Warwickshire beat Somerset in CB40 final
A week may be a long time in politics but Somerset found out that it can be even longer in cricket.
Somerset finished as runners-up to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nottinghamshire-c826 in the LV= County Championship on Thursday – having already filled the same spot in the Twenty20 competition earlier in the season – and they were beaten by three wickets by Warwickshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 final at Lord's.
As the team trudged off the field they were probably already contemplating the moment where their season came to such an anti-climatic end. Having been put into bat by Warwickshire Bear's captain Ian Bell, Somerset Sabres made a good start with their opening partnership of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Kieswetter-c51708.
The pair got the innings off to just the start they wanted when Trescothick hit the fifth ball of Neil Carter’s first over across the boundary perimeter. The Somerset captain has so often been his side’s danger man but, on 21, he mistimed Keith Barker's first ball to Chris Woakes at midwicket but, even when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Peter-Trego-c2181 was out shortly after for 11, Kieswetter had the scoreboard ticking over nicely at 62-2.
When he was out for 37, caught by Barker off the bowling of Neil Carter, it was left to in-form http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-c64193 Tahi. At 20 overs Somerset were 103-3, with Compton and Hildreth chasing singles and twos rather than trying to crash out the boundaries and, at 176-3, they appeared primed to set Warwickshire a substantial target to chase after adding 95 for the third wicket with little trouble.
Then Hildreth was run out for 44, by Jonathan Trott, and from 176-3 Somerset collapsed to 199 in 39 overs with Tahi claiming five wickets, including Compton lbw for 60. A change of ends seemed to work the oracle after the bowler’s first four overs went for 27. He finished with figures of 5-41, after the Pakistan-born leg-spinner returned a second spell of five wickets for 14 runs, as Somerset lost their final seven wickets for just 23 runs.
Somerset took the field with precious few runs to defend but had Warwickshire 21-2 after seven overs. Carter (five) and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Barker-c47300 (three) were regarded as two of the big hitters but neither did much for the cause and it was Bell who joined Trott at the crease as the light began to fade. Bell had taken the gamble of batting second under the floodlights and now he had to back himself and his England teammate to make that decision pay off.
If the Somerset players were feeling the pressure of a third trophy slipping from their grasp their hopes were raised when Trott edged a ball from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mark-Turner-c1911, eased that pressure and he followed that with a second four from the next ball to redress the balance somewhat, with Jim Troughton providing support when Murali Kartik was brought into the attack.
When Kartik tried to turn the s***w at one end, Bell (pictured) and Troughton tried to make the most of the chances that Phillips might be offering as Somerset attempted to tie the Warwickshire bowlers down through the middle of their innings. The runs were hardly flowing but Warwickshire were keeping pace with the run-rate, which was moving towards a run a ball, as Phillips completed his eight overs with figures of 2-24, and the batsmen did their best to play out Kartik’s spell by keeping the ball on the deck rather than hitting in the air.
It then fell to Trego to back up Kartik and he did his best as the rate rose to nearly six. Sensing the need to make the push for the win, Bell brought up his half-century in 53 balls in the 23rd over. The hundred-run mark came up in the next over as Warwickshire snaffled the singles and twos, leaving 99 runs from as many balls.
Needing a wicket, Trescothick switched to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 found himself in a match where the temperature was rising despite the chill of an autumnal night.
Deciding to hold back on the two overs left to both Kartik and Thomas, Trescothick brought back Trego but his over cost seven runs and Clarke hit the first six of the match, off Turner, in the next over to bring up the 150 in majestic style and followed up with a boundary off the next delivery for 19 runs in 12 balls.
The damage control was left to Kartik who, without having taken a wicket in the match, managed to put the pressure back on Bell and Clarke. It was Clarke (19) who cracked when he lofted one from Trego to Hildreth on the boundary and the run-rate briefly hit 7.50. But the singles kept coming, with Bell scoring valuable boundaries, as Warwickshire needed 22 runs from the last three overs.
Turner’s first six overs had cost 51 runs and Bell set about finishing the job. A boundary on the first ball set the agenda for both men and Bell seized the moment with a four off the next. Bell reached his century off 92 balls as Turner conceded 18 in his first five balls.
The final ball went for just two but the slumped shoulders of Turner, Trescothick and the rest of the Somerset team left Thomas with the thankless task of bowling the next over, with just two runs left. Scrambled single from Botha left Bell with what should have been the glory shot.
Instead he holed out to Joe Buttler for 107 to leave Woakes score the winning run.
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