SET semi-final at Taunton Vale CC
Somerset 281 all out(50 overs) Durham 282-4.
Durham win by six wickets.
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Durham Seconds have reached the SET Cup final following a pulsating victory with just two balls to spare over Somerset at Taunton Vale CC.
Set a challenging 282 to win, Durham knocked off the runs with just a couple of balls left of their allotted 50 overs.
An unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 86 between Dylan Budge and Stuart Poynter was enough to see Durham through to the final, where they will face Derbyshire, with coach Alastair Maiden delighted by the victory.
Maiden told www.durhamccc.co.uk “It was a tremendous all round effort by the players and it is going to be a very long journey, but very happy coach on the way back. We started very well and had them about 40-2 after the first ten overs. That set the tone, but unfortunately our bowling and fielding got a bit ragged in the last ten overs and we should have restricted them a bit more. That is splitting hairs though because the bowlers did their level best.
“We batted so well. Phil Mustard and Keaton Jennings gave us a great grounding and after ten overs of our innings we looked in good shape. We then had a bit of a wobble and when Jennings got out for 87 it was a tough ask. Poynter and Budge did brilliantly. Both were very cool-headed in tense circumstances and they got us over the line with a couple of balls left.
“It is a massive win for us and we look forward to facing Derbyshire in the final.”
Somerset batted first and Irishman Barry McCarthy took a wicket with the fourth ball of the innings, dislodging opener Byrom for a duck with the score still on 0.
Hose and Rouse took the score to 40 before skipper Jennings caught the latter off Gurman Randhawa.
Wickets continued to fall with regularity as opener Hose was removed by Randhawa before George Harding got rid of Barrow, leaving the score 83-4.
Somerset got their innings back on track through Davey and Regan only for Charlie Stobo to strike, getting rid of Regan when the pair threatened to dominate.
Somerset’s tail hit some bludgeoning blows in the latter stages of their innings, but Randhawa and McCarthy both picked up three wickets, while Stobo and Harding managed two apiece.
In reply, Mustard and Jennings put on 122 for the first wicket before Mustard was given out LBW – exactly the sort of start the Durham side required.
Big-hitting Calum MacLeod was out for 17, then Jennings was next to go for 86. Poynter and Budge came together at 196 with the game very much in the balance but the pair took them over the finishing line with Poynter hitting the winning run in an outstanding innings of 48 not out.
Maiden said: “I’m really pleased for the lads as it was a very difficult total to get on away soil, but they stuck at it and the fifth wicket pair did a magnificent job.”