Surrey braced for Twenty20 finals

TWENTY20 CUP FINALS DAY Saturday, 12 August 1130 BST First semi-final: Essex v Leicestershire 1500 BST Second semi-final: Surrey v Nottinghamshire 1915 BST Final Listen to the semi-finals on BBC Five Live Sports Extra, the final on BBC Radio Five Live and all matches on this website

Surrey are favourites to win the Twenty20 Cup for the second time on Saturday's finals day at Trent Bridge.

The Brown Caps lifted the inaugural trophy three years ago and face home team Notts in the second semi-final.

The winners face either 2004 champs Leicestershire or one-day specialists Essex, who take part in the first semi.

England keeper Chris Read is allowed to play for Notts, while Alastair Cook has been named in the Essex squad but may not break into the Eagles' XI.

Leicestershire have a proud record in Twenty20 but Tim Boon is making his first trip to finals day as a coach.

"Leading the team there is new for me and I'm really looking forward to it," said the former England assistant.

"We've reached the finals in three successive years but the team has changed and we've adapted and recognise the key things we've got to do.

"We're an excellent defensive bowling unit, our fielding has been outstanding and our batting has been flexible."

It will be nice for us to walk out of the pavilion and feel that we're playing at home Notts coach Mick Newell

Essex wicket-keeper James Foster is refusing to look past a tricky semi-final against Leicestershire.

"They've been very consistent at Twenty20 and have always got to the finals," he told BBC Sport.

"But we're not trying to worry about how the opposition come to us. It's about how we go to them.

"We're not going to assume we will just dominate them. They have explosive batters and canny bowlers. We need to keep our heads."

Notts director of cricket Mick Newell is wary of Surrey's Twenty20 threat but believes home advantage will help.

"Surrey have probably got the strongest batting line-up of the four semi-finalists," he said.

"It will be nice for us to walk out of the pavilion and feel that we're playing at home.

"We had 12,000 people cheering us on for the quarter-final and while the crowd will be split on finals day, it will still be a help to us."

Surrey all-rounder Azhar Mahmood hopes victory on Twenty20 finals day will be the first step to a return to winning ways for the Brown Caps.

"We are top of Championship Division Two and looking to play next year in Division One again," he told BBC Sport.

"We're in finals day in Twenty20 and we've played three and won three in Pro40 (Division Two).

"We've got a good chance to win all three competitions."