Somerset scent glory as Vitality Blast puts unsung counties in spotlight

Edgbaston will be full for a Finals Day that promises to show some of the game’s less heralded sides at their Twenty20 best

Surrey have already been crowned county champions, England have wrapped up a Test series victory over India and the football season is back in full flow. Now, three weeks after the Vitality Blast’s quarter-finals, Somerset, the Worcestershire Rapids, Lancashire Lightning and the Sussex Sharks descend on Birmingham on Saturday for Finals Day.

Despite this year’s announcement about the contentious new 100-ball tournament from 2020, the Blast has drawn a record aggregate attendance of 931,000 to matches. The season’s distended scheduling might mean that some key overseas signings are unavailable on Saturday but the Blast, once the poor relation of Twenty20 leagues such as the Indian Premier League and Australia’s Big Bash, has turned itself into something of a success story. This year Edgbaston announced before the competition had even begun that it had sold out its 24,550 capacity for Finals Day.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2xgSkjL

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