While it was joy and jubilation for Somerset in the finals of the English T20 Blast 2023, it was agony and heartbreak for Essex. Somerset beat Essex in the finals to lift the title after a hiatus of 14 years.
Matt Henry put on a resounding display in the match and earned plaudits from everyone. Batting first, Somerset managed to put on 145 runs on the board. Sean Dickson top-scored for them with a sublime knock of 53 runs in 35 balls.
His innings was peppered with 7 fours and he batted with a strike-rate of 151.43. Dickson’s innings was the architect of a decent score for Somerset.
The bowlers then ran riot and destroyed the hopes of Essex winning a title. Matt Henry bagged 4 wickets and he was the cynosure of all eyes. He conceded runs at an economy of 6.86 and marshalled the team towards glory.
This was Somerset’s 2nd title
Having won the title way back in 2005, it was a long wait for them. Since then, they have been to the finals on 7 occasions and had faltered on all 7 occasions. This was their 8th final since 2005 and they finally emerged out victorious.
Somerset had beaten Surrey by 29 runs in the rain-affected semi-finals, which was reduced to a 19-over-game. Craig Overton had bagged the player of the match award for scoring 8 runs and for picking up 3 wickets.
For Somerset, Will Smeed was the backbone of their batting unit. He scored 523 runs throughout the tournament and emerged out as a sensational figure.
Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers for Somerset as he picked up 31 wickets. He ended up being the highest wicket-taker in the tournament and had an outstanding average of 13.23.
In the last ball of the innings of the finals, Tom Kohler-Cadmore pulled off a stunner of a catch to dismiss Daniel Sams. Sams fell out of the traps when he tried playing a widish delivery bowled by Matt Henry and he was stunned too.
Somerset Squad for English T20 Blast
Keaton Jennings, Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon, Liam Livingstone, Steven Croft, Luke Wood, Tom Tom Lammonby, Tom Abell, George Bartlett, Lewis Goldsworthy, Steven Davies, Josh Davey, Roelof van der Merwe, Craig Overton, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sean Dickson, Shoaib Bashir, Peter Siddle, Cameron Bancroft, Matt Henry
Essex Squad for English T20 Blast
Tom Westley, Nick Browne, Dan Lawrence, Samuel Cook, James Porter, Shane Snater, Paul Walter, Matt Critchley, Simon Harmer, Doug Bracewell, Daniel Sams, Michael Pepper, Adam Rossington, Feroze Khushi, Eshun Kalley, Aron Nijjar, Aaron Beard
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