Vitality Blast T20 Final: Tom Kohler-Cadmore takes superb catch to win classic at Edgbaston for Somerset

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Somerset bat first in the 2023 Vitality Blast Final - but they stuttered throughout the early overs

Somerset bat first in the Vitality Blast T20 Final against Essex. The sun pierced some dark clouds as Sams opens the bowling against Tom Banton and Will Smeed. Smeed's 3rd ball was a drive straight down the ground for 4. His 4th ball was even better- a weighted drive through the off-side.

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Banton introduced himself to the final with a beautiful ramp shot away for 6. He tried it again next ball- no runs from this one however.

The 3rd over and the breakthrough- Will Smeed dragged the ball onto his own stumps and he went for 9. Somerset 17-1.

Aaron Beard bowled the 4th over and Banton hit a luscious drive away for 4, he looked in the mood for Somerset. Tom Kohler-Cadmore got off the mark with a flicked 4 off his hips. Somerset 32-1. A huge 6 into the Hollies helped Kohler-Cadmore put his mark on this final.

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Banton looked set, but he proceeded to give away his wicket. He tried to reverse sweep onto to drop the ball into the fielders' hands. 46-2 and Tom Abell came in and got off the mark with a single.

Critchley bowled a fast-paced over and with his final ball in the over he bowled Kohler-Cadmore who had to go for 19. Somerset 54-3 and the run-rate dropped under 7. Sean Dickson joined Abell.

Half way through the innings and Somerset reached 64-3. The run scoring once again proving to be hard. Abell then departed for 8 and Somerset slumped to 68-4.

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Lewis Gregory looked caught and bowled by Critchley, but he was not convinced. The third umpire agreed and the ball was deemed to have hit the floor. Just how important could that one be...

Dickson top scored for Somerset in the semi-final and he was looking good in the final moving on through the 20s quickly. A lovely switched short behind square leg took him into the 30s and Somerset to 100 in the 15th over.

Shane Snater was the pick of the bowlers for Essex and he picked up the caught and bowled of Gregory for 11. Somerset 113-5 in the 16th over with Ben Green in as the new man. Snater finished on superb figures of 3-13 in 4 overs and had his side in the driving seat.

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Green didn't trouble the scorecards too much and he skied an effort to Robin Das. In the 17th over Somerset were 121-6 you felt that Dickson would need to stick around if they were to have any hopes of reaching the 150 mark. Craig Overton was looking to create the partnership his team needed.

This was short-lived however, and he was superbly run out by Aaron Beard, this left Somerset 126-7 in the 18th over. The following over saw Dickson reach his 50 from 33 balls- a hugely important innings for his team.

He couldn't stick around until the end however, and he gloved the ball through to Rossington behind the stumps. Matt Henry was in at number 9 and Kasey Alridge was with him. Walter's spell was done- he had taken 3 wickets for 29 runs.

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8 down became 9 down when Henry holed out for just 5 runs. Into the final over of the innings and Ish Sohdi was the last man in. Somerset all out with the final ball- 145 the target.

Essex innings

Matt Henry of Somerset celebrates the wicket of Dan Lawrence of Essex Eagles during the Vitality Blast T20 Final between Essex Eagles and Somerset at Edgbaston on July 15, 2023 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)Matt Henry of Somerset celebrates the wicket of Dan Lawrence of Essex Eagles during the Vitality Blast T20 Final between Essex Eagles and Somerset at Edgbaston on July 15, 2023 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Matt Henry of Somerset celebrates the wicket of Dan Lawrence of Essex Eagles during the Vitality Blast T20 Final between Essex Eagles and Somerset at Edgbaston on July 15, 2023 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images) | Getty

Adam Rossington and Dan Lawrence opened the batting for Essex, and Craig Overton had the new ball. Second ball Rossington crunched the ball back down the ground for a brutal 4. Lawrence had a pop, and his effort raced away to long-on for 4. 13-0 from the 1st over.

Rossington was showing intent and he smacked the ball away for 4 with a thick outside edge. The pressure right on Somerset. His next 4 went down to deep backward point from a yorker and he was looking dangerous. A third straight 4 was pulled away to the boundary. The next ball- Rossington was caught very well at point. He did very well to keep hold and Rossington was gone for 19. 27-1. Michael Pepper in at 3 for Somerset.

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Lawrence made room for himself and hit the ball clear over deep mid-wicket for a well timed 6 off of Overton. 35-1 from 3 overs. Henry then bowled Pepper with an absolute beauty which turned the batter inside out. Well and truly game on at 35-2.

In the same over, Lawrence was trapped LBW and 38-3 equated to a troubling period for Essex. Walter joined Das in the middle. Das was off himself soon as he chipped the ball to mid-on. 44-4 and Essex were in trouble. The 4 wickets fell for just 17 runs.

A lot of this slow period was down to Matt Henry who was relentless, taking 3 of the wickets to fall. Essex reached 50 in the 8th over and 94 runs were needed for victory.

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Somerset captain Lewis Gregory brought himself into the attack, and he trapped Critchley LBW with the last ball of his first over. 55-5 and Daniel Sams made his way out to the middle.

At the half way point, Essex were 70-5 and despite the wickets there was still a lot to play for. The 6th wicket was a beauty bowled by Sodhi- Walter went for 26 and Essex continued to stumble- 80-6. Essex captain Simon Harmer was in.

Sams hit a huge but rare 6 for Essex- but they needed some lower middle order magic.

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The Essex 100 was brought up in the 14th over. 45 runs needed from the final 6. The 15th over saw Harmer edge behind and Essex's 7th wicket fell. 106-7 and Shane Snater came in with a big task ahead of him.

Sodhi made sure he had no say in the run chase and he was bowled for 0. 106-8 and Somerset were closing in on victory.

The equation with 3 overs left for Essex was 31 but with just the 2 wickets left. Sohdi claimed the 9th wicket as he bowled Beard and victory was in sight for Somerset. Sam Cook was the last man standing for Essex and at the other end Sams hit a huge 6 into the Hollies to keep Essex alive. The 19th over came and Sams hit another 6 to move his side to within 15 runs.

The wicket which won it was something special from Kohler-Cadmore as he snaffled Sams who had played superbly. Somerset win by 15 runs and a classic at Edgbaston came to an end.

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