The Essex Eagles beat Worcestershire in the finals of Vitality T20 Blast 2019 to lift their first 20-over trophy. Captain Simon Harmer proved to be the match-winner for this team with both the bat and the ball in both semi-finals and the finals.

Harmer picked a total of 7/35 at the Edgbaston ground with four of those wickets coming against Derbyshire in the second semi-final. He then picked three in the finals and also hit the winning runs off the last ball to send the fans into elation. He claimed man-of-the-match awards in both games with figures of four for 19 and then three for 16. He also added an unbeaten 18 off seven balls in the final.

“I don’t think you could have scripted it better. To come here, with the wicket turning like that, I couldn’t have asked for a better day personally and for the group of guys down in the changing rooms,” Harmer was quoted by the Guardian.

However, hilarious scenes were on display after Essex was handed the winners’ trophy and the team went for the photo-op. They had one player missing from their squad, who had helped them reach the elimination stages. That player was Adam Zampa, who had to return to Australia to participate in the Marsh Cup. However Essex made sure that he didn’t miss him in the final celebration photo, the team used a hilarious cardboard cutout of Zampa in the team pic with the trophy.

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