Birmingham Bears will face Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford tonight (7pm) knowing that victory would secure them a place in next week’s NatWestT20Blast quarter-finals.
In a very tight North Group, the Bears’ eight-wicket hammering of Durham Jets last Sunday, their seventh victory in the group, means they go into tonight’s final game with their fate in their own hands.
But a tense evening awaits for all the teams involved as the equation, and the identity of three of the qualifiers, is unlikely to unravel until the final moments of the group phase.
Notts Outlaws are already through but the other three places remain to be fought out tonight by the Bears and Lancashire, Derbyshire Falcons (home to Worcestershire Rapids), Northants Steelbacks (home to Durham Jets) and Leicestershire Foxes (away to the Outlaws).
Following defeats for Derbyshire and Northants last night, victory for the Bears tonight would definitely take them through. Defeat, however, would leave them dependent upon an unlikely combination of results elsewhere.
The quarter-finals will be played next week, one each on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with a 6.30pm start.
There will be live twitter updates on our Bears twitter account @Bearst20 and BBCWM will be covering commentary online.
