Glos snatch thrilling win over Somerset with one ball to spare
17 June 2016
Gloucestershire snatched a thrilling four wicket victory with one ball to spare against local rivals Somerset at Bristol.
A four through mid-wicket from Gareth Roderick sealed the win and sparked wild celebrations from the club record 11, 000 fans who had packed into the Brightside Ground for the first “Cider Derby” under floodlights.
Going into the final over the home side had needed 14 to overhaul Somerset’s total of 158-5.
A huge six over long off by Andrew Tye off Yasir Arafat’s first ball helped steady the nerves.
A couple of singles put the Australian fast bowler back on strike with six needed off three balls.
He sent a cover drive searing towards the cover boundary but great work by Jamie Overton restricted Gloucestershire to three.
With three needed from two balls, Somerset brought the field in, leaving Roderick (22 not out) to flick the ball through the vacant mid-wicket area and seal the win.
For much of the game Glos had looked clear favourites but in the end they were indebted to the steely-nerved partnership of 31 in 3.2 overs from Roderick (22 not out ) and Tye (18 not out).
To watch a video interview with Gareth Roderick click below:
Earlier Gloucestershire had won the toss and put Somerset into bat.
With a full house expecting fireworks the game got off to a muted start with Somerset’s record-breaking six-hitter Chris Gayle playing back a maiden off Matt Taylor.
In fact it took the self-styled Universe Boss until his ninth ball to get off the mark with a powerful pull off Liam Norwell.
This proved the spark that ignited the West Indian’s innings.
In the third over he stuck Taylor for consecutive fours, the second a sweet strike down the ground.
He followed this up with pull for six and another four down the ground from Andrew Tye to take Somerset to 48-1 after five overs.
Michael Klinger turned to Kieran Noema-Barnett for the first over after the power play and the medium pacer made the breakthrough, removing Gayle for 40 (26 balls).
Deceived by a slower ball the tall left hander heaved high into the air and was brilliantly caught by Klinger who turned, ran 20 yards from short cover and dived to take the catch.
The skipper’s catch was good but Tom Smith’s effort to dismiss Pete Trego (15) off his own bowling was even better.
The Somerset man might have expected his flat batted bludgeon from a Smith full toss to fly for four but the bowler leapt and took a stunning two-handed catch above his head.
Jim Allenby had patiently progressed to 27 but having worked hard for his start, he gave it away in the 12th over pulling straight to Taylor at short fine leg off Tye.
Mahela Jayawardene struck a crisp sweep off Smith for his boundary in the 11th over. But it was 22 balls until his and Somerset’s next one, from the same bowler.
In between he was dropped by Norwell off Noema-Barnett on 13– a simple chance he would have wanted to forget quickly.
Thankfully he could do just that as Benny Howell dismissed him for 24 (21 balls) with a brilliant caught and bowled – sprinting 30 yards to mid-wicket to take a diving catch with the ball inches from the ground.
That made it 117-4 and it became 117-5 two balls later as Johan Myburgh – who had scratched around for 8 (11 balls) – was caught by Ian Cockbain on the long on boundary.
A late flurry of boundaries from Lewis Gregory (23 off 14) and Roelof van der Merwe (18 off 13) ensured the visitors reached 158-5 at the end of their 20 overs.
Needing 159 for victory and Westcountry bragging rights Glos got off to the worst possible start when Hamish Marshall was cleaned up by Yasir Arafat on the first ball of the innings.
A hat-trick of wides followed later that over to get the home side up and running.
It took until the 20th ball of the innings for the first boundary, Ian Cockbain hitting Gregory over cover. And it was followed by the second four, two balls later – an upper cut through third man from the same batsman.
Three more boundaries came in the fourth over as the home side accelerated on to 32-1.
But just as Glos looked to be on top at 40-1 but they gifted their local rivals a lifeline as Cockbain pulled Overton into the hands of Gregory for 23 (off 21).
Klinger and Chris Dent rebuilt, running with urgency and putting the bad ball away. Klinger struck a six down the ground as they took 13 off the Arafat in the 9th over. The 11th over from Overton brought 15 as a beamer went for four and Klinger dispatched the free hit for another boundary.
Together they added 63 before Dent was bowled by van der Merwe for 22 in the 13th over.
In his next over – the 15th – the South African-born spinner bowled Howell for 1 and had Noema-Barnett caught at long off for 0 to put Glos on the ropes at 111-5.
At the other end Klinger had gone to his 50 from 36 balls but was running out of partners.
After 16 overs Glos needed 47 runs but with Klinger at the crease they looked favourites.
He underlined this with a pull for four off Gregory. But then - following a break for a drink and a ball change - he was bowled for 60 (43 balls), leaving Glos needing 31 from 20 balls.
This brought Tye in to join Roderick and the pair held their nerve to see Gloucestershire to a famous victory off the penultimate ball.
Click down below to watch the highlights from our thrilling encounter against Somerset:
