County T20 Finals Preview

Four teams will line up this Saturday (7th September) in the County T20 finals having made their way there through the three regional leagues played back in July.

T20 South 1 winners were Sussex. Having lost to Kent in the round robin games they managed to beat them in the final by two runs, despite Kent only needing five to win off the last over with eight wickets in hand.
T20 North and Midlands 1 winners were Notts, who won all their group games and then thrashed Yorkshire in the final thanks, in the main, to a fine 102 (63 balls) from Danni Wyatt, who had a good couple of days with the bat.
T20 South & West 1 winners were Berkshire, who had been convincingly beaten by Somerset in the group games, but came back to sneak a win in the final against them by three runs.
The fourth spot in the finals went to the runner-up with the best net run rate from their regional final, which meant that Kent had squeaked in ahead of the unfortunate Somerset.

T20 form is very hard to predict as one individual can have such a big influence on a game. Berkshire are severely hampered by the lack of their injured captain and Ashes hero Heather Knight, who scored runs in all their group games, and you would have to back Sussex to overcome them in their semi-final. Sussex themselves are without the injured Georgia Elwiss, who proved so effective for them with the bat in the group stages, but have some good youngsters coming through together with England stars Sarah Taylor, Arran Brindle and Holly Colvin.

Kent v Notts in the other semi-final is much harder to call. Notts are the only unbeaten team in the competition and have the pocket-rocket Danni Wyatt and the very experienced Jenny Gunn. But Kent have the strength in depth with Charlotte Edwards, Laura Marsh, Tammy Beaumont and the in-form Lydia Greenway all in their line-up. Despite having only just managed to qualify for the finals from the group stages they are probably favourites to win the competition, particularly as they have not made it to the County Championship final this season, and will want some silverware in the cabinet over the winter. However T20 is not their favourite format of the game (they lost to Middlesex in the group stages), so anything could happen.

Preston Nomads CC - in the heart of the Sussex Downs

The finals day is being played at Preston Nomads CC in Clappers Lane, Fulking (BN5 9NH) in the heart of the Sussex Downs. It is a beautiful ground and a magnificent clubhouse and I would urge you to get down there if you possibly can.


The semi-finals to be played at 11am are between
Sussex v Berkshire
Notts v Kent

The final will be played on the main pitch in the afternoon (probably 2.30pm) between the two winning teams.

MD
04/IX/13