In a tense end at Edgbaston, Essex defeated Warwickshire by two wickets to advance to the first quarterfinal of the T20 Blast. Daniel Lawrence’s controlled fifty was the backbone of the visitors’ run pursuit, with cameos from Adam Rossington and Paul Walter providing the appropriate counterpoint. In pursuit of a slightly below-par target of 168, Essex began their run chase with their aggressive brand of cricket, scoring 69 runs off their PowerPlay with strokes all over the field.
The Bears fought back during the middle overs with the aid of their spinners, led by Jake Lintott, but Essex’s required run rate had decreased significantly after such an explosive start. Even as wickets fell at the other end, Lawrence continued to maintain one end by circulating the ball. The hosts, however, applied a late clutch and reduced the target to 17 off 15 deliveries with only three wickets remaining. Then, captain Simon Harmer hit Lintott for six and four to reduce the deficit to seven with 12 deliveries remaining.
At this juncture, the game appeared to be over. However, Dominic Drakes began the penultimate over by dismissing Lawrence and only allowing one run off it. Harmer also fell off the final delivery, leaving Essex needing six runs off the final over with two wickets remaining. Oliver Hannon-Dalby, bowling the 20th over, used guile to reduce the required runs to three off two deliveries, before Shane Snater calmly struck him for six to secure the victory.
It was a heart-breaking defeat for Warwickshire who had fought hard despite not having a daunting score on the board. Put into bat, the Bears got off to a bumpy start as their in-form openers Alex Davies and Robert Yates both fell cheaply to the new-ball. Glenn Maxwell played a few shots but he too couldn’t dig deep to cause a serious impact. It took the ever-reliable Sam Hain’s half-century to rescue the home side and he got support from Chris Benjamin and Dominic Drakes down the order as Warwickshire got to a competitive, albeit under-par score. In the end, it wasn’t enough to stop Essex who sprung a surprise to get to Finals Day.
Brief scores: Warwickshire 167/7 in 20 overs (Sam Hain 52, Glenn Maxwell 32; Sam Cook 2-24) lost to Essex 171/8 in 19.5 overs (Daniel Lawrence 62, Paul Walter 27; Dominic Drakes 2-26, Jake Lintott 2-31) by two wickets
