The 2008 Twenty20 Cup was the sixth running of the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, and saw Middlesex Crusaders winning the tournament after a thrilling climax to the final against the reigning champions, the Kent Spitfires. The tournament began on 11 June 2008 before culminating in Finals Day, held at The Rose Bowl,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 26 July. As always, the eighteen county sides were split into three groups of six, depending on the location of the counties in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Group stage

Tables

Midlands/West/Wales Division

North Division

¹ The match on 27 June between Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire had no points awarded after it was found that Yorkshire had fielded an ineligible player for the match; Yorkshire were also ejected from the competition.

South Division

Knockout stage

''Note'': The draw for the semi-finals occurred after the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals

The match at the

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

was postponed in bizarre circumstances. The ECB received allegations about Yorkshire fielding an ineligible player in their final group game, against the

Nottinghamshire Outlaws Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Nottinghamshire. The club's limited overs team is called the ...

. In an original meeting on 10 July, Yorkshire were summoned to

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

and were told that they were to be ejected from the tournament, with Nottinghamshire to be reinstated in the draw.Yorkshire thrown out of Twenty20
/ref> However, Yorkshire appealed and at a second meeting held on 14 July, their appeal was heard and rejected, but this time

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

were placed into the draw on a superior run rate, because Nottinghamshire were not awarded the points for the 27 June game. ---- ---- ---- ---- Having waited fifteen days to play their quarter-final, Durham progressed to Finals Day after a 44-run win at the

. Having been put into bat, the visitors took three early wickets, removing dangermen

Phil Mustard Philip Mustard (born 8 October 1982) is an English cricketer who most recently played for Gloucestershire and has also represented England. Mustard is a left-handed batsman and wicketkeeper, with a style likened to that of Australia's Adam Gilch ...

Shivnarine Chanderpaul Shivnarine "Shiv" Chanderpaul (born 16 August 1974) is a Guyanese people, Guyanese cricket coach and former captain of the West Indies cricket team. Considered one of the greatest batsmen of his era, Chanderpaul is the first Indo-Caribbean to pla ...

and

Paul Collingwood Paul David Collingwood (born 26 May 1976) is an English cricket coach and former player, who played in all three formats of the game internationally for England. He played for Durham County Cricket Club and was the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 winn ...

, with the score only on 26. After

Michael Di Venuto Michael James Di Venuto (born 12 December 1973) is an Australian cricket coach and former first-class cricketer who represented both Australia (in One Day Internationals) and Italy. The bulk of his first-class cricket career was spent playing ...

fell, Durham looked to be in some trouble. However, a fifth wicket partnership of 53 between

Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968), also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor and rapper. He began his Will Smith filmography, acting career starring as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), a ...

and captain

Dale Benkenstein Dale Martin Benkenstein (born 9 June 1974) is a former South African cricketer who was an all-rounder. He is currently first-team coach at Gloucestershire, having previously held the same role at Hampshire. Early life Benkenstein was born in S ...

pushed the score up. Smith made 51 as Durham set a target of 164, for Glamorgan to chase. It could have been somewhat lower had it not been for virtuoso innings by

Gareth Breese Gareth Rohan Breese (born 9 January 1976) is a West Indian cricketer. Born in Montego Bay, St James, Jamaica, he attended Wolmer's Boys School in Kingston. Breese played as a right arm offspinner. Career He played one Test match in 2002, a ...

, smashing 20 off just 9 balls, and Liam Plunkett who hit 12 * off 3. James Harris took 3 wickets, but accounted for around a quarter of the runs conceded. The Glamorgan reply could not have gotten off to a worse start, losing opener Richard Grant very first ball.

David Hemp David Lloyd Hemp (born 8 November 1970) is a former Bermudian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler, who has played domestic cricket for Glamorgan, Free State, and Warwickshire. David has a younger brother, ...

soon followed, becoming Plunkett's second victim, with only seven runs on the board. Glamorgan were always struggling with the run-rate, with most of the top-order recording strike rates of below 100. Only four players made it to double figures, with

Jamie Dalrymple James William Murray Dalrymple (born 21 January 1981) is a Kenyan-born former English cricketer, who played ODIs and T20Is for England. He is a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler. He is perhaps best known for taking a spectacular diving ...

top scoring with 32, and had stern support from wicket-keeper

Mark Wallace Mark David Wallace (born December 31, 1967) is an American businessman, former diplomat and lawyer who has served in a variety of government, political and private sector posts. He served in several positions during the administration of Presi ...

, who fired 26 off sixteen deliveries. However, Glamorgan fell a long way short with Plunkett, the pick of the Durham attack, taking 3-16 off three overs.

Finals Day

;Semi-finals ---- ;Final

Statistics

Runs

Wickets

References

External links

Cricinfo

BBC Sport
{{Twenty20 Cup 2008 finalists

Twenty20 Cup The T20 Blast, currently named the Vitality Blast for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket competition for English and Welsh first-class counties. The competition was established by the England and Wales Cricket Board (E ...

Twenty20 Cup