Hawks dealt defeat on road to T20 table-topping Somerset
LEWIS Gregory clubbed a brutal half century as Somerset defeated Hampshire Hawks by 17 runs at the Cooper Associates Ground to return to winning ways and move clear of Surrey at the top of the T20 Blast South Group table.
Will Smeed smashed 68 from 37 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes and dominated stands of 59 and 46 with Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Tom Abell for the second and third wickets respectively after Somerset had been put in beneath the Taunton floodlights.
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But the home side lost their way during the middle overs and were indebted to skipper Gregory, who clubbed a much-needed 55 from 27 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes and staged a record-breaking seventh-wicket partnership of 82 with Lewis Goldsworthy to propel the cider county to 209-6. Veteran all-rounder Benny Howell claimed 2-12 and Liam Dawson 1-29 as the Hawks struggled to contain the South Group leaders.
James Vince raised a 30-ball 54 and South African hired hand Dewald Brevis crashed 36 from 16 deliveries, but Ben Green took 3-40 as Somerset took wickets at key moments to restrict Hawks to 192-7 and secure a sixth victory in seven outings in the short format this season.
After the match, Hawks coach Adi Birrell said: "It's a disappointing outcome and I don't think we executed our skills very well. To allow Somerset to score 68 in the powerplay was too many. We followed with 57 when we batted, which was a big difference.
"Somerset then scored 67 in the last five overs, which helped get them over 200. That's a big total on any ground. We bowled really well in the middle overs and took some wickets, but then allowed Lewis Gregory to score too many.
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"He played well and we didn't bowl to our potential at the death. Somerset had a couple of big overs, with a 20 and a 25, whereas we had only one big over of 19. That keeps happening to us and it's something we're talking about.
"James Vince was awesome, but he went and we got a bit behind. Riley Meredith took a wicket and conceded just three runs in a brilliant over and that won them the game. We always had a chance while Dewald Brevis was there, but his dismissal spelled the end."
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