Somerset face Lancashire Lightning in Vitality Blast’s quarter-finals

Somerset and Lancashire Lightning meet in the Vitality T20 Blast Quarter-Final at the County Ground tomorrow evening battling for a place at finals day at Edgbaston, which is to be played on Saturday 18th September.

A win for Somerset would book them a place at finals day for the first time in three years, while it would be Lancashire’s second consecutive finals day appearance having been knocked out by Notts Outlaws in the semi-finals in 2020.

The hosts last won a T20 competition in 2005, and it was Lancashire who were runners up that day. Somerset last made the final of what is now known as the Blast 10 years ago. The Lightning were runners up in 2014, and won the Blast for the first time the following year.

This year, Somerset finished second in the South Group with eight wins and four defeats. They qualified with a game left, with a 74-run win over Glamorgan booking their place in the quarters.

Lancashire made it into the quarters by the skin of their teeth. The North Group was decided on average points per game due to two games being postponed due to Covid. Glen Chapple’s side made it into the quarters by just .14 of a point and a four-wicket win over arch-rivals Yorkshire proved crucial in booking their place.

Somerset’s best result in the group stage came at the end of June when they beat Kent Spitfires by 10 wickets, chasing a target of 169 with 4.2 overs to spare. Tom Banton finished 107 not out, while Devon Conway finished 51 not out.

Lancashire had many tight games on the other hand, and after a dip in form midway through the group stage, they picked up crucial wins towards the end with a six-run win over Durham in their penultimate game also proving to be vital.

One’s To Watch

Somerset will be without two important players from the campaign. New Zealand international Conway left the club after the conclusion of the group stage, and Craig Overton is on test duty with England.

They will have 22-year-old Tom Banton on their side though. Banton averaged 39.33 runs during the group stages, and he’s known to be a good young prospect who will need to be on form tomorrow if Somerset are to have a chance of winning the game.

Marchant de Lange was Somerset’s leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets at an average of 21.64 runs in the group stages, and he will also be key tomorrow.

Lancashire will be boosted by the return of Liam Livingstone, who only made five appearances in the group stage due to being on international duty with England. He started the Blast campaign in fantastic fashion, averaging 63.5 runs with a high score of 94 not out.

Livingstone has had an excellent season for Lancashire, England and also Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred. For England, he scored their fastest ever T20 century and in the Hundred, he averaged 58 with a high score of 92 not out.

Matt Parkinson will also be key with the ball. He took 13 wickets in the group stages and has been Lancashire’s leading wicket-taker in the Blast for the last three years. He also averaged 14.11 in the Hundred with the Manchester Originals, taking nine wickets.

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