VD Merwe stars as Somerset win

All-rounder Rolf van Der Merwe gave a extraordinary demonstration of power hitting to help his county team Somerset to get off to a winning start in the main draw of Champions League against Kolkata. VD Merwe’s whirlwind 73 off 40 balls laced with nine fours and a couple of sixes gave Somerset’s chase a rollicking beginning to floor Kolkata bowlers. There was some fightback from Kolkata getting three wickets in the matter of two overs but the county side didn’t let game slip reaching the target on the 4th ball of the final over with five wickets in hand.

Kolkata might have thought a target of 161 was more than enough for Somerset’s weakened batting lineup on a slow and turning surface. However, Somerset came all guns blazing taking 15 off Bret Lee’s first over but lost Chris Jones upfront to give Kolkata some joy. The joy was short lived as VD Merwe got off the blocks first ball hitting four boundaries off the first five balls faced by him.

The chase moved at a brisk pace as boundaries did galore from Merwe’s bat to puncture Kolkata hopes. The South African cracked pull and cut shots authoritatively, drove with a solid combination of timing and placement, and, at no point, he was afraid to bring some cheekiness and innovativeness to his approach. The stand out shot though was reverse sweep six against Shaqibul Hassan that went sailing into cover boundary and would certainly have made exponent of the shot, star English batsman, Kevin Pietersen feel proud.

Opener Peter Trego, known for his ability to clear boundary easily, was alert to the situation happy to play supporting role. He concentrated more on bringing his in-form partner on the strike as the pair went on to add 105 for the second wicket before a flurry of wickets gave some twist to the chase.

Trego was run-out for 35-ball 27 and Merwe followed him same over as Kolkata fielders and fans, who were kept quiet during his assault, start to find their voices. Things got a bit tizzy for Somerset with Rajat Bhatia dismissing James Hildreth for a four ball duck as three wickets went for as many runs. Arul Supaih and Nick Compton got the chase back on the track with a crucial 18-run stand before the latter and Steve Snell saw their side through with calm and composed 23.

Kolkata overcame slow start that was marked with losing two wickets cheaply to surge a charge in later half of the innings taking score past 160-mark. It was unbeaten 61-ball 74 from Jacques Kallis who anchored the proceeding to stable innings till 14th over but ran amok in the death overs to provide much needed impetus to the total. Yusuf Pathan (39 off 21) yet again gave account of destructive batting potential slamming four consecutive sixes in the 15th over bowled by Aural Supaih, in which Kolkata collected all of 30 runs- the most expensive in the CL-20 history.

Left arm young pacer Lewis Gregory dismissed Manvinder Bisla and fit again skipper Gautam Gambhir in his first over-overall third of the innings- to reduce Kolkata 21 for two. Kallis, as he often does, did the rearguard having Manoj Tiwary’s willing company as big shots were hard to come by against tight Somerset bowler, spinners in particular. The pair put on 50 but took 55 balls to slow down the things in the middle overs.

Tiwary’s travail on the slow surface came to an end when he top-edged Alfonso Thomas to short fine-leg for 26-ball 20. Tiwary’s dismissal brought Pathan to the crease and he didn’t disappoint jam-packed crowd.It was Kallis who teed off first hitting left arm spinner for six over mid-wicket to bring up his half century off 45 balls. The highlight of the innings was next over though.

Supaih bowling 15th over saw Pathan showing his hitting prowess as he went berserk to dent bowler’s confidence. After Kallis scored a single off first ball, Pathan deposited Supaih for four sixes off next four balls between log-on and mid-wicket area to inject acceleration. The big hitting got into Supaih’s nerves as the spinner followed up with a five wides down the leg sides conceding 30 runs in the eventful over.

Pathan’s big hitting rubbed on to Kallis’ approach who hit a six each in 16th, 17th and 19th over as his last 29 came off just 16 balls. The big all-rounder hit four sixes and as many sixes to take score to 161. Gregory bowled only two overs for nine runs while van Der Merwe had a quiet wicketless four overs that yielded just 21 when most of the bowlers went for runs.