Hampshire Hawks secured their place at T20 Finals Day for a record 10th time as they eased to a five-wicket quarter-final win over Worcestershire Rapids.

They then reached their target with 27 balls to spare on 102-5 to complete an all-southern Finals Day for the second time in three years alongside Essex, Surrey and Somerset.

Hampshire will play Essex, who beat Birmingham Bears on Thursday, in one of the semi-finals at Edgbaston on 15 July.

Any realistic hopes of reaching a third Finals Day were over in little more than half an hour for Worcestershire when the visitors found themselves 29-6 inside seven overs.

They failed to deal with the Hampshire pacemen, spearheaded by John Turner.

A 70-run stand for the seventh wicket from Usama Mir and Ed Pollock gave the Pears slim hope. But Mir holed out the ball after getting a single to bring the hundred up and the visitors could not manage another run.

All the last three wickets went down on the same score in just four balls as Nathan Ellis (4-6), removed Adam Finch, Notts-bound Dillon Pennington and Pat Brown to end the hapless Pears’ innings.

Worcestershire needed early wickets and, although they did get Nye Donald, it was the penultimate ball of the Powerplay before they made another breakthrough, to remove home skipper James Vince – a second scalp for Finch.

Tom Prest (25) and Liam Dawson followed to spinners Mitch Santner and Mir but there was never any serious danger of the hosts collapsing and Joe Weatherley and former Pears favourite Ross Whitely put on 27 to steer their team within six of victory.

Weatherley holed out – but Whiteley was joined by James Fuller, who clubbed the remaining runs needed to keep his side on course for a record fourth T20 title.

Eight years on from the two sides’ only previous meeting in this competition, a badly weather-hit game at New Road in August 2015, it was also Hampshire’s second T20 quarter-final win over Worcestershire

In his first game since becoming Worcestershire chief executive, it was also a first defeat for former England supremo Ashley Giles as the Pears’ hopes of a third Finals Day appearance in six years fell well short.

Hampshire fast bowler Nathan Ellis:

“Coming back here it was a big goal for me to get back to Finals Day. It is such a great spectacle, a great day and a great memory for me. I’m pumped to be going back.

“We were a little unsure of the wicket, it was a used wicket and a bit up and down but full credit to young John Turner and Chris Wood. They set the tone.

“Woody has been doing that for a long time and JT has done all tournament. We took it and ran with it.

“I feel a little bit dirty about my figures. They bowled well and then I burgled a few wickets at the end. That’s my role and I’ll take it.”

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson:

“It has been a tremendous campaign. The boys won’t see that at the moment because they are terribly disappointed that we haven’t performed, but they should take great pride in how they have gone about the group stage.

“If nothing else we know that the Worcester boys fight and take great pride in that. We didn’t get off to the best start so for us to get any kind of score is a great achievement.

“Maybe if we have got 20 or 30 more we could have made a real fist of it. Usama showed great skill and great heart and so did Ed Pollock.

“It isn’t up to me what pitches we play on. It was slightly different than what we experience at New Road. Whatever pitch you are put on you have to react to that and Hampshire play really well at home.”