Twenty20 / Editor / 19 June 2007 /

Wednesday sees the semi-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy, with four deserving sides having made it through the slog of nine games apiece in the North and South Conferences and proved worthy of qualification.

Durham, winners of the North Conference are surprisingly the outsiders in the win market at 4.2 although it is wide open, headed by Hampshire at 3.25 with Essex at 3.95 and Warwickshire priced at 4.1 in a market that is still lacking a lot of liquidity.

Durham's position is probably the biggest surprise, given the availability of both Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison for the semi-final with Essex, which takes place at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street thanks to their table-topping position giving them home advantage.

The Dynamos had already qualified for the last-four by the time they lost their last game to Warwickshire, but that made it only two defeats in nine games, while their four-day form has been just as good when the England duo have been available to them.

But while Durham's side has been boosted by two key additions, Essex suffered a huge blow on the eve of the clash when all-rounder Ravi Bopara - probably their most impressive one-day performer this season - was ruled out of the game with a thigh injury that will also cost him a place in the England set-up for the forthcoming one-day series with the West Indies.

His loss added to Ronnie Irani's continuing knee troubles leave the Eagles woefully short of top-line batting, and a lot is going to depend on opening pair Mark Pettini and Varun Chopra - if they lose a couple of early wickets, a small total is very possible.

They looked set for a struggle in the most recent County Championship clash with Middlesex - the game in which Bopara was injured, but got centuries from two unlikely sources. One of those, Australia all-rounder Andy Bichel, may have to step up the order in Bopara's absence, and would be interesting in the top batsman market if he does so, as he can be a very quick scorer when he makes it past the nervy early runs.

But when you consider the fact that Bopara and Irani have between them scored 605 runs in the tournament so far, you see the hole that they leave, even though Alistair Cook returns. Cook did score a fine ton earlier in the competition, but it is asking a lot of him to replace two players, despite his fine form against the low-grade Windies attack.

Essex's bowling, until the last two weeks, had all been about Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria as he grabbed 18 wickets at an average of only 13.77 in his eight group games - only Bopara of the other bowlers reached double figures.

But the addition of Kent paceman Martin Saggers on loan has really provided them with a boost, and he weighed in with five wickets at a cost of only 46 in their final two games. With the Chester-le-Street pitch offering plenty of help in the recent Test, he could be interesting in the top bowler market.

Durham were the top run-scoring side in the North, only beaten by non-qualifiers Somerset down south, but it was not one of their anticipated pre-season stars who came through with the most, rather wicket-keeper Phil Mustard, who seems to be relishing his move to the top of the order.

Mustard scored 433 runs in the Conference season, three times passing 50 as an opener, and hitting a whopping total of 60 boundaries. The big-hitter usually bats at seven in four-day cricket but his pinch-hitting role could see him a bigger price than normal in the top run-scorer market.

Skipper Dale Benkenstein tops the averages at 56, but they have five batsmen averaging over 40, all of which will start this game, as well as three bowlers who have scored more than 30 an innings - depth could be vital here.

Harmison's return also gives them five excellent bowling options and the problem could well be fitting them all into the team. Neil Killeen could be the unlucky man despite taking 11 wickets at only 22.27.

The second match, at the Rose Bowl, pits Hampshire against Warwickshire in a game that involves some of the best one-day players the world and the domestic game has to offer.

Hampshire battled past five other credible rivals to win the South Conference with narrow wins in both of their final conference games, beating Kent by two runs and then Surrey by three wickets when they faced elimination if they had been beaten.

On both occasions the Hawks looked set for big victories, but struggled past the winning line, and if they let Warwickshire in with a chance they could find themselves watching on TV when the final get played...inexplicably in August when a number of semi-final players may not even be available to their counties.

For a team that won its' conference, Hampshire have really struggled to put runs on the board as their total of 1654 was worse than all bar the bottom three sides in the table and had they needed to rely on net run rate, they would have missed out on qualification.

Fortunately for them, England released Kevin Pietersen to play in the semi-final, and his own brand of attacking play could be just what they need - Pietersen scored 105 in his two innings earlier in the competition including a 66 not out against Ireland.

But when you consider that Michael Lumb tops their run-scoring chart with only 277 runs compared to the gaudy numbers put up by the other qualifying teams, you realise that they could find themselves up against it, even at home.

Youngster Chris Benham had been expected to light up the scoring tables after a great end to 2006 but he is averaging only 14, while Jimmy Adams, Michael Carberry and John Crawley are all struggling - one of that quartet will need to step up if they are to post a decent score. Only Nic Pothas has managed to score a ton, and even he has scored only 129 in six innings apart from that knock.

But Hampshire do boast one of the best one-two bowling punches in the county game in Australian stars Shane Warne and Stuart Clark.

Clark was outstanding in taking 6-27 against Surrey but should he not manage those kind of heroics against Warwickshire, there is always Warne to rely on. He has grabbed 15 wickets so far in the FPT, but showed he was playing himself into mid-season form with 11 wickets in their most recent four-day win over Durham despite suffering a hand injury - he is fit to start on Wednesday.

Add in Chris Tremlett and Dimitri Mascarenhas and the Hawks have four credible wicket-taking threats, but they are coming up against a side full of run-scorers and exciting stroke-makers who could cause a surprise.

Warwickshire have three players with more runs than the Hawks' top-scorer with Tim Ambrose the best of those, just two runs shy of 400 in a break-out season which started with him not even certain to be a regular starter.

The former Sussex keeper-batsman is averaging a superb 99.50 but even that is not best on the team, with Ian Trott benefiting from three unbeaten knocks - including a 125 not out - to average 114 in his six games.

But even those two could find themselves chasing Twenty20 star Darren Maddy in the top scorer market, and with his specialty event just around the corner it would be no huge shock to see him up his scoring rate from 43 with a third ton of the FPT season in this game, while fans of the six-hit should watch out for Tim Groenewald, who has cracked 11 in his brief stays at the crease so far and could be a match-winner if required.

They have even decided that they are strong enough to turn down the chance to have England star Ian Bell join them for this game.

So we have an intriguing battle between Hampshire's strong bowling and Warwickshire's batting, but it may be that the Bears' weaker part of the game costs them a place in the final, as their own attack this season has not been that good.

Dale Steyn (14 wickets) and Heath Streak (10) have both bowled well in spells but outside the two internationals, the likes of James Anyon and Lee Daggett have not performed consistently enough to get a regular place in the side and Groenewald - mainly a bowler - has only taken six wickets at an average of nearly 40.

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