County cricket: Northamptonshire were deserving winners of the Blast

The Northamptonshire players celebrate after beating Hampshire in the T20 Blast final. Photograph: News Images/NurPhoto/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenThe Northamptonshire players celebrate after beating Hampshire in the T20 Blast final. Photograph: News Images/NurPhoto/Shutterstock99.94 cricket blogCricketCounty cricket: Northamptonshire were deserving winners of the BlastA star team rather than a team of stars shone on Finals Day, beating Somerset then Hampshire in the final By the 99.94 Cricket BlogGary NaylorTue 21 Jul 2026 11.38 BSTSharePrefer the Guardian on Google1. Overton’s overdrive continuesMomentum matters in sport, as we saw in the first innings of the first semi-final. Somerset enjoyed a strong finish to the T20 season, clinching a quarter-final after a few late wins in the group and then bringing the elan of Craig Overton’s extraordinary rescue act at Headingley to Edgbaston. His first ball may have been clipped for four by Ricardo Vasconcelos, but the wind was in Somerset’s sails as they appeared to conjure wickets at will for the next 19.1 overs as Northamptonshire limped to 143 all out.In contrast, Northamptonshire had done their best work in the early season and had lost twice to Somerset late in the group stage. Their innings never established any momentum, too many shots caught well inside the ropes, indicating a failure to commit fully to shots. The holders had a very good chance to progress to the final.2. Willey comes to the partySometimes you can analyse the tactics, the psychological states of the players and the data in granular detail. And sometimes, a moment of inspiration turns a match, a semi-final, maybe a tournament.Practising boundary relay catches is commonplace before play and they’re not quite the kind of stop-the-press events they were in the early days of T20 cricket. But when Overton launched Ben Sanderson back over his head, it felt like Somerset’s gamechanger was changing the game. David Willey thought otherwise. At 36,...