T20 Blast Finals Day 2020 - When is it? How can I watch it? What is a bowl-out? – All you need to know

The Cricketers provides all the information ahead of the conclusion to the English domestic season at Edgbaston...

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What is it?

The English cricket season will come to an end with T20 Blast Finals Day. The four remaining sides will meet in two semi-finals before the final rounds off the competition.

When is it?

Finals Day is due to take place on Saturday, October 3, with play in the first semi-final scheduled to get underway from 11am. In the event any of the three matches cannot be complete, a reserve day has been pencilled in for Sunday, October 4.

Where is it?

The matches will be played at Edgbaston for an eighth straight year and 12th occasion in the competition's history. As with almost all of the summer, the entire event will be played behind closed doors.

Who's playing?

Semi-final 1: Surrey v Gloucestershire (11am)

Semi-final 2: Notts Outlaws v lancashire Lightning (2:30pm)

T20 Blast Final: TBC (6:30pm)

^{Gloucestershire's Ian Cockbain is the highest run-scorer left in the competition}

How did they get there?

Central Group winners Gloucestershire overcame Northamptonshire by seven wickets to reach their first final since 2007. Three wickets each for Ryan Higgins and Benny Howell followed by key contributions with the bat from Chris Dent and Ian Cockbain saw them to their target of 114 with ease.

North Group winners Notts Outlaws road their luck to reach Finals Day, prevailing on having scored more runs in the powerplay as their clash with Leicestershire ended in a tie. Both sides scored 139 for 7 from their 20 overs, but Notts' quick start to the reply, coupled with some Foxes miss-fields secured the narrow win.

Runners-up in that section Lancashire cruise past Sussex. After scoring 140 for 7, Matt Parkinson and Liam Livingstone took three and four wickets respectively as the Sharks were dismissed for a dismal 95.

South Group winners Surrey produced another one-sided win to defeat Kent to reach Finals Day for the first time since 2014. Hashim Amla carried his bat, scoring an unbeaten 73 before Will Jacks took centre stage with a career-best 4-15 to dismiss the Spitfires' all-star top-order and lay the platform for victory.

Who are the favourites?

Surrey are the favourites to scoop the title in Birmingham, with bookmakers Betfair offering odds of 5/2 of the title going to The Kia Oval. Notts are next at 9/4, with Lancashire and Gloucestershire both available at 11/4.

What will the weather be?

The Met Office are reporting significant rain throughout the day at Edgbaston, with a 90 per cent chance of precipitation and a high possibility of a complete wash-out. The reserve day faces a similar fate, though chances of rain across the entire day reduce to around 60 per cent. On Sunday, play is pencilled in between 10am-8pm.

Will we get a super over?

Only in the event of a match being tied when Duckworth/Lewis/Stern has been used will a super over be played to split the teams. If a contest is unaffected by rain, then a side who scored the most runs during the first six overs (of whatever is determined to be the powerplay overs) is the winner. This follows the outcome of the fourth quarter-final between Notts and Leicestershire, who both scored 139 for 7, but the Outlaws progressed based on having more runs during the fielding restrictions.

^{No bowler has taken more wickets than Jake Ball's 16}

If a super over is indeed required, both sides will bowl a single over with the chasing team in regulation play batting first. One bowler will delivery six legal deliveries, with a maximum of three batsmen permitted to face. Should two wickets fall during a batting side's innings, the over is stopped and the reply begins. The side with the most runs from the over wins.

Should both sides continue to be deadlocked, a countback system will be deployed starting with the most runs scored from the sixth delivery. The process continues to the fifth ball and so on until one side has more than the other. If they cannot be separated then a second super over will be staged, with the same tiebreaker deployed if required.

What is a bowl-out?

With rain predicted across both days, the ECB Technical Committee face a number of challenges to ensure a fair finale to the competition can be reached. Their objectives in regulation time are:

• To ensure that both semi-finals and the final are completed on the scheduled day of the matches (minimum overs to constitute a match is five overs per team).
• To ensure wherever possible a 20-over per side floodlit final.
• To ensure that wherever possible both semi-finals are of the same duration.
• To ensure that wherever possible, within each match, teams have the opportunity of batting for the same number of overs.
• To balance the desire to achieve commercial objectives with the need to ensure matches of as long a duration as possible. 

In 17 previous editions, Finals Day has never been completely washed out. However, should inclement weather ensure that five-over matches cannot be staged on either day over the weekend, then a bowl-out will decide the destination of the title. 

This will take place at the Edgbaston Cricket Centre, the indoor facility located in the ground if the outfield is deemed unplayable. In the event the umpires do not believe a bowl-out is possible, then a toss of a coin will decide the semi-final winners, and the trophy will be shared for the first time.

^{Will Jacks was among the stand-out performers from the quarter-finals}

Should a bowl-out be confirmed as the desired method of achieving an outcome, the two competing sides will select five bowlers each. Players from alternate counties will take it in turns to bowl two deliveries each.

The ECB playing regulations read: "The first bowler from Team A will bowl two deliveries, then the first bowler from Team B will bowl two deliveries, then the second bowler from Team A will bowl two deliveries, and so on."

The team whose bowlers have struck the stumps the most number of times after 10 balls each will be declared the winner. If the two teams are tied after both teams have bowled out, then the same players will bowl a single delivery on a 'sudden death' basis. Teams are permitted to change the order of their line-up, but not the personnel.

How can I follow it?

Sky Sports Cricket (Sky 404, Virgin 504, TalkTalk 405) will broadcast all three matches, with their coverage kicking off at 10:30am.

Test Match Special will be providing ball-by-ball radio coverage via BBC Radio 5 live sports extra (DAB: 12B Freeview: 706 Freesat: 706 Sky (UK only): 0144 Virgin Media: 908 Virgin Media Ireland: 928).

The Cricketer's social media channels and website will have updates throughout the day, with reaction to follow after play has concluded.

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