Nottinghamshire set up Midlands final

Nottinghamshire 176 for 6 (Hussey 42) beat Surrey 139 (Batty 58*, Shreck 3-33) by 38 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

David Hussey launched four sixes in his 42 © Getty Images

Inspired by passionate hometown support, Nottinghamshire crushed the international all-stars of Surrey to book their place in the Twenty20 final against Leicestershire. Charlie Shreck knocked the stuffing out of the batting with three wickets while Ryan Sidebottom produced a spell of extraordinary economy. After weeks of gorging themselves on county attacks, Surrey suffered a collective failure and slumped with barely a whimper.

Nottinghamshire had built a useful total on the back of a thunderous 42 from David Hussey and useful lower-order power-shows from Chris Read and Mark Ealham. However, with Surrey packing the collective weight of Ally Brown, Mark Ramprakash, Mark Butcher and Rikki Clarke no total is out of reach.

In the blink of an eye, though, the top order had been decimated as Shreck found bounce and movement from an awkward length to enhance a growing reputation. Surrey's chase started on a unconvincing note when James Benning, who dislocated his finger in the field, opted to open the innings but was in considerable pain. It was brave decision to bat, but Benning's hit-and-miss start set a poor tone for Surrey.

When he was cleaned up by Shreck, Brown had already been taken by mid-on running backwards and Mark Butcher was quickly run out by Will Smith's direct hit. When Clarke swung and missed at Shreck the score was 16 for 4 and the game was up. Though the wickets had gone to Shreck, it was Sidebottom who created the pressure with an outstanding spell which yielded just seven runs in four overs, narrowly missing out on joining Mark Alleyne and Johann Louw with the most economic Twenty20 figures of four overs for six runs.

Surrey just didn't have their mind on the game, as characterised by some lazy running between Ramprakash and Azhar Mahmood. A lacklustre Ramprakash was eventually run out but by then he had visibility given up hope of guiding Surrey to their target. Mahmood fell to a stunning, gravity-defying catch by Smith on the deep-square-leg boundary and Nottinghamshire played on different level despite the odd blemishes in the field. One of the mistakes ended with Chris Read losing a tooth after a missed stumping against Jonathan Batty, but even he was smiling at the end.

Graeme Swann and Stephen Fleming had begun in measured fashion with the bat but it was Hussey who provided the real fireworks as he launched the Surrey bowlers into the stands - and sometimes over them - four times. Considering Hussey bagged a pair in the last Championship matches he struck the ball extremely crisply and nearly launched one six into the Trent Bridge Inn.

Read briefly flourished through the off side and Ealham handed the innings late impetus by taking 17 off Mahmood's last over. The winner of the Twenty20 cup has always come from the second semi-final and Nottinghamshire have the support of large sections of a sell-out crowd. The final with Leicestershire has the makings of a thriller.