Nottinghamshire bowled out Kyle Abbott’s Hampshire for 146 to guarantee their spot in the final against Birmingham on Saturday.
No South African will feature in this year’s T20 Blast final, after Glamorgan were knocked out earlier in the day by Warwickshire.
It was Hampshire who won the toss and sent Nottinghamshire in to bat.
They posted a decent total of 169-7 in their 20 overs, as Kepler Wessels’ son Riki Wessels top-scored with 48. The 31-year-old did well to stick around after his side were reduced to 49-2 after the fifth over.
Wessels hit two sixes and five fours before he lost his wicket, his side stuttering at 71-3 (7.3 overs).
Small cameos from Notts’ lower order kept the run rate moving, thanks to Brendan Taylor (19), Samit Patel (35) and Daniel Christian (24), the latter dismissed by Abbott (1-41) on the last ball of the 17th over.
A quick burst from Billy Root (15 off 9 balls) and Ish Sodhi (11 off 8 balls) helped Nottinghamshire post a target of 170.
It was the perfect start for Hampshire, who managed to claim the scalp of Shahid ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi for a Golden Duck, thanks to Patel (1-32).
Calvin Dickinson and James Vince sparked Hampshire’s recovery, as the pair put 55 on the board before Dickson was dismissed for a 21-ball 27.
Vince went on to score a half-century and kept his side in the game, but after his side was reduced to 105-5, Vince was stopped at 56 off 32 deliveries just 15 runs later.
The flood gates opened from there as Hants collapsed, losing five wickets for 26 runs, which included a triple strike from Harry Gurney (3-19) in the 18th over. Jake Ball (2-32) finished things off, picking up his second as Hampshire were knocked over for 14.
Steven Mullaney’s performance (3-22), which included the wicket of Vince in the middle overs was also vital to his side’s 23-run victory as they advanced to the T20 Blast Final.
Photo: Andrew Kearns/Getty Images
