England was the first country to launch a professional domestic twenty-over competition in 2003.
Although it has now been usurped in terms of global prestige by the likes of the Indian Premier League and Australia Big Bash League, while also having to vie for space in the English summer alongside the freshly minted Hundred, Finals Day remains the showpiece day of the season for county teams.
Here, we’ll outline the tournament format, have a look at the previous winners and ponder who might claim glory this time around.
When is Finals Day? T20 Blast format and finale
England’s 18 first-class county teams, who also compete in the four-day County Championship and the 50-over Royal London Cup, are split into two groups of nine for the round-robin phase of the T20 Blast.
North Group: Birmingham Bears, Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes, Northants Steelbacks, Notts Outlaws, Worcestershire Rapids, Yorkshire Vikings
South Group: Essex Eagles, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire Hawks, Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex Sharks
Each team plays 14 matches in the group stage, with two points awarded for a win, one for a tie or no-result and zero for a defeat. The top four in the respective sections progress to the quarterfinals, which will take place between July 6-9 this season.
The top two teams in the North and South Groups enjoy the advantage of a home tie and the winner of each quarterfinal earns a place at Finals Day.
Edgbaston in Birmingham has become the home of the showpiece occasion, where the teams involved play both semifinals and the final on the same day. T20 Blast Finals Day in 2022 will be on Saturday, July 16.
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Who has won the most T20 Blast titles?
Leicestershire were trailblazers during the early years of the competition and are the only team to have won the Blast on three occasion, with the last of their successes coming in 2011.
Hampshire, Notts, Northants and last year’s champions Kent are all two-time winners, with the rest of the successes shared between one-time winners.
Indeed, of the 18 counties that contest the T20 Blast, only Derbyshire, Durham, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire have failed to lift the trophy.
Who has qualified for the 2022 T20 Blast quarter-finals
Kent were victorious at Edgbaston last year, beating Somerset in the final by 25 runs. But dreadful form this time around saw the Spitfires finish bottom of the South Group.
Surrey finished top of those standings with 10 wins from their 14 games giving them the best record of any side in the competition, although all three of their defeats have come in their past four matches.
Birmingham won the North Group, finishing ahead of Lancashire and Derbyshire on net run rate as all three sides finished level on 18 points. The Lightning are the other home quarter-finalists.
Yorkshire complete the four northern qualifiers despite losing what looked set to be a final-game shootout with Leicestershire by 60 runs on Sunday. This is because the ECB’s Cricket Discipline Committee (CDC) docked the Foxes two points for on-field rule breaches.
The offences occurred during a victory over the Northants Steelbacks in their penultimate group game. Afghanistan seamer Naveen ul-Haq was penalised for two waist-high full tosses and Aaron Lilley was reported for verbally abusing New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham.
Somerset, Essex and Hampshire qualified behind Surrey in the South Group and the full quarter-final line-up is below.
2022 T20 Blast quarter-finals
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How to watch the T20 Blast
Sky Sports has the rights to 19 live matches over the course of the group stage in the UK, plus all knockout matches. The ECB website will also stream every match.
There is no television coverage in India, but fans can stream the action via the Fancode app and website. It is a similar situation for cricket fans in the United States on WillowTV.
In New Zealand and Australia, the TV rights are held by Sky Sport NZ and Fox Sports respectively.
