Danny Briggs spins Hampshire to T20 finals day with victory over Durham

Hampshire will head to Twenty20 finals day this month confident of defending their title after a resounding defeat of Durham in front of an 11,900 full house in their quarter-final. A 55‑run win was the perfect 40th birthday present for their captain, Dominic Cork, although the left‑arm spinner Danny Briggs will doubtless have enjoyed celebrating career-best figures of five for 19. For once Hampshire did not require a stellar contribution from Shahid Afridi. The Pakistan all-rounder was run out without facing after Scott Borthwick's turn and direct hit from the second ball of the innings. It was the ideal start for Durham and two more run-outs were testament to the underdogs' tenacity in the field but in the other facets they were outplayed. So they ought to have been, considering the teams' qualification records. Hampshire remained unbeaten at home and won 11 games, Durham squeezed into the quarter-finals with six wins, fewer than six of the teams in the south. The difference was emphasised by the spin attacks. The game was played on the same pitch used for the Sri Lanka Test in June which has been played on twice subsequently. Hampshire's spin trio of Afridi, Imran Tahir and Briggs, with 45 wickets between them in the group stages, were licking their lips when they saw Durham's Ian Blackwell, who is not a renowned tweaker of the ball, turning it square. Hampshire's innings was transformed by the South African Neil McKenzie, who mixed power with adroit placement to make 56 from 44 balls, including four fours and two sixes. A stand of 47 from 29 balls with Sean Ervine helped to take Hampshire to 154 for six, a total they seemed capable of defending from the moment the slow left-armer Briggs removed the dangerous Phil Mustard with his third ball. The 20-year-old struck two crucial blows in the 10th over, bowling the South African David Miller through the gate and luring Ben Stokes, who had played well for his 28, fatally down the pitch. When Dale Benkenstein slogged to long-off in Briggs's next over Durham knew their fate.