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

St George’s continued their march towards the Premier Division 50 overs title with a four-wicket victory over arch-rivals Somerset in the west end on Sunday.

However, the win was not without difficulty as St George’s made a hash of what should have been a straightforward chase on a wicket geared for batting.

Set a target of 166, St George’s lost wickets with startling regularity from the outset, with only Oronde Bascome demonstrating the required application and saving his side’s blushes.

“You can’t be at your best all of the time and sometimes you have to win ugly,” St George’s coach Clay Smith said of his team’s showing.

“But I can’t even say that this was a truly ugly win, because looking at the first half, if you had told me that we were going to bowl Somerset out for 160 I would have taken that any day of the week.

“Lately we have been making hard work of chasing and on a wicket like this we should not have lost more than four wickets, so I’m very disappointed with that aspect but at the end of the day we have two games to go and it’s all in our hands.”

While comrades tossed away opportunities, Bascome treasured his time at the wicket, producing a chanceless 85 not out while batting throughout the innings.

St George’s were rocked early when Kamau Leverock, back with Somerset after a loan period at Western Stars, trapped Nzari Paynter (zero) lbw with the first ball of the away side’s innings.

Jonté Smith (one) soon followed, his attempt at turning a full-length Dominic Sabir delivery around leg resulting in a leading edge that offered a return catch, making the score 15 for two.

With a partnership required, captain Onias Bascome (28) arrived to consolidate matters with he and his brother putting on 59 runs for the third wicket.

Dropped on just three by Isaiah Richardson at deep forward square leg while attempting to pull Sabir, Bascome was not so fortunate the second time he attempted the shot off Jermal Proctor, as Sabir collected the mistimed offering.

Of the remaining batters, Macai Simmons (nine) and Sinclair Smith (four) went cheaply while Abdul Salam (24) gave a solid contribution before falling similarly to his captain.

New recruit Kevon Fubler (three not out) was left to accompany Bascome past the required amount.

“I tell my players that when they are in they are expected to go big, and today it was Oronde’s day,” said Smith of his opener’s match-winning performance.

“He was the one who had to stay there and he did so. It was a superb performance by Oronde and we had Onias and Abdul who batted around him and helped us get the job done.”

Earlier the home team’s efforts at posting a more challenging total were undone by a middle-order collapse that wasted the groundwork laid via a 71-run second-wicket partnership between Proctor (39) and captain Alje Richardson (46).

From 88 for two Somerset fell to 165 all out, with only Leverock (27) making a contribution of note.

Wickets were shared among St George’s bowlers with Zeko Burgess, Simmons and Salam bagging two each while Fubler and Shakai Darrell grabbed one apiece.

“I think we were at least 100 runs short of what we should have been able to make, considering our start,” said Somerset coach Jeff Richardson.

Jermal and Alje had us going quite nicely after we lost Jade Morrissey early, but then we had an unnecessary run-out and as happens you lose wickets.

“You lose one wicket, then another and another and the issue is that we can’t afford to lose wickets in bunches like we did.”

The loss kept Somerset in sixth place among the seven-team league, with the bottom two clubs scheduled to be relegated.

Despite the precarious position, Richardson was optimistic his side can survive the drop, as they have played two games less than fifth-placed Western Stars, who are just 10 points ahead of Somerset, who have Stars and bottom club Willow Cuts remaining on their schedule.

“To be fair you’re looking at Western Stars, Willow Cuts and ourselves as the teams that are lingering around the lower part of the division and if we beat the teams that are lower than or closest to us we’ll be fine,” said Richardson.

“Most of our remaining games are at home and hopefully the guys will learn from today. We do best when we bat from the front. We didn’t do it today, however we’re hopeful of the best going forward.”