Wellington Oval (final day of two): Somerset beat St George’s by eight wickets

Jekon Edness got his wish, a first Somerset victory at Wellington Oval in 34 years as he stepped down from the captaincy with a third victory in five years at the helm.

On the same ground that he started his reign with a two-wicket defeat in 2011, Edness and his team were back with a vengeance, pressing home their advantage after starting the second day with a 41-run first innings lead. It was fitting that Edness was at the crease when victory was achieved at 4.14pm, flicking a delivery from Onias Bascome down to square leg for the winning boundary as hundreds of fans stormed the field.

Afterwards Joe Bailey, the last Somerset winning captain in St George’s in 1981, was recognised during the cup presentation.

Terryn Fray, just as he was a year ago, was there to guide the team to a second straight eight-wicket victory, scoring 61 not out off 53 balls as he hit six fours and a six. Edness scored a run-a-ball 19 not out with four boundaries, the pair coming together at 49 for two after Tre Manders was caught behind off Stefan Kelly in his second over.

“I got a duck in the first innings, like I did last year, but no two days are ever the same, so I went out there today and tried to be as positive as I could,” Fray said.

“I just went out there and played my shots. I played some good shots and hit a six. I normally do not hit sixes, but that’s when I knew I was in the zone and playing within myself.”

Opener Chris Douglas was controversially caught at short leg by Macai Simmons from a bat-pad chance. Simmons threw down the stumps in one motion as he tried to run out Douglas, only for umpire Kent Gibbons to give the batsman out caught after St George’s initially appealed for a leg-before.

The two wickets were the only successes for St George’s as Somerset settled down and quickly polished off the runs in 16.2 overs.

It was anybody’s game when the day started, with St George’s hoping for a good start to erase the deficit inside the first hour and then build a decent lead. Neither happened, as Somerset were relentless after getting the breakthrough with the last ball of the first over of the day when Jason Anderson was caught at first slip by Janeiro Tucker, his 30th catch in Cup Match.

Treadwell Gibbons was trapped leg-before by Janeiro Tucker for the second time in the match after putting on 30 for the second wicket with Christian Burgess. Gibbons hit two sixes and a four in his knock of 20 from 24 balls.

The departure of both on 31 and 39 left the home team still in arrears and by the time St George’s erased the deficit they were already three wickets down. That soon became four and five as Derrick Brangman had a double-wicket maiden in his first over to break the back of the St George’s innings, leaving them 52 for six with Fiqre Crockwell failing again and Damali Bell lasting just three balls.

OJ Pitcher, the St George’s captain, was the last hope and he lasted 46 minutes for his thirteen before a flick off his pads led to his demise at 62 for six, when Derrick Brangman took a brilliant low catch at square leg.

Onias Bascome and Macai Simmons took on the responsibility with a patient stand of 38 before aggressive strokes led to their dismissals. That was also the case with George O’Brien as Simmons, the colt, went for a big drive against Jordan DeSilva and edged to Tucker.

O’Brien and Bascome departed after lofting straight drives to long-off. Simmons scored 30 from 36 balls with six fours to lead the batting, while Bascome scored 28 from 81 balls before he was ninth out.

Malachi Jones claimed three for 21, while Brangman, a strong candidate for man-of-the-match after a good all-round performance, took three for 26. He also held two catches in the second innings, with the low, diving effort off Burgess at mid-off putting him firmly in the frame for the Safe Hands Award.

It was Brangman’s batting on day one that gave Somerset the edge after the first innings as he shared in a last-wicket stand of 34 with Greg Maybury that proved crucial.

St George’s did well to battle back into the match after posting just 113 in 50.1 overs, but the match got away from them slightly at the end. After having Somerset 110 for eight, St George’s watched as the last pair frustrated them for the final half-hour of the day after coming together with Somerset leading by just seven runs.

Neither looked a slouch with the bat either, as Brangman smashed 35 not out off 27 balls with four fours and two sixes.

Earlier Tre Manders scored 39 from 72 balls with five boundaries, while Stephen Outerbridge added 23 at No 4 as the pair put on 41 for the third wicket after Kyle Hodsoll bowled openers Douglas and Fray to reduce them to 15 for two.

Hodsoll led the St George’s bowling with four for 20, later bowling Edness before reserve Nzari Paynter — president Neil Paynter’s 15-year-old son — took a smart catch at extra cover to dismiss Jones.

O’Brien supported with two for 58 and Stefan Kelly two for 54. Damali Bell picked up his lone wicket when he bowled Maybury to end the innings just before the scheduled close of play.

St George’s were also in early trouble in their innings, with Fiqre Crockwell dismissed from the first ball he faced on the last delivery of the opening over from Jones. Burgess departed nine runs later to first-change Jordan DeSilva.

Things picked up after that with opener Gibbons starting to score more freely on his way to 32 before he was fourth out on 65.

He hit four fours and a six before being trapped leg-before by Tucker. Gibbons did not approve of the decision but put the bat on his shoulder and walked back to the pavilion.

Pitcher scored 20 in the middle order and Simmons 16 to help St George’s reach the 100 mark as four Somerset bowlers — Tucker, DeSilva, Jones and Brangman — all took two wickets as St George’s struggled to build partnerships.