Head to Head Preview - Gloucestershire v Somerset
25 April 2019
Gloucestershire will be hoping to continue their winning ways at The Bristol County Ground when local rivals Somerset come to town on Sunday April 28th.
Gloucestershire have looked dominant at home in the Royal London One-Day Cup, beating Surrey by 147 runs and Kent by 6 wickets, while Somerset have jumped out of the blocks to begin their journey to Lord’s with three wins from three.
A look at the team
Batting at number three, Gareth Roderick has enjoyed plenty of success this season in the competition boasting a strike rate of 105.47 through the first three games. His standout performance coming against Kent in which he notched Gloucestershire’s first century of the 2019 campaign.
James Bracey has turned a few heads at Gloucestershire with his batting performances, stepping into the one-day cup squad to replace the injured Ian Cockbain. Known as a defensive batter more suited to longer formats, Bracey has staked his claim to feature more prominently in the Royal London One-Day Cup. He posted an impressive 83 from 61 at Lord’s against Middlesex and followed that up against Kent with a solid 67 off 59 balls.
On the bowling side of things, the Gloucestershire boys have had a smashing start to the one-day season. Tom Smith leads the way in terms of wickets with five, but Chris Liddle and Dan Worrall are just one behind. David Payne picked up two wickets on his return to the lineup against Kent after suffering from a bruised heel in preseason.
Ryan Higgins and Benny Howell have been economically sound in Bristol. Higgins has only allowed three runs per over through 12 overs and Howell only 3.46 through 13.
Royal London One-Day Cup History
In the short history of the Royal London One-Day Cup, the two sides have met four times, Gloucestershire winning once, Somerset winning twice with one no result.
The outcome of the Cider Derby has in some ways decided the tournament fate of each club. Gloucestershire won the first match-up between the two in 2015 and went on to win the second edition of the competition while Somerset failed to make it past the group stage.
Somerset came out on top in 2016 and 2017 and in both seasons progressed to the knockout stage leaving Gloucestershire languishing in the bottom half of the group table. Last year, Gloucestershire could only bat six overs and the match ended with a no result. Neither team progressed that year.
A great start to the campaign has also been crucial for Gloucestershire when they have been successful. After three games, Gloucestershire are currently sitting third in the South Group with two wins. When they have started in the same fashion previously, they have reached the quarter-final, won the tournament and failed to reach the knockout stages following three no results.
Our Opponents
Somerset have undoubtedly been on fine form this season winning every game so far in all competitions. They’ve defeated Kent and Nottinghamshire in the Specsavers County Championship and in the Royal London One-Day Cup they have been victorious against Kent, Glamorgan and Sussex.
Craig Overton has been their main man in the tournament up to this point having taken five wickets against Kent and three wickets against Glamorgan along with batting scores of 66 not out and 41 not out in the same fixtures. Josh Davey has seen success bowling, grabbing six wickets in three games. Gloucestershire will also have to be wary of the batting duo of Tom Banton and Azhar Ali who have batted well to begin the season.
Despite their talent, Somerset haven’t won anything since 2005 and have failed to reach a One-Day Cup final since 2011 and the last day they had One-Day Cup success was 2001.
Tickets
Tickets are on sale now and can be bought in advance or on the day. GET TICKETS HERE
Prices in advance: Adult £15 - Child £3 - Concession £10
Prices on the day: Adult £20 - Child £5 - Concession £15
Avoid disappointment and get your tickets early for one of our biggest games of the season!
