Career-best for Tom as Somerset thrash Surrey
A career-best List A score from Tom Lammonby helped Somerset to an important victory over Surrey in the Metro Bank One Day Cup at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.
The home side claimed the spoils by 188 runs to keep their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive.
After posting a total of 368 for nine from their allotted overs in front of a crowd of almost 5000, Somerset dismissed the visitors for 180 from 38.2 overs.
After winning the toss and electing to field, the visitors made an early breakthrough when Johnny Connell fell to the second ball of the second over. An excellent swinging delivery from Hishaam Khan found the opener’s outside edge and Rory Burns did the rest with the gloves.
Lammonby and Lewis Goldsworthy began to rebuild and brought up the Somerset 50 in the 10th over. Goldsworthy in particular looked in good touch, accumulating his runs to all parts of the ground with a classy array of shots. Indeed, consecutive boundaries off Ryan Patel, the first a glorious straight drive and the second a crashing cut shot brought up the 50 partnership from just 51 deliveries.
Goldsworthy continued to bat with panache and his run-a-ball half century, his 11th List A 50, arrived in the 15th over.
The pair took Somerset to three figures in the 18th over and the 100 partnership arrived shortly thereafter from 107 deliveries.
With the score on 110, Ollie Sykes appealed for a catch off his own bowling to remove Lammonby but the umpires, and the Somerset opener, remained unmoved. Replays showed it was indeed the correct decision.
Perhaps spurred on by the appeal, Lammonby dispatched Skyes into Gimblett’s Hill for the first maximum of the game in the bowler’s following over before smashing him over long on just four balls later to repeat the feat and go to 50 from 54 deliveries.
The 150 partnership came from just 140 balls, but with just two further runs added to the total the stand was broken. Goldsworthy, who had reached 83 in imperious fashion, looked to drive Benji Floros but picked out Ralphie Albert at cover.
The score had advanced to 185 when Theo Lamey, making his home debut, chipped a return catch to Sykes to depart for nine in the 30th over.
Another Lammonby boundary took Somerset past 200, and the left-hander reached his personal three-figure milestone from just 84 deliveries. He had reached an excellent 114 when he was undone by a short one from James Taylor, Adam Thomas taking a good tumbling catch on the boundary off the top edge.
Josh Thomas had advanced to 21 from 22 deliveries before holing out to long on at 260 for five.
Back to back sixes from Archie Vaughan in the 43rd over kept the run rate ticking over for the hosts, and the Somerset batter reached his half century from from just 33 balls before falling two runs later when he was caught at long off.
A single for Kian Roberts off the final ball of the 46th over took the Somerset total to 326, the Club’s highest List A total against Surrey.
Roberts was run out for 32, his highest List A score, at 351 for seven in the 48th, before Migael Pretorius and Jack Leach fell to Taylor in the penultimate over.
Ben Church plundered 12 runs off the final over, sent down by Floros, as Somerset secured a joint seventh highest ever total in List A cricket for the Club.
The Surrey reply got off to the worst possible start when Dom Sibley edged the second ball of the innings, bowled by Pretorius, through to Church without a run on the board.
Ryan Patel and Adam Thomas began to rebuild the visitor’s innings in a similar fashion to how Lammonby and Goldsworthy did for the hosts, but Patel received a life on 19 when a difficult chance was put down in the deep by a tumbling Josh Thomas on the run.
Adam Thomas fell for nine in exactly the same manner as Sibley at 41 for two in the ninth over.
The score had advanced to 65 when Burns (15) was bowled by Kian Roberts, and no further runs had been added to the total when Vaughan took a brilliant diving catch off his own bowling to account for Patel (40).
Surrey required a big stand between Sykes and Josh Blake, and the former took his side past three figures with a big six off Vaughan in the 22nd over. The 50 partnership for the fifth wicket arrived from 51 balls but was broken at 57 when Sykes (34) fell after chipping one straight back to Vaughan.
122 for five soon became 123 for six when Albert (0) was bowled through the gate by Jack Leach.
Blake and Khan took Surrey to 150 in the 31st over, but Blake was trapped lbw by Roberts three runs shy of his half century at 159 for seven in the 32nd.
A quicker one from Leach accounted for Khan (13) to reduce the visitors to 168 for eight, and when Vaughan bowled Ealham (6) it was all but over at 180 for nine.
Leach finished things off when he had Floros caught on the boundary and Somerset claimed a comprehensive victory.
