T20 Blast: Quarterfinal 4 Review - Lewis Gregory and Jamie Overton power Somerset into the semifinals

Lancashire, Sussex, Worcestershire, and Somerset are the four teams that are through into the semifinals in the T20 Blast. The fourth and the final quarterfinal game between Somerset and Nottinghamshire was supposed to be played on Sunday, i.e., 26 August 2018. However, due to rain, no play was possible on that particular day.

Hence, the match was postponed to Monday, i.e, 27 August 2018- the reserve day. Unlike the previous three quarterfinal games, this was a high scoring one. Although they lost the toss and were put into bat first, Somerset won this game by 19 runs. Somerset’s skipper Lewis Gregory was the ‘Man of the Man’ for his all-round show.

The T20 Blast will now have a little break before we head to the semi-finals. Both the semi-final games as well as the final of the tournament will be played on 15 September 2018.

Lewis Gregory sets the innings on fire in the last five overs

Somerset lost the wicket of its opener Steven Davies right in the second over of the game. No 3 batsman Peter Trego was also dismissed for just 10 runs. When the side was in a crisis situation, Johann Myburgh and James Hildreth came to the rescue. While Myburgh scored 27 off 22 balls, Hildreth scored 52 off just 28 balls. However, the team was still not in a great position on a good batting deck.

Somerset reached 130 runs at the end of 15 overs and already lost five wickets. At this juncture, skipper Lewis Gregory came in and absolutely tore the bowling apart. The hosts added another 79 runs in the last five overs of the game. Out of these 79 runs, Gregory alone scored 59 off just 22 balls. He was unbeaten on 60 off 24 balls at the end of the innings and was well supported by Tom Abell who was unbeaten on 46 off 30 balls. At the end of 20 overs, the team posted 209 runs on the board for the loss of 5 wickets.

Jamie Overton’s 5-wicket haul does the job for Somerset

In the chase, Nottinghamshire lost the wicket of Riki Wessels early in the innings. However, the other three men in the top four did considerably well and got the side into a commanding position. Alex Hales (45 off 28 balls), Jake Libby (41 off 34 balls) and Tom Moores (36 off 18 balls) set the foundation for a perfect chase. The visitors crossed 130 in the 13th over and were cruising along well.

However, at this crucial juncture in the game, the side witnessed a mini-collapse. They lost seven wickets in the next in 27 balls which completely got them out of the race. They were bundled out for 190 runs in 20 overs and lost the game by 19 runs. Although Matthew Carter tried hard with 16 runs off 6 balls towards the end, it was just a bit too much of an asking for him and he ran out of partners. Jamie Overton was terrific with the ball and picked a five-wicket haul despite being on the expensive side. Lewis Gregory picked two wickets in the innings.

Brief Scores:

SOM: 209/5 in 20 overs (L Gregory 60*, J Hildreth 52, Samit Patel 1/16)

NOTTS: 190/10 in 20 overs (Alex Hales 45, Jake Libby 41, Jamie Overton 5/47)