Banton leads holders Somerset back to Finals Day
Tom Banton made 75 from 43 balls
- Published
Vitality Blast, Wantage Road, Northampton
Somerset 215-3 (20 overs): Banton 75, Kohler-Cadmore 63; Sanderson 1-23
Northamptonshire 198-5 (20 overs): Willey 57, Zaib 32; Gregory 3-35
Somerset beat Northamptonshire by 17 runs
Tom Banton led defending champions Somerset back to T20 Blast Finals Day as they beat Northamptonshire by 17 runs in their quarter-final at Wantage Road.
Banton made 75 from 43 balls to help his side post 215-3, having lost the toss on a damp and cold evening.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore also made 63 from 43 having been dropped early in his innings, one of a number of fielding errors by the home side.
Northants captain David Willey led the chase with 57 from 39 balls but, with 57 needed from 20 deliveries, he holed out to deep cover and the hosts could only reach 198-5.
Victory means Somerset will return to Finals Day for a fourth consecutive year and they now have the chance to become the first team to defend the T20 title.
Sent in, the early going was difficult with some movement off the pitch and they lost Will Smeed for six in the second over, caught behind off Willey.
But Banton found his touch, lifting Jack White for his first six as Somerset ended the powerplay on a healthy 49-1.
Banton slog-swept Freddie Heldreich's left-arm wrist spin for back-to-back sixes in the eighth over before passing 50 in 31 balls - his fourth half-century of the competition.
He added two further sixes before holing out to Saif Zaib's left-arm spin as Northants finally broke a partnership of 125 in 75 balls.
The stand should have ended much earlier as Gus Miller totally missed a simple catch at long-off that would have removed Kohler-Cadmore for just seven but he went on to strike four sixes to reach 50 in 38 balls before he fell to Ben Sanderson.
Sean Dickson then made 33 off 17 to lift Somerset to their second-highest total of the tournament.
Ricardo Vasconcelos ignited the chase by taking 18 from the final over of the powerplay to leave the home side 52-1 after six overs.
Willey followed with a flat six over long-on off Craig Overton's final ball before another six was pulled over deep square.
But Vasconcelos scooped Lewis Gregory to long leg to fall for 30 in 24 balls and after Justin Broad began to fire with 29 in 17, he popped a return catch back to Gregory to leave Northants 114-3 in the 13th over.
Northants needed 79 from the final five overs and Zaib kept the hosts in it with two pick-ups over the leg side for six but he skied up a catch to depart for 32 in 16 balls.
Willey brought up his half-century in 35 deliveries but became starved of the strike and when he also fell, to Jake Ball, the Northants chase petered out.
T20 Blast quarter-final fixtures and results
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- Published6 June
