Vitality Blast Semi Final Preview: Somerset v Lancashire Lightning
THE MATCH
Somerset take on Lancashire Lightning in the first Vitality Blast semi final at Edgbaston tomorrow (Saturday September 13th).
Play is due to get underway at 11am.
The second semi final between Northants Steelbacks and Hampshire Hawks will begin at 2:30pm.
The winners of the two semi finals will face each other in the final at 6:45pm.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
If you are attending Finals Day, everything that you need to know can be found below in the Official Finals Day Visitor Guide.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date with a live blog via our dedicated Match Centre and on our Twitter feed.
In addition to this, a report on the match will be posted on this website.
Finals Day is being broadcast live on Sky Sports so there will be no live stream.
THE OPPOSITION
Lancashire Lightning
2025 group stage record: W9 L5 – 1st in North Group
Leading run-scorer: Keaton Jennings – 415 runs
Leading wicket-taker: Luke Wood – 22 wickets
Quarter-final result: Beat Kent Spitfires by three wickets
Finals Day record: One win (2015), 3x runners-up, 5x semi-final losses
Lancashire legend Steven Croft assumed head coaching duties ahead of the 2025 Vitality Blast campaign, following a poor start to the season in red-ball cricket, and the former all-rounder led Lightning to the top of the North Group.
Ten years on from their one and only Vitality Blast triumph, Lancashire will be without several England stars with Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Luke Wood all absent on international duty. But with Liam Livingstone not in England’s current plans, the big-hitting batter will be key to his side’s chances of progressing on Saturday.
Sir James Anderson could be the first knight of the realm to play at Finals Day, but his availability is questionable, having missed Lancashire’s Rothesay County Championship match at Kent through injury this week.
TEAM NEWS
Matt Henry and Riley Meredith are unavailable whilst Tom Banton is on International duty.
The starting XI will be picked from the following squad:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “The mood in the camp is sensational at the moment. It’s a challenge from a schedule point of view but I couldn’t be happier with the atmosphere in the dressing room at the moment.
“The reality is that the here and now is the only thing that matters. There’s been a lot of talk about next year and people moving on and who’s not going to be at Final Day. Eleven guys will get the opportunity to showcase their skills on Saturday and that’s what we need to focus on. Confidence is really high and everyone is fully focused on what’s in front of them and looking forward to this opportunity.
“Finals Day is a great occasion and it’s important to manage emotions and the situation, but ultimately it’s about playing better cricket on the day than the opposition. If you can manage all those things and play your best cricket then you’ll be in a good position. First of all we need to make sure that we play really well in the semi final in order to give ourselves the opportunity in the final.
“The highs of winning are why we play the game. That moment doesn’t last very long but it’s incredible when it does. The feeling that we got in 2023 is what we’ll be chasing again on Saturday.
“The following that we get both home and away is sensational. We get incredible support at every final that we go to and there’s nothing like the feeling you get when your celebrating with your Members and supporters. Hopefully we can give something back to them to repay the amazing support that we get every time we play.”
CLASSIC MATCHES
Somerset and Lancashire have met three times in domestic T20 cricket with Somerset coming out on top on each occasion.
The first meeting between the two sides was the final of the Twenty20 Cup at The Oval and Somerset came out on top.
Rain had reduced the match to 16 overs per side, and after winning the toss Lancashire Captain, Mark Chilton elected to bat first.
Andy Caddick accounted for Mal Loye and Andrew Flintoff to leave Lancashire on 15 for two. However, a half century from Stuart Law got the Red Rose County back on track.
Law was eventually run out for 59 as Lancashire finished on 114 for eight. Caddick claimed two for 21 and Richard Johnson took three for 26.
Somerset Captain, Graeme Smith then led from the front, smashing his way to 64 not out from just 47 balls as his side won the match (and lifted the trophy) by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare.
The next time the teams clashed in the competition was at Old Trafford in 2009.
After three days without being able to get the game played a bowl out was required.
Somerset were the victors by five to one, with Peter Trego, Charl Willoughby, Alfonso Thomas (2) and Ben Phillips all hitting for the visitors whilst Steven Cheetham was Lancashire’s only successful bowler.
The last time Somerset faced Lancashire in the Blast was in the 2021 quarter final.
It was a match which saw Somerset triumph by seven wickets thanks to four wickets for Roelof van der Merwe and a century stand between Tom Abell (78 not out from 45 balls) and Tom Lammonby (47 not out from 28).
FINALS DAY FAQS
If you’re heading for Finals Day, here is a link to everything that you need to know:
