Metro Bank One Day Cup Preview: Kent v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset take on Kent in the Metro Bank One Day Cup at The St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury tomorrow (Friday July 31st).
Tickets for this match are available now:
Play is due to commence at 11am.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date using the dedicated Match Centre on this website.
There will be a live stream of this match provided by Kent County Cricket Club.
In-play updates will appear on our X feed (formerly Twitter).
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Captain: Daniel Bell-Drummond
2025 Position: 7th (Group B)
2025 Most Runs: Jaydn Denly (323)
2025 Most Wickets: Fred Klaassen (11)
Overview: Youth and experience – four of the team that won the trophy in 2022: Ben Compton, Joey Evison, Harry Finch and Grant Stewart are available, alongside England Lions’ Ben Dawkins and Ekansh Singh, plus U19 international Jaydn Denly.
Player to watch: “Dawkins is going to be huge,” predicted Sam Billings last year and he made his first Kent century in the win at Northampton. Bats with power and patience and recently starred for England U19s v South Africa.
Young gun: Ekansh Singh has broken through in all three formats in the last 12 months. A stylish, elegant middle order batter, his medium-pace is also a useful option as a first or second-change bowler.
Final thought: Kent have struggled to get the balance right between competing and developing in 50-over cricket since the 2022 win and last year’s team was too raw to seriously challenge, but they look a little more streetwise this time around.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset will be without Alfie Ogborne, however Somerset Academy allrounder, Theo Lamey has signed a short-term contract with the Club for the remaining Metro Bank One Day Cup fixtures. The 16-year-old King’s College student is a right-handed batter and right-arm fast medium bowler. He started to play for Somerset when he was seven years old in the Under 10 age group, and earlier this year was selected to play for the England U19s against South Africa.
Somerset have named from the following squad for this fixture:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “The last two performances have been very good, particularly Sunday’s comprehensive win. I thought we were exceptional with the ball against Warwickshire and James Theedom came in and did a very good job. We’ve got some momentum and have played pretty well and we’re looking forward to going to Canterbury.
“They’re a strong white ball team and we’ve had some great contests over the years. We’re just obviously looking to build on what we’ve done so far. We’ve been playing some really good cricket but there’s still some areas for us to improve and we’ll look to do that as we move through the competition.
“The mood in the camp is really good and Lewis Goldsworthy has done a fantastic job as captain. It’s been a new experience for him and I think, both from a performance point of view and a leadership point of view, he’s been tremendous.”
CLASSIC MATCH
We go back to 2007 for the classic List A match between the two sides at the St Lawrence Ground.
It was a dramatic encounter that went down to the very last ball as Somerset came out on top by just two runs thanks to a five-wicket haul from Peter Trego and half centuries from Justin Langer and James Hildreth.
Kent Captain, Rob Key won the toss and elected to field.
The visitors slipped to six for two as Marcus Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter fell early, and when Neil McKenzie departed, Somerset were in trouble at 46 for three. Ian Blackwell was then run out to leave the team from the West Country on 55 for four.
Langer (92) and Hildreth (56) then shared a stand of 118 to get the innings back on track as Somerset finished on 214 for eight from their 40 overs.
Trego (five for 44) then accounted for the host’s top five to leave Kent on 45 for five.
Geraint Jones (45) and Ryan McLaren (78 not out) kept their side in the hunt, but the Somerset bowlers retained the nerve to restrict their opponents to 212 for seven.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Kent CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset’s next match is on Sunday (August 2nd) when we take on Leicestershire at Uptonsteel Grace Road in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
Tickets for this match are available now:
