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Somerset make it 4 out of 4 in thriller at Taunton
Sean Dickson marked his return from injury by leading Somerset to a sensational victory over Middlesex as Somerset maintained their 100% record at the start of this season’s Vitality Blast.
The Somerset batter top scored in his first senior appearance since suffering a broken finger and shared a fifth wicket stand of 104 with Lewis Gregory (58 not out from 23 balls) as Somerset chased down 230, the Club’s highest ever run chase, to win by five wickets at the Cooper Associates County Ground and claim a fourth win out of four in the competition.
Somerset Captain, Gregory won the toss and elected to bat.
The Middlesex pair of Kane Williamson and Stephen Eskinazi started brightly and although the latter survived an early run out appeal they had raced to 39 when the opening wicket fell.
17 runs had come from the first five balls of Riley Meredith’s first over, the fourth of the match, when Eskinazi (17) tried to ramp the Australian seamer, got it horribly wrong, simply helped the ball into his own stumps and left the field rehearsing the shot that he should have played!
The visitor’s 50 arrived of the opening delivery of the sixth over, but just two runs and three balls later it was Matt Henry who won the battle of the New Zealanders when his compatriot, Williamson (28 from 17), tried to dispatch his international team mate into the Trade Nation Stand only to pick out Tom Abell on the boundary rope.
By the end of the powerplay the score was 58 for two, and the the 50 partnership for the third wicket between Ben Geddes and Max Holden arrived from 24 balls.
The visitors went to three figures in the 10th over, and at 114 for two a replacement ball was needed after Geddes deposited Craig Overton into the River Tone via the roof of the Lord Botham Stand.
Geddes went to his 50 from 27 balls and the 100 partnership arrived from 47 deliveries.
The Middlesex 150 was achieved in the 14th over before Holden reached 50 from 30 balls.
Meredith was brought back into the attack to bowl the 17th over and he claimed two wickets in two balls, both caught at long on.
First, he took the pace off one and Geddes (69 from 32) picked out Henry before Leus du Plooy departed for 0 courtesy of an excellent diving catch on the run by Overton.
All the while, Holden continued to accumulate runs, taking 15 off the 18th over, bowled by Gregory as the visitors brought up their 200.
Ryan Higgins (11) edged the final ball of the 19th over through to Tom Banton to give Meredith a third wicket at 218 for five.
Middlesex eventually finished on 229 for five from their allotted overs, the highest ever score by an away team at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Chasing their sixth highest score to claim the victory, the Somerset reply got off to the worst possible start when Will Smeed was bowled by Noah Cornwell for eight off the fifth ball of the opening over.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Tom Banton claimed big sixes as the hosts took 15 runs off Zafar Gohar’s opening over, with the former smashing the ball miles over the Lord Botham Stand and into the river.
The score had advanced to 41 when Tom Banton (12) miscued and edged Higgins to the point region where Luke Hollman takes a good tumbling catch, and when Kohler-Cadmore (21 from nine balls) dragged Cornwell onto his own stumps Somerset were 45 for three in the fifth over.
Tom Abell marked his 100th T20 appearance for the Club with a sprightly 20 but he chanced his arm once too often and was caught on the boundary by du Plooy off the bowling of Hollman at 88 for four after nine overs.
Sean Dickson and Lewis Gregory plundered 14 runs off the 10th over, bowled by Higgins, to bring up the Somerset 100.
Dickson went to 50, from 24 balls, in fine style when he reverse swept Zafar Gohar for a maximum and the 50 partnership arrived from 21 deliveries. Somewhere in the mayhem, Gregory survived being caught off a no ball as the 13th over cost the visitors 18 runs.
The game swung further in Somerset’s favour when the hosts took 27 off the 15th over, bowled by Zafar Gohar, and with five overs to go only 47 runs were needed.
The fifth wicket partnership arrived from 43 deliveries, but Dickson eventually fell for a brilliant 76 from 38 balls when he was caught on the boundary in front of Gimblett’s Hill off the bowling of Hollman.
Gregory went to his 50 from 21 balls with a maximum off Hollman, which also brought up the Somerset 200 in the 17th over.
20 runs were required from the final two overs and there was still time for du Plooy to drop Ben Green when it seemed easier to take it as 17 came from the penultimate set of six.
Gregory finished things off in fine style with a brutal six as Somerset claimed the win with four balls to spare.
