Vitality T20 Blast Finals Day live blog recap

2157: While they celebrate, I'll bid you farewell. Congratulations to Worcestershire and to Sussex. It was a fitting finale to an excellent T20 Blast season. I've thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you have too.

2156: And with that, Ali lifts the trophy aloft and begins the celebrations with his winning group of players.

2149: Presentation time. Luke Wright with a typically classy assessment: "Congratulations to Worcestershire, they outplayed us. I'm hugely proud of the guys, I don't think we could have given any more. Just sad not to get over the line."

And winning captain Moeen Ali: "We were amazing today, we won the crucial moments."

2144: Well, I'm still taking it all in. An absorbing final, an engrossing day. As much as I would have loved to have seen Sussex lift the trophy, nobody can begrudge Worcestershire their moment. A club run properly, developing young players within their own excellent academy to produce on the biggest stage of all. As a club, they'll receive plenty of praise over the next few days and they deserve every bit of it.

2129: Some reaction now from Ben Cox: "Today was my day, little things went my way. We grew up together, we've played a lot of cricket together and we're going to enjoy it."

And now Ed Barnard: "Absolutely amazing. We've worked so hard for this and to come through and win this competition, when I don't think a lot of people expected us to, is amazing. He [Cox] was absolutely outstanding. He's been brilliant all season and now he's won us two games in a row. I'm so proud of him."

2128: WORCESTERSHIRE RAPIDS ARE THE 2018 VITALITY T20 BLAST WINNERS!!!

2122: And in a flash it's over. Cox dismantles Archer and takes Worcestershire home with nine balls to spare. Amazing scenes.

2122: 17 needed from 12.

2119: Cox paddles Jordan for four. Some player, this boy. And now a big six down the ground.

2116: WICKET! My nerves can't take much more of this. Cox hits Archer for two fours to swing the game back in Worcestershire's favour before Whiteley is brilliantly caught by Jordan at mid-off. 127-5.

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2111: Ross Whiteley finds the boundary with the first ball of Mills' over but the latter fights back well. 42 required from four overs.

2107: Jordan returns with an excellent over. 49 needed off 30 balls. A wicket would really spice things up.

2059: 96-4 off 13 overs.

2055: WICKET! Oh my, we have a game on here. Salt takes a brilliant catch at mid-off off the bowling of Beer to end Ali's fine hand. He has to go for 41.

2050: WICKET! Brilliant stumping from Michael Burgess to see the back of D'Oliveira. Briggs has his second and then closes out the over well. 81-3. Another twist perhaps?

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2045: Ali eases the pressure with a glorious lofted drive over cover for four.

2041: WICKET! And another. Spin at both ends from Sussex now and Will Beer picks up a wicket straight away. Tom Fell picks out cover. 62-2.

2040: WICKET! Spin does the trick for Sussex. Danny Briggs finds the outside of Clarke's bat and has him caught behind for a well-made 32. Worcestershire well on course, though.

2036: Clarke (32) and Ali (19) really starting to motor now. 52-0 at the end of the powerplay.

2027: Ali pulls Archer over mid-on for four before Clarke tucks into Mills who is having a poor time of it. 32-0 off four overs. Worcestershire seemingly cruising.

2023: James Anderson has been singing Patrick Brown's praises by all accounts. Who can blame him. What a find.

2018: Jofra Archer starts with a tight over but Joe Clarke takes Tymal Mills for an early boundary.

2008: Sky Bet favour Worcestershire now, making them their 8/11 favourites. Sussex are 11/10? Where's your money going?

2007: Sussex look 20 runs light to me but pressure is a big man and if Sussex can take early wickets, that score could soon look big.

2004: Limp finish from Sussex as they crawl to 157-5. Excellent from Worcestershire and Patrick Brown who finishes with impressive figures of 4-0-15-0.

1952: WICKET! Evans goes for 52 having missed a full toss from Barnard. Sussex failing apart here. How they might rue that early run out of Salt.

1950: 137-4. Three to go. Big finish needed.

1945: Evans goes to fifty. Fine hand but he needs to go on now. 133-4.

1942: WICKET! And another, David Wiese can't repeat his semi-final heroics and chops Ali onto his stumps for six. Sussex losing momentum here. Brown still has a couple of overs to bowl, too.

1937: WICKET! Evans finds the fence twice off the bowling of Ali but Rawlins' (21) peculiar innings comes to an end when he chips straight to long-off. 121-3 with six overs to go. Evans the key now.

1933: Sussex struggling to find the boundary now. Only six from the 13th over bowled by Wood. 110-2.

1926: New batsman Delray Rawlins is in no mood to mess about. Two sixes off D'Oliveira brings him 15 from the 11th over.

1922: WICKET! Moeen Ali sends Wright on his way in the very next over, beating him in the flight as he advances down the pitch to clean bowl him for 33. Terrific bowling. 77-3.

1919: Big over for Sussex after a quiet period, Wright taking 15 from Ed Barnard's over. 71-1 after nine.

1910: Worcestershire taking the pace off well here. Patrick Brown bowls the sixth over and only concedes one run. 43-1 at the end of the powerplay.

1904: Worcestershire keep it tight until Laurie Evans springs into life with a huge pulled six over long-on. Wright follows suit with a couple of maximums of his own and Sussex reach 42-1 off five overs.

1852: WICKET! Salt gets Sussex away with a couple of sixes off Wayne Parnell before failing to run his bat in and getting run out. Looking at the replays, he was almost past the stumps but neither feet, nor his bat, were grounded when the ball hit the stumps. Fine throw from Brett D'Oliveira but that is poor stuff from Salt. 19-1 after two overs.

1842: Here they come. Luke Wright and Philip Salts to open for Sussex. Luke Wood with the new ball for Worcestershire. Let's go.

1833: I'm sweating a bit now. I'm heavily invested on Sussex having plumped for them before the tournament started back in June. Fingers crossed they can finish the job for Sporting Life readers and my own sanity.

1830: But don't write off Worcestershire here, they are an excellent side who beat a star-studded Lancashire outfit with a fine display earlier. With Moeen Ali and Patrick in their ranks, they will fancy their chances. We could have a cracker in prospect.

1825: Welcome back folks, the final of this year's Vitality Blast is less than 20 minutes away and news from Toss is that Sussex have won it and will bat first. No surprises from Luke Wright given the strength of his bowling attack and how hard chasing in big finals can be.

1752: Sussex are now 8/13 favourites with Sky Bet to lift the trophy. Worcestershire are the outsiders of the two at 11/8.

1740: Some from reaction from Sussex captain Luke Wright: "Everything just clicked but we're only halfway there and we've still got a big job to do now. It's going to be a great final - may the best team win."

1726: And there it is, Sussex win by 35 runs. Excellent stuff from them, Luke Wright and David Wiese with the bat before their excellent attack did the rest with the ball. Hard lines on Somerset who fought right until the end.

1721: 43 needed from the last over. The fat lady is clearing her throat. My ante-post selection, Sussex, will play Worcestershire in the final of this year's Vitality T20 Blast.

1718: WICKETS! Sussex turning it on here at the death. Archer gets rid of Anderson before the excellent Jordan yorks Gregory for seven. 49 required from 10 balls.

1707: 62 needed off 24. Jordan to bowl. Excellent over, only two from it. Sussex closing in.

1700: WICKET!: Huge moment here as Anderson blasts the ball back at Briggs who gets a finger on it before it smashes into the stumps with Abell (48) out of his ground. 132-5.

1653: Abell moves to 46 and Anderson joins the party by thumping Wiese for consecutive sixes. Did anyone take the 16/1 about Somerset? 118-4.

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1649: Will Beer left shaking his head after a missed stumping and then a catch goes begging off his bowling. Somerset still hanging in there.

1646: Only ten runs scored off the last two overs. Somerset 89-4 off 11.

1640: Edgbaston is really rocking now. It could be interesting in a couple of hours time.

1637: Tom Abell gives Somerset fans something to cheer about, and genuine hope, by taking Briggs for 25 in the 9th. Somerset still fighting on 79-4. "This game is not over," Darren Sammy.

1630: News from Doncaster is that Kew Gardens has won the St Leger. Ah, that Aidan O'Brien again. Pretty sure I backed that one when beaten at York last time but as they say, that's racing.

1629: WICKET! Somerset stalwart James Hildreth stokes three pleasing boundaries and he looks to rebuild the innings but then falls to Danny Briggs not long after the powerplay finishes. Somerset 48-4.

1623: Fancy a Somerset fightback? They do bat awfully deep and are 16/1 now.

1620: WICKET! Wiese is enjoying a good afternoon and takes a sharp catch low down at mid-on as Jordan picks up the dangerous Peter Trego for 5.

1617: Tymal Mills backs Archer up with another tight over. Somerset need something at 27-2 from four. I need Sussex.

1612: WICKET! Johann Myburgh plays some outrageous shots to race to 22 but Archer gets his man in the end, caught chipping to cover, as Somerset to slump to 24-2 off three overs.

1603: WICKET! And Archer does the trick for Sussex. Too much pace and too much bounce for Steven Davies who can only fend to point. Blockbuster cricketer this Archer. Somerset 3-1 after one.

1600: Jofra Archer to open the bowling for Sussex. First delivery clocks at a steady 91.6 mph. What a talent this boy is.

1555: Sky Bet make Sussex strong favourites at 1/5 with Somerset priced at 7/2. Chasing could still be tough on this wicket but it looked pretty flat when Wright was racing along and Somerset's long batting line-up has chased really well in this tournament so far this year.

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1551: WICKET! A run out to finish as Sussex finish on 202-7. It's a good score, no doubt, but Somerset will feel they have a chance having looked down and out twenty minutes ago.

1549: WICKET! Sussex imploding here as they lose another. Chris Jordan goes for a duck.

1557: WICKET (s)! Taylor putting on a clinic in how to bowl at the death here. Two wickets for only two runs in the 19th. He finishes with excellent figures of 4-0-20-4. This ain't over.

1542: 195-4 with two to go. Somerset dragging it back slightly here.

1538: WICKET! Wiese goes to fifty from only 26 balls but Wright is caught in the deep for an excellent 92 the very next ball.

1537: Sussex 192-3. Three to go. Wright approaching his hundred.

1532: Sussex will be eyeing 240 here. Yes, 240.

1528: Nine more off the next over before Lewis Gregory goes for 27 in the 15th. 177-3. Wright 85, Wiese 41.

1522: Wright continues on his merry way and takes Jamie Overton for 31 in the 13th over as Sussex move to 141-3.

1518: David Wiese springs into life with a cut for four and a bludgeoned six over long-on before Wright brings up his half-century by sending one into the stands.

1510: Wright doing his best to hold the innings together as Sussex reach 91-3 after ten overs. A fierce square cut for four takes Wright to 43.

1500: WICKET! Rawlins has given it away. The left-hander plays some wonderful strokes in his innings of 18 but tries to slog-sweep a ball that was never there and can only top edge straight up in the air. 75-3. Sussex tottering a little.

1455: Sussex end the powerplay on 55-2. Wright has motored along to 29. Interesting times.

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1449: And nearly a run out now as Delray Rawlins gives up when miles short of his ground only to watch the throw miss the stumps at the bowlers end.

1448: WICKET! Huge blow for Sussex as Evans misses a full toss from Taylor and is pinned lbw.

1446: Wright going well. 44-1 after four overs.

1440: More pace from Somerset as Jamie Overton comes into the attack. Wright welcomes him with a couple of sixes.

1437: WICKET! Salt (13) finds the boundary again before picking out mid-off. Laurie Evans, the Sussex rock, walks to the crease. 19-1 after two overs.

1434: Sussex off to a flyer in the first over as Philip Salt cracks a couple of fours. 10-0 off one. Jerome Taylor to bowl the second to Luke Wright.

1430: And we go again. Sussex win the toss and bat first in the second semi-final. Not a bad call given how tough chasing appeared to be in the first semi-final and the strength of the Sharks bowling attack.

1408: Right, Sussex and Somerset up next. Toss in twenty minutes. I've gone for Sussex here who were my outright selection at 8/1. Squeaky bum time.

1404: The immediate reaction from Sky Bet is to make Worcestershire their 6/5 outright favourites with Somerset and Sussex both available at 9/4.

1400: Good side, Worcestershire, and they deserve this having only narrowly missed out on a Lord's final with a brilliant run in this year's Royal One-Day Cup. Young Patrick Brown will take the headlines but Moeen Ali was exceptional with bat and ball while Ben Cox revived their innings when they looked dead and buried.

1358: Congratulations to Worcestershire who have defied the odds and overcome Lancashire's team of all-stars to make the Final of the T20 Blast on their first ever Finals Day appearance. Brilliant stuff.

1355: 29 required from the final over and Parnell finishes the job. Jennings ends on 51 not out but he needed more support. Worcestershire win by 20 runs.

1349: WICKET! And the very next ball Parkinson holes out as Brown foxes him with yet another slower ball. Brilliant performance from Brown who finishes with figures of 4-21 from his four overs. Three of those wickets came in the penultimate over. Nerves of steel. IPL deal anyone?

1347: WICKET! Brilliant from Brown who does Lester like a kipper and clean bowls him. Another slower ball. Very impressive.

1345: WICKET! Faulkner holes out to long-off as Brown's slower balls do the job again. 30 off 10 required.

1344: Another excellent over from Barnard. 30 needed of 12.

1340: 132-6. 38 needed off 18.

1339: WICKET! Brown does for Clark who can only drag a slower ball to deep midwicket and Mitchell catches well. Only six off Brown's over.

1336: Ali finishes his excellent spell with figures 4-0-16-2 but Jennings tickles the last ball fine for four. Ali shakes his head in disgust. Lancashire still fighting.

1331: WICKET: Big moment here as Dane Vilas is run out by Barnard. Vilas works the ball into the leg-side but having thought about taking a second run, is brilliantly run out by Barnard who has chased the ball down off his own bowling. 119-5.

1327: Ali brings Mitchell into the attack but Jennings takes advantage by smoking a four and a six. 13 from the over. Game on.

1324: Jennings starting to find his touch now, working the ball into the gaps well.

1319: WICKET! Ali bags the big one. Buttler tries to give himself room to force the ball through the off-side but can only chop onto his stumps. Lancashire 89-4.

1314: Jennings hacking like an average golfer here. Buttler, meanwhile, looks in sublime touch.

1314: Another tight over from Ali as Jennings continues to ride his luck.

1311: Ali v Buttler.

1305: WICKET! Ali brings himself into the attack and traps Lilley (23) lbw. 67-3 with Buttler and Jennings now at the crease. This, you feel, is where the game will be won or lost.

1301: WICKET! And a big one. Livingstone's 18-ball 30 comes to an end when D'Oliveira takes a fine catch running back at point. Barnard the bowler. 65-2 off seven. Buttler arrives at the crease.

1258: Lancashire end the powerplay strongly and finish on 55-1. Worcestershire had exactly the same score at this stage.

1249: Lancashire 25-1 off four. Cards on the table time, I've had more than a few shillings on Worcestershire. Sky Bet still make Lancashire strong favourites, though, with Buttler still to come.

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1247: A slight delay here after Wood takes a blow on his thumb whilst fielding off his own bowling.

1245: Worcestershire legend Jack Shantry offers his thoughts.

1241: WICKET! Patrick Brown's variations leave Lancashire's batsman swinging at thin air before Davies is run out when trying to take a second run to deep square-leg. 22/1 after three.

12:36: 17-0 after two overs as Livingstone picks up two boundaries off Wayne Parnell.

1230: No Buttler for Lancashire as Alex Davies and Liam Livingstone open the batting. Davies smokes two boundaries off Luke Wood to finish the first over on 8-0.

1222: Plenty of spin on offer here, I wonder if Ali might open with himself.

1220: Sky Bet seem sure that Lancashire will chase these. They are 1/3 Lancashire and 5/2 Worcestershire. I'm not so sure you know, I think Worcestershire have a sniff here if they can get Buttler early and take pace off the ball.

1218: Nine off the final over as Worcestershire end on 169-6. Probably under-par but they'd have taken that after losing three wickets in three balls in the middle overs. Game on I'd say.

1215: Fifty for Cox from only 32 balls.

1214: HELLO! Cox goes Six, Four, Six, Six as Worcesershire plunder 27 off the penultimate over. 160-6.

1207: Barnard switch-hits Khan for four. 133-6 with two overs to go. Can they get 155?

1156: Barnard muscles a couple of boundaries as Worcestershire move to 124-6. It's a start but they need to finish well. Three overs to go.

1152: WICKET! Daryll Mitchell has to go for six as Jordan Clark pins him lbw. Worcestershire tottering on 98-6. Ed Barnard is next in. He can give it a whack but he'll need to.

1150: Worcestershire edging towards 100 with nearly six overs to go. They'll need a grandstand finish but Parkinson is done. He finishes with exceptional figures of 4-0-23-2.

1141: WICKET! And another goes as the dangerous Ross Whiteley is flummoxed by Parkinson's leg-spin. He goes for four as Worcestershire finish the 11th over on 83-5. They could be well short if Ben Cox isn't able to muster something special.

11:38: Spin strangling Worcestershire here. I wonder what they'll be aiming for now.

11:34: Wow. Three wickets in three balls, that. This is Worcestershire's first Finals Day appearance and that lack of experience has really been shown up in the last five minutes. They have a mountain to climb now.

11:33: WICKET (s)! Disaster for Worcestershire as Brett D'Oliveira is run out and then Fell is stumped off the bowling of Parkinson for 23. Worcestershire reeling here at 71-4 after such a bright start.

1130: WICKET! Huge moment as Zahir Khan snares Ali for 41. Faulkner takes the catch.

1127: Time for some leg-spin, here's Matthew Parkinson. A good showing on the big stage here and he might well earn himself a spot on the Sri Lanka tour this winter.

1123: Three dots in a row puts Fell under pressure but he responds with consecutive fours as Worcestershire end the powerplay on 55-1.

1120: You sense that Ali is the key here. He picks up another boundary but Tom Fell has yet to get going. Worcestershire will want a big score given the power Lancashire house in their own batting line-up.

1116: Faulkner using all of his experience here. He concedes only three runs from his second over as Lancashire pull the run-rate back.

1114: WICKET! Clarke is bowled by Faulkner for five to give Lancashire a much-needed breakthrough.

1110: Ali motoring along here and deposits Livingstone for five consecutive boundaries. He has 32 off only 12 balls as Worcestershire race to 37-0 after three.

1106: James Faulkner from the other end. A big day for the Australian who was the linchpin of the Australian ODI side a few years ago but is firmly out of the picture now and has seen his stock fall considerably.

1104: Moeen starts with a couple of boundaries. He's in some touch right now. 9-0 after one over.

1100: And we're off. Toby Lester starts with a dot ball.

1055: Sky Bet are betting 1/2 Lancashire and 13/8 Worcestershire. I wonder if the latter might be underestimated there.

1052: As for Worcestershire, much will rest on the form of skipper Moeen Ali but the likes of Joe Clarke and Ben Cox are exciting young batsman who should not be underestimated. Patrick Brown gives them a real threat with the ball, too.

1050: Lancashire look particularly strong on paper ahead of this first semi-final. They welcome back England stars Jos Buttler and Keaton Jennings as well as Liam Livingstone from injury. Throw the likes of Alex Davies and Matthew Parksinson into the mix and that is some side.

1045: While we wait for the action to get started, myself and David Ord looked back at Alastair Cook's final Test match at The Oval and James Anderson breaking another record before discussing Finals Day.

1035: News from the Toss. Lancashire have won the Toss and will bowl first against Worcestershire.

1030: Team Sussex here but I promise to be impartial.

1026: I must confess that I will be rooting for Sussex Sharks today. Chiefly because they were my ante-post selection here back in June at 8/1. I won't win enough to retire but fingers crossed a few of our readers followed me in and are waiting on a nice little pay out. Sussex are now 5/2 to lift the trophy but in truth, I still don't think that's a bad price at all. They boast a fantastic bowling attack - led by global superstar Jofra Archer - and are coached by Jason Gillespie who guided the Adelaide Strikers to Big Bash success earlier this year.

1025: Don't forget you can bet on the action throughout Finals Day with Sky Bet.

1022: Lancashire Lightning and Worcestershire Rapids contest the first semi-final at 1100 and as soon as I have news from the toss, you will be the first to know. Meanwhile, please check out my betting preview of today's action here.

1020: First up, the weather. Good news, the forecast is largely clear and dry and though I doubt fans will need any sun cream, hopefully we can avoid any rain interruptions.

1015: Good morning folks and welcome to Sporting Life's Live Blog from the Vitality T20 Blast Finals Day. I'm Richard Mann and I will do my best to guide you through the day's action and what a day we have in store at Edgbaston.

Related links

• Richard Mann reflects on England's Test summer
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