Northamptonshire Steelbacks secured their place in the Vitality Blast final by overcoming defending champions Somerset with a 17-run victory in the first semi-final at Edgbaston.
Batting first, the Steelbacks managed a modest total of 143 all out in 19.2 overs. Jake Ball led the bowling charge for Somerset with an impressive four wickets for 17 runs, including a maiden over, while Riley Meredith supported strongly, taking three wickets for 21. Despite Chris Lynn’s aggressive 39 off 26 deliveries, the Northants innings struggled to gain momentum against disciplined bowling and sharp fielding.
Chasing 144, Somerset faced a tough challenge. After a shaky start of 12 for 3, Will Smeed steadied the innings with a resilient 49 off 35 balls. However, David Willey (3/21), Ben Sanderson (3/28), James Sales (1/16), and Calvin Harrison (1/20) tightened the grip, curbing Somerset’s hopes and restricting them to 126 for nine.
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The Steelbacks now await the winner of the match between Notts Outlaws and Hampshire for tonight’s final. Notably, no team has ever retained the Blast title in its 24-year history, adding another layer of intrigue to the finale.
Somerset’s decision to bowl first backfired early when Ricardo Vasconcelos and Nathan McSweeney were both dismissed lbw after Craig Overton and Riley Meredith’s reviews. Chris Lynn’s innings got off to a slow start, facing only two balls in the first 16 minutes before being dismissed, turning the momentum in Northants’ favor.
Lynn and Saif Zaib put on a 65-run partnership, but both fell to Jake Ball, with Lynn visibly frustrated after a mistimed shot and Zaib caught slicing at a ball. Following a sharp catch by Daniel Sams, Ball and Meredith continued to dismantle the remaining batsmen, leaving Northants short of a challenging target initially.
Somerset’s chase rapidly deteriorated when Tom Banton, returning from England duty for the day, edged David Willey’s first ball to the keeper. Early wickets continued to fall, plunging Somerset to 12 for 3 inside just 17 balls.
A bright spell came late in the powerplay as Will Smeed unleashed a flurry of boundaries in the fifth over, rattling the bowlers with a sequence of 4-4-4-6-6-4. Smeed and Tom Kohler-Cadmore added 62 runs for the fourth wicket but fell successively, leaving Somerset needing 48 off the last five overs.
Despite some tight bowling from Overton and Willey, Somerset couldn’t accelerate enough. Kohler-Cadmore and Overton departed at crucial moments, and in the end, 23 runs off the final over proved too many to chase.
Somerset head coach Jason Kerr reflected on the outcome: “We are incredibly disappointed. At the halfway stage, we were in a great position, but the batting performance was probably a reflection of our campaign. It was a tale of two halves — we were great in the first half but didn’t really turn up for the second.
“We got some momentum back with that brilliant over from Will Smeed and were in a strong position, but we struggled to maintain it and kept losing wickets at critical moments.
“Credit to Northants – they had a great game plan focusing on yorkers, and Calvin Harrison bowled really well. It’s frustrating because our aim was to retain the trophy after the success on Wednesday, but we needed to play better than we did today.”