If Babar doesn't get you..........
Vitality Blast T20 Somerset v Kent
Somerset 206; Kent 151 all out in 18.4 overs. Somerset win by 55 runs
Whoever is responsible for choosing the music for Somerset's home T20 games does show a striking lack of forethought and originality. The obvious choice for this evening, as the teams walk out, would have been Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night", given that after two good wins on the bounce, and Babar Azam in such devastating form, Somerset hopes of finally lowering Kent's colours after 11 successive T20 defeats are sky-high. But no, it's just the usual mash-up. Nothing to amuse or inspire. Pity.
As I arrive, Western Storm's captain Heather Knight is just putting the finishing touches to her team's victory over Lancashire Thunder, which is a good deal more comfortable than 'with three balls to spare' would suggest. There is already a good crowd in the CACG, and Sky television are here to broadcast both the hors d'ouvres and the main course. As usual they have taken over both press boxes, but at least the commentary box has not been annexed, and its one remaining sheet of glass has passed an inspection by the club's insurers. BBC Radio Kent's Ben Watts and I will be safe as long as no-one hits a truly massive straight six.
The Somerset Pavilion. Comm box is at left-hand end of media centre top right
My first task is to check with Somerset's scorer, the ever-helpful Polly Rhodes, that my eyes hadn't deceived me and that it was Max Waller who took that truly miraculous catch at the Ageas Bowl last night to dismiss Aneurin Donald, because every scorecard I've seen, from the BBC through to Cricket Archive, has the catcher down as Babar Azam. She confirms that Max it most certainly was, and the young man from Opta, who are responsible for providing the scores to the various media outlets, promises to get it put right soonest. It does make you wonder, though, how accurate some of the scorecards you see really are.
It has been a ferociously windy day, and half a gale is still blowing across the ground from west to east as the toss is made. Tom Abell wins it and, to my complete satisfaction, says that Somerset will have a bat. That's at least one lesson from the past few games that's been learned. The team is unchanged; no surprise there. For Kent, Sam Billings is making his first appearance since dislocating his shoulder nastily in April. He's been told not to keep wicket and not to thrown himself about in the field. The visitors also have Heino Kuhn back in the side, so only Joe Denly and maybe the injured Imran Qayyum are missing from their strongest line-up. Looking at their top six, it doesn't take a genius to work out that Somerset will need a big score on a used, but probably pretty decent pitch.
Adam Milne, the New Zealand quick who bowled so well down at Canterbury is given the first over and produces the perfect delivery for openers. Perfect for Somerset, that is. It is fast, down leg-side and goes for five wides. The apparently nerveless Tom Banton takes two fours off the remainder of the over, including a square cut played with an almost straight bat - classical shot, perfectly executed - which for me, with hindsight, was the shot of the evening.
Babar also looks in good touch, so that 21 are on the board in the first two overs. I'm already looking forward to another big and possibly game-deciding Two Bs opening partnership, when Babar runs one down to Mohammed Nabi at third man, decides to come back for the second, and fails to beat the throw. He walks off dejectedly, the big crowd silent. It had been entirely his own fault.
James Hildreth is the next man in. He's not been having a great campaign - just 128 runs in eight innings - and he doesn't look in great nick this evening. We are treated to one flashing cover drive, before he goes to reverse sweep Nabi's off-spin, misses and is palpably LBW. It's not the end of the world. Banton is going well, and Tom Abell has been in great form. Sure enough, the two Toms set to work with a will, hardly letting a ball pass without taking at least a single, turning ones into twos, and climbing into anything remotely hittable. The only Kent bowler who is treated with anything like respect is the big South African, Hardus Viljoen. I try my joke about "is his nickname Nails, by any chance", on Ben, but get no more of a response than I did from Matt Coles at Canterbury. Perhaps that is his nickname? I'm still pondering this when Abell scoops one of his 90 mph deliveries for six. Viljoen does not look pleased.
He looks even less pleased a few overs later when Banton, a 50 now under his belt, goes to pull a length ball over the Andy Caddick Pavilion, but gets a top edge, which to my dismay loops high into the night sky to give Adam Milne the simplest of chances at point, which he muffs, the ball spinning out of his grasp. The crowd are in ecstasies and I'm trying hard to conceal my glee (and I suspect not succeeding). Banton is soon making Kent pay for his reprieve, mixing fierce pull shots with his trademark reverse sweeps, his hands flashing through the ball with quite awesome speed.
The entry into the attack of Daniel Bell-Drummond, who has had the dubious privilege of fielding in front of the Somerset Stand for most of the evening, slows progress briefly, but the first ball of his second over is short and Banton, on 94, whips it away over the deep square leg boundary for six and the first of what I'm sure will be many hundreds in T20 cricket: 52 deliveries, nine fours and five sixes. Quite magnificent! Even the Kent players are applauding. And he and Abell have carried Somerset to such a strong position that no-one (including I suspect the batsman himself) is too distressed when he mistimes a big shot down the ground off his next ball, to be well caught by Alex Blake sprinting in from long on.
The hero of the hour
That makes it 169/3 in 16.2 overs, a total well north of 200 beckoning. But the rest of the innings is a bit of a mess, to be honest. Abell goes on to make his highest T20 score of 63, but at the other end, the batsmen come and go with momentum-sapping rapidity and at the end, the scorecard has a bizarre look to it: Banton 100, Abell 63, but no-one else in double figures! Still, 207 to win will take a lot of getting.
The floodlights provide a light show at half-time; the CACG feels like a gigantic disco. It's all great fun, except that when the players come out for the Kent innings, it is still going on...and on...and on! I am picturing Ben Warren at the control console frantically trying to get the wretched things to stop flashing, which, to a cheer of relief, they eventually do.
The Kent openers, Zak Crawley and Bell-Drummond, make a cautious start over the first couple of overs - Max Waller's opener yet again yielding only a handful - but then change gear with ominous ease. 50 is on the board in only the 6th over when Crawley mistimes an off-drive and is comfortably caught by Babar at cover. Groenewald and Craig Overton are both expensive, prompting Abell to give Tom Lammonby a try. Kuhn thumps him dismissively for six, but in trying to repeat the dose, gets only half a bat on it and is caught by Waller at long-off. That's 89/2 in the 10th over, with Billings walking out. Still anyone's game.
But how quickly these T20s can turn! For the 13th over, Abell brings back Craig Overton for his 4th and final over. Up in the box, I have my doubts about this. Pace-off seems to be the way to go. Overton might go the distance. How wrong I am! With his second ball, big Craig has Bell-Drummond brilliantly caught by Eddie Byrom, running in from deep cover and somehow getting his hands under the ball, his fifth has Billings top-edging to Abell and his final ball is nudged rather feebly round the corner by the dangerous Nabi, Jerome Taylor taking the simplest of catches. So that's three wickets for 1 run in six balls, the Kent innings in ruins at 101/5, the game as good as won.
Big Craig in full flight as he changes the course of the game in a single over
Not that I'm making any such over-confident prognostications up in the box. Eleven defeats on the bounce have taught me to take nothing whatever for granted where Kent are concerned. But their lower order never look like threatening, Tom Lammonby's accuracy from the deep produces two run-outs and when Milne is taken by van der Merwe at short fine leg, it's all over. The hoodoo has been broken! Somerset are up to third, ahead of Middlesex on net run rate, which has had another welcome boost.
The hero of the hour, who was 12 when Somerset last beat Kent in a T20, is in demand for interviews afterwards. When I eventually get to speak to him, his answers are, as usual, matter of fact. Desperate for a killer quote I ask him how it felt to hit the six that brought up his 100. "It's the best feeling I've ever had, to be honest. I don't think anything will ever beat that." Cheers Tom. Just the ticket!
As I'm leaving the ground, one of Somerset's most devoted followers, Dave Downing, comes up to me with a suggestion for the title of this blog - "Kent is no longer a four-letter word", which is good but probably more suitable for the body of the text than the headline!
But it has been a very good few days for Somerset cricket, and particularly for their top order batting. Three important contributions from Captain Tom, a century for Babar on Friday and a century for Banton this evening. A couplet springs to mind:
"For opposition bowlers it's the bitterest pill:
If Babar doesn't get you, then Banton will!"
Vitality Blast T20 Somerset v Kent
Somerset 206; Kent 151 all out in 18.4 overs. Somerset win by 55 runs
Whoever is responsible for choosing the music for Somerset's home T20 games does show a striking lack of forethought and originality. The obvious choice for this evening, as the teams walk out, would have been Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night", given that after two good wins on the bounce, and Babar Azam in such devastating form, Somerset hopes of finally lowering Kent's colours after 11 successive T20 defeats are sky-high. But no, it's just the usual mash-up. Nothing to amuse or inspire. Pity.
As I arrive, Western Storm's captain Heather Knight is just putting the finishing touches to her team's victory over Lancashire Thunder, which is a good deal more comfortable than 'with three balls to spare' would suggest. There is already a good crowd in the CACG, and Sky television are here to broadcast both the hors d'ouvres and the main course. As usual they have taken over both press boxes, but at least the commentary box has not been annexed, and its one remaining sheet of glass has passed an inspection by the club's insurers. BBC Radio Kent's Ben Watts and I will be safe as long as no-one hits a truly massive straight six.
My first task is to check with Somerset's scorer, the ever-helpful Polly Rhodes, that my eyes hadn't deceived me and that it was Max Waller who took that truly miraculous catch at the Ageas Bowl last night to dismiss Aneurin Donald, because every scorecard I've seen, from the BBC through to Cricket Archive, has the catcher down as Babar Azam. She confirms that Max it most certainly was, and the young man from Opta, who are responsible for providing the scores to the various media outlets, promises to get it put right soonest. It does make you wonder, though, how accurate some of the scorecards you see really are.
It has been a ferociously windy day, and half a gale is still blowing across the ground from west to east as the toss is made. Tom Abell wins it and, to my complete satisfaction, says that Somerset will have a bat. That's at least one lesson from the past few games that's been learned. The team is unchanged; no surprise there. For Kent, Sam Billings is making his first appearance since dislocating his shoulder nastily in April. He's been told not to keep wicket and not to thrown himself about in the field. The visitors also have Heino Kuhn back in the side, so only Joe Denly and maybe the injured Imran Qayyum are missing from their strongest line-up. Looking at their top six, it doesn't take a genius to work out that Somerset will need a big score on a used, but probably pretty decent pitch.
Adam Milne, the New Zealand quick who bowled so well down at Canterbury is given the first over and produces the perfect delivery for openers. Perfect for Somerset, that is. It is fast, down leg-side and goes for five wides. The apparently nerveless Tom Banton takes two fours off the remainder of the over, including a square cut played with an almost straight bat - classical shot, perfectly executed - which for me, with hindsight, was the shot of the evening.
Babar also looks in good touch, so that 21 are on the board in the first two overs. I'm already looking forward to another big and possibly game-deciding Two Bs opening partnership, when Babar runs one down to Mohammed Nabi at third man, decides to come back for the second, and fails to beat the throw. He walks off dejectedly, the big crowd silent. It had been entirely his own fault.
James Hildreth is the next man in. He's not been having a great campaign - just 128 runs in eight innings - and he doesn't look in great nick this evening. We are treated to one flashing cover drive, before he goes to reverse sweep Nabi's off-spin, misses and is palpably LBW. It's not the end of the world. Banton is going well, and Tom Abell has been in great form. Sure enough, the two Toms set to work with a will, hardly letting a ball pass without taking at least a single, turning ones into twos, and climbing into anything remotely hittable. The only Kent bowler who is treated with anything like respect is the big South African, Hardus Viljoen. I try my joke about "is his nickname Nails, by any chance", on Ben, but get no more of a response than I did from Matt Coles at Canterbury. Perhaps that is his nickname? I'm still pondering this when Abell scoops one of his 90 mph deliveries for six. Viljoen does not look pleased.
He looks even less pleased a few overs later when Banton, a 50 now under his belt, goes to pull a length ball over the Andy Caddick Pavilion, but gets a top edge, which to my dismay loops high into the night sky to give Adam Milne the simplest of chances at point, which he muffs, the ball spinning out of his grasp. The crowd are in ecstasies and I'm trying hard to conceal my glee (and I suspect not succeeding). Banton is soon making Kent pay for his reprieve, mixing fierce pull shots with his trademark reverse sweeps, his hands flashing through the ball with quite awesome speed.
The entry into the attack of Daniel Bell-Drummond, who has had the dubious privilege of fielding in front of the Somerset Stand for most of the evening, slows progress briefly, but the first ball of his second over is short and Banton, on 94, whips it away over the deep square leg boundary for six and the first of what I'm sure will be many hundreds in T20 cricket: 52 deliveries, nine fours and five sixes. Quite magnificent! Even the Kent players are applauding. And he and Abell have carried Somerset to such a strong position that no-one (including I suspect the batsman himself) is too distressed when he mistimes a big shot down the ground off his next ball, to be well caught by Alex Blake sprinting in from long on.
That makes it 169/3 in 16.2 overs, a total well north of 200 beckoning. But the rest of the innings is a bit of a mess, to be honest. Abell goes on to make his highest T20 score of 63, but at the other end, the batsmen come and go with momentum-sapping rapidity and at the end, the scorecard has a bizarre look to it: Banton 100, Abell 63, but no-one else in double figures! Still, 207 to win will take a lot of getting.
The floodlights provide a light show at half-time; the CACG feels like a gigantic disco. It's all great fun, except that when the players come out for the Kent innings, it is still going on...and on...and on! I am picturing Ben Warren at the control console frantically trying to get the wretched things to stop flashing, which, to a cheer of relief, they eventually do.
The Kent openers, Zak Crawley and Bell-Drummond, make a cautious start over the first couple of overs - Max Waller's opener yet again yielding only a handful - but then change gear with ominous ease. 50 is on the board in only the 6th over when Crawley mistimes an off-drive and is comfortably caught by Babar at cover. Groenewald and Craig Overton are both expensive, prompting Abell to give Tom Lammonby a try. Kuhn thumps him dismissively for six, but in trying to repeat the dose, gets only half a bat on it and is caught by Waller at long-off. That's 89/2 in the 10th over, with Billings walking out. Still anyone's game.
But how quickly these T20s can turn! For the 13th over, Abell brings back Craig Overton for his 4th and final over. Up in the box, I have my doubts about this. Pace-off seems to be the way to go. Overton might go the distance. How wrong I am! With his second ball, big Craig has Bell-Drummond brilliantly caught by Eddie Byrom, running in from deep cover and somehow getting his hands under the ball, his fifth has Billings top-edging to Abell and his final ball is nudged rather feebly round the corner by the dangerous Nabi, Jerome Taylor taking the simplest of catches. So that's three wickets for 1 run in six balls, the Kent innings in ruins at 101/5, the game as good as won.
Not that I'm making any such over-confident prognostications up in the box. Eleven defeats on the bounce have taught me to take nothing whatever for granted where Kent are concerned. But their lower order never look like threatening, Tom Lammonby's accuracy from the deep produces two run-outs and when Milne is taken by van der Merwe at short fine leg, it's all over. The hoodoo has been broken! Somerset are up to third, ahead of Middlesex on net run rate, which has had another welcome boost.
The hero of the hour, who was 12 when Somerset last beat Kent in a T20, is in demand for interviews afterwards. When I eventually get to speak to him, his answers are, as usual, matter of fact. Desperate for a killer quote I ask him how it felt to hit the six that brought up his 100. "It's the best feeling I've ever had, to be honest. I don't think anything will ever beat that." Cheers Tom. Just the ticket!
As I'm leaving the ground, one of Somerset's most devoted followers, Dave Downing, comes up to me with a suggestion for the title of this blog - "Kent is no longer a four-letter word", which is good but probably more suitable for the body of the text than the headline!
But it has been a very good few days for Somerset cricket, and particularly for their top order batting. Three important contributions from Captain Tom, a century for Babar on Friday and a century for Banton this evening. A couplet springs to mind:
"For opposition bowlers it's the bitterest pill:
If Babar doesn't get you, then Banton will!"
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