Chris Lynn became the first man to score a hundred in the 22-year history of T20 Finals Day as his unbeaten 108 from 51 balls took Hampshire through their semi-final against Northamptonshire almost single-handedly.
Lynn described his achievement as "not bad", although he joked he was more interested in becoming one of a slightly less select club to have hit six sixes in an over. Having brought up his century, from 49 balls, with the fourth of five consecutive sixes off Lloyd Pope's legspin, he duly struck the fifth over the ropes - only to be given out lbw to the last ball of the over, a decision that was overturned on DRS.
The second semi-final at Edgbaston had appeared to be delicately balanced up until that point, with Hampshire needing 38 runs from 24 balls in a game that had shortened by rain. But after Lynn's five sixes - taking his tally in the match to 11 - it was left to James Fuller to hit the winning runs with 2.2 overs to spare.
Former Australia international Lynn was one of a handful of overseas players still available to play on Finals Day, with his status as a T20 freelancer meaning he was not subject to being recalled for the start of the Australian domestic season, like many of his compatriots involved in the Blast.
Lynn's efforts eclipsed the previous best individual score on Finals Day, the 92 scored by Luke Wright for Sussex in their semi-final win over Somerset in 2018. In this case, it was a one-man demolition, with Lynn smashing 108 out of Hampshire's total of 155; the next-highest score in the innings was James Vince's 12.
"It's easy to sit here and say it's a flat wicket now," Lynn said at the post-match presentation. "[It was a case of] one ball at a time, we knew it had a bit in it up front, they've got some quality seam bowlers. For us, it was about partnerships. That's the first domino down. Really happy, but still got one more job to do. Personally, it would top my day off if we can go again. I really like this shirt, I hope they'll have me back next year."
Asked about becoming the first man to score a century on Finals Day, which was first held to cap off the inaugural season of the Twenty20 Cup in 2003, Lynn said: "Not bad, I probably wanted six sixes more. I wasn't worried about the lbw, it was about trying to join Yuvraj [Singh] and Polly [Kieron Pollard]."
Northamptonshire had battled back to make a game of it, having been 86 for 6 before the second of two heavy showers - the first having pushed back the start - led to a reduction in overs. The innings was resurrected by a partnership of 70 in 40 balls between Justin Broad and Luke Procter, although Hampshire's target was revised down to 155 on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern.
They nevertheless made life difficult for Hampshire's batters - Lynn aside - with four of the top five dismissed after going at less than a run a ball. Ravi Bopara, Northamptonshire's veteran allrounder, said it took an "unbelievable" innings from Lynn to settle the outcome.
"I thought we put a good total on the board," Bopara said. "That was a decent total on that wicket, which was slowing up a bit. We though we had the game in the balance there, with about six overs to go - then obviously you have the one big over that loses you the game. I though Lynny played unbelievable, when someone had a day out like that it's hard to stop them."
"It is a tough wicket to get going, there's not a lot of pace in it. You do need a bit of power, which Lynny has got and he showed it tonight. That's why he's been so successful in T20 cricket throughout his career, because he's got the capability of clearing the ropes and taking the pitch out of the equation."
Hampshire, looking to secure a record fourth T20 title, advanced to contest the trophy against Somerset, the 2023 winners who have themselves reached four of the last five finals. Both teams share the record for Finals Day appearances with 11.
Lynn was able to strap the pads back on straight away, after Somerset won the toss and chose to bowl. He could not repeat his semi-final heroics, despite hitting his fourth ball for six - his 12th of the day - as he holed out to cover for 12 off seven balls.