Matt Henry leads gutsy defence of 145 as Essex fall short despite Daniel Sams’ defiance
Alan Gardner15-Jul-2023Somerset ended an 18-year wait for a second T20 title as they put their Finals Day heartache behind them, concluding a record-breaking season with another ruthless bowling performance under the Edgbaston lights. Somerset had won 14 games out of 16 going into the final against Essex but made no mistake with the pressure on beneath the spectre of seven previous failures in English T20’s showpiece event.Put in for the second match running, Somerset were indebted to Sean Dickson’s well-crafted half-century as they scraped up to 145 all out from their 20 overs. Matt Henry then ripped the head off the Essex reply with a spell of 3 for 18 and the New Zealander returned to end Daniel Sams’ heroic attempts to win the match on his own, with the help of a flying, one-handed catch from Tom Kohler-Cadmore. In the process they equalled Leicestershire’s 2011 mark for the lowest score successfully defended in the final. The losers on that occasion? Somerset.The final of cricket’s longest day – which had survived an appalling forecast for the loss of just a handful of overs across two semi-finals – pitted Somerset’s winning machine against the South Group rabble-rousers, who only scraped through to the knockouts with a six from the final ball of their campaign. Essex were also bidding for a second title but fell short despite the efforts of Sams, whose belligerent hitting kept the result in the balance even as the ninth wicket fell with 29 still needed.Somerset, for whom Ish Sodhi claimed 3 for 22, had finished runners-up in this competition four times, as well as departing Edgbaston empty-handed in each of the past two seasons. They did it the hard way here, too, batting first in both semi and final. But as Kohler-Cadmore threw the ball aloft and Player of the Match Henry was embraced by his captain, Lewis Gregory, the choruses of “Somerset, la-la-la!” could finally begin.Powerplay blows tradedEssex had been the fastest-scoring side in the powerplay this season but also prone to spectacular collapses. Somerset, meanwhile, had already taken the most wickets in a Blast season coming into Finals Day and continued their potent form by bowling out Surrey with 13 balls to spare in their semi. Clearly, the start to Essex’s chase was going to be a right old dust-up.It was exhilarating stuff from the outset, as Essex raced to 27 from the first 11 balls and then lost four wickets from the next 17. Adam Rossington crunched four fours before belting a tracer bullet to Kasey Aldridge at point, who did well to avoid injury never mind cling on. Henry picked up two more in his next over, producing a peach to bowl Michael Pepper for a duck and trapping Dan Lawrence on the crease, before Robin Das’ attempt to hit Craig Overton over the top plopped tamely into the hands of mid-on.Sams spoke before the game about Essex attempting to demolish the old T20 axiom that losing three wickets in the powerplay meant losing the game – and they had managed three such wins in the group stage. But with Henry and Overton bowling unchanged for combined figures of 4 for 46, Essex had their work cut out for them.Slim chance rests with SamsA wicket for Gregory in his first over put Essex further behind the eight ball as they limped to 71 for 5 at halfway. Paul Walter was then defeated by a tossed-up delivery from Sodhi to be bowled for 26, but the lurking threat of Sams became clear when he mowed Aldridge over the shorter leg-side boundary from the City End to keep them clinging to the coat-tails of the asking rate.Simon Harmer was the next to go, with the requirement 40 from 32, but although Sams kept Somerset fans on edge there was to be no dramatic heist. His eventual dismissal for 45 off 26 confirmed Somerset’s first T20 success since 2005. It also meant that Somerset became the first team to bowl out both of their opponents on Finals Day, and took their record-breaking tally of wickets for the season to 151 from 17 games.Somerset’s big three kept quietHaving opted to chase, Essex needed to contain a powerful Somerset line-up. Their top three coming into Finals Day had all scored more than 400 runs with strike rates in the region of 150-180 but, despite Tom Banton being dropped off the first ball of the innings, Essex managed to see them off without too much damage.Lawrence was the man who failed to hang on to a sharp chance above his head at backward point, and the bowler, Sams, was then twice dispatched through the off-side arc by Will Smeed in the same over. Banton audaciously scooped Sam Cook’s fifth ball over the keeper’s head for six, but Somerset’s early momentum was checked when Smeed dragged on against Shane Snater in the third over.Two more boundaries off Aaron Beard were followed by Kohler-Cadmore slugging Cook into the Hollies for another emphatic six as Somerset reached the end of the powerplay on 46 for 1. But Banton then fell miscuing a reverse-slap off Snater to short third and when Kohler-Cadmore chopped on against Matt Critchley the score had slipped to 54 for 3. Between them, Banton, Smeed and Kohler-Cadmore had managed 48 off 44.Critch catch turns match?
Somerset’s innings hinged around the non-dismissal of Gregory for what would have been a golden duck in the 12th over. Critchley thought he had got fingers under the ball when stooping for a low return catch, but third umpire Nigel Llong ruled it had not been taken cleanly. Had it been given, Somerset would have been 69 for 5, but Gregory and Dickson subsequently combined for a stand of 45 in 28 balls to lift their side back into contention.Dickson, whose unheralded 30 off 22 had proved vital against Surrey, set about playing another shrewd knock in the middle order. He was 12 off 13 before hitting his first boundary, then picked up a brace of fours in Harmer’s solitary over and two more off consecutive balls in the next from Critchley.However, Snater’s return to bowl out brought another key breakthrough as Gregory top-edged a short ball to be caught and bowled, and Essex squeezed again to dismiss Ben Green and Overton cheaply – the latter via Beard’s direct hit from deep square leg. Dickson brought up 33-ball fifty in the penultimate over but then gloved Walter’s short ball behind as the Somerset innings dribbled to a conclusion. But with runs on the board, Somerset’s attack were more than in the game.
