Somerset
Vitality Four Giving Kent a Kicking
By Grockle
June 8 2023
Down to Canterbury unbeaten in the Blast this year as of yet. Craigh Overton is rested for this one as Josh Davey is fit again and we have to manage the tendonitis of one of our most important resources during the season. A more unsettled evening in Kent with some rain in the air so let's see if we can keep this winning streak going.
Vitality T20 Blast v Kent @ Canterbury Tuesday 30 May 2023
The only change to a winning line-up is the inclusion of the now fit Josh Davey in exchange for resting Craig Overton to manage his tendonitis. We lost the toss and Kent put us in. Not our desired way of playing these games but it tests how good we are when we have to set. It isn't a strength of the county over many years, we don't manage first innings scoring very well, we tend to hit a speed and that is it.
Banton and Smeed stride out to open the game for the first time in this year's tournament against Denly and Hogan for the home side. Denly's spin is introduced first and the more "in-form" Tom Banton straight drives both the first and second deliveries for four. The first over ends with 9 on the board. Hogan makes Will Smeed concentrate hard on his job but he forces the error from Banton who puts on into the air and is caught by Leaning at 13 for 1.
Tom Cohler-Kadmore has settled into this format Somerset side very quickly and is now one of our danger men for any opposition bowling attack. He takes on Denly in the third, scoring 11 off the first 3 balls and 21 off all six. It is 34 for 1 after 3 overs. Agar is looking to start the fourth over but just as he does so the rain arrives and the umpires bring the sides off at 6:40.
The wait is brief and the moment we are back on Smeed is bowled by the first delivery he faces from Agar. Tom Abell is the next man to the crease and he negotiates the rest of the Agar over. Hogan takes the fifth and he also tempts TKC to hit the ball in the air. He is caught by Cox for 23 - a daft shot to be honest and Lammonby is at the crease at 40 for 3 at the end of the 5th. It is not going to the usual T20 2023 Somerset plan presently. Hogan has 2 for 6 off 1.4 overs and we have reached 45 by the end of the over.
Agar finishes off the Powerplay part of the innings and we complete 47 runs within it. Stewart is introduced for the 7th and we reach 50 with the 5th delivery. Unfortunately, not long after Tom Abell hits a full toss straight to Bell-Drummond for 11 and Somerset are 57 for 4. Lewis Gregory joins Lammonby and the second half of the middle order have the major role to do for the first time. Linde offers spin in the 9th and we move to 63 and Stewart takes us to the halfway stage when we have 71 runs. The local commentator suggests that this is a 180 par score wicket and we are a long way from that at the moment.
Linde continues the spin for the 11th and Evison takes his first over with the 12th. At the end of that we are still 13 runs from 3 figures and struggling to move into another gear. Coupled with that, the problem becomes worse when Gregory goes to an excellent Hogan catch whhen he thich edges a Stewart ball. This brings Ben Green to the crease and he takes the score to 91 with 7 overs to go.
Hogan returns but we finally reach 100 in Evison's 15th. Green is looking to puch it on and he takes 17 from the over. Agar tempts Lammonby who scoops him straight to Stewart, placed in the field for that shot!! 117 for 6 sees Roelof arrive at the crease and we reach 121 for 6 at the end of the 16th. Agar then bowls Green to take him to 2 for 9 off 2.4 overs. Davey joins RvdM and hits his first ball for four. Hogan looks to hold RvdM but he is going for it, he nearly goes for an infield catch while looking for inventive ways to get the ball to the boundary. Cox nearly brings off a miracle by batting the ball back in from over the rope but it goes just over the head of Denly. We move into the 140s thanks to him but he finally goes for 17 off 10 caught by leaning in the 18th. Henry get a first bat in T20 but it is short as he puts the ball straight up off Agar and we are 146 for 9 with Agar finishing with 3 wickets in his 4 overs. Evison takes the last and after taking us past 150, Peter Siddle is run out going for a second on the last ball andf we reach 154.
The Reply
Kent openers Denly and Muyeye are both back in the pavilion befor the end of the secoond over. Josh Davey bowls Muyeye with his 4th ball for 5 and then Henry also bowls Denly with the first ball of his first over. Billings and Bell-Drummond have to basically start again at 7 for 2. They reach 32 by the end of the 5th but there are only another 3 balls before the covers come on and the sides go off at 8:35pm with Kent well behind Duckworth-Lewis at 37 for 2.
By 9pm we are back on with a new total of 150 required in 19 overs - so no real chang to be honest. Peter Siddle takes the 6th over and sends Bell-Drummond packing with an absolute jaffa of a second ball 39 for 3 with Cox replacing his team mate. Billings loooks to push on and Kent have 50 one ball short of the 8th.
RvdM takes the 9th and he has Cox ball 2 caught Henry on the boundary. Leaning replaces him and takes the score to 56 before Lewis Gregory is introduced to take us to the halfway point Billings looks to step away and loses his leg stump to take Kent to 61 for 5 and bring Linde to the crease. it is raining again, enough to make it difficult but not enough to bring the sides off. If they do come off it will be a Somerset victory and the home side bats are conscious of that. Siddle tempts Leaning in the 11th bbut the high swirling one is dropped by Lammonby on the boundary 65 for 5. Not long after, Matt Henry tries to stop a boundary and finds himself 'aquaplaning' along the rope with the ball in his hand unable to stop!!
At 72 for 5 the umpires finally take the sides off. The D/L score is 89 so the game is effectively done if the rain continues - as it seems it probably will. But.... NO at 9:40 the sides return with a score of 126 required in another 4.1 overs. Henry is bowled out so it looks like it is Siddle, RvdM and Green who will fiinish the game. With 4 overs to go it is 73 for 5. 53 from 24.
Green takes the 12th and the first ball goes for four! Another four comes before a yorker takes out off and middle and Stewart arrives at 83 for 6. He send another ball to the boundary before he skies one to Tom Abell and Kent are 87 for 7. Evison and Leaning have a battle with Siddle before an RvdM catch sends Leaning back to the hutch at 99 for 8 needing 27 off 12 balls.
Green is back for the 14th and he goes for a single and then a dot before there is a superb catch by Henry to send Agar back and bring last man Hogan in 100 for 9. Green finishes with 3 for 11.
It is still on as skipper Gregory takes the last one defending 18 off 6. The last over goes dot, single, single and 16 off 3, single, single so 14 off the last ball. But Tom Abell catches the last strike and Kent are all out for 112. We win by 13 runs. An excellent and concentrated performance. A well deserved away win and four in four. On we go!!
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:06:14:18:49:25 by Grockle.
South African George Linde is something of an all-rounder, batting in the middle order, while Australian Kane Richardson is an out-and-out tale-ender, with a top score of nine in thirty-five IT20s.
They have also recruited Michael Hogan, an experienced fast-bowler from Glamorgan, but none of the three could prevent Sean Abbott from rocketing to 110 from 41 balls (with 11 sixes) in their defeat at The Oval on Friday night.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2023:06:01:11:34:49 by Grockle.
Kent will be without Zak Crawley, who has joined up with the England Test squad. They pick from 13: Billings (c), Bhuiyan, Bell-Drummond, Blake, Cox, Denley, Evison, Hogan, Leaning, Linde, Muyeye, Richardson and Stewart.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Quote:Loyal of Lhasa
Seems a bit soon to rest a man who has taken six wickets and eight catches in the first three matches of the tournament.
LoL Craig has been suffering with tendinitis in his knee. I guess the management see this as the opportunity to rest him with the long journey to Canterbury to consider after 3 games in quick succession. If resting him backfires tomorrow but we win the two home games Friday and Sunday 5 wins from 6 will have us well on our way.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
But they are all options I suppose
If you are intetrested and not sure where to go 5the Somerset website will link you through to here;
[kentcricketplay.co.uk]
Where you can do the business it seems
The game is on from 7pm
I’m not convinced that, in T20, there is much to choose between them with bat or ball but KA is far, far better than JD in the field.
Kasey isn't doing enough for me with the ball yet... tbh Lewis Jr looks better in T20 mode based on views over the last couple of days admittedly in seconds games.
On his day and IF he's ready I'd take Josh with bat OR ball in a short white ball game presently... but only IF he's fully ready to go and I haven't been certain of that too often on his injury comebacks over the last couple of seasons.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:05:30:14:16:27 by Grockle.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:05:30:14:19:41 by Grockle.
Ref getting on yer telly - may need a Video lead to plug yer PC in unless you have a casting setup
Quote:Grockle
Not going well. 2 skiers. 1 through the gate & a slap to cover with just over 50.... Hmmm
How are you watching?
On the official Kent site, at ÂŁ5.99, or 'by other means'?
We could do with shifting him, sharpish
It's going to be nip and tuck but we field hard so we can keep it tight 🙏
So I imagine there's a chance they might get back on at some point, but with a sharply reduced game.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Bess three overs for 17, thus far, in the same game,
Good to see Lewis choosing to bowl the last over as well.
Grizzers
You could, of course, say that Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Middlesex also have 100% records.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:05:30:22:12:55 by Loyal of Lhasa.
I feel that rain interrupted games, even with the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, tend to favour the team batting second.
It's interesting that the Kent fans thought Somerset scored 15 runs too many, which was bang on the money. And if Tom K-C could have managed to bat for another over...
It didn't look a great target, but I suspect Somerset were ahead on the DLS all through the Kent innings.
Four out of four? Very well done! (Unlike a good steak, which should be rare as...)
I note somebody yesterday thought Somerset could be winners. Somebody on the Lancashire forum thought that Lancs might be the strongest 2020 squad ever assembled with Butler and Salt in it. Salt injured yesterday of course. Reckon Buttler could be the Somerset secret agent.
And seeing stumps knocked out of the ground is always good to see.
Interesting attempt to stop a boundary which saw Matt Henry watergliding along the rope unable to stop and an almost miracle of a save by Cox over the boundary which flew over the infielder's head and to ground
“ I hope Mr Buttler doesn't bring his IPL form into the VB. His last 8 innings in that comp were 0-0-0-95-8-18-27-0.“
[cricket.lancashirecricket.co.uk]
He played one 2020 last year I believe with little success. First class wise it is several years ago.
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