slower delivery, Rampaul twonks it down the ground... well taken by Nijjar running in! An excellent catch to finish a clinical display with the ball from Essex, and a good day for the young left-armer playing his first game in this season's Blast
Essex vs Derbyshire, 2nd Semi-Final at Birmingham, Sep 21 2019, Vitality Blast
5.15pm: Spin it to win it, that was the only way for Essex. Simon Harmer and Aron Nijjar shared seven wickets as Essex won a game at Finals Day at the fifth time of asking. Can they now go one more and dethrone Worcestershire? We'll be back to find out in an hour or so, with the toss at 6.15pm. Here's Ravi Bopara on the Edgbaston surface: "It's a tough challenge for the batters. Everyone is saying it will be a completely different pitch this evening, but I don't know, it looks pretty dry." There you go, the wisdom of R-Bop. Back in a bit!
Here's Khan: "Finals Day is day for captains? Of course, winning captains. Mo already bagged MOM and Harmer looks strong contender now. Who will finish better late tonight is more important?"
length ball outside off, poked to backward point
back-of-the-hand slower ball, too wide for the umpire's liking
appeal for lbw but I think that's whacked the inside edge
on the stumps and worked to leg
Two overs to go, Essex have almost exorcised their semi-final ghost
Here's Matt again: The good news for Derbyshire is that Ravi Rampaul has more runs from No. 11 than anyone else in the Blast this season. The bad news is that they need 37 off 12...
flighted, wide of the stumps, Rampaul heaves across the line and misses
fired in full, dug out on off stump
gives it some tap! A massive mow into the stand at deep midwicket! Rampaul brings out the gun show in an act of late defiance
pushed through from round the wicket, Rampaul taps it away
spins this through past the outside edge
Ravi Rampaul bulldozes out at No. 11. Slip in, a first Finals Day five-for in prospect
tossed up, Smit reverse-sweeps - picks out backward point! Harmer pumps his fists, does the job straight away, ending a useful stand for the ninth wicket to put Essex on the brink
Harmer brings himself back, three overs to go
Matt's back: This is officially... still nowhere near on. But the hand is at least hovering somewhere near the dimmer switch for the first time in a long time
full and wide, pace off but van Beek squeezes it out off the toe of the bat, past short third man and away for four!
shuffles across and plops this out towards deep square leg
full and straight, van Beek can't get under this, one more to long-on
bit of width this time, Smit chops down on it for a single
ambles in and delivers what looks like a back-of-the hand slowie, bunted down the ground
on the stumps, 61mph and worked into the leg side
Cameron Delport to bowl some right-arm wobblies
Well, Derbs got 13 off that last over from Lawrence. Is it on?
floated up and Smit slog-sweeps, comes off the top edge and spins as it pitches in the outfield, but Walter keeps his eye on it
gives this some air, spinning through from wide of the stumps
flighted, worked to leg
Edgbaston, Birmingham | |
Toss | Essex, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2019 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | Essex advanced |
Match days | 21 September 2019 - day (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire |