That's it from the first semifinal of the T20 Blast! Essex have made their way into the finals played later tonight. Ninaad Dixit here signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Hitesh Peddurwar and scorer Paras Yadav. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world.
Simon Harmer (Essex Captain):"What a relief, the rain tried to play the spoilsport but we got over the line. Sams played a really good cameo with the bat. I think we missed a bit with the ball in the hand, we could have probably hit more lengths on the stumps but we need to improve it. The rain is hovering around and the pitch is getting sticky. It's good that it didn't go till the last ball and we finished it early."
James Vince (Hampshire Captain):"I think halfway we were happy, with the 170 on the board. Felt like it was a good score to defend. I think we were in a good position, prior to the rain break. We misread earlier, the runs came off easily we thought we can score 200 but the pitch started holding up a bit and 170 was a par score. But after the rain break, the wickets in the hand we knew that they are going to come swinging at us and they did it. I think Liam bowled a pretty good last second over."
Matt Critchley (Player of the Match): "Yeah pretty good to get through the finals, there was an interruption of the rain but really good to get over the line. Yeah definitely, it was above par score for the 20 overs. Still, we felt like we can chase down the total. Liam bowled a good second last over. The ball was holding a bit but we batted really well in the end"
Matt Critchley is the player of the match.
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony...
6:57 PM IST, 2:27 PM Local time: Essex seal their spot in tonight's Blast T20 final defeating Hampshire in a thrilling encounter by 5 wickets! It was Essex captain Simon Harmer who finished it off with the winning six to seal the remarkable win.
Everything went right for Essex as they won the toss and elected to bowl first. Hampshire openers Ben McDermott and skipper James Vince were looking to go away with the game adding 39 runs in just 3 overs but early blows from Sam Cook and Shane Snater put the Hawks on backfoot as they finished at 170/7 on the back of Joe Weatherley's 63 not out.
Chasing 171, Essex lost an early wicket in form of Adam Rossington in the very first over but rain interrupted the game in the third over for around an hour. The DLS revised target was 115 runs in 12 overs.
Michael Pepper (17) and Dan Lawrence (21) added 45 runs for the second wicket but then Essex lost three wickets in the space of three runs going down at 50/4 as James Fuller struck twice in an over and John Turner striking from the other end.
Matt Critchley then formed a partnership with Daniel Sams (29 off 17) adding 45 runs for the fifth wicket. Sams was the man out in the 10th over when 20 runs were needed in 12 balls. His innings comprised of 3 sixes and 2 fours.
The skipper Simon Harmer joined Critchley on the crease and with 13 needed off the final over, the latter hit a six on the first ball, rotated the strike on the second and with 6 needed in 3 balls, it only needed one big blow from Harmer to seal the deal for Essex.
Critchley finished unbeaten on 26 in 14 balls. 4 bowlers picked up wickets for Hampshire keeping them in the hunt, Fuller (2/23) was the pick alongside Chris Wood (1/12), John Turner (1/28) and Nathan Ellis (1/27). Liam Dawson bowled the penultimate over conceding just 7 runs but Ellis just couldn't execute the plan to perfection in the final over.
Hitesh: That's it!!!! Skipper Simon Harmer takes his team over the line and Essex have booked their seats into the finals. They have made it into the finals for the first time after 2019.
11.3 N Ellis to S Harmer
6 SIX!! Harmer finishes off with a maximum! What a hit from the Essex skipper!! Ellis misses his length and bowls a half volley on the middle peg, Harmer gets on the front foot and whacks it over long on for a maximum! Ellis sits on the pitch in disappointment. Essex are into the finals!