9.49pm – THERE IT IS MOEEN ALI LIFT’S THE TROPHY, THE FIREWORKS GO OFF!
Worcestershire Rapids are the 2018 Vitality Blast Champions!!
Thank you for following the live blog in the semi-final and final. We will get reaction hopefully from Moeen Ali on this historic day for the Rapids. Keep an eye on www.worcesterobserver.co.uk for more reaction but for now from me Rob George, thank you for reading and COME ON YOU RAPIDS!!!!
9.47pm – The victorious Rapids are now receiving their medals from ECB chairman Colin Graves.
Ben Cox hasn’t taken his pads off yet!
9.43pm – Sharks skipper Luke Wright tells Sky Sports his side’s total of 157 was ‘under par’ and praises the Rapids bowlers
9.41pm – 46 not out from 27 balls which got the Rapids over the line wins Ben Cox the man of the match award.
“It’s taken two or three years to get here and to the play we have today is outstanding,” he tells Sky Sports.
“Things went my way, I had one go over the stumps but today was my day.”
9.27pm – WOW JUST WOW. The Rapids began the penultimate over needing 17 off 12 balls, then 16 off 11. Jofra Archer bowled a beamer which then went for four wides. Six taken off the total.
The next ball, a free hit was smashed into the leg side for six more before Cox completed a remarkable victory with a four to seal the Vitality Blast for the Worcestershire Rapids!
The club’s first silverware for a decade, with a staggering eight balls remaining. Congratulations to the Rapids!
No ball and four wides called so six taken off the total and then Cox smashes the free hit for SIX!
NEXT BALL GOES FOR FOUR – WORCESTERSHIRE RAPIDS WIN THE VITALITY BLAST BY FIVE WICKETS!!!!!!!!
17.6 – CHANCE – Up and JUSSSSSTTTT over Luke Wright’s head for a couple. End of the 18th Rapids are 141-5 needing 17 off 12
17.5 – SIX! – Ohhhh Ben Cox that is huge, a massive six down the ground and Rapids have their target under 20.
17.2 – FOUR – Cox paddle sweeps around the corner for four more 131-5
9.17pm – End of the 17th 127-5 Rapids need 31 from 18 balls. More swings and roundabouts in this game than in your average park
16.5 – WICKET – Whiteley c Jordan b Archer 14 – full toss hit in the air into the leg side, a quick check for the height of the ball as it reached Whiteley but he has to go 126-5
16.3 – FOUR – Up and JUSTTT over the fielder from Cox for four more 125-4
16.2 – FOUR – Cheeky Ben Cox with a reverse sweep through slip off Archer for four relieves some tension 121-4
9.11pm – End of the 16th and Rapids are 116-4. Cox and Whiteley in the middle 42 needed off 24 balls…
15.2 – FOUR – Whiteley swings Mills around the corner for four 113-4
9.06pm – End of the 15th Rapids 109-4 – 49 from 30 needed. Hands up who’s calm?…..
9.03pm – End of the 14th Rapids 104-4 needing 54 from 36
13.4 – FOUR – Big swing from Ross Whiteley again full of timing and it beats the fielders to bring up the Rapids 100
How’s the nerves Rapids fans…..
8.59pm – End of the 13th over, Rapids 96-4 and Danny Briggs is done for the Sharks with 2-19 from his four overs
12.2 – FOUR – Reverse sweep from Cox beats the despairing dive and its four more 95-4
8.57pm – End of the 12th over and the Rapids are 91-4. Ross Whiteley is the new batsman
11.5 – WICKET – Mooen c Salt b Beer 41 – But gone next ball, Moeen going for the big shot down the ground, Salt obliges with a good catch at long off.
11.4 – FOUR – Rare loose ball from Beer and Moeen tucks it away for four down to fine leg 90-4
8.53pm – Two off a fine Briggs over and the wicket Rapids 82-3
10.1 – WICKET – D’Oliveira st Burgess b Briggs 10 – smart work from Burgess and Rapids 80-3
End of 10 overs Rapids 80 for 2 – 78 more from 60 balls
9.4 – FOUR – Moeen regains the strike and places it brilliantly into the leg side for four more.
9.2 – FOUR – Clever shot from D’Oliveira pulls it into the leg side and between the two fielders for four.
8.46pm – End of the ninth and Rapids are 69-2 after Briggs fairly rattles through his over!
8.44pm – End of the eighth over and Rapids are 65-2 with Brett D’Oliveira joining Moeen at the crease
7.2 – WICKET – Fell c Wright b Beer 1 – straight to Wright at silly mid off, after a good start Rapids being pulled back here
20.41pm – End of the seventh and the Rapids are 62-1. Get the Beer’s in…here’s Will Beer
6.5 – WICKET – Clarke c Burgess b Briggs 33 – breakthrough Clarke comes down the pitch and nicks it behind 62-1
6.2 – SIX! – Briggs into the attack for the Sharks and Moeen welcomes him with a heave into the leg side for six 61-0
END OF THE POWERPLAY (SIX OVERS) RAPIDS 53-0 – SUSSEX WERE 43-1
5.5 – FOUR – Loose from Wiese and Clarke swivels and helps it on its way down to fine leg to bring up the Rapids 50
4.6 – FOUR – Best of the lot, swing of the bat, through the leg side and 12 off the final three balls makes it 44-0 after five
4.5 – FOUR – OHHHH Moeen Ali, deft footwork then lifted over the infield for another boundary 40-0
4.3 – FOUR – Moeen takes three balls to take a look at Jordan and then lifts him over mid-wicket towards cow corner for another boundary. 36-0
8.29pm – End of the fourth over and the Rapids are 32-0 without much alarms. Up with the run rate…here’s Chris Jordan for the Sharks
3.3 – FOUR – The late cut from Clarke through where the slips would have been yields four more 30-0
3.1 – FOUR – Niceeee from Joe Clarke, tucked away through mid-wicket for four more 26-0
2.6 – FOUR – Moeen’s had enough and pulls Archer away on the leg-side for a boundary. Rapids 22-0 after three
8.21pm – End of the second over, steady start from the Rapids 15-0 and Archer to continue
1.2 – FOUR – Clarke gets the Rapids off the mark for boundaries with a tickle off his legs from Mills down to fine leg – 11-0
8.17pm – End of the first over, no alarms but no boundaries either Rapids 5-0
8.15pm – We’re back!
8.06pm – So there we have it 158 to win off 120 balls. No boundaries in the final five over and one ball for the Sharks meaning they couldn’t accelerate and post something higher. Good bowling or a pitch getting slower, we’ll soon know! Join us at 8.15pm for the Rapids reply!
END OF INNINGS – SHARKS 157-6 – Rapids will need 158 in 20 overs to win the Vitality Blast
19.6 – WICKET – Archer c Barnard b Parnell 4 – the final ball yields a wicket for Parnell. A good tight over with no boundaries again mean Sharks finish on 157-6.
7.59pm – End of the 19th and end of an amazing 2019 Blast for Pat Brown, he doesn’t get the record but he does finish with four overs 0-14. Here’s Parnell for the final over…Sharks 152-5
End of the 18th – Sharks 147-5 and here’s Pat Brown with his final six balls of a remarkable 2018 Vitality Blast campaign for the young man
17.4 – SIX! – Burgess hits it high to Brett D’Oliveira who catches it right on the boundary at mid-wicket but treads on the boundary boards in his attempt to throw it back up in the air
17.2 – WICKET – Evans b Barnard 52 – Barnard’s back and he takes the key scalp of the half-century maker. Full delivery, Evans played around 20 shots before missing it altogether! 138-5
7.49pm – End of the 17th and Pat Brown concedes just four singles, currently has figures of three overs 0-9 137-4
7.46pm End of the 16th and Moeen is done with four overs and 3-30 while Evans brings up his 50 for the Sharks off 40 balls.
133-4- four to go and here’s Pat Brown
15.3 – WICKET – Wiese b Moeen 6 – Moeen the man again, lovely ball which spun and beat the edge. 131-4 and Moeen has three balls of his spell left
End of the 15th and Luke Wood is finished with figures of four overs 0-24 and has bowled well. Sharks 131-3 with the final five overs to come
14.5 – FOUR – Wiese the new batsman turns one round the corner for a boundary
13.6 – WICKET – Moeen again! Rawlins c Brown b Moeen 21 – going for a big hit again, skied it to Brown at long on 121-3
13.4 – FOUR – Timing from Evans gets him another boundary through the covers
13.1 – FOUR – Evans greets him with a sweep and four to mid wicket 114-2
Moeen’s back
7.34pm – End of the 13th and the Sharks are 110-2 with just six off the returning Luke Wood. Rawlins is my new favourite cricketer, comes out and tries to hit every ball for six. Entertaining!
7.29pm – End of the 12th and Sussex are 104-2 with a very nice platform, can the Rapids drag it back?
11.3 – FOUR – Evans pulls Mitchell away on the leg side for a boundary, a single the next ball brings up the Sharks 100
7.27pm – End of the 11th Sharks 93-2 and Edgbaston is having a party!
10.4 – SIX! – Annnd again, Saturday night’s alright for six hitting for Delray Rawlins who has 15 from just six balls
10.3 – SIX! – Rawlins welcomes D’Oliveira into the attack with a huge six over cow corner
End of the 10th – We are halfway through the Sharks innings in the Vitality Blast final and they are 78-2
9.4 – WICKET – Wright b Moeen 33 – but he’s gone next ball! Comes down the pitch and Moeen strikes!
9.3 – FOUR – Wright cuts Moeen for four
End of the eighth and Sharks have motored up to 71-1
8.5 – SIX! – He’s been quiet Luke Wright…..until this over! Smashes it towards us in the press box for six.
8.4 – FOUR – Two balls later but same result, four more 64-1
8.2 – FOUR – Hit hard, hit straight from Luke Wright….four more 60-1
7.15pm – End of the eighth and Moeen not as tight as in the semi-final with 10 off the over. Sharks 55-1
7.4 – SIX! – Evans relieves the pressure with a maximum over cow corner to bring up the Sharks 50
7.12pm – End of the seventh over and Barnard concedes just three as Sussex reach 46-1. Here’s Moeen
END OF THE POWERPLAY (SIX OVERS) SHARKS 43-1 – Barnard into the attack
7.05pm – End of the fifth and Sharks are 42-1 with Wayne Parnell 0-27 from two overs…
4.4 – SIX! – Luke Wright joins the party, walks down and deposits Parnell right back over his head 40-1
4.2 – SIX! – Laurie Evans has had enough of being tied down and whacks Parnell into the Eric Hollies Stand for six
7.00pm – Now its the end of the fourth over! Accurate stuff from Luke Wood yields just three runs 27-1
6.57pm – End of the third over and Pat Brown’s first foray into the attack yields five runs – 24-1
2.4 – FOUR – Laurie Evans is the new batsman and he gets off the mark with a paddled pull to square leg 23-1
End of second over and Sharks are 19-1
1.6 – WICKET – Salt run out 17 – ran a single but didn’t ground his bat! Unbelievable and Rapids have a breakthrough!
1.4 – SIX! – Same again, same result, six more!
1.3 – SIX! – Salt gets Sharks six account open by smacking Parnell hard down the ground
6.49pm – End of first over from Luke Wood and Sharks are 6-0
0.6 – FOUR – A rather sedate first over ends with a boundary as Salt smashes it through the covers
0.3 – Sharks off the mark with a single. Luke Wright who smashed 92 in the second semi final now on strike
6.45pm – The Rapids are out, the Sharks batsman are in the middle. Let battle commence
6.40pm – Alfonso Thomas holds the record with 33 scalps in 19 games when Somerset finished runners-up in 2010. Pat Brown currently joint second with Danny Briggs who picked up 31 in 19 games in 2010.
Interestingly Briggs is in the line-up for the Sharks this evening..
6.35pm – It’s a pleasant evening in Birmingham, cloud but no threat of any rain. Any predictions? Do we reckon Pat Brown will complete a staggering campaign by taking the record for the most wickets taken in the 20 over competition in a single season?
6.30pm – Hello Rapids fans, so it all comes down to this. 18 started, two are left and for the Rapids and Sharks this is the first time EVER in the history of the 20 over competition in this country they have met.
It’s been a decade since Worcestershire won silverware, does the drought end tonight? Join in during the final by tweeting us at @WorcesterObs and I will try and feature some of your tweets during the coverage
WELCOME to live coverage of the Rapids Vitality Blast final against Sussex Sharks from Edgbaston
Sussex have won the toss and will bat first. They did so successfully in their semi-final while Worcestershire Rapids did the same in their tie
The team news and Worcestershire Rapids are unchanged from their semi final victory.
Before we get started why not visit www.worcesterobserver.co.uk/sport/all-round-effort-takes-the-rapids-to-the-vitality-blast-final to read how the Rapids made it to the final on their first appearance at Vitality Blast Finals Day
Sussex Sharks made it to the final with a 35 run victory over Somerset in this afternoon’s second semi-final