Somerset Cricket Club (Somerset won toss): Somerset beat St George’s by six wickets

Somerset tightened their grip on the Colts Cup Match trophy after handing rivals St George’s a six-wicket defeat in a rain-hit contest at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday.

After the start of proceedings had been delayed for several hours because of the wet conditions, Somerset restricted the challengers to a paltry 85 for seven, and then powered their way to victory in less than 20 overs.

Sheldon Ceasar, the seam bowler, laid a solid foundation for Somerset’s win after taking four wickets, before Kwasi James and Isaiah Richardson took their side home with an unbroken 37-run fifth-wicket stand.

Richardson served the last rites with a massive six down the ground off Jordan Smith, the St George’s off spinner.

After receiving the trophy Justin Corday, the Somerset captain, hailed his team-mates for executing the game plan.

“We had a game plan from the beginning if it rained to send them in and bowl them out cheap, chase it down and it all worked out according to plan,” Corday said.

“The guys are very passionate about this game. This is pretty much Cup Match for guys who haven’t made it yet so it means a whole lot to them.”

Although they came up short, St George’s made a fist of it, dismissing nearly half of Somerset’s team before they ran into a brick wall in James and Richardson.

The champions found themselves in a spot of bother at 49 for four and caught a break when James was dropped in the deep off the bowling of Nzari Paynter, the St George’s captain, early in his innings with the game hanging in the balance.

“We started off quite well but obviously that dropped catch was very crucial,” Paynter said.

“I thought about 150 plus runs would have been a good score to defend. I think we fought very hard and it was unfortunate that we came out on the losing side.”

As a result of the delayed start, both teams agreed to bat for a two-hour period with Somerset sending St George’s in after winning the toss at 3.21pm.

Leading from the front, Paynter got the challengers off to a flying start. The St George’s captain went for the big shots early, blasting Somerset’s new-ball pair Justin Donawa and Micah Simons out of the attack with some aggressive stroke play on either side of the stumps.

Paynter and opening partner Isaiah Greaves carried the score to 32 without loss before first change Ceasar made the breakthrough in the tenth over to change the entire complexion of the innings.

Ceaser bowled Paynter, who struck a quick-fire 22, with a fuller delivery to trigger a slide that St George’s never really recovered from.

From 32 for one, St George’s plunged to 57 for six inside of seven overs as Ceasar and fellow seamer Richardson tightened the screws.

Amari Ebbin, the wicketkeeper, and Dean Simons, who was struck twice in the upper body by short-pitched deliveries from Ceasar and Donawa, and Greaves were the only other St George’s batsman in double figures.

Ceasar led the Somerset attack with four for 16, while Richardson claimed two for 11.

Somerset made a rocky start to their reply, losing opener Soloman Burrows in the fourth over without any runs on the board.

Fellow opener Jade Morrissey and Joseph Basden steadied the ship, adding 24 for the second wicket before Morrissey feathered a catch behind to wicketkeeper Ebbin to ignite a mini slide that saw Somerset lose three wickets in the space of seven overs and 25 runs.

With the game evenly poised, Somerset dodged a bullet when Cameron Jeffers dropped James at short long off.

It was a missed opportunity that proved costly as James and Richardson finished the game off in a hurry.

Basden topped the Somerset batting with 27, while James hit an unbeaten 24.