Summary

  • Gloucestershire all out for 138 after Birmingham Bears chose to bowl first

  • Cameron Bancroft top scores with 43 but Gloucestershire collapse from 70-1

  • David Payne takes 4-23 as the Bears make only 124-9 in reply despite 33 from Chris Benjamin

  • Gloucestershire will play Sussex at Finals Day at Edgbaston on Saturday, 14 September

  • Surrey will play holders Somerset in the other semi

Live Reporting

Alex Smith and Alex Winter

  1. Bears v Gloucs 38-0

    Like old-fashioned T20 cricket from Gloucestershire.

    Smash the six and then rotate the strike. 10 from the over and the runs keep on coming without many risks.

  2. 6 runs

    Bears v Gloucs 37-0

    A first six of the evening.

    The pressure had been building on Miles Hammond but he picks up on a slightly short delivery from Dan Mousley to ping over square.

    Hammond, like Cameron Bancroft earlier, is now through 400 runs in this season's Blast.

  3. Bears v Gloucs 28-0

    "Big shot coming," Alex Davies sledges at Miles Hammond.

    Hammond doesn't bite but he is kept in check by a tight first over from Richard Gleeson (and a top piece of fielding at backward point by Danny Briggs).

    Good pace and steepling bounce from Gleeson in that over. Only two from it.

  4. Bears v Gloucs 26-0

    Cameron BancroftGetty Images

    Cameron Bancroft is just showing off!

    He has the stress-free guide through third, but also the hair-raising Ben Duckett-esque ramps over the 'keeper's head.

    Three boundaries off Zak Foulkes and Bancroft has zoomed out of the blocks with 13 off seven balls.

  5. Bears v Gloucs 14-0

    George Garton gets out of that over with just three more runs conceded after that calamitous start.

    Gloucestershire will take that for a start though. It looks like a quick pitch and a lightning outfield so hold your hats for a big total!

  6. Bears v Gloucs 6-0

    George GartonGetty Images

    Maybe George Garton wasn't quite ready!

    He bowls a wild hip-high full toss miles down the leg side. That might be the worst ball of this year's Blast.

    That's a no ball, and a free hit - which Miles Hammond eases to the boundary.

  7. Ready to Go!

    Gloucestershire openers Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft shuffle past the flag-waving Hugh and Carmen Bears and some pyro.

    The Hollies Stand is ready, we're ready, and George Garton with the new ball is ready. One space left at Finals Day to fill...who is getting it?

  8. How excited are you about this evening's game, Bears and Gloucestershire fans?

    BBC commentators Melissa Story and Ed Seabourne are already feeling the vibe.

    Melissa Story and Ed SeabourneBBC Sport

  9. Listen on smart speaker

    Birmingham Bears v Gloucestershire (19:00)

    BBC Sounds

    If you also love listening to your county play in the T20 Blast, the Championship or One-Day Cup, you can now access our ball-by-ball radio commentary on most smart speakers, as well as through the 'Watch & listen' link at the top of this page.

    Simply tell your smart speaker to ask BBC Sounds to play the fixture of your choice and the day of play.So, for example, today you could say "ask BBC Sounds to play Birmingham Bears v Gloucestershire."

  10. Player to watch - Jack Taylor (Gloucs)

    Jack TaylorRex Features

    Jack Taylor has a crucial dual role for Gloucestershire, both as captain of the team and the man to provide the middle-order fireworks.

    Taylor is one of eight players with more than 20 sixes in this year's competition - Jacob Bethell of Birmingham Bears is another - and smashed 80 not out off 35 balls in their win over Glamorgan at Cheltenham.

    He has three half-centuries in all, and more recently made an unbeaten 139 in the One-Day Cup. In the field he will look to David Payne and Matt Taylor, who have shown that left-arm is the right arm for Gloucestershire this season with 48 T20 wickets between them.

  11. Bears seek return home for Finals Day

    Varun Chopra and Laurie EvansGetty Images

    Birmingham Bears lifted the trophy in 2014 and reached Finals Day in two of the next three seasons.

    They remain consistent performers in the game's shortest format and topped North Group this summer - but despite reaching the quarter-finals in the last three seasons have not managed to go any further.

    Gloucestershire are among five counties yet to win a T20 title - the closest they came was a four-wicket defeat by Kent in the 2007 final.

    They have only reached Finals Day once since then, in 2020, when they lost to Surrey in the semi-finals in a competition with a revised format because of Covid.

  12. Team news and toss

    Birmingham Bears v Gloucestershire (start 19:00)

    Birmingham Bears have won the toss at Edgbaston and chosen to bowl first.

    They make three changes to the side that beat Leicestershire by 72 runs in their final group game, with Sam Hain, Danny Briggs and Richard Gleeson returning, but there is no Ed Barnard in the side.

    Gloucestershire have Tom Price back in their side, filling the gap left by Australian Beau Webster. Graeme van Buuren is absent because of illness.

    Birmingham Bears: Davies, Ali, Davies, Hain, Mousley, Bethell, Benjamin, Garton, Foulkes, Briggs, Lintott, Gleeson.

    Gloucestershire: Hammond, Bancroft, Bracey, O Price, J Taylor, Charlesworth, T Price, M Taylor, Shaw, Payne, Smith.

  13. Good evening

    Three down, one to go.

    Surrey, Sussex Sharks and Somerset have already booked places at Edgbaston in eight day's time for T20 Blast Finals Day.

    Can Birmingham Bears take the next step towards contesting the trophy on their own home turf, or will Gloucestershire make it a full house of South Group teams in the semi-finals?

    It's the last quarter-final tonight so welcome to our coverage. Play starts at 19:00 BST.