v Worcestershire Pro40(F) @ Taunton Thursday 28 August 2008

Scorecard

Sorry people.  No Wi-Fi access at all on the ground for me so I could not put anything on for the first half.  I arrived with Somerset deciding to bat after winning the toss and standing at 138 for 2 in the 15^th over with Craig and Zander at the crease and the largest crowd of the season – some 5,300 people – crammed in to watch us try and stave off relegation (if that is actually the plan).  I missed Banger's 27 ball 55 but I can imagine it because he's been leading from the front as a batsman all the way through this competition...shame the rest of the side hasn't exactly followed him or we'd be looking for some silverware rather than a bit of wood used to stir things!

The usual suspects are on the pitch except that someone has realised that Peter Trego might be a player to make an impact so he is in at number 5.  Arul Suppiah is replaced by Omari Banks and Steffan Jones misses out in favour of Mark Turner.  No place for Ian Blackwell – why am I not surprised?  Once again we go into a one day game with 3 main seamers and a wealth of spinners but without our one day spinning expert and middle order batsman.  Where is the sense in this after failing to defend over 300 in the last game.

The two batsmen brought up the 150 in the 17^th before Zander went to Harris at 189 followed by his replacement James Hildeth to the same bowler 2 balls later.  Next Peter Trego you would think?  But no!  It’s Wes Durston instead at number 6….perish the thought we’d send in an attacking batsman with more than 10 overs to go.  Having said that it would be unfair to suggest that Wes doesn’t know which end of a bat to use and he pushes us on and outscores his keeper as we move towards 200. 

With 15 overs to go we have 197 on the board when Craig is dropped not once but twice on 85, once by Batty (sitter) and secondly by Solanki.  While that happens we go through the 200 border which forces Worcestershire to send on Gareth Andrew – who promptly bowls four wides with his first ‘outswinger’!  It seems he took some tap from Marcus Trescothick at the front end of the innings and it doesn’t look like it is going to get any easier at this end.

Batty finishes with a highly credible 31 off his 8 overs but with no wickets to his name and we have 222 by the 30^th with Kieswetter uncharacteristically blocking most of the balls he has faced since the near misses.  He takes 19 balls to move from 80 to 89 at a critical point in the innings and then promptly gets himself out (LBW) just when we need to push on!  225 for 4 and finally we see Trego in deepening gloom (the lights don’t make any kind of appearance until the 38^th over!) and he gets off the mark by disdainfully planting his first ball for four.  The score starts to motor again and that looks good until Trigger slaps one from Harris straight to Hick at 275 to allow the Royal bowler to finish with an excellent 4 for 47 off his spell.

Omari comes out to finish the innings and we see both parts of the “Blackwell Alternative” at the crease at the same time.  Wes the bat and Omari the ball.  The question is can they get the score past 300 off the 20 balls left?  Wes has a go and passes his own 50 with a 4 – well played.  However, Omari once again cannot seem to find the middle of the bat and we go into the last over still needing 6 after More spills another to give Durston a life at 291 – really poor catching by the visitors.

Although there are some huge attempts to smear the ball to all parts, Banks fails to connect with anything that will give him more than 1 and we finish 2 runs short at 298 for 6.  Once more, we can’t push the score at the end and we haven’t enough on this wicket with their batting line-up.

The Reply 

Charl and Trego open against Solanki and Davies and by the end of the 3^rd they have 27!  They’ll get these at a canter. Trego is spraying the ball either side of the wicket and the field settings are all over the place as people move from leg to off and the batsmen swipe the ball from off to leg.  There is an awful lot of discussion about where to put people but whatever seems to happen, the bowling attack can't seem to put the ball where it has to go to make the planned field effective.  

Nothing really happens but mayhem (I seem to write that word quite a lot in reports on the one day games.  Shame it isn’t usually in relation to our performance!) as they pass 150 without loss at the start of the 19^th.  Solanki is moving into the 80’s and Davies is about 10 runs behind him while our bowlers toil to find areas and lengths that the Worcestershire batsmen won’t punish for four!

Turner looked the most likely to cause trouble  and once again the medium pacer gives them something to think about with variation, Zander is becoming a kind of Keith Parsons type of option.  You don’t know why when looking at him bowl but batsmen find him hard to get away.  Trouble is that he doesn’t look like breaching the defence of any batsman on this side and therefore they simply move past him and destroy whoever is providing the bowling at the other end – as I write this it happens to be Omari Banks. 

170 off 20 overs puts them 1 ahead of our total at the halfway stage.  But when is the ‘press’ going to come and will they only take 24 off the last 20 balls like we did?

It’s Omari who gets past them as Davies comes down the wicket at 181 and is stumped by Kieswetter for 92.  Banks  then celebrates in a totally inappropriate manner for a bowler who has just got the wicket of a man who has scored a 60 ball 92!! 1 and a half overs and one wicket down well over halfway to our target – is a collapse on the cards? 

More is the new batsman and he’s not having a great one day season (6 zeros out of 8 innings).  We are told by the resident Worcestershire man in the box  that he can’t buy a run…so he gets off the mark with his first delivery. 

Turner returns for the 25^th with Worcestershire needing 3 for the 200.  In the middle of the over there is the daftest run out you can imagine.  More survives an LBW appeal and makes his ground as Wes hits the stumps.  He goes way past the stumps but Solanki wants the second and they piddle about in the middle before Zander gets the ball to Turner who runs More out at 199.  Daft.  Then Turner bowls Solanki with his next ball (off his pads and possibly a bit of bat) 199 for 3 now!! So Mark ends it with the visitors needing 100 but with 2 less batsmen and Hick at the crease (not a great hat-trick ball). It’s a closer game but Somerset are going to need to push it along as they need to bowl 14 overs in 47 minutes if they are not to incur some kind of penalty (that is if it happens with the TV here).

Alfonso is on at the OP as the ‘Pears’ go into the 12^th over from home needing 86.  Smith can’t get him away and Hick is off strike (fine by me).  They take 6 however.  Charl is on at the River bowling a fuller length and restricting the batsmen to singles for the first half of his over.  He’s coming around the wicket to Hick and it seems to be working.  Good over they need 7.8 per over to win this.  Langer talking to everyone but the time pressure must be starting to worry them as they start the 31^st at 12 minutes to 10 needing to get through 9 by 10:24.  They call for the helmet and Craig stands up to Thomas.  It’s starting to rain during the 31^st which they end needing 73.  They are one run ahead on D/L so a nice maiden from Willow would make it really interesting. But it isn’t going to happen and at the end of it they are on 239 after a six from Hick as Charl tries to pitch it up and full tosses it instead.  60 off 8 and Zander is on….please explain that to me.  Well it’s simple…he can take wickets as he bowls Smith for 20 at 244 trying to drag it across his wicket.  Moin Ali arrives and sees out the over and they need 54 off 7.

Another conference as Banks comes on to bowl his last from the River and goes for 4 – good end and they need 50 off 6.  This seems to be the ‘press’ we’ve been waiting for..bit late but nevertheless welcome for all that.  Zander is doing his job at the OP and they stroll past 250 rather than rush towards the total.  Hick flies one and Trescothick drops him on 20!  Ahhhh – vital point in the game and the batsman follows up with a boundary!  The River end has another interesting twist as Trego returns at the River!!   42 off 5.  On would expect Thomas and Turner to bowl the last 4…but surely this is too late?  Shouldn’t your best bowlers be on when the going is difficult for the Worcestershire men in the hope they aren’t needed at the death because you’ve broken the line?  Sometimes it is too late to leave your best until the end because the position has already been decided and the wickets are in hand if the big men go.

The game went with that drop and this decision has hastened the end.  Peter hasn’t bowled well all night and the one over he bowls goes for 12.  They need 30 off 4 but they could have needed 40 with a little more sense.  It tends to sum up the mumble about the ground that Justin simply isn’t a one day captain.  They are also in jeopardy of not getting 3.1 overs bowled in the 12 minutes they have left!!

Alfonso returns to put in the 37^th from the OP and the visitors move into the 270’s.  It’s 23 needed at the end as Turner comes in to finish at the OP.  Hick faces him with a whacking great piece of wood in his hand but it’s Moin who take him for 2 with some excellent running, followed by 2 more.  They can farm Mark and still win and they know it.  Into the 280’s  and down into the teens as they take 8 and bring it down to 15 off 2. 

Thomas provides a dot, a single (Moin), Trigger drops Hick under the lights on the Brewhouse boundary for a double and then he does the same again and this time Trigger takes it.  287 for 5 and Hick says goodbye putting this back in the balance.  Mitchell comes in to try and finishes it.  So Alf  gets Moin LBW (plumb as hell) next ball.  Batty now comes out to deal with a bit of a problem for the away side.  At 10:26 there’s a ball to be bowled and Thomas is on a hat-trick – Batty swings and misses and he nearly has it.

Last over Turner to bowl 12 needed and two new batsmen at the crease. 

Ball 6 – four 298  - It’s a tie as Mitchell flicks it to the Gimlett mound area and Charl fails to stop it. 

More than Somerset deserved but not as much as the big crowd hoped for in the last 5 overs.  All credit to Thomas for setting it up but we didn’t accelerate at the end of our innings and let them go off at far too quick a rate at the start of theirs.  We’ll still not stay up I would venture but it may make the last game a little more of a competition perhaps.  Turner is given the man of the match – unusual for 8 overs 1 for 47 in a game with four impressive innings and a bowler who takes 4 for less in his spell.  Wonders never cease but a point is a point and a young man takes what is offered when it is offered and smiles..

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