T20 Blast: Somerset reach record sixth final as they defend low total to beat Surrey

Craig won the battle of the Overton twins, taking three wickets, as well as catching Jamie on the deep long-on boundary

Somerset booked a record sixth T20 Blast final as they superbly defended an under-par total to beat Surrey by 24 runs in the second semi.

The 2005 winners - and four-times beaten finalists - booked a final against 2019 winners Essex as they scored only 142-7, but then bowled out Surrey for 118.

England paceman Craig Overton and Ben Green took three wickets each as Surrey's batting crumbled - and their last nine wickets all went to catches devoured by the sharp Somerset fielders.

Somerset, playing in their ninth Finals Day, enjoyed that one and only T20 triumph, ironically at The Oval 18 years ago. And it initially looked like they would not be making it to another final once they had lost both openers Tom Banton and Will Smeed.

After putting on 38, Smeed was the first to give wicketkeeper Jamie Smith catching practice off Sean Abbott in the fifth over for 21, before Gus Atkinson also had Banton caught behind two overs later for 26.

That put them behind the clock and the wickets followed steadily, as Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Lewis Gregory, Green and Overton all went cheaply.

Surrey's Australian paceman Sean Abbott picked the right day to serve up his best T20 bowling figures of the season

Admittedly, two of them were to stunning Surrey catches, the first by keeper Smith diving to his right to remove Gregory off Chris Jordan, while Tom Curran also produced a blinder at short third man to remove Overton and give Abbott his fourth wicket - and his best T20 return of the season.

But it was only the steady hands of Sean Dickson, with an unbeaten 30 off 22 balls, and a late boundary-less 14 from Matt Henry that gave them any sort of total to defend.

Overton made early inroads when he bowled Laurie Evans in the first over for a second-ball duck. But, from 20-1 after 20 balls, that quickly became 38-4 as Surrey imploded with the loss of three wickets in 17 deliveries - all good catches.

Jason Roy, up against beaten 2019 World Cup finalist Henry again, picked out square leg, Will Jacks was well caught by Smeed on the mid-wicket boundary rope and Sam Curran skewed Green's first delivery to mid-off.

Another 13 balls later, it was 57-5 when Smith skied Green deep to mid-on - and Overton safely took a stumbling catch. And that became 68-6 when, fresh from two boundaries, Jamie Overton picked out his brother Craig on the deep mid-on boundary at the other end - and the delighted twin pouched the catch.

Chris Jordan plundered two sixes in a 14-ball cameo, in a 27-run stand with Tom Curran. The second of them was powered off Overton over mid-wicket, but the Somerset paceman got his revenge when Jordan holed out trying to repeat the shot to make it 95-7.

Tom Curran then followed in the next over, a first wicket for Henry, who, after Cameron Steel had been caught by Banton, finished things off when Abbott picked out Smeed at square leg.

And that left reigning county champions and current Division One leaders Surrey, the inaugural Twenty 20 Cup winners in 2003, still waiting for another short-format title.

Surrey captain Chris Jordan:

"I was very pleased with the bowling and fielding performance - that was the benchmark of the kind of play we have been looking for the entire season.

"If someone told me at the start of the game we would restrict Somerset to 142, I'd certainly have taken it but we didn't quite get it right with the bat. We lost wickets in the powerplay and one of the things we know about Twenty20 cricket is you have to find that balance between putting the bowlers under pressure but not losing wickets.

"There was still belief that we could come though because our batting line-up is so long and we have power right the way down the order.

"When Tom Curran and I came together we said, look, let's be positive and if something's there, we take it on, and we managed to collect three sixes in about an eight-ball stretch but I just didn't get hold of the last one I went for and Somerset fielded very well, as they have done all season."