Warwickshire made a valiant effort to score the 267 they needed to beat Somerset and qualify for the knockout stages of the Royal London One Day Cup but were bowled out for 252, giving the visitors their only win of the competition.
Somerset owed their victory to an excellent stand of 198 between Lewis Goldsworthy and James Rew plus some steady bowling and excellent fielding.
It was a tense day for Warwickshire supporters. As fortunes fluctuated throughout the day the Bears fans may well have empathised with the words of John Cleese in the film Clockwise: “I can take the despair, it’s the hope I can’t stand.”
Both counties were severely depleted by injuries and the call of the Hundred. At a quick count, there were 15 Bears players unavailable and Somerset were missing not far short of that number. Warwickshire had two 16 year olds, Kai Smith and Hamza Shaikh, and a 17 year old, George Maddy in their side. Hence the rumour that the Club had asked the ECB if the start of the match could be brought forward so that the young lads could be home by bedtime.
Having won the toss and decided to bat first, Somerset lost ex-Bear Andrew Umeed early on, playing on to Liam Norwell who bowled a demanding opening spell. Norwell also claimed Steven Davies who made his first class debut before a couple of the Warwickshire players were born. Davies was well caught at slip by Rob Yates.
James Rew and Lewis Goldsworthy applied themselves to the task of restoring the innings. In the absence of the injured Krunal Pandya, Rob Yates had the task of impersonating a front-line bowler with his gentle off spin. Though he did his best, Rew hit him for a six over wide long on followed by a four in the same direction as the stand passed 100. Both batsmen displayed sound shot selection and their progress became increasingly trouble-free.
Goldsworthy reached his maiden list A hundred before swinging across the line to be lbw to the persevering Yates for 111. He batted for 116 balls and hit 12 fours. He and Rew had added 198 for the third wicket. Rew soon followed Goldsworthy to the pavilion, missing out on a hundred by just four runs. He hit ten fours and a six before he drove hard at a widish ball from Oliver Hannon-Dalby and sliced a catch to George Garrett at third man.
Garrett, whose fast-medium bowling seems to have improved as the tournament has progressed, bowled his ten overs for just 37 runs.
Warwickshire’s fielding was patchy, not terrible but worse than might have been expected of a young side. A couple of difficult chances went down and there were boundary mis-fields that conceded valuable runs.
A useful stand between George Bartlett and Joshua Thomas took Somerset to 266-5, Thomas falling to Hannon-Dalby off the last ball of the innings.
Beginning their chase, Warwickshire made a steady start before Yates was brilliantly caught one-handed above his head by George Bartlett at short extra cover. Dom Sibley never quite got going and was also caught by Bartlett at extra cover. Young Hamza Shaikh showed promise but perhaps lacked the power of stroke needed and swept a catch off Goldsworthy. When Matt Lamb square cut the same bowler to George Scott at backward point, the Bears were 95-4 in the 23rd over and wobbling.
Captain Will Rhodes and Ethan Brookes took their time but gradually got on top of the bowling, though the Somerset fielding was notably the sharper of the two teams. Both batsmen reached fifties and the pair had added 104 before Brookes edged behind off his near namesake Jack Brooks. His 51 off 56 balls was just what the Bears needed.
Now, a lot of responsibility rested on Rhodes. Kai Smith briefly gave him support before Brooks pinned him in front with a yorker.
Ex-Bear Darren Maddy would have relished this situation but it was perhaps too much to expect his 17 year old son George to be able to score at the required rate. 26 were needed off two overs. When Rhodes turned for a second run, desperate to keep the strike, Maddy quite rightly sent him back and the captain’s gallant effort came to an end after 92 runs from 103 balls.
Maddy was lbw to Davey and an unlikely 21 were needed off the last over . In fact, five balls were enough for Somerset to finish the innings with the Bears still 14 short.
Somerset will be pleased that they broke their duck and Warwickshire can maybe take some comfort in the valuable experience that they have been able to give to their young players.
