The 6th edition of Vitality Blast is 3 games away to get its winner. The Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham is all set to host the finals day. Both the semi-finals and the final will take place on the same day and at the same venue. It will be an 8-hour-long cricketing action in Birmingham tomorrow and fans are excited about it. Meanwhile, fantasy game players are also looking forward to catching the action and they want to know stats of the ground such as the Edgbaston Birmingham pitch report, T20 records at the venue and the weather forecast for the game. Here, you can find out the key details ahead of the English T20 Blast finals day.
T20 Blast is the oldest National level T20 league in the world having started in 2003. The Vitality Blast 2023 is the 21st edition of England’s premier T20 league. Essex, Surrey, Hampshire and Somerset are the four semi-finalists this year.
On Friday, Hampshire will be eying to defend their title and become the most successful team in the tournament’s history. If Hampshire wins the 2023 edition then they will lift the title for the 4th time. On the other hand, Surrey, Essex and Somerset all three have won one title each. But this year, Somerset are in red-hot form as they have won 13 out of their 15 games this season.
Birmingham Cricket Stadium T20 Blast 2023 Records
Birmingham Cricket Stadium has hosted 9 games of the T20 Blast 2023 season. In most of the games, the teams who batted first had the upper hand.
- Total T20I matches played: 9
- Matches won by the team batting first: 5
- Matches won by the team batting second: 4
- Highest team score while batting first: Warwickshire – 228/4 (20) vs Worcestershire
- Lowest score while batting first: Lancashire – 98/10 (20) vs Warwickshire
- Biggest total chased: Derbyshire chased 203 vs Warwickshire
- Lowest Score Defended: Warwickshire defended 137 vs Northamptonshire
- Edgbaston Birmingham average 1st innings score in T20 Blast 2023: 174
- Edgbaston Cricket Stadium average 2nd innings total in T20I: 160
Edgbaston Birmingham Pitch Report for T20 Blast 2023
It is one of the most competitive tracks for T20 cricket. Batting first or second won’t matter much at the Birmingham pitch. In this T20 Blast season, we have seen a score of 203 being chased while 137 runs were defended here by Warwickshire. However, a team would prefer to chase a total looking at the overcast conditions.
There will be equal opportunity for both bowlers and batters. This year, we have seen some close games here. There will be help for pacers in the initial overs and once the batters settle their feet scoring will become easy. The average first innings total at the venue in this T20 Blast season is 174, so, the batting team will eye to reach near this mark.
However, as three games are scheduled to play on finals day, the pitch may get slow in the last two matches. So bowlers may not find much help from the surface during the later part of the day and batters can enjoy their time in the middle.
Birmingham Weather during T20 Blast Finals Day
Accuweather has predicted a cloudy day with showers as far as Birmingham weather is concerned. The first semi-final will commence at 11:00 AM in Birmingham and there are 51% chances of rain around 12:00 PM for half an hour. But, rain is expected to play a spoilsport during the 2nd semi-finals as from 2 PM to 5 PM, there are 75% chances. Although, there is a reserve day on Sunday.