15th August 2013: Somerset v Yorkshire by John Ward

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Scorecard:	Somerset v Yorkshire
Event:	Yorkshire Bank 40 2013

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DateLine: 16th August 2013

 

From John Ward, at Taunton
Yorkshire (261/8) lost to Somerset (262/7) by three wickets.

 

A superb, if sometimes fortunate, big century from Peter Trego was the highlight of a most entertaining match at Taunton, as he led his team to a last-over victory over Yorkshire. He survived a stumping chance and several times edged balls just past his stumps, but overall played some outstanding strokes in his unbeaten innings of 140. Despite some weak batting by the lower order, Trego stayed to the end, showing fine determination and temperament, and Somerset celebrated.

 

The ground staff was taken by surprise by a sudden heavy shower of rain forty minutes before the start of play, and quite an amount fell on the pitch before they could get it covered. That may or may not have helped Somerset in their decision to put Yorkshire in when they won the toss, but if so the effects were not noticeable on a good batting pitch with a fast outfield.

 

Somerset began this match at the top of Group C in the competition, while Yorkshire were ahead of only the Unicorns. The home team used Jos Buttler as their wicketkeeper in this match rather than Craig Kieswetter, who was to open the batting, in line with their policy to share the duties between the two players during the course of the season. They were missing Nick Compton through illness. Yorkshire as usual in the one-day competitions this season played a young team, especially in their bowling line-up, where Rich Pyrah was the most experienced.

 

Yorkshire began with a spate of boundaries as the Somerset bowlers erred in length and direction early on, but then both openers, Andrew Gale and Dan Hodgson, miscued drives to be caught for 17 and 14 respectively. Yorkshire were 39 for two in the seventh over.

 

There followed the main feature of the innings, a superb run-a-ball century stand between the two left-handed openers in Championship matches, Alex Lees and Adam Lyth. Both were in superb form and made the bowling look easy, reaching their fifties off 51 and 48 balls respectively. They scored 118 together in just under twenty overs, before Alfie Thomas finally broke through and scattered Lees’ stumps with a yorker; he made 62 off 65 balls, and Yorkshire were 157 for three.

 

Shortly afterwards Lyth holed out in the deep for 58 off 61 balls, and after that Jack Leaning, although born in Bristol, held together the rest of the Yorkshire innings with little support. Some of his strokes showed impressive power and timing; his fifty came off 42 balls and he was only dismissed in the penultimate over for 60. Some lusty blows at the death by Ian Wardlaw took the total to 261 for eight wickets.

 

The Somerset seam bowlers Adam Dibble and Thomas took most of the wickets, four and three respectively, but both were expensive, going at more than a run a ball each. Craig Meschede did the best job as far as keeping the batsmen quiet was concerned, bowling his eight overs for 35 runs.

 

The locals did not fancy Somerset’s chances of reaching their target, but the conditions were good for batting. In Wardlaw’s second over Trescothick pulled a ball for a superb low six over midwicket, but off the very next ball drove a catch straight at deepish mid-off for 10.

 

Undeterred by the loss of their captain, Kieswetter and Peter Trego launched a blistering assault on the Yorkshire seamers, the team fifty coming up in the sixth over. Kieswetter hit by far the biggest six of the day, a huge slog over ‘cow corner’ off Wardlaw that almost reached the cricket museum. Trego, however, was even more aggressive, racing to his fifty off 33 deliveries, and the Somerset hundred came up in the fourteenth over. At 113, though, Kieswetter (40 off 48 balls) drove a low catch to mid-off and the partnership of 103 runs came to an end in the 17th over.

 

Alviro Petersen began his innings slowly and the crowd was giving him some sharp advice when he responded by lofting balls from Ryan Gibson for to successive leg-side sixes. Trego had a lucky escape on 70 as he charged down the pitch to an off-break from Leaming, only for the wicket-keeper Hodgson to fumble the stumping. This miss almost certainly decided the match. Thereafter the pair continued in superb fashion towards victory, and Petersen actually outscored his partner slightly as he ran to his fifty off 52 balls. The pair put on 103 in 14 overs before Petersen (51) pulled a catch to the fielder on the midwicket boundary.

 

Trego was on 98 as Buttler joined him, who played his first ball from Pyrah on to his stumps; Somerset 203 for four, with seven an over needed to win. Trego reached his century in the following over, off 85 balls, and then lost James Hildreth for 11, with 25 needed off 21 balls. Two successive cracking boundaries from Trego followed, a straight six off Moin Ashraf, and then a gentle catch to midwicket by Meschede, but now only nine were needed off 13 balls.

 

Trego faced the final over with four runs needed for victory. He hit the first to midwicket for what should have been a comfortable single, but the batsmen wanted two. The pressure got to the fielder, who missed it and allowed it to go through to the boundary to give Somerset victory with five balls to spare. Trego’s final tally was 140 not out off 103 balls, with 19 fours and two sixes. Wardlaw, with three for 55, was the most successful of Yorkshire’s inexperienced attack.

 

(Article: Copyright © 2013 John Ward)