Birmingham [UK], July 16 (ANI): Somerset managed to hold onto their nerves as they ended an 18-year wait for a second T20 title by defeating Essex in the final of the Vitality T20 Blast on Saturday. 

Somerset had enjoyed an impressive outing throughout the competition as they won 14 games out of 16 before they appeared in the final against Essex. 

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While defending a total of 145, New Zealand's pacer Matt Henry ripped apart Essex with a scintillating spell of 4/24. His spell was crucial in deciding the fate of the game as the pacer brought an end to Daniel Sams' heroic attempts to win the match on his own, with the help of a flying, one-handed catch from Tom Kohler-Cadmore. 

Essex had been the fastest-scoring side in the powerplay this season but they were also prone to early collapses. Somerset, meanwhile, had already taken the most wickets in a Blast season. 

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During the powerplay, Essex moved to 27 in the first 11 balls and then ended up losing four wickets from the next 17 deliveries. 

Henry dismissed the opening order in his first two overs of the game. Adam Rossington was the first to fall for a score of 19, Dan Lawrence followed his footsteps by getting pinned in front of the stumps for a score of 16. 

On the final ball of his second over Michael-Kyle Pepper saw the bails flying off the stumps as he departed for 1. 

Craig Overton provided the icing on the cake, Robin Das tried to continue his team's attacking plan but ended up losing the concept of the entire plot. His shot landed straight into the hands of Matt Henry. 

Ish Sodhi and Lewis Gregory kept things stable during the middle overs. Sodhi broke through Paul Walter's defence to end his night with a score of 26. While skipper Gregory bagged the wicket of Matthew Critchley (3). 

Daniel Sams revived hopes of Essex to walk away with a victory after Gregory won the battle of captain by dismissing Simon Harmer for 3. 

It looked as if he could singlehandedly take his team across the finishing line even though Sodhi continued to take wickets of players on the other end. 

But, Sams failed to overcome Henry's challenge with the pacer dismissing the Australian to restrict Essex for a score of 131 and sealing a 14-run victory for Somerset.

Earlier in the game, Sean Dickson drove Somerset to a competitive score of 145 with his 53 off 35 deliveries. Tom Banton also contributed in the beginning with his 20 which included a four and a six. The rest of the team failed to turn up with the bat, with Snater and Walter picking up three each to restrict Somerset to a score of 145. 

Brief Score: Somerset 145 (Sean Dickson 53; Paul Walter 3-29, Snater 3-11) vs Essex 131 (Daniel Sams 45; Matt Henry 4-25, Ish Sodhi 3-22). (ANI)

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