Birmingham Bears miss out on T20 Finals Day following thriller
Birmingham Bears missed out on a place in the Vitality Blast Finals Day after losing to Essex Eagles by two wickets in a thrilling quarter-final at Edgbaston.
The Bears charged through the group stage with 11 wins out of 14 but bowed out at the quarter-final stage for the third successive year in the face of a commanding display from Simon Harmer’s side.
Disciplined Essex bowling, backed up by excellent fielding, restricted the Bears to 167-6. Sam Hain struck a typically polished 52 (26 balls) but, tied down by Harmer (4-0-20-1) and Sam Cook (4-0-24-2), the home side needed some late flailing from Chris Benjamin and Dominic Drakes to least approach par.
Essex then reach 171-8 with two balls to spare. Dan Lawrence underpinned the chase with a high-class 62 (41 balls) and Paul Walter’s violent 15-ball 27 retained his side’s control at a vital time mid-innings.
The Bears fought hard in the closing overs. With seven needed from two overs, Lawrence lifted Drakes to mid on. A superb over from the West Indian cost just a single and saw Harmer run out from the last ball, leaving six still to find from the last over, bowled by Olly Hannon-Dalby.
That came down to three from the last two balls, the first of which Shane Snater hit for a straight six to end Essex’s quarter-final hoodoo against the Bears who won both their previous last-eight meetings.
