David Willey Credits Somerset’s Complacency for Fueling Northamptonshire’s T20 Blast Semi‑Final Victory

Northamptonshire captain David Willey said Somerset’s apparent belief that they had already secured victory at the halfway point energized him for the second innings, and his all‑round contribution with ball and field helped propel his team into the final.

Willey acknowledged that Northamptonshire had played some sloppy cricket after scraping to 143 all out in the first semi‑final at Edgbaston. He opened the bowling with a wicket on his first delivery, finishing with figures of 3 for 17, and later added a memorable moment to the Finals Day highlights with a spectacular relay catch at long‑off that dismissed Craig Overton.

Somerset were aiming to become the first side to retain the domestic T20 crown and to claim a third title in four seasons, but they fell 17 runs short. The win was especially satisfying for Northamptonshire, having suffered two heavy defeats — by 105 runs and seven wickets — against Somerset in the group stage despite topping the Central/West Group.

“I think for two-and-a-half games we’ve been absolutely diabolical against them, and we’ve turned it on in the last little hour and a half,” Willey said.

“Look, do you know what? There was a moment I walked out there, as we were going out for that second half, and they looked like they thought they’d just won it. That’s what it looked like to me, and that’s like red rag to a bull to me. Coming from little old Northampton, I don’t like that. It really got me revved up and generally speaking when I’m revved up I play my best cricket, so it was very satisfying.”

Asked about Northants’ batting, Willey summed it up as “s***… that wasn’t the plan”, saying that they felt at halfway they were 15-20 runs short and needed a complete performance to defend their total.

“It wasn’t an easy pitch but we, including myself, played some dumb cricket at times. Runs on the board in knockout cricket, we knew we were going to have to have a complete performance in the second half, and bar ‘s dropped catch at the back end there it was a complete performance pretty much.”

David Willey and Saif Zaib combined for a stunning relay catch•Gary Oakley/PA Images via Getty Images

On his own performance, he said: “The last few games I’ve bowled dross at times. I had two-and-a-bit hours with my old man [dad Peter] last week, just trying to find a bit of rhythm, and work out where on earth it’s gone wrong. It was nice, after the disappointment, a shocking bit of cricket with the bat, to come out and start the way we did was always going to be imperative.

“Everyone stood up. The chat before the game was about being brave, whether you’ve got bat or ball in hand, you be the one today. I think everyone tried to do that today, even with the bat. We misread conditions with the bat, which left us short, but we made up for it.”

Banton’s injury scare

Somerset’s efforts, meanwhile, were hampered by Tom Banton straining his quadriceps while fielding – an injury that could put his upcoming Hundred season with Trent Rockets in doubt.

Banton was released from England’s ODI squad to play for Somerset on Finals Day after missing out on selection for the first two matches of their series against India, but hurt his quad while making an excellent stop on the midwicket boundary in the 15th over of Northants’ innings. He immediately went off for treatment, with Tom Abell coming on as a sub fielder.

Somerset briefly considered asking for a runner, and promoted him to open the batting (he came in at No. 3 in their quarter-final win over Yorkshire) to minimise the volume of running he would have to do. He was out first-ball in any case, edging Willey behind as Somerset fell short in pursuit of 144.

“It was a bit chaotic, to be honest,” Jason Kerr, Somerset’s head coach, said. “Bants has got a bit of a quad strain through the fielding. At one stage we were going to have a runner.

“You haven’t got a huge amount of time in the turnaround [between innings] but we were trying to find the best place for him to bat to limit the amount of running that he may have to do.

“He was heavily strapped, so we made the natural choice [which] was to stick him up top and give him the freedom [to attack] but he obviously got a good one first up.”

Banton’s Hundred season could be in doubt•Nathan Stirk/ECB via Getty Images

The injury effectively rules Banton out of Sunday’s ODI series decider, though he was unlikely to play in any case given the tight turnaround from Finals Day. It also makes him a doubt for the start of the Hundred, with the Rockets – who retained him for £225,000 – due to play their first match of the season against Birmingham Phoenix on Friday.

Kerr said that he was “incredibly disappointed” by Somerset’s failure to chase 144, but said that the semi-final was a reflection of their hit-and-miss T20 season. “At the halfway stage, we were in a great position,” he said, “but the batting performance was probably a bit more of a reflection of how our campaign has been.

Somerset were the reigning champions and hoped to become the first team to successfully defend the Blast title. “It’s frustrating,” Kerr said. “That was certainly the aim coming in, after the success of Wednesday night and [with] the opportunity to defend it, but you need to play much better than we did today to do that.”

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at Cricinfo. Matt Roller is a senior correspondent.

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