Vitality Blast - South Group

Gloucestershire 116-6 beat Somerset 114-8 by 4 wkts

SOMERSET failed to complete a derby double as Gloucestershire won a rain-affected clash by four wickets in Bristol.

In a match reduced to 11 overs a side due to rain, Corey Anderson's 40 not out helped Somerset to 114-8 but Ian Cockbain replied with an unbeaten 43 to see his side home.

The game belatedly got underway at 8.15pm and, having been put in, Somerset flew out the traps to reach 25-0 after two overs.

That was soon 38-4, however, and it took a 39-run stand between Corey Anderson and Lewis Gregory (19) to lay the foundations for a competitive score.

Anderson took centre stage after Gregory’s departure, striking three fours and three sixes in his 17-ball unbeaten 40 while wickets fell around him as Somerset posted 114-8.

The visitors needed the scalp of Michael Klinger early in reply and the returning Craig Overton – who had earlier been run out without facing a ball – provided it in the very first over, finding the inside edge two balls after being hit for six.

Max Waller (1-6) then had Miles Hammond caught at long-on to leave the reply stuttering at 13-2, but Kieran Noema-Barnett and Cockbain kept the hosts up with the required rate.

Noema-Barnett fell to Gregory to leave the hosts 50-3, but two big overs in the next three turned the game and left Gloucestershire in the driving seat.

Peter Trego and Jamie Overton were on the receiving end, each going for 18 either side of a tidy second over by Roelof van der Merwe (1-15)  to leave Gloucestershire requiring just 13 from 12 balls.

It was a task they completed with ease despite losing Gareth Roderick (5), as Cockbain struck the winning runs from the first ball of the final over to leave Somerset frustrated at failing to defend what had looked a very reasonable score at the halfway stage.

Max Waller and Roelof van der Merwe are entitled to feel aggrieved having bowled just three of the 11 overs between them – conceding just 21 runs in the process – while each of the seamers went for over 10 an over.

Jamie Overton in particular was a surprise choice to bowl the critical ninth over, having already gone for 13 in his first of the night (and 20 in last week’s final over against the same opposition); captain Lewis Gregory would perhaps do well to place more trust in his spinners in tight games such as this.

Somerset are next in action against Middlesex at Lords’ next Thursday.