Lawrence-led Essex edge past Warwickshire in nervy finish to make Finals day

In a nail-biting finish at Edgbaston, Essex held their nerve to seal a two-wicket win over Warwickshire in the first quarter-final of the T20 Blast. A controlled half-century from Daniel Lawrence was the backbone of the visitors' run chase with cameos from Adam Rossington and Paul Walter playing the ideal foil at the other end. Chasing a slightly under-par target of 168, Essex frontloaded their chase with their typical brand of aggressive cricket as 69 came off their PowerPlay with shots all around the ground.

The Bears did fight back during the middle overs through their spinners, notably Jake Lintott, but the required run rate had gone down considerably for Essex after such a thundering start. Even as wickets fell at the other end, Lawrence continued to hold one end up by working the ball around. The hosts, though, put on a late squeeze and got it down to 17 needed off 15 balls with just three wickets left. That's when skipper Simon Harmer hit Lintott for a six and a four to get the margin down to just seven off the final 12 deliveries.

At this point, the game finally seemed done. However, Dominic Drakes started the penultimate over with the big wicket of Lawrence and just conceded a solitary run off it to spice up things with Harmer also falling off the final ball, leaving Essex to get six off the last over with two wickets left. Oliver Hannon-Dalby, bowling the 20th over, used his guile to get it down to three needed off two balls before Shane Snater calmly hit him down the ground for a six to seal the deal.

It was a heart-breaking defeat for Warwickshire who had fought hard despite not having a daunting score on the board. Put into bat, the Bears got off to a bumpy start as their in-form openers Alex Davies and Robert Yates both fell cheaply to the new-ball. Glenn Maxwell played a few shots but he too couldn't dig deep to cause a serious impact. It took the ever-reliable Sam Hain's half-century to rescue the home side and he got support from Chris Benjamin and Dominic Drakes down the order as Warwickshire got to a competitive, albeit under-par score. In the end, it wasn't enough to stop Essex who sprung a surprise to get to Finals day.

Brief scores: Warwickshire 167/7 in 20 overs (Sam Hain 52, Glenn Maxwell 32; Sam Cook 2-24) lost to Essex 171/8 in 19.5 overs (Daniel Lawrence 62, Paul Walter 27; Dominic Drakes 2-26, Jake Lintott 2-31) by two wickets.