North Field (Somerset won toss): Somerset beat St George’s by 12 runs

A half-century by opening batsman Dominic Sabir and four wickets from pace bowler Nirobi Smith-Mills helped Somerset inflict the first defeat on defending champions St George’s in the Athene T20 Premier Division yesterday.

Sabir followed up his 40 against St David’s last week with 80, his best score of the season, and struck seven fours and two sixes before he departed in the last over. His effort helped Somerset, who won the toss and opted to bat first, to 142 for six.

Smith-Mills then took 4/20 in four overs, St George’s could muster only 130 for nine in response, with Smith-Mills taking four for 20 in his four overs.

There were mixed emotions for the Sabir, 80, who while delighted to record his first 50 of the season, was disappointed not to reach his century.

“It was a good day and a little bit tough to bat on that wicket as it wasn't consistent with the bounce,’’ Sabir said.

“We had to dig deep today, Bongy [Kamau Leverock] got some runs and Alje [Richardson] got a couple and then he got out, so my goal was just to sit and bat the 20 overs.

“I fell short by four balls and also fell short of my ton but it is what it is. We move on from today and it’s good to beat the undefeated team.

“I know we’re not contending for the top, but we just want to win as many games as possible, maintain our spot in the Premier Division for next year, and build on it.

“With St George’s and Bailey’s Bay winning every game, they’ve only lost one each, to bring the league back every other team has to beat them. My personal focus is to score as many runs as possible and finish off the T20 with the most runs.”

Smith-Mills, 20, made sure that the defending champions did not settle at the crease when he bowled Oronde Bascome with third ball of the St George’s innings. Zeko Burgess tried to add some firepower to the innings with 41, off 35 deliveries, but it proved to be a disappointing display by Clay Smith’s side.

Smith-Mills, who was tasked with bowling the last over when St George’s required 15 runs to win was delighted to finally get it right after struggling since his return from England last month.

“Today it’s been pretty good, but it’s been a bit of a lacklustre season,’’ Smith-Mills said.

“I had a short start to my season and I was in the UK running, but I came back in July. It’s good to finally pick up the winning momentum. Today the ball was coming out good and I think that once I started to go into the first few overs everything clicked and went pretty well.

“Once I got Oronde out, everything started to keep going and I started to get more rhythm in the second over. In that last over, once that first ball came out, I knew that I was on the mark.

“This is definitely a good win. St George’s is one of the better sides in the league, so to get this win is good for us.”

Smith blamed his team’s defeat on missed chances when fielding.

“Today was about small details and we dropped one or two catches in critical situations,’’ Smith said.

“On top of that, the young boy Dominic Sabir batted superbly today and pretty much won them the game. His innings was first-class and we have to give credit where it’s due.

“The defeat doesn't do anything to our title aspirations. It means we have to move on from this, come back next week and show some character. It’s about one game at a time. We have to win the next match and just go from there.”