The T20 Blast Finals between Hampshire and Lancashire is one of the most memorable moments in Australian T20 cricket. Nathan Ellis throwing a no-ball at a crucial moment, the early celebration, the fireworks and the pressure after that got all the fans pumped.
With only one ball remaining to hit five runs, Ellis bowled Gleeson with a perfect yorker. That was it, the celebration began and all of Hampshire ran to celebrate their victory under the light of fireworks, securing their third Vitality Blast Finals, but no, there was a complication.
The umpire called them back, it wasn’t over yet. Ellis overstepped the delivery and gave Lancashire another shot to snatch the victory out of their hands. With three runs needed on a free hit, the game was as intense as it could get in the final moments.
Ellis followed up aiming for the wickets once again, Gleeson missed the drive and the ball went straight to the wicket-keeper. That was it, the winning moment for Hampshire and where the real celebration began, resuming the fireworks and players and fans finally taking a sigh of relief.
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The Last Ball Drama
Gleeson and Hartley tried to tie the game to win through their Powerplay score, but couldn’t, or did they? The controversy does not end there, as many fans across X (Twitter) claimed that the run out during no ball was a little suspicious.
Many began to claim that Lancashire did manage to secure two runs, as the match saw Lancashire secure one and even go for two and complete it. With this, the match should have been tied. However, amidst the chaos, the result was announced and Hampshire was crowned champions.
Since Lancashire weren’t also sure of what happened, they accepted their defeat which gave Hampshire their third win and for us, one of the most epic T20 finals that will be remembered for decades.