Lancashire book their place in the T20 Final with victory over Hampshire

James Faulkner hit back-to-back sixes to take Lancashire to the final of the 2015 Natwest T20 Blast with a six-wicket victory over Hampshire at Edgbaston.

Karl Brown's innings of 45 not out led the Lightning to their small target of 116 with seven balls to spare and Faulkner ended the match with two sizeable blows after their bowlers made Hampshire's batsmen look distinctly average.

Lancashire restricted the two-time winners of this tournament to a meager total of 115 all out after Hampshire elected to bat first and it was a disappointing display from all-but one of their batsmen as one-day captain, James Vince, led by example with a determined 69.

Without his contribution Hampshire would very much have been facing a heavy defeat, although credit must be given to a superb effort from the Lancashire bowlers. The spin duo of Stephen Parry (3-21) and Arron Lilley (2-11) did what they are renowned for doing by frustrating the opposition and extracting wickets from economical bowling, while James Faulkner returned brilliantly at the death to also finish with three wickets.

Hampshire made turgid progress inside the first six overs after Northamptonshire had cemented their place in the final with a commanding five-wicket victory against the host side Birmingham Bears.

Youngster Gavin Griffiths delivered only the sixth maiden to be bowled at Finals Day in the second over of the innings, proving that Lancashire have a degree of depth to their bowling options with Zimbabwean Kyle Jarvis absent due to a broken hand suffered this week. While the less experienced Griffiths made a stunning start, the man who was Man of the Match in the 50-over World Cup final, James Faulkner, started with a disappointing over which yielded 15 runs for Vince and opening partner Michael Carberry.

Lancashire had made an economical start without threatening to remove either of the Hampshire openers, that is until George Edwards struck with two wickets in successive deliveries to leave Hampshire on 33/2 in the sixth over. The first of his victims was the crucial wicket of Carberry who failed to strike the ball hard enough to clear Ashwell Prince at mid-on and Adam Wheater edged behind to Jos Buttler for a golden duck.

The Lancashire spinners did a superb job at restricting the flow do runs as the have done time and time again for the Red Rose this season and the wicket of Owais Shah (12) left Hampshire in a less than favourable position when he was bowled by Parry at 63/3. Hampshire had plenty of talent at their disposal but wickets at regular intervals inhibited their ability to progress with any control of the innings. Sean Ervine departed for 4 when Parry struck a second blow with his left-arm spin, trapping the all-rounder lbw with the score progressing to 71/4.

Vince continued to be the only source of joy for the Hampshire faithful as Parry claimed his third scalp, this time removing the in-form Liam Dawson (3) who was also judged lbw to Parry's tricky leg-spin. Having reached 70/3 at the halfway stage, Hampshire were only able to add 14 runs in the next four overs, losing two wickets in the process. Vince progressed to a determined and vital half-century in 47 balls, as the skipper continued to soldier on after the loss of Will Smith (2) who played-on to Faulkner at 88/6.

Parry had certainly played his part and spin partner Lilley then took his turn to do serious damage to any chance of a late revival, claiming two wickets in as many balls to leave Hampshire in deep trouble at 93/8 in the 17th over. Lilley's off-spin first accounted for Chris Wood when he was bowled for 2 and Yasir Arafat was then clean bowled for no score the next ball, a period which enhanced an already commanding position for Lancashire.

Hampshire were able to add enough runs at the death to post a semi-competitive total, although the loss of Vince for 69 signalled an important wicket for Lancashire when he was caught behind by Buttler off Faulkner. The Australian all-rounder wrapped up the innings with his third wicket, finishing with figures of 3-29 as Fidel Edwards (0) chipped the ball back to Faulkner.

Having been bowled out for 115 with one ball remaining in their 20-over allocation, Hampshire had a lot of work to do to make amends for their poor display with the bat and the wicket of Ashwell Prince was just the breakthrough Hampshire needed to swing the game back in their favour. The South-African veteran made a brisk start, scoring 14 from 10 balls before he was bowled by Edwards at 15/1. Alex Davies and Brown made steady progress in the powerplay, knowing that they didn't need to do anything out of the ordinary to take Lancashire into the final, adding 37 runs for the second-wicket stand.

Davies made the most of being dismissed from a no-ball, but was removed off of a legitimate delivery from Danny Briggs when he was trapped lbw for 18 at 52/2. Briggs finished with figures of 2-19 and was comfortably the pick of the Hampshire attack, also claiming the important wicket of Buttler (10) after captain Steven Croft had fallen for 9 when he was caught by Dawson off Ervine.

Hampshire were unable to take wickets regularly like their opponents and Brown demonstrated his pedigree for this format with a superb innings of 45 not out from 43 balls, ably assisted by Faulkner who gave a strong all-round display for the Red Rose. He added 20 runs in 14 balls in his unbeaten 28-run partnership with Brown, thumping Chris Wood for consecutive sixes to win the game and secure a spot in the final alongside Northants with seven balls to spare.