Glos loss ends hope of Blast quarter-final

Somerset’s preparations for the Bob Willis Trophy final, which began at Lord’s yesterday against Essex, saw them being dumped out of the Vitality Blast following defeat to near rivals Gloucestershire.

Gloucestershire claimed victory by two wickets on Sunday after Somerset posted 161-7 after winning the toss; Lewis Gregory managed 50 and Babar Azam 42. The reply went down to the final ball before Gloucestershire reached 163-8 as Tom Smith hit a boundary off Ollie Sale as the hosts needed 13 from that last over.

It ended a bitterly disappointing campaign for Somerset, in contrast to their Bob Willis endeavours, having won four but losing five of their ten matches to finish fourth in the Central Group.

After the game, captain Gregory said: “We have had a lot of young players come through this season and part of the plan was to see how they coped with pressure situations.

“Ollie Sale has worked really hard on becoming a death bowler. There is nothing to say that had I bowled the last over the outcome would have been any different.

“We are very disappointed to be out of the competition, but we now have to pick ourselves up for a Lord’s final in the Bob Willis Trophy, which is a really exciting prospect.”

Two days prior to the Gloucestershire defeat, Somerset had beaten Northamptonshire Steelbacks by seven wickets at the Cooper Associates

County Ground on Friday. That had kept their quarter-final hopes alive as 18-year-old Somerset left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy claimed 2-21 on his second T20 appearance as Steelbacks managed just 140-9.

In reply, Somerset cruised to 146-3 with two overs to spare as Steve Davies contributed 45, Tom Lammonby 43 not out and Tom Abell 42 not out.

After the win, Gregory said: “It was the best T20 bowling display by the team I have been involved in this season. I thought we showed really good control with the ball and some smart thinking depending on which batsman was facing.

“In the second half of the game we were really clinical. Steve Davies struck the ball sweetly from the start, Tom Abell showed a cool head and Tom Lammonby finished things off with some big shots.”

Last Wednesday saw Somerset post their third win of the campaign as they beat hosts Glamorgan by 66 runs. Azam made a career best 114 not out from 62 balls, despite being dropped twice, as Somerset posted 183-3.

Roelof van der Merwe started Glamorgan’s demise by having both David Lloyd and Chris Cooke caught at backward point by substitute fielder George Bartlett in his opening over before Glamorgan were eventually dismissed for 117.

Goldsworthy made his debut in that match and said: “I will remember the partnership with Babar Azam for the rest of my life. He was so calm talking me throughout the 110 run partnership, and I learned so much from him. I was also pleased with my two wickets, and all in all it was a great night.”

■ WESTERN STORM ended their Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy with a 47-run victory over Sunrisers in the Southern Group. Having been unable to reach the final, Georgia Hennessy raised a brilliant century to help Storm finish their campaign on high as they came second in the Southern Group having won four of their six matches, being beaten twice by group winners Southern Vipers.

Alex Griffiths smashed 80 and shared in a match-winning stand of 155 in 22 overs for the fifth wickets with Hennessy, who posted a season’s best 105 in an imposing 288-6 in 50 overs. Hennessy then weighed in with 2-29, took a catch and perpetrated two run outs and Sunrisers were dismissed for 241 in the penultimate over.

After the game, Hennessy said: “I have to thank Sophie [Luff] for sticking with me, because I’ve not had a great series. I had four failures in five games, but she stuck with me, and I hope I’ve rewarded the faith shown in me. I really, really enjoyed myself - to score a hundred in any game is a special feeling, but my first one for Storm means a lot. I may have got most runs, but Alex Griffith and Danielle Gibson played brilliantly.

“Of course, it’s disappointing not to be in the final, but we’ve not been good enough often enough in our bowling and fielding. Those are definitely things we can improve on going forward.”