Congrats to Somerset for reaching their fourth Cup final out of four! No disrespect to Surrey intended, but I really hope the Sabres finally actually win one! In today's CB40 semi, despite home advantage, I expected a weakened Somerset to fall short against an experienced Durham team but instead they were on top in all crucial respects. The only thing Durham won was the toss.
Sliding to 44-4, they never really recovered, and only captain Dale Benkenstein put together an innings of any magnitude, compiling 82 in 76 balls. The side didn't even make it to the 40th over, Kirby finishing things off with seven balls remaining. The total of 219 never looked like being challenging enough. Somerset's makeshift opening pair of Arul Suppiah and Chris Jones made an excellent start, taking the score to 78 before the latter, in only his second one-dayer, was unfortunate to see a deflected ball from Thorp spin back on to his off peg. Suppiah was stumped off Breese for an unusually brisk 57, then Trego, Hildreth and Buttler ensured the side were comfortably ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis target when the rains came.
Somerset do need Trescothick, Kieswetter and Compton back for the final, because Surrey will be formidable opponents at Lord's. Rain had already reduced their semi versus Sussex at The Oval to a 24-over contest, then Rory Hamilton-Brown chose to bat and the top order were typically tyrannical with the strike rate. Man-of-the-Match Tom Maynard top-scored with 60 but most batsmen weighed in with useful runs totalling 228-7. Faced with such a formidable target at nearly ten an over, Ed Joyce and Chris Nash scored quickly but too many of their team-mates failed to reach double-figures. Chris Schofield finished with 4-22 and Surrey advanced to the Lord's showpiece in a fortnight. Should be a cracker!
