T20 Blast semi-final: Birmingham Bears beat Glamorgan in first semi-final

Birmingham Bears reached the T20 Blast final on their home ground with an 11-run win over Glamorgan in the first semi-final at Edgbaston.

The Bears posted 175-9 thanks to an explosive 23-ball half-century from opener Ed Pollock (50).

Glamorgan were reduced to 39-3 with Sam Hain and Grant Elliott taking superb catches in the deep to remove Aneurin Donald and the dangerous Colin Ingram.

Captain Jacques Rudolph fought with 65 before Glamorgan ended 164 all out.

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Opener Rudolph had threatened to take his side close, but was run out at the non-striker's end in the 15th over by bowler Aaron Thomason's superb flick onto the stumps.

With 26 needed off Chris Woakes' final over, Andrew Salter took 14 runs off the first three balls before holing out at long-on.

The Bears will play the winner of the second semi-final between Notts Outlaws and Hampshire (14:30 BST) in the final at 18:45 BST.

Birmingham's total of 175 looked to be just about par on a flat wicket, with Pollock getting the Bears off to a flying start, clubbing four sixes to take his side to 65-1 in the powerplay.

In their reply, Glamorgan could not fully recover from Hain and Elliott's brilliance in the field in the first few overs.

First 22-year-old Hain clung on one-handed after initially spilling the chance on the leg-side boundary off Chris Woakes' fourth delivery of the innings, before New Zealander Elliott snaffled a steepler while running backwards to dismiss Ingram.

Bears opener Ed Pollock: "It's generally what I try to do - hit a ball for six.

"I found it quite simple, but with a slower ball and the field out it makes it much harder."

Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph: "I think we can be really proud of how we've done in this campaign.

"In these semi-finals you've got to be spot on. There were one or two incidents in the field where we could have saved runs, but I'm really happy with our squad."