T20 Blast Finals Day: Essex, Hampshire, Somerset and Surrey bid for title

Hampshire batter James Vince, Essex spinner Simon Harmer, Surrey all-rounder Sam Curran and Somerset bowler Ben Green will all be looking to make an impact

For the second time in three years, T20 Blast Finals Day will be an all-South Group affair at Edgbaston.

Defending champions Hampshire Hawks will become the first club to retain the title if they lift the trophy for what would be a record fourth time.

They face 2019 winners Essex in the first last-four tie in Birmingham, with Somerset meeting Surrey in the second of the day's matches.

BBC Sport takes a closer look at what to expect from the four sides competing to make the final, which is scheduled to start at 18:45 BST, although bad weather may play its part.

Heavy showers and strong winds are forecast throughout Saturday in Birmingham, but there is a reserve day on Sunday.

Semi-final one: Essex v Hampshire Hawks (11:00 BST)

Hampshire secured a nail-biting one-run win over Lancashire Lightning 12 months ago to move level with Leicestershire Foxes on three T20 titles.

"After winning in the fashion that we did last year, we are eager to get back to it," Hampshire captain James Vince, the leading run-scorer this season with 657 runs, told BBC Radio Solent.

"How good it felt after the game makes us more hungry to try to repeat the win."

The Hawks are in the last four for a record 10th time after easing to a five-wicket win over Worcestershire Rapids at the Ageas Bowl in their quarter-final.

"The fact that we have done so well over long periods really helps us," director of cricket Giles White told BBC Radio Solent.

"I think we have managed to maintain that winning habit and it is engrained in some of our players, who lead the way and others follow.

"We are constantly tinkering and finding ways to better the team."

Hampshire Hawks are the joint-most successful side in domestic T20 competition alongside Leicestershire Foxes

The Hawks won both group meetings against semi-final opponents Essex, sealing a resounding 118-run win in Chelmsford before a four-wicket victory in the return.

However, Vince warns those results do not mean his side "are going to just turn up and beat" them.

"We have been consistent in making the finals but with four good teams in the mix we are not going to win it every time," the 32-year-old England international added.

"Essex have quality players and it will come down to playing good cricket and hoping someone in our team puts in a match-winning performance."

Essex, meanwhile, saw off Birmingham Bears by two wickets to secure a passage to their sixth finals day.

"I'm very excited. It's the biggest day in the county cricket timetable and the day you want to get to," batter Michael Pepper told BBC Essex.

"We should've won one [game against Hampshire], but I guess if we keep doing what we've been doing in the last couple of games I think we should be good.

"We've got world-class players and it often only takes one player or moment to change the game."

Semi-final two: Somerset v Surrey (14:30 BST)

Somerset reached their third Finals Day in a row with a five-wicket win over Notts Outlaws at home, after setting a new record for the most matches won (12) en route to topping the South Group as the competition's leading wicket-takers.

Beaten in the last four in 2022, the Taunton-based club won the competition in 2005 and have been runners-up a record four times since.

Head coach Jason Kerr said confidence is "incredibly high" and has been reflected in the side's performances this year.

"There's times when we've been under pressure and we've found a way to win," he told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We're arguably the best team in the country and we need to go and deliver that on Saturday. The true test is actually to bring the trophy home.

"Last year, looking back, we didn't turn up."

Tom Banton hopes Somerset will be in peak condition after several players sat out the County Championship draw against Hampshire this week.

"We've rested a lot of the guys who would normally be playing in red ball, which we didn't do last year," the 24-year-old batter told BBC Points West.

"I remember last year the boys seemed to be quite tired.

"We've come so close the last few years. If we play our best cricket then I'm sure we'll win both games, but it's going to be a tough day."

One of Somerset's two group defeats was a 28-run defeat by Surrey at the Cooper Associates County Ground last month.

England all-rounder Sam Curran took 5-26 and played his part in a run out when Surrey beat Somerset in the South Group at Taunton

The Kia Oval club won the inaugural T20 Cup in 2003 and have been back to the final three times since without success, with their most recent appearance in 2018.

Surrey bounced back from a run of three successive defeats at the end of the group stage to beat Lancashire by 13 runs in the last eight and book their eighth trip to Finals Day.

"We know lots about Somerset and they know lots about us," head coach Gareth Batty told BBC Radio London.

"Can we just have the edge?

"We believe we are in a very good place. It is about enjoying the occasion and coming away with two wins."

Surrey will be without West Indies international Sunil Narine, their leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps, as the spinner is unable to return to the UK amid his commitments in Major League Cricket in the United States.

"He has been wonderful for us with bat and ball, but opportunity knocks for whoever fills that place that has opened up," Batty said.