Somerset 195 for 4 (Smeed 94) beat Hampshire 194 for 6 (Albert 85, Vince 52) by six wickets
Somerset came out on top in a clash of the T20 Blast titans, pulling off the highest successful run-chase in the competition's final to overcome Hampshire and claim a record-equalling third title under the Edgbaston lights. Will Smeed blazed 94 off 58 to get Somerset most of the way there, before Lewis Gregory obliterated the tension in the stands by hammering a four and two sixes in five balls to seal victory with an over to spare.
Hampshire, whose total of 194 for 6 had been underpinned by 85 off 48 balls from young opener Toby Albert, seemed to be in control as the requirement for Somerset ticked beyond two runs per ball just past the halfway mark. But Scott Currie's drop of Sean Dickson was to prove crucial, as a fourth-wicket partnership of 88 off 51 dragged the contest back Somerset's way.
Having been asked to bat, Albert and James Vince made up for the early of loss of Chris Lynn with a stand of 97 in 59 balls to put Hampshire in a formidable position. Albert, in particular, produced some audacious shot-making - including four reverse-hit boundaries in the space of six balls - as Somerset were asked to make the highest-ever score in the final of the competition.
Their start was given the required fizz by Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who hit one enormous six over the roof of the Hollies Stand and out of the ground, and although Hampshire frequently seemed one good over from shutting the chase down, Smeed and then Dickson - the linchpin in Somerset's 2023 Blast success - kept landing timely blows. With both teams making their 11th Finals Day appearances, it was always likely to be a tussle for the ages.
Victory for Somerset ended the hoodoo for winners of the first semi-final, as they became the first team since Worcestershire in 2018 to lift the trophy after kicking their heels during the second game. It also marked a fifth consecutive triumph for the South Group - though that was confirmed earlier in the day by the exits of Lancashire and Northamptonshire.
TKC lands first blow, Baker hits back
Batting second on a surface that was being used for the third time in the day meant Somerset knew they had to get a shuffle on. Smeed picked up boundaries in each of the first two overs - Sonny Baker also contributing with five wides from his first ball - and Kohler-Cadmore then took up the cudgels, hammering his fourth ball, a pull off Chris Wood, over the heads of those in the Hollies and out towards the River Rea.
Scott Currie's first delivery also flew all the way, as Kohler-Cadmore unleashed a scything uppercut over deep third. Baker returned, switching to the Pavilion End, only to be thrashed through the covers. But the Hampshire fast bowler showed why he is on England's radar by splattering Kohler-Cadmore's stumps with an 88mph yorker to end the opening stand at 46.
Smeed carries the fight
Smeed had ticked along to 18 off 15 but responded to the loss of Kohler-Cadmore by twice cracking James Fuller through point at the start of the sixth. Tom Abell departed for a duck in the same over, Somerset finishing the powerplay on 55 for 2, but James Rew picked off early boundaries as Smeed bedded into the middle overs.
Currie's return in the 10th saw the back of Rew, chopping on to his stumps, and Hampshire looked to squeeze through the nous of South Africa spinner Bjorn Fortuin. The required rate was approaching 12 an over, but Smeed kept Somerset in touch with back-to-back fours off Fortuin and then a thump off Howell. Then came the crucial drop of Dickson, with Smeed turning the screw in the following over by taking three more boundaries off Fortuin. That meant Somerset finished the 15th over on 136 for 3 - exactly the same score as Hampshire as the same stage of their innings.
Finisher Dickson does it again
With 59 needed from 30 balls, Dickson produced his first flourish by ramping Baker over the keeper for his first boundary. Another driven four followed, and Smeed then crunched Currie into the Hollies to keep Somerset in touch. With dew becoming a factor, the 18th over was to prove decisive as Dickson - who is leaving Somerset for Glamorgan after not being offered a new contract - twice took Benny Howell for sixes, the first an outrageous reverse-swipe over deep third.
Nineteen runs came off the over, leaving Somerset needing 18 from 12, and although Smeed picked out long-off to fall short of becoming the second man to make a century in the day, he walked off with the highest individual score in a final. The jig was up for Hampshire, and in walked Gregory to ice the chase with three boundaries in five balls, sparking a raucous rendition of "Somerset, la-la-la" in the stands.
No Lynn-sanity this time
After his semi-final heroics, in which he became the first man to score a hundred on Finals Day, Lynn joked that he would be happy to keep batting, with just a 45-minute turnaround to the final: "Got the pads on, let's go." He got his wish, with Somerset opting to chase, and duly smoked his fourth ball back down the ground for his 12th six of the day; but he didn't last much longer, chipping Craig Overton to cover in the third over.
But where Lynn's top-order colleagues had gone missing against Northants, here they stood up. Albert had got going with back-to-back drives for four, in the process overtaking D'Arcy Short at the Blast's leading run-scorer for the season. After Vince chimed in with whipped sixes off Overton and Jake Ball, Albert signalled the Hampshire charge was well and truly on by taking Migael Pretorius' only over of the night for 25 with a sequence of 4-6-6-4-4, only interrupted by a wide.
Vince then launched Overton for his third six at the start of the sixth over, followed by consecutive fours - which meant eight legitimate deliveries in a row had disappeared to the rope. Even without the Lynn-sanity, Hampshire had piled up 83 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.
Albert takes over
With the fielding restrictions relaxed, Hampshire opted for consolidation during the middle of the innings. Albert was the first to fifty, off 29 balls - his sixth of a breakthrough campaign - while Vince also reached the mark in the 12th over, from 32. Three balls later, the partnership was broken when Vince dragged Lewis Goldsworthy to deep midwicket, and Somerset then chipped out another when Ball's brilliant return catch saw off James Fuller.
Hampshire had only scored three boundaries between the start of the seventh over and the midway point of the 16th. Despite the slowdown, Albert decided it was time to jam the gearstick in reverse. Ben Green was twice reverse-swept off the stumps, despite bowling near-yorkers, over and past short third for back-to-back fours, and Albert then did the same to Ball when he went short, slapping another brace of boundaries to move into the 80s.
Albert fell at the start of the next over, missing a swipe at Gregory's change-up to see his off stump rattled. But Howell cleared the ropes twice in a useful cameo at No. 5, as Hampshire equalled Northamptonshire's total of 194 for 2 (made from 18 overs) in the 2013 final. Somerset needed to set a new benchmark to claim their record-equalling third title. They duly obliged.
