You are in > manchester.com  > News > Holders Kent face Essex in T20 semi-final

Cricket

Holders Kent face Essex in T20 semi-final

11/07/2008

The draw for the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup has been made, pairing holders Kent Spitfires with Essex Eagles.

One of the teams involved in the other semi-final is still to be determined, pending a disciplinary investigation by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Middlesex Crusaders will play either Nottinghamshire Outlaws, Durham Dynamos, Yorkshire Carnegie or Glamorgan Dragons, who are all still in contention for a place at finals day.

The uncertainty over the fourth team arises from the postponed quarter-final between Durham and Yorkshire at the Riverside on Monday evening, when it was found that Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player - Azeem Rafiq - earlier in the competition.

A disciplinary panel at the ECB ruled that Yorkshire would be expelled from the competition and replaced by the side that was eliminated as a result of the match in which Rafiq played, which was Nottinghamshire.

However, Yorkshire are expected to appeal the decision, which is also subject to scrutiny from Durham and Glamorgan.

Durham believe they should go through to the semi-finals automatically following Yorkshire's elimination.

And Glamorgan claim the fact that they finished with more points than Notts in the Twenty20 group table should mean they are given Yorkshire's place in the quarter-finals, rather than the Midlands team.

Finals day will take place at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on July 26th. The first semi-final, which will be Kent vs Essex, is scheduled to start at 11:30 BST with the second last-four match to be played at 15:00.

The final will be a floodlit affair, starting at 19:15 and finishing at around 22:00.