Somerset vs Surrey, Vitality T20 Blast Prediction: Who will win today's Semi-Final 2?
Somerset and Surrey are poised to take on each other one last time in this year's Vitality Blast competition on Jul 15. The second semi-final match between the two sides will be played following the conclusion of the first semi-final match between Essex and Hampshire. The iconic Edgbaston Cricket Stadium will be the venue that will host this epic semi-final clash.
Both teams thoroughly deserved their place in the semi-finals and have played some valiant cricket to reach this far in the tournament. With a place in the final up for grabs, Somerset and Surrey will be embroiled in a heated battle to secure their ticket to the 2023 Vitality Blast Edition. With so much to play for, let's delve deeper into Somerset and Surrey’s overall track record as a team this season to determine who can potentially come on top.
UPDATE: Somerset vs Surrey will be the second Semi Final
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Somerset have been in outstanding form this season. They have finished at the top of the South Group points table with 12 wins in 14 games. The side rarely experienced any bad days and have done consistently well to stay on top of their game. Right through the onset, the team has bamboozled every opposition they faced losing only a couple of games to Surrey and Hampshire in the middle stages of the tournament.
Their biggest win in this tournament came against Gloucestershire this season. After posting a colossal target of 232, Somerset were able to roll over Gloucestershire by a hefty margin of 80 runs. Will Smeed started with the bat by racking to his 94 off 35 balls followed by some clinical bowling performances from Shoaib Bashir and Roelof van der Merwe. The duo shared six wickets between them while dismantling Gloucestershire’s weak batting lineup.
Will Smeed, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, and Tom Banton have been delivering some exceptional knocks with the bat and share 11 half-centuries between them. The trio has demonstrated their ability to switch gears and have a combined strike rate of over 150. Ben Green, Matt Henry, and Craig Overton have been leading from the front in terms of wickets and share 65 wickets between them.
Surrey have finished third in the South Group Points table with eight wins in 14 appearances. They started off storing this season despite a few initial hiccups but at the business end of the tournament, they faltered just a fraction. Their track record in the last five matches has been simply put, inconsistent as they have only been able to register two wins.
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The team has so far struggled against the likes of Essex, Somerset, Middlesex, Hampshire, and Gloucestershire. Surrey delivered their biggest win against Sussex during the June 9th fixture threshing them brutally by 128 runs. Surrey batters featuring Laurie Evans and Sam Curran launched themselves by scoring blistering knocks of 93 (51) and 68 (35) which took Surrey to an astronomically high total of 258.
In the end, the target proved way beyond Glamorgan’s reach as Sunil Narine and Cameron Steel shared 6 wickets between them to skittle Glamorgan cheaply.
They powered their way to the semi-final by beating Lancashire convincingly in the second quarter-final match. Laurie Evans and Jason Roy took the Lancashire bowling apart and with some late contributions from Jamie Overton, Surrey was able to post a decent total of 187. The bowlers did go around the park for a few runs but some tight economical bowling from Sam Curran and Sunil Narine helped Surrey restrict Lancashire just 4 runs from their desired target.
Laurie Evans, Will Jacks, and Sam Curran have been in scintillating form with the bat this season. Evans is averaging well over 40 and has a swashbuckling century to his name. Jacks has been batting at an exhilarating strike rate of nearly 160 and has five half-centuries scores under his belt. Curran has played some beautiful cameos through the season and averages just under 20.
Sunil Narine, Sam Curran, and Chris Jordan have been in devastating form with the ball this season. The trio is averaging in the late 20s and has picked up 49 wickets this season at a combined strike rate of just around 18.33.
Prediction: Who will win the second semi-final match?
Somerset are in breathtaking form this season. They have been invincible this season and have rarely encountered any slip-ups. They did, however, manage to go down against Surrey once during the middle stages of the tournament. But they managed to fight back well after their defeat and knocked Surrey down in their subsequent matchup.
Overall the side has been a very battle-hardened unit and displayed some great fighting spirit right throughout the tournament. Surrey do not have such a dominant win record. Although they made it to the semi-final round, their journey so far has been scratchy, to say the least as they have been defeated on six occasions. Somerset certainly have a higher probability of winning the second sem-final match.
Prediction: Somerset to win the first semi-final match.