McDermott, Ellis lift Hampshire into T20 finals day

Hobart Hurricanes duo Ben McDermott and Nathan Ellis have combined to lift Hampshire into the semi-finals of England's T20 Blast.

McDermott hammered four sixes on his way to 61 from just 36 balls while Ellis claimed three wickets as their Hampshire side romped to a lopsided 104-run win to book a spot at the competition's Finals Day.

McDermott's blistering start laid the platform for Hampshire to reach 6-186, before Ellis struck in his first over to start a collapse that saw Birmingham bowled out for 82 in just 13.3 overs.

Hampshire opted to bat first at Edgbaston and McDermott was near his best alongside BBL Draft target James Vince as the pair put on 93 runs inside the first 10 overs.

It was McDermott's second half-century in his past four games with the big-hitting wicketkeeper-batter finding form at the right time after snapping a mid-season form slump that saw him post five successive single-figure scores.

McDermott had started watchfully, with just a single from his first eight deliveries, before exploding with a series of boundaries as he brought up his fifty with a towering six off Danny Briggs in the eighth over.

The innings took the Hurricanes star past 400 runs for the season, with his fourth fifty lifting his average to 26.73 at a strike rate of 140.70.

Image Id: 8BF6886E67484F9FA0FE628C28B84C1D Image Caption: Ben McDermott had a strike rate of 169.44 // Getty

McDermott and Vince were both dismissed in the same over by Birmingham captain Carlos Brathwaite, the Australian somehow dragging a wide delivery back on to his stumps attempting to guide the ball to third.

Defending 186, Ellis started excellently with the new ball, a back-of-the-hand slower ball completely deceiving Birmingham opener Paul Stirling with his second delivery.

But Vince, the Hampshire captain, held him back after that solitary first over as Birmingham's batters imploded against Brad Wheal (2-9) and James Fuller (4-17).

Returning for what proved to be the match's final over, Ellis promptly added two more wickets, bowling Craig Miles before combining with McDermott to have Danny Briggs caught behind for a duck.

Ellis finished with three wickets for four runs from just nine balls' work.

It's the ninth time Hampshire have made the final four of the T20 competition, with this season's finals day to be held at Edgbaston on July 16.

Hampshire join Yorkshire in having already qualified, with Tim David's Lancashire to face an Essex side featuring an in-form Daniel Sams in the third quarter-final on Friday at Old Trafford.

Somerset, who could pick Aussie veteran Peter Siddle in their XI, will meet a Derbyshire side with Hilton Cartwright and Hayden Kerr at their disposal on Saturday.

Australians in 2022 English T20 Blast

Birmingham: Nathan McAndrew

Derbyshire: Hilton Cartwright, Hayden Kerr

Durham: Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye

Essex: Daniel Sams

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser

Gloucestershire: Marcus Harris

Hampshire: Nathan Ellis, Ben McDermott

Lancashire: Tim David

Middlesex: Jason Behrendorff, Chris Green

Northamptonshire: Matthew Kelly, Chris Lynn

Nottinghamshire: Dan Christian, James Pattinson

Somerset: Peter Siddle

Surrey: Aaron Hardie

Sussex: Josh Philippe