Gloucestershire won their first T20 Blast title in glorious style as they beat holders Somerset, comprehensively outplaying their West Country rivals to claim their first trophy in nine years.
Openers Cameron Bancroft, up against his former county, and Miles Hammond both hit half-centuries at Edgbaston as they won by eight wickets with 31 balls to spare.
Somerset’s hopes of a trophy treble, which had been given such a big boost by Thursday’s sensational County Championship win over Surrey, increased when they beat Surrey again in a well-contested semi-final.
But that treble dream – and the chance to become the first side to retain the T20 trophy – ended when they proved no match for a Gloucestershire side who came from nowhere to squeeze through in the Southern Group, then followed it up with three straight Edgbaston wins.
The unlikely quarter-final victory over Birmingham Bears eight days ago, Saturday afternoon’s eight-wicket win over Sussex and then this repeat eight-wicket walloping earned Gloucestershire their first knockout trophy win since the 2015 One-Day Cup victory over Surrey at Lord’s.
It all added up to a marvellous day out for their fans after previously being denied in the very first T20 Finals Day in 2003, Kent in the final in 2007 and Covid in 2020, when the county last made it to a then empty Edgbaston.
It was also a personal triumph for coach Mark Alleyne, who played in the only other cup final meeting between Somerset and Gloucestershire in the Nat West Trophy at Lord’s 25 years ago.
Somerset still have the Championship title and the One-Day Cup to go at, while Gloucestershire became the 14th side to win the T20 – leaving Yorkshire, Durham, Derbyshire and Glamorgan as the only four sides not to have done so in its 22 editions.