Craig Overton, Matt Henry and Ben Green took three wickets apiece as Somerset’s disciplined bowlers defended 143 to down Surrey by 24 runs and join Essex in the Vitality Blast final.
Sean Abbott’s four for 23 restricted Somerset to 142 for seven in a second semi-final reduced to 19 overs per side at Edgbaston due to rain, with Sean Dickson’s unbeaten 30 off 22 balls the top score.
It proved ample as while Surrey kept the run-rate from spiralling, they were unable to stitch together a partnership as Somerset’s bowlers, led by their seam trio, kept making incisive breakthroughs.
Tom Curran – who bowled for the first time in the competition on Saturday afternoon, having played exclusively as a batter up to now because of a stress fracture in his lower back suffered ahead of the domestic campaign – top-scored for Surrey with 22 off 15 balls.
Jason Roy (13), Jamie Smith (19), Jamie Overton (11) and Chris Jordan (16) were the only other Surrey batters to reach double figures as they were all out for 118 with 13 balls of their innings unused.
Somerset, meanwhile, can look forward to a showpiece contest against Essex, who earlier pipped defending champions Hampshire by five wickets with three balls to spare in a rain-reduced encounter.
A stop-start day because of the inclement weather led to a delayed start, after Surrey had won the toss, knocking off an over ahead of the teams stepping out.
When they did, Tom Banton edged Sam Curran in-between wicketkeeper and slip while Gus Atkinson gave Will Smeed the hurry-up, albeit conceding six off a top-edged hook, as both openers rode their luck.
The pair put on 38 in four overs but Smeed departed for 21 when a flat-footed waft took a thin outside edge and while Banton ramped Atkinson for six, he was gone next ball in near-identical circumstances to his opening partner, with Surrey successful in overturning on-field decisions in both cases.
Surrey eschewed a spinner in the middle overs, with Atkinson and Abbott’s skiddy pace causing problems, with the subtle change of pace of the Curran brothers and captain Jordan difficult to get away.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore fell for 11 after getting a leading edge off Abbott to point, Tom Abell made 15 before being castled by Sam Curran’s back-of-the-hand slower ball while Somerset captain Lewis Gregory fell to opposite number Jordan but only after a fantastic catch from leaping wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
While Sean Dickson carved Tom Curran for six after the seamer appeared to lose his run-up in an over that yielded 16, it proved to be a false dawn. Just 34 runs came off the last five overs with no boundaries in the final three, which seemed to leave Somerset with a below-par total at halfway.
However, Craig Overton and Matt Henry breathed fresh life into the contest as Surrey’s danger trio Laurie Evans, Will Jacks and Roy were all back in the pavilion after the first five overs.
Overton bowled Evans through the gate with the fourth ball of the reply and then returned to snare opener Jacks, who made just nine off 13 deliveries before holing out. In between those dismissals, Roy’s attempted flick looped to square leg to get Henry in the wickets column.
Sam Curran and Smith offered outfield catches as Green, this year’s leading wicket-taker, swelled his tally, and while Jamie Overton briefly bristled, he was pouched by his jubilant twin at long-on as Surrey slumped to 68 for six after 11 overs.
While Jordan belted a couple of sixes, when both he and Tom Curran perished to catches in the deep the writing was on the wall for Surrey, who were all out after 16.5 overs.
Starc hails 'fantastic bowler' Bumrah after day one in Perth
Australia seamer Mitchell Starc heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah's performance on day one of their Test against India in Perth.
India struggled with the bat and finished their first innings on 150, with Rishabh Pant (37) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (41) helping them to improve on a poor start.
However, the tourists wrestled back control, leaving Australia on 67-7 at the close of play, thanks to Bumrah's inspired display.
On Friday, 17 wickets fell, the most on the opening day of a Test in Australia since 1952.
He finished on 4-17, leaving Australia 19-3 inside the seventh over as he took Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney and Steve Smith in quick succession.
Starc will start at the crease alongside Alex Carey on day two, and he was impressed by Bumrah's efficiency with the ball.
"So, there's no surprise that he's [Bumrah] been a fantastic bowler across the formats for a long time," Starc said.
"And again, his skills were on show [on Friday] as to how, how good he is. So, yeah, I'm sure there's something in that release point.
"That's significant to his action. It's something a lot of people can't do, so I'm not, I'm certainly not going to go and try it. I'll probably snap."
Inglis hails 'hard to stop' Stoinis after ruthless knock
Josh Inglis lauded "hard to stop" Marcus Stoinis as Australia signed off their T20I series against Pakistan in style, claiming a whitewash.
The hosts raced to a seven-wicket victory with almost nine overs remaining in Monday's third match.
After Australia's bowlers had limited Pakistan to just 117 runs, Stoinis ensured they signed off their final white-ball assignment in style, with his unbeaten 61 doing the damage.
Only twice has he bettered that knock in T20Is – versus New Zealand in 2021 (78) and against Oman at the World Cup earlier this year (67*).
"It's been a great week. We've had a lot of fun as a group," Inglis said. "It's been really nice.
"When Stoinis is going like that, he is really hard to stop. One of those sixes was probably the biggest I've ever seen!"
Stoinis, who was named player of the match, added: "Nice to score some runs on a beautiful wicket but credit to the bowlers who kept the total down.
"Yeah, I actually told [Haris] Rauf that this is the first time any of us got the better of him! No, he's a brilliant bowler, bowled well this series."
During their white-ball tour, Pakistan won the ODI series, their first time doing so in Australia in 22 years, but got whitewashed in the T20Is.
Despite the heavy loss, captain Agha Salman chose to focus on the positive effect the experience will have on their young players.
"I think in the middle overs, we didn't capitalise on the start," he said. "But lots of positives.
"The way Usman [Khan] batted, the way Jahandad [Khan] bowled. These youngsters will come good.
"It's obviously a big achievement winning the ODI series, but we could have done much better in the T20Is."
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
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