Netherfield 171-5  (20 overs)
Blackpool 117-7 (20 overs)
TWP Wealth Twenty20 semi-final
Netherfield won by 54 runs

REIGNING champions Netherfield retained their TWP Wealth Twenty20 title after a blistering batting display blew away Blackpool in the final with the Parkside Road club powering home by 54 runs.

Sri Lankan professional Saliya Saman produced a stunning innings of 72 while Ben Phillips added a half century as Netherfield posted a mammoth 171-5 from their 20 overs.

Blackpool faced an uphill task from the start and there was no repeat of the semi-final when they chased down 151 to beat Darwen, finishing 117-7 as Tom Williamson claimed 4-17.

After being invited to bat, Phillips carved both Christi Viljoen and Ben Eckton through backward point for four as Netherfield navigated the first four overs without alarm at 18-0.

Marc Brown hooked Andy Furniss to the boundary rope before falling to the same bowler for nine after picking out Ash Moreau at mid-off.

Phillips and Saman ensured the score ticked along before the latter unleashed two huge hits in the ninth over for six – the first over mid-wicket and the second mich finer.

A further four through backward point by Phillips saw Netherfield reach 66-1 at the halfway stage with the Australian unbeaten on 31 and Saman 20 not out.

The Netherfield innings received a massive surge in the final ten overs which saw 110 runs added with Saman in particular putting the Blackpool bowling to the sword.

A pulled four from Phillips was followed by successive sixes from Saman as Danny Gilbert had a baptism of fire, conceding 19 runs from his one and only over in the match.

A further six over long-on propelled Netherfield to three figures with a powerful cover drive bringing the 28-year-old Sri Lankan his half century in the 14th over.

With scoreboard reading 114-1, Furniss was the next bowler to suffer as his final three balls went for 14 to finish with 1-31 as Saman once again flexed his muscle.

Phillips reached 50 in the 16th over before guiding a Steven Mercer delivery to Gilbert at mid-off, as John Huck clobbered the same bowler for four second ball.

Namibian professional Viljoen saw another straight boundary crashed off his bowling before exacting revenge as Saman was bowled for 72 with Netherfield 146-3 from 17 overs.

Huck took up the mantle a fired another six off Mercer before Ben Barrow departed looking for late runs as Viljoen finished with 2-29.

Brad Earl was run out via a direct hit on the last ball of the innings as Huck finished unbeaten with a 13-ball 23 with Netherfield posting a daunting 171-5.

Two boundaries in the opening over saw Blackpool start their reply positively although a mix-up with fellow opener Viljoen saw Gurman Baines run out for eight in the second.

Blackpool were ahead of Netherfield at the equivalent stage of their innings as Viljoen was bowled by Stuart Dixon for ten with the Stanley Park club 32-2 from six overs.

A straight six brought up the Blackpool fifty in the eighth as Tom Williamson made an immediate impression, bowling Furniss for a top score of 31 with his first delivery.

The left-arm spin twins of Williamson and Earl strangled the middle overs with the former striking twice in the 12th over to remove Alex Smith and Jarred Bain for eight and five respectively.

Moreau was the next to go, stumped for by Barrow off Williamson – who finished with 4-17 – as Blackpool’s impossible task petered out.

A six from Mercer brought up the 100 as he and Paul Danson added late runs, with the Blackpool skipper bowled by Saman with the final delivery of the innings for 28.

While Williamson was the pick of the bowlers, Saman ended with 1-23 and Dixon 1-18, and although wicketless Chambers, Earl and Mark Clarkson all bowled economically.