Somerset
Vitality Five Taunton Five-fer v Middlesex
By Grockle
June 12 2023
Middlesex come west with no wins in this season's T20 to face Somerset with no losses in the same competition. One of these situations has to change tonight. Probably easy to predict which one we are hoping for. Craig overton returns to the fray, Matt Henry is rested.
T20 v Middlesex @Taunton Friday 2 June 2023
The side tonight is Banton, Smeed, TKC, Abell, Lammonby, Gregory, Green, RvdM, Overton, Davey, Siddle. Matt Henry is being 'rested' we assume. Somerset won the toss and chose to bowl first. No surprise there then given the results so far doing that most of the time.
The weather is back to a dry summer evening and Craig Overton starts from the River end to Eskanazi and Cracknell with 2 slips. The Devon man has Cracknell playing and missing and the first over ends with only 1 run to the Middlesex total. Without Henry, Josh Davey opens his account from the MT and Cracknell gambles, comes down the wicket to the 'Scot' and loses his off stump for 2 at 4 for 1. Not the best bet he ever made! In comes Malan. He cracks the first boundary of the innings to the CA but that isn't until the fourth ball of the fourth over. 2 balls later Josh bowled him and it is a pretty slow14 for 2. Holden strides out.
It is 22 for 2 after 5 and hard work out there for the visiting bats. There is a flashed four with no idea where the ball was going and then a proper six taking 18 off the 5th over to take Middlesex to 40 for 2 at the end of the 'Powerplay'. They were trying really hard to get out to COve who bowled very tightly for 15 off his 4.
Siddle takes the 8th from the MT and Holden puts his second effort into the Somerset Stand with disdain. Eskanzi, who has been pretty quiet, then takes the single to bring up his side's 50. This little attack is then finished as Peter gets a bit of swing and bowls Holden bringing Hollman to the wicket and Gregory to the game with the 9th from the River.
After him Somerset introduce the spin of Roelof who entices Eskanazi to put the ball into TKC's hands on the boundary with his second ball. 59 for 4 with Higgins in - lot of 'H's in this Middlesex middle order. It is a disappointing visitor 62 for 4 at the innings' midpoint.
The second half sees the introduction of Ben Green to the bowling attack and Higgins pops one up to Craig Overton for zero. He takes the catch on his back coming in from the Botham and it is 68 for 5. RvdM's second over sees the new Middlesex bat Davies furiously trying to sweep him but to no real avail. Gregory takes the next and Hollman is the next to go to TKC off his first ball for 10 at 73 for 6. Anderson arrives and is wafting at Lewis then slapping the ball just over a flailing Banton to take the score to 80.
Green returns for the 14th when Anderson tries to be inventive and moves the score on to 93 with some interesting interpretations of 'batting'. The 100 arrives in the next RvdM over when Davies puts the spinner on to the roof of the CA with a lusty blow. With his usual enthusiasm, not damped by a big hit, later in the over Roelof dives to save a one and gets run over by the Middlesex batsman so he hobbles away a bit at the end with the score on 104 at 15
Siddle is back for the 16th and Middlesex face an upward battle with only 113 to their name with 4 to go - there is the need for a push. Josh takes the 17th and faces Anderson looking to get the score moving, taking chances and getting more luck than his previous batting teammates (25 off his 15 balls). However, his improvisation ends with a kind of reverse pull that goes straight to Tom Abell. 116 for 7 with Davey finishing with 34 for 3.
Fernandes faces Siddle in the next over and the score moves to 121. Ben has Davies caught ball one at 135 in the 19th and then also has Roland-Jones first ball to move to 135 for 9 followed by another courtesy of Gregory for 3 in the over. Middlesex are all out chasing in the 19th for 136 on the fourth ball and Green ends another excellent bowling performance in the Blast with 4 for 20 in 2.4 overs
Somerset Reply
One has to suggest that at Taunton in the present campaign, Middlesex do not have enough runs to see a victory here. However, there is still hope as the reply starts with Helm running in from the River. Smeed hits the first boundary of Somerset's reply off the third ball and the score is 6 for 0 ofter the first. Toby Roland-Jones has been a thorn in the Somerset side more than once in his career and he takes the first from the MT end then nearly has the younger opener with his first ball. Will could do with some luck to get his season going and he capitalises on the near miss by hitting a straight six off the next ball followed by a whipped four to the CA. The score moves to 16 after two. Is this a day for Mr Smeed?
There is an announcement about there being a 'live DJ' after the game tonight. Suppose it is more effective than a dead one who may start to smell before the end of their set perhaps :-) Back to the cricket?
It is a pretty 'filthy' 28 for 0 one ball into the fourth. It may be a bit scratchy but the runs do keep on coming with Smeed running his luck as he is dropped on the Caddyshack boundary at 24 by Hollman. After 4 the roughly 10 an over scoring continues with 39 Banton with 13 and Smeed with 26.
The luck runs out as Helm bowls Will with the first ball of the 5th for 26 off 14 and with the score at 40 for 1 TKC walks out to take part in his 150th T20 game (there was an announcement at our last I believe that RvdM was playing in his 300th at Kent). Tom Banton now rides HIS luck as he top edges one but to be honest the Middlesex fielder (Roland-Jones) never looked like taking it. There is a distinct lack of confidence in the fielding side's demeanour which probably comes from losing 5 on the bounce.
Fernandes takes the 6th and TKC boundaries us to 50 from 31 balls. Banton is looking more confident but still exasperates the watching public as he reverse sweeps for no apparent reason and with a fielder posted in position for such a shot WHY? Helm retuns for the 7th as Middlesex's most effective bowler so far. Banton takes a quick single which would have seen him stone dead if there had been a hit. Meanwhile TKC is doing his RRR impressions going to 22 off 10 at the other end. 74 for 1 at the end of the over and Tom B seems to have pulled something as he is retiring. There is no point is pushing it in this game which is seemingly effectively won by now. He looks OK and it seems to be more of a precaution than anything else as he is replaced by Tom and on we go.
Anderson's 8th over sees Somerset move to 84 with a run rate of 10.5 when it needs to be 4.4. Toby Roland-Jones' efforts in the 9th are pretty much dismissed by a TKC six to take the score to 97 off his first ball and the 100 arrives halfway through the 10th with 105 on the board at the end of that over. From there it is pretty plain sailing. Higgins' 11th goes for 6. By the end of the 12th from Hollman a TKC six moves the score to 127.
The 13th from Higgins also sees a quick single take TKC to a match winnning 50 off 28 with 5 fours and 3 sixes and by the 14th from Roland-Jones a four first ball, a four second ball and a six to say 'Thank you and goodnight' sees Somerset roll over the opposition for the fifth straight game with a 9 wicket win and 39 balls to spare.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore took 63 from 31 with 7 fours and 4 sixes while his partner Tom Abell contributed 25 from his 18 with 4 boundaries. Very satisfying win against what must be said was a very shell shocked Middlesex having a touurnament to forget. On to Southampton
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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2023:06:19:17:09:28 by Grockle.
In a high-scoring match at Merchant Taylor`s School yesterday, Glamorgan plundered 72 off the last three Middlesex overs - close to a T20 Blast record.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2023:06:03:15:45:02 by Grockle.
Som (P4 W4) v Middx (P4 L4) + (P1 v Middx - Simpson) = Som P5 W5
There is however an alternative equation:
(Som P4 W4 v Middx P4 L4) + (P1 v Middx - Simpson) = Banana skin
Keep focused boys.
N.B. For the mathematicians among you, I know that mathematically speaking, those are not equations. I know, because every equation I ever attempted at school had 'banana skin' as the outcome, and so, ipso facto they can't be.
Farmer
Eskinazi (C), Andersson, Cracknell, Cullen, Davies, De Caires, Fernandes, Helm, Higgins, Holden, Hollman, Malan, Roland-Jones, Walallawita.
One is you rotate bowlers to keep them fresh, and for years and years Simpson has never missed a match, so it may just be, 'You look like you need a rest. Have a week off' which to me isn't quite the same as being dropped (nothing wrong with his keeping this year, and his run production is no worse than others). The other possibility he is out of contract at the end of the season, so has he declined a new deal meaning Middlesex want to start trying other options. Also, he was considered responsible for Monday's loss to Gloucestershire, when he and Higgins failed to get 12 runs off 12 balls to win the game.
At this stage no-one knows if his absence is big news, or if it's just a case of, 'You look knackered, Have a week off'.
Anderson playing well
“Interesting,” surface at Bristol for a T20 game.
Surrey 124-9… but not nailed on to lose!
Whereas all the other counties that don’t have a stupid sobriquet are known simply as “county name,”
I.e “Essex,” “Glamorgan,” etc etc
[www.ecb.co.uk]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:06:02:21:10:15 by AGod.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:06:02:21:30:14 by hantssabre.
As so often, T20 did not prove a good vehicle for close results with massively one-sided games dominating tonight’s slate.
It must be said also that on television tonight they did not look all that interested.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:06:02:22:32:28 by cricketjerry-mouse.
And Somerset seemed very impressive indeed. They took wickets at the crucial time - though even the commentators seemed bemused at Middlesex's willingness to hit out at the end and not even bat out their overs - and Somerset's batting seemed both controlled and aggressive, and largely stress-free.
I hope Banton's retirement is precautionary, but you can't argue with Somerset's start to the T20 season.
(On a sadder, more personal note, I lost my 88-year-old father yesterday - the reason I've followed Somerset since the early 1970s, including not missing a game at Bath for years and several Lord's finals - thankfully including one win. He followed Somerset since the early 1950s, and God knows that took some dedication! His name's Don Withers and some of you may have known him, especially if you watched Somerset in Bath from the 1960s through to the 1990s.
He spent a lot of his life working for Stothert and Pitt in Bath, and has been a member of Bath Cricket Club, Lansdown and latterly Hampset over the years.)
It is highly likely that he and I sat in the same crowd at Bath back in the Sixties though we may never have exchange a word.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
Your father must have witnessed some spectacular ups & downs over the decades. Hope he took some comfort from the excellent performances over the last month.
Grizzers
When it comes to Somerset history, I have always liked to think in terms of an endless chain of such dedicated Somerset supporters stretching in numbers from today, and tonight's match, all the way back to the formation of the Club nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. An unbroken chain that will stretch into the future for as long as the Club survives. Each of the supporters in that chain doing his or her bit to keep the true Somerset spirit alive during their time and to pass it on to the next generation as your father did to you.
From your description of him, and the fact that he led you into your commitment to the Club, I have no doubt he formed a full part of that chain. His contribution down the decades to the spirit of Somerset cricket will have left a trace of him for others to carry forward and in that sense, a part of him will live on. I never met your father, at least not knowingly, but somehow, from your description of him, and from my respect for that endless chain of supporters stretching back in time, and knowing and having known many of them, I feel like I knew him a little, at least in spirit.
RIP Don Withers
Farmer
Feels like some of the players are maturing nicely this year in the short format & as important, we’re a team out there, not a few superstars
A side on its game played a side really not and the result was pretty much certain, even for Taunton, halfway through the Middlesex innings. Presently a visitor getting less than 150 there is going to struggle to take points away with them. Long may it continue.
LoL
Seventy-eight Seasons a Somerset Supporter
More of a worry is that Ben Green's figures in these games may mean we'll be looking for a 50 over captain while he warms a franchise bench as an 'option' for the veteran names who will play anyway.
Flexible means you don't have a set batting spot.
It's more who is best suited for that period of the game.
Jamie is used as their finisher.
His strengths lie in clearing the ropes in the last 5/6 overs, compared to his team mates.
Hence in this match on a poor Bristol wicket where wkts kept falling the "closing overs" meant a lower batting position.
You would blow a gasket I'm sure but I would have no issue with Craig or Abell being in our side batting at 8/9 and not bowling if the rest of the team make up made that an option.
They are both so good in the field & bring an energy to the side that adds something more than just their batting bowling stats.
I'm sure Jamie & Alec however both greatly appreciate your continued interest in their T20 campaign this year 😜😜
I look forward to the latest instalment of “eccentric tactics,” by Alec Stewart, at the Spitfire Ground later
Two bowling all-rounders, both playing even though they are unable to bowl, might be some sort or record. Will it work today? We wait with bated breath..
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