Green gives Glamorgan the blues
BEN Green announced himself as a T20 player for Somerset with four for 26 in an eight-wicket Vitality Blast Central Group win over Glamorgan under the floodlights at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.
The 22-year-old Devonian seamer, making only his third appearance in the competition, numbered Glamorgan’s top-scorer Chris Cooke (42) among his victims as the visitors were restricted to a modest 133 for eight after losing the toss.
Josh Davey claimed two for 17 in an impressive Somerset bowling performance. The hosts then made short work of their target, racing to 134 for two from just 16.1 overs, skipper Tom Abell leading way with 74 not out and James Hildreth contributing an unbeaten 34.
Their unbroken stand of 110 assured Somerset of their first win in the group, while it was a second defeat for a Glamorgan side comprehensively outplayed.
The Welsh county’s tepid batting effort began with Dan Douthwaite falling for a first-ball duck to Max Waller’s second delivery of the match, a flighted googly that pinned the batsman lbw.
By the end of the six-over power play, the visitors were 39 for three, Andy Balbirnie (17) having miscued a pull to be caught at mid-wicket off Ollie Sale and Billy Root carving a catch to Green at cover off Josh Davey.
Cooke did his best to raise the tempo with sixes over deep square off Sale and Green, but there was little support at the other end.
Kiran Carlson fell for five, caught at deep mid-wicket to become Green’s first victim and at the halfway point of their innings Glamorgan had posted 62 for four.
Cooke and Callum Taylor then added 26, with 11 of the runs coming off the 12th over, bowled by Waller. But the next one saw Taylor mistime a ramp shot to be caught off Green for 12.
Any hope Glamorgan had of reaching a respectable total disappeared when Cooke, who had eased his way to 42 off 34 balls, drove a catch to extra cover off Green in the 15th over.
Andrew Salter was caught at long-off for a duck and Green, who had been the sixth Somerset bowler used, could reflect on a good night’s work from the River End.
Marchant de Lange produced some belligerent blows, including a six over long-on off Waller, but it was too little too late to give Glamorgan a competitive total.
Somerset immediately had more momentum to their batting, despite losing George Bartlett and Steve Davies in the opening six overs to Salter and Tim van der Gugten respectively and Hildreth and Abell saw them home.