James Rew inspires Somerset to win over Bears
Somerset continued their strong start to the defence of the Vitality Blast title as James Rew’s brilliance fired the champions to a seven-wicket win over Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston.
It’s two wins out of two for Lewis Gregory’s side after they chased down Warwickshire’s 189 for six (Sam Hain 52 from 35 balls, Rob Yates 42 from 25, Beau Webster 41 off 30).
Somerset then reached 193 for three with ten balls to spare after Tom Banton (47 from 26) laid the foundation on which Rew built with a superb 93 (48 balls, nine fours, four sixes), his highest score in T20 cricket.
While the defending champions have started the group stage at a gallop with confidence sky-high, the Bears are already playing catch up in the group after two defeats.
Warwickshire chose to bat and soon lost Alex Davies, who skied Craig Overton to extra cover. A quirky powerplay saw the Bears reach the six-over mark at 51 for one, 20 having come from one over and 31 from the other five. The 20 was hammered off Jake Ball’s first over by Yates who struck some sweetly timed strokes, none sweeter than his last, hammered into the hands of extra cover off Gregory.
Webster and Hain added 45 in five overs but, after Webster lapped Ball to Banton behind the stups, it was skipper Ed Barnard who supplied the necessary impetus with an 11-ball 28 including three sixes. Hain also found his range as the innings deepened, reaching his 38th T20 half-century, from 32 balls, with a six buried far over long leg off Daniel Sams.
Somerset quickly lost Will Smeed who heaved Olly Hannon-Dalby to long leg, but Banton hit two sixes and six fours before perishing in the cruellest way. Having just left a dent in a fork-lift truck on the building site with a six off Usman Tariq, he was run out backing up when Barnard deflected Rew’s straight drive on to the stumps.
Rew then took total control.
The game was still in the balance until he laid into spinners Tariq and Tazeem Ali with a blitz of fours and sixes in the 14th and 15th over. That spectacular assault, which took him past 50 in 33 balls, turned a tight match into a stroll for Somerset as they entered the last three overs needing six runs. Rew sent up a catch off Tariq with three needed from 15 balls and received the warm ovation he deserved from the home supporters who knew they had seen a special talent.
Somerset could be the team to beat again in this year’s Blast. The Bears, after quarter-final defeats in each of the last five years, already have their work cut out to reach a sixth successive quarter-final.
At the end of the match, James Rew said: “It felt like we bowled really well again. On Friday night we felt like it was a defendable score with our bowling attack and again today credit to our bowlers. We felt we were right in the game at halfway.
“Then it was nice for me to find the middle of the bat and play a few shots. It was nice to change format and have a bit of fun out there. White-ball batting can be more fun, like it was today, although red-ball is probably more rewarding when you bat for long periods of time. They are both very enjoyable but winning games of T20 for Somerset is great fun, especially in front of big crowds.
“I always find I play better if I give myself a chance to get in. So it was just about facing a few balls and taking it deep. We felt on this ground we could score quite quickly towards the back end with the firepower we have got down the order. It was just about taking it deep and giving ourselves a chance but it just happened that we scored more quickly than we thought and managed to get there with two overs to spare.”
Images courtesy of Jack Rubio
