PERHAPS pleasingly for those who back the Blast and find themselves opposed to the ECB’s proposed new 100-ball tournament, the so-called ‘smaller’ counties have again shown their worth in this season’s competition.

Three of the four finalists are from non-Test match grounds, with only Lancashire present from the ‘big eight’, while Worcestershire have qualified for the very first time.

Each of Somerset’s possible opponents are strong sides who will all be confident of lifting the trophy on Saturday evening - here is a run down on the other three counties battling it out at Edgbaston.

Sussex Sharks

Somerset County Gazette:

ABSENT: Rashid Khan (centre) will not feature on Saturday - but the Sharks have plenty of other quality bowlers

GOING into this year’s competition, Sussex Sharks were tipped by many - including yours truly - to come out on top and take the trophy back to Hove.

That was largely down to their world-class bowling attack, which featured the world’s number one T20 bowler in Afghan spinner Rashid Khan as well as Jofra Archer - who starred in the Big Bash last winter - England paceman Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills.

Their progress through the South Group was therefore far more challenging than anticipated - Sussex won their final three matches to sneak into the last eight before comfortably seeing off Durham in the quarter-final.

Significantly, they are without Khan for finals day and there are doubts over their batting, which has been overly reliant on Laurie Evans. 

Danny Briggs and Will Beer are fine replacements in the spin department, however, and an in-form Archer has the ability to decide any knockout match in a matter of overs.

Lancashire Lightning

Somerset County Gazette:

KEY MAN: Jordan Clark

THE fortunes of the Red Rose will depend on which side turns up.

An inconsistent group stage featured a thrilling one-run win over old rivals Yorkshire at Old Trafford and numerous thumping victories, but they also showed a propensity to collapse.

Lancashire were skittled for 102 in their group match at Edgbaston and somehow conspired to lose at home to Durham after slipping from 142-5 to 150-9 in pursuit of 155.

The presence of Jos Buttler is, of course, a boost to their hopes - wouldn’t it be just typical for him to star against Somerset in the final should both get there - and Liam Livingstone’s return from a broken thumb has also proved timely. Buttler's England teammates Jimmy Anderson and Keaton Jennings are also available.

Two homegrown youngsters have had fine tournaments, with Alex Davies impressing at the top of the order and Matt Parkinson’s leg-spin claiming 23 scalps and going at 7.44 an over.

Worcestershire Rapids

Somerset County Gazette:

AVAILABLE: Moeen Ali

IF you thought Somerset had suffered a long wait in getting to finals day, spare a thought for Worcestershire supporters - this is their first appearance at the showpiece occasion since the competition began in 2003.

They qualified in style too, topping the North Group with nine wins in 14 matches before easing past Gloucestershire by five wickets in the last eight.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali is available but the Rapids will be without hard-hitting Australian Callum Ferguson, who scored an unbeaten 64 in the quarter-final having earlier struck a group stage century against Nottinghamshire.

An impressive televised performance will do young batsman Joe Clarke’s hopes of a winter tour no harm at all, while 20-year-old medium-pacer Pat Brown is the leading wicket taker in the competition so far with 27 scalps.

Finals Day schedule
Semi-final one - Lancashire Lightning v Worcestershire Rapids (11am)
Semi-final two - Somerset v Sussex Sharks (2.30pm)
Final - 6.45pm 

Odds (to lift the trophy)

Lancashire - 5/2

Somerset - 11/4

Sussex - 11/4

Worcestershire - 3/1

What should fans expect?

Stats courtesy of bwin - click here for more.

  • The average winning team at Edgbaston gets 158 runs from their 20 overs
  • The average Edgbaston T20 Finals Day has 28 fours and eight sixes – that's 160 runs from boundaries alone
  • 82% of matches see at least one player notch a half century

Who do the stats say will win the T20 Blast?

  • Lancashire Lightning to beat Worcestershire Rapids – 3 of the 4 previous Northern semi-finals were won by the team to finish lower in the division
  • Sussex Sharks to beat Somerset – all five of the previous Southern semi-finals were won by the team to finish lower in the division
  • Lancashire Lightning to beat Sussex Sharks in the final – 3 of the 4 previous North vs South semi-finals have been won by the Northern team
  • The team with the worse head-to-head record reaches the final twice as often – bad omens for Worcestershire and Somerset, who won the league meetings

How to bat your way to victory at Edgbaston on T20 Finals Day:

  • Three-quarters (77%) of teams to score the most runs in the powerplay go on to win the match
  • Two-thirds (67%) of teams to score at least 50 runs in the powerplay go on to win the match
  • Three-quarters (77%) of teams to lose a maximum of 1 wicket in the powerplay go on to win the match
  • 7 out of 10 (70%) teams to score 53 runs in the last 5 overs go on to win the match
  • 9 out of 10 (89%) of teams to lose a maximum of 1 wicket in the last 5 overs go on to win the match

How to bowl your way to victory at Edgbaston on T20 Finals Day:

  • Just 1 in 6 (18%) teams to score less than 40 runs in the powerplay go on to win the match
  • Just a third (33%) of teams to lose two-three wickets in the powerplay go on to win the match
  • Just 3 out of 10 (29%) teams to score less than 30 runs in the last 5 overs go on to win the match
  • Just 4 out of 10 (44%) of teams to lose two-three wickets in the last 5 go over to win the match

READ MORE: Myburgh aims for fairytale finish after "unforgettable" spell in Taunton

You can follow all the action as it happens on Saturday with our live blog at countygazette.co.uk.