After two exciting quarter finals we are now down to the last four in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, with a first versus second division clash in each semi final. After the mad dash to complete these two rounds, there will be a month long wait until the final, which takes place on Sunday, 22nd September at Trent Bridge.
Somerset are up against last year’s winners, Leicestershire at Taunton. Winning their group has been a huge turnaround for Somerset in this competition since the start of the Hundred, having previously struggled due to the loss of a significant number of players each year. They have still been deprived of 10 of the squad, but their lesser known players have put in some big performances. One of those is Andrew Umeed, who came to prominence in this competition last summer, scoring 613 runs at 87.57. As a result he has become a Championship regular and he has been prolific in this year’s rendition with 390 runs at 55.71. Just behind him is 20-year-old James Rew with 374 runs at 74.80. Rew has been involved in the England Lions game against Sri Lanka, but he could still be available with that game finishing on Saturday, the Lions needing just 75 runs to win. Lewis Goldsworthy has also had a solid campaign with 301 runs at 43.00.
Despite the loss of a number of bowlers to the Hundred, Somerset have still been able to field a pace attack which includes Riley Meredith, Josh Davey and Kasey Aldridge alongside the left arm spin of Jack Leach. Leach leads their wicket taking with 14 at 21.28 and an economy of just 3.94 runs per over. He is followed by fellow slow left armer Goldsworthy, with 11 wickets at 17.18, conceding 4.90 runs per over. The leading seamer is Aldridge with 10 wickets at 25.00, although he has been rather expensive at 6.22 runs per over. Ben Green has played the last two matches, having not featured in any matches for the Welsh Fire. A number of other Somerset players were part of the Welsh Fire squad and are now available.
Leicestershire have enjoyed this competition over the last two years and have a particularly strong batting line up with the experienced international pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Peter Handscomb coming in at four and five. They have played vital innings in the last two must-win games and their battle with Leach could be a key one. Handscomb has moved just ahead of Sol Budinger in the run scoring rankings for this competition, with 428 runs at 61.14, Budinger making 425 runs at 47.22 and Rahane 375 at 46.87. Budinger has been getting the Foxes’ innings off to a fast start at the top of the order and currently has a strike rate of 99.06.
Leicestershire’s bowling is less impressive and their talisman Chris Wright has struggled to take wickets, although he looked more like his normal self in the quarter final against Hampshire, taking two for 49. Tom Scriven has been their most effective bowler and is currently equal top of the competition’s wicket taking standings with 17 at 23.52. Next is Liam Trevaskis who has taken 10 wickets at 29.00 with his left arm spin. Ian Holland has taken eight wickets at 25.62 and will return for this game having had to sit out the match against his main employer, Hampshire. Josh Hull has been playing in the Lions game, while Scott Currie’s Manchester Originals are no longer involved in the Hundred and he may return, as could Reham Ahmed, who has not played in the Southern Brave’s last five games.
Glamorgan host Warwickshire in Cardiff and while they both qualified from Group B, their contest was abandoned, Glamorgan having posted 143/5 from 18 overs. The Bears had cruised through the opening rounds before suffering defeats in their last two group matches. They looked to be heading towards defeat again against Worcestershire in the quarter final before a remarkable innings of 130 from 104 balls by 19-year-old Kai Smith, coming in at seven. Their batting has been rather fragile with a heavy reliance on skipper Ed Barnard, who has been coming in at the top of the order. He has scored 419 runs at 69.83, but 325 of those runs have come in two innings. They lost Rob Yates and Hamza Shaikh to the Lions for the last game and they should be back. Will Rhodes has put in some steady performances in the middle order and is the second highest run scorer with 305 at 43.57.
Warwickshire have lost nine players to the Hundred, but can still field some quality bowlers in Oliver Hannon-Dalby, Barnard and Craig Miles. They have also recruited Kiwi seamer Michael Rae as cover for the injuries to Chris Rushworth and Liam Norwell. Michael Booth is their second highest wicket taker behind Barnard, with 12 at 25.83, while they also have the wrist spin of Jake Lintott and 18-year-old Tazeem Chaudry.
Glamorgan won this competition in 2021 and have only lost one game so far in this campaign. They have the experienced pair of Colin Ingram and Sam Northeast in the middle order and Ingram has looked in particularly good form. Both have missed group games but are averaging 79.66 and 65.00 respectively. Captain Kiran Carlson has had a disappointing competition having been successful in both the Championship and Blast this season. With the loss of opener Eddie Byrom to injury, Glamorgan have the inexperienced Will Smale and Asa Tribe at the top of the order and they are reliant on runs lower down the order.
Timm van der Gugten has been excellent with the new ball having taken 12 wickets at 16.00, but it is his economy rate of just 3.36 runs per over that has put the pressure on opposition batters which in turn has produced wickets for the other bowlers. He has been well supported by Jamie McIlroy with 11 wickets at 20.6 and he has been almost as miserly with an economy of 3.97. The bowlers taking advantage are Andy Gorvin and Dan Douthwaite with 16 wickets each.
There has been no frontline spinner available for Glamorgan, with Mason Crane the one member of their squad to play in the Hundred. Off spinning all-rounder Ben Kellaway was their leading wicket taker in last year’s competition and has taken seven wickets at 24.57 this year. He has the ability to also bowl with his left arm and has taken wickets with both actions, taking advantage of being able to spin the ball away from both right and left handed batters. However, Crane is now available and there will be a temptation to bring him in given the lack of other spin options.
While Somerset and Glamorgan will start favourites after their dominant performances in the Group stages, Leicestershire and Warwickshire will be battle-hardened after their quarter final wins. The weather looks set fair and we can expect two great scraps.
