Last-wicket heroics seal Somerset comeback

Somerset 102 (Batty 7-32) and 301 for 9 (Trescothick 56, Allenby 56, Meaker 4-79) beat Surrey 264 (Leach 4-34) and 138 (Leach 4-63, J Overton 4-18) by one wicketScorecard

Summers turn on days like this, when events unfold quickly and heroes emerge without much recent evidence they will. So it was for Somerset on a bewitching day in Taunton, as Nos. 10 and 11, Jack Leach and Tim Groenewald, eked out the 31 runs they required for an outright victory that felt close to impossible 24 hours ago.

Groenwald cover drove the winning runs after he and Leach had nervelessly played out 11 dot balls with just one required – the composure as memorable as the celebrations that followed the final stroke. A previously turgid season marked by six draws was momentarily forgotten, even if the team’s failings over the previous two days are some way from being remedied.

Nonetheless, the new captain Chris Rogers now has something to hang his hat on, just as the likes of Jamie Overton, Peter Trego, Jim Allenby and not least Leach and Groenewald can look ahead to the rest of the season with new-found confidence in their ability to find a way to win. Rogers had previously helped take Middlesex on a journey from mediocrity to confidence, and this result will help Somerset no end.

A hectic second day at Taunton had seen the hosts shot out for 102 by Gareth Batty, the beneficiary of a handful of …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com

Related Posts

• 
  Anderson becomes No. 1 Test bowler
• 
  Vice-captaincy will not affect my batting – Rahane
• 
  Shaminda Eranga reported for suspect action