T20 Blast: Somerset fight back to beat Notts Outlaws in quarter-final

Lewis Gregory struck five sixes in his unbeaten 57

Lewis Gregory led Somerset to their third T20 Blast Finals Day in succession with a five-wicket win over Notts Outlaws at Taunton.

Gregory made an unbeaten 57 from 34 deliveries as Somerset recovered from 62-5 to reach their target of 158 with three balls to spare.

Somerset will now play Surrey, who beat Lancashire, in one of the semi-finals at Edgbaston on 15 July.

Notts won the toss and chose to bat but lost three wickets inside four overs before scrambling to 157-6 with Craig Overton taking 2-23 from four overs.

Matt Montgomery made 51 from 38 balls but his was the only significant contribution as Notts were contained by an impressive Somerset bowling display.

However, their score proved a very competitive total as Notts took five wickets in the first half of the chase.

Somerset were well placed at 53-2 in the eighth over but Tom Abell was superbly run out by Alex Hales running in from long-on before Calvin Harrison took two wickets in the 10th over.

Gregory arrived and swung Wasim's left-arm spin for six over long-off and added a second six off Samit Patel.

19 were needed from the final 12 balls and Jake Ball was given the penultimate over for Notts, only to be smeared down the ground for four by Gregory and then just over the head of long-off for six.

Luke Fletcher had only five to defend from the final over but overstepped with three needed and Green, who finished 35 not out from 29 balls, scored the winning run off the free hit.

Earlier, Overton bowled four overs at the start of the innings and took out Hales' leg stump for a duck before having Colin Munro very well held by Matt Henry running back from mid-off.

Montgomery kept the Notts innings alive but the ball after reaching fifty, skied Green and was superbly caught by Overton running off the long-off fence.

Somerset captain Lewis Gregory:

"Our bowlers were terrific as they have been all competition and, although there were one or two things we could have done better at the end of their innings, I was pleased with how we were with the ball.

"Obviously, the batting did not go as it has done in the group games and when I went in the situation was far from ideal to say the least.

"But there is a great belief among the team this season and we find different ways to win. Now we face Surrey in the semi-finals, which will be tough, but we fear no one in the competition and I want to return from Edgbaston with that trophy."

Notts captain Steven Mullaney:

"In the final analysis, we didn't score enough runs. We were 15 or 20 short of a challenging total.

"But, when Imad Wasim took those two wickets in his opening over we were ahead of the game and we took three more quickly. Unfortunately, Lewis Gregory and Ben Green took it away from us with some brilliant batting and we were beaten by a very good side.

"Lewis is one of my best mates. I was around his house this morning having a coffee and visiting his new baby girl. I want him to do well, but not against us. Even so, I'm very proud of the way we competed."