St George’s fast bowler Zeko Burgess credited the short ball for helping him to his best bowling figures on day one of Cup Match.

Burgess took five wickets for 60 runs with all his wickets coming after the lunch break. His effort played a huge role in bowling out Somerset for 291, with his victims including Dion Stovell, Somerset’s highest scorer with 65 runs.

“Short balls definitely worked for me today,” Burgess told The Royal Gazette.

“I just assessed how I bowled in the morning and wanted to hit a harder length. I tried to get the batsmen off the front foot and get them on the back foot.

“It ended up working and they ended up hooking the ball much more.”

On a track where 467 runs were scored on the opening day, the 30-year-old had Stovell, Dominic Sabir and Alex Dore caught, and was given lbw decisions against Dalin Richardson and Zeri Tomlinson, with both colts getting out facing their first ball in Cup Match.

“It’s definitely a batting track, you just have to hit the right line and length and let the batsmen decide for themselves,” Burgess said.

“But also as a bowler, you have to manufacture your own wickets on a flat track. I’m glad that I was able to do that today and get something out of the wicket.

“Unfortunately, it’s not the wicket we thought it was going to be, but we have to react to things and I’m happy that it worked out.

“We wanted to bat first but bowling is a part of the game and I’m happy we were able to execute our bowling plans.”

Stovell commended Burgess for spearheading the St George’s fightback with the ball.

“I thought Zeko [Burgess] came on a lot faster with the new ball than he did with the old ball,” the 40-year-old said.

“He bowled in the right areas and used the short ball more often, which I’m accustomed to. The length he bowled to get me out was really good and it was hard to put it away.

“Hats off to him and St George’s for putting up a good fight. I think the game is in the balance but we still have an upper hand on them. If we come up tomorrow morning and pick up some quick wickets, we should be on track.”

Burgess also shared his thoughts on where he thinks the match is headed, as the East Enders, who are seeking to wrestle the cup from the West Enders, head into the final day trailing by 115 runs with five first innings wickets remaining.

“Obviously with time being against us, I feel like we’re right on track,” the Bermuda player said.

“It will be harder to win the game from this point, but anything’s possible. We’re hoping to get a lead then knock them out for a low total for us to chase.”