The T20 Blast 2022 finals on Saturday, July 16 witnessed a thrilling encounter between Hampshire and Lancashire at the Edgbaston. Hampshire won the match by just one run, defending 152 in the second innings. However, much drama was involved in the final over, as Nathan Ellis bowled a no-ball to make the match more interesting before Hampshire was crowned champions of the T20 Blast 2022 edition.
Lancashire needed five runs off the last delivery with two wickets in hand. Pacer Richard Gleeson was on the strike with Nathan Ellis bowling the final over. Ellis bowled a cracking yorker to rattle Gleeson’s stumps. The crowd erupted in joy as the firecrackers started bursting with Hampshire celebrating their title win. However, their celebrations came to a halt, when the umpire signaled no-ball.
Now, with a no-ball and as the batters had taken a run on the final delivery, the equation was brought down to three from the free-hit delivery. Luckily for Hampshire, Nathan Ellis held his nerve and bowled another brilliant delivery. Richard Gleeson swung his bat at the fuller delivery, but missed it, handing Hampshire the T20 Blast 2022 championship title.
Watch the final-delivery drama here:
A no ball. A no ball.
The utter, utter drama of #Blast22.
What a match.#FinalsDay pic.twitter.com/cRYkesYjYr
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) July 16, 2022
Ben McDermott’s 62-run knock powers Hampshire to T20 Blast 2022 title
Hampshire skipper James Vince won the toss and elected to bat first in the high-octane finals. They were in a spot of bother having lost early wickets in the innings. However, on the back of Ben McDermott’s brilliant 62-run knock Hamphiremanaged to get to 152 runs. Matthew Parkinson took four for 26 in his four overs in the innings.
In reply, Steven Croft was the leading run-scorer for Lancashire, with 36 runs in the match. Keaton Jennings, Dane Vilas, and Luke Wells also contributed in the 20s, but it wasn’t enough to take Lancashire over the line. Liam Dawson and James Fuller took two wickets each in the second innings, as Lancashire fell one run short of the target. Ben McDermott earned the Player of the Match award for taking Hampshire to a fighting total in the finals.
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