oliveira and Tom Fell in a calamitous three-ball spell, with Ben Cox's dominant 55 not out proving crucial.

Lancashire fell 20 short of parity, losing nine wickets in a ragged chase.

Moeen's tidy stint put them under big scoreboard pressure, not to mention taking Buttler out of the equation, and 19-year-old seamer Pat Brown cashed in at the close.

Asked to bowl the 19th over with 30 needed, he coughed up just one run and took the wickets of James Faulkner, Toby Lester and Matt Parkinson.

Brown's final analysis of four for 21 took his tally to a tournament-high of 31 wickets.

Keaton Jennings, enjoying his return to coloured clothing after a torrid Test series against India, was left high and dry on 51no.

Sussex skipper Luke Wright made the highest individual score in finals day history but fell eight short of becoming the first centurion.

His rapid-fire 92 was still enough to lay the foundations for a 35-run victory as the Sharks posted 202 for eight and defended in comfort.

Wright took a particularly brutal liking to Jamie Overton, clubbing the paceman's first two balls of the day for six and imparting even more damage when they resumed their contest.

Overton, given the 13th over, disappeared for 31 as the combination of wides, no-balls and Wright's ruthlessness cost him dear.

Four off Corey Anderson took Wright past the 88 scored by Jennings for Durham two years ago, but he holed out to the medium-pacer soon after.

That was the first of five wickets in the last three overs, but enough damage had already been done. Somerset faltered by losing three batsmen in the powerplay, Jofra Archer accounting for Steven Davies and the retiring Johann Myburgh and the excellent Chris Jordan too good for Peter Trego.

Tom Abell did his best to bring some drama to the occasion, tearing into Danny Briggs to kick-start a stand of 84 with Anderson.

It ended in cruel fashion, Abell run out at the non-striker's end when his partner's drive brushed Briggs' fingers.

Abell and Anderson were both dismissed for 48, the latter Archer's third victim late on.


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