Notts and Hampshire make finals day

Nottinghamshire held their nerve under the Trent Bridge lights to knock champions Sussex out of the Friends Provident t20 in a tight quarter-final on Monday night.

Mike Yardy's visitors appeared on course to join their south coast neighbours Hampshire - who earlier scraped past Warwickshire - in the last four for next month's showpiece at the Rose Bowl, after the Outlaws had mustered only 141 for nine.

But in conditions when pace off the ball proved more effective throughout than pace on it, Samit Patel replicated Yardy's own bowling - and Steve Mullaney's seam also strangled the Sussex reply to give Nottinghamshire victory by 13 runs.

Yardy had picked up two wickets in a typically miserly spell, and Yasir Arafat finished with four for 34 as the home tail nonetheless eked out what proved a defendable total.

After Chris Nash - dropped on only two by Ryan Sidebottom at short fine-leg off Dirk Nannes - and Luke Wright got the chase off to a handy start, Sussex faltered alarmingly to Patel, Mullaney and Darren Pattinson (three for 17).

Earlier in the day James Vince guided Hampshire to their first Friends Provident t20 finals day with a nerveless unbeaten 66 which secured a five-wicket win over Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Hampshire had only reached the quarter-finals before and did not progress beyond the group stage when they last hosted finals day two years ago.

But they will be attending their own party at the Rose Bowl on August 14 thanks to Vince's effort which chased down Warwickshire's 153 for five and sealed a jittery win with one ball to spare. Warwickshire's defeat was their sixth in a t20 quarter-final in seven seasons.

Hampshire's slow left-armer Danny Briggs, an England Under-19 international, took three for 29 in his four overs to take his season's tally to 27, the most by a slow bowler in the competition.