Wed, 05 Oct 2011 - IP Warriors vs IP Somerset, Champions T20 League 2011, 19th Match - Bulletin

Somerset edge past Warriors to make semis

Somerset held their nerve in a low-scoring affair against Warriors to make it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. Batting first on a dual-paced Chinnaswamy pitch, Craig Kieswetter was steady in his 56 run knock to take the County qualifiers to 146, Warriors chase was on track at the half-way stage but could not get the spinners away towards the end and fell short of the target by 12 runs.

By virtue of the two points, Somerset jumped to the top of the Group B table with five points while as Warriors remained stuck at four points. The margin of defeat also wiped out the South African team’s mathematical chance of qualifying as they fell below Kolkata in the points chart due to inferior net run rate.

Prince and JJ Smuts provided Warriors the ideal start while chasing 147, hitting five boundaries in a stand of 30 runs. After Prince was sent back, Collin Ingram batted aggressively to put Warriors in the driver’s seat. He started off by smacking der Merwe over long on, with Smuts added 49 at a fair rate.

With the track helping slower bowlers, Somerset skipper Alfonso Thomas rotated his spinners well and the faster bowlers also took pace off the ball. Warriors were in front after eleven overs at 77 for 1 with the asking rate still in control. But, the two settled men were dismissed in a space of five deliveries as the match turned on its head. Ingram top-edged a slower one after making 31, while as Smuts was snapped by Murali Kartik for 38.

Somerset bowlers ensured there were no boundaries for the next three overs as the asking rate for Warriors headed northwards and lost two wickets during that period including that of skipper Johan Botha.

With 44 required off the last four overs, Nicky Boje briefly revived the faltering chase with couple of boundaries and Craig Thyssen hit a six, the equation was 23 off 12 deliveries. Alfonso Thomas then landed the killer punch by bowling superb penultimate over conceding only 2 runs and grabbing a couple of wickets as well, leaving Warriors too much to do in the last over. Der Merwe didn’t do anything silly while bowling the last six balls as Warriors who had the match all covered at one stage crashed to 12 run defeat.

Earlier, Somerset never got going after losing Peter Trego in the first over. England international Craig Kieswetter dropped anchor to hold up one end while few cameos from the middle-order enabled Somerset to post a decent total of 146 on the board.

After electing to bat in the must win encounter, the County side did not have an auspicious start to their innings, their most consistent batsman Peter Trego caught behind off the Lonwabo Tsotsobe for nought. Despite this loss, Somerset still attacked- Kieswetter crashed three boundaries in the next over, Van der Merwe followed it up with few more boundaries to give them a good start.

At 48 for 2 in the last over of fielding restrictions, der Merwe fell after making a 16-ball 32 as Warriors put brakes on the scoring. Kieswetter and Hildreth could only add 27 runs in 5.5 overs, mostly because the Warriors bowlers led by skipper Botha did not give anything away.

Jos Buttler did lift the scoring after Hildreth departed with a breezy 30 run knock that was laced with a boundary and two sixes, along with Kieswetter who also scored quickly, added 60 crucial runs for the third wicket. The Buttler flourish did provide Somerset innings; the much needed impetus after the Warriors’ spinners had made scoring hard. Kieswetter who had come as an opener completed his fifty before launching Tsotsobe in the last over for a maximum helping Somerset to 146 for 4.