Somerset Cricket Club (Somerset won toss): Somerset beat Warwick by 37 runs

Young Somerset duo Dominic Sabir and Riley Martin played pivotal roles to help their side to victory over Warwick in the Athene T20 Premier Division on Sunday.

Sabir provided the perfect blend of power and panache through a solid 69 with the bat, while Martin took two wickets in his first taste of competitive senior cricket at the tender age of 12.

Somerset coach Jeff Richardson was very proud of young Martin’s exploits.

“Riley has a very bright future,” Richardson said.

“He attends every training session and he is one of our fill-in [reserve] players.”

Somerset won the toss and elected to bat first, with openers Kamau Leverock and Dominic Sabir making a composed start to the innings, although Leverock was lucky to escape the clutches of Shonari Boyles-Simons with an early drive to mid-on.

Thereafter, the pair found their power game and quickly applied pressure to Warwick’s opening bowling tandem of Malachi Jones and young Callum MacFarlane.

Just as they were getting into a groove, Warwick captain Cory Burgess brought himself into the bowling attack and took the prized wicket of Leverock, with a slower ball taking the bails between middle and leg stumps.

Warwick slowed Somerset's momentum in the middle overs, with good fielding stopping at least four boundary opportunities, but Sabir and new batsman Jermal Proctor were still able to keep the score ticking.

However, a 95-run partnership for the second wicket was finally broken when Proctor picked out Boyles-Simons at short mid-on off the bowling of Malachi Jones. In the same over, Somerset skipper Alje Richardson stepped into the crease with authority and cracked three straight sixes over the long-off boundary to take Somerset’s dominance to another level and punishing the lack of consistency in Warwick’s bowling approach.

Even though Sabir was finally caught by Jahcobi Butterfield at first slip off the bowling of Jones, Somerset still posted an impressive total of 178 for three from their allotted overs.

Head coach Jeff Richardson praised Sabir’s knock.

“This was a typical innings for Dominic,” he said. “It’s good to see him stay calm.”

Warwick knew they faced an uphill task, entrusting Malachi Jones and Omari Deshields to begin their mammoth chase, and they made a reasonable start with their approach to the required rate, which began at just under nine runs per over.

The opening pair made a solid start through the power play, making 48 runs before Jones picked out Azar Morrissey on the long-leg boundary as Nyrobi Smith-Mills took his lone wicket.

Deshields, former Paget football goalkeeper, quickly followed Jones back to the pavilion when he attempted a straight drive towards the northern boundary off Sabir, only for Proctor to amble over from long leg to make a straightforward catch.

When Marcus Johnson was bowled by a slower Proctor delivery in the tenth over, hopes of a Warwick win were dissipating. Shonari Boyles-Simons was sent in with Cory Burgess in the belief that this partnership would become a catalyst for a comeback.

However, sespite a decent effort, he was ultimately caught by Reid Jones before getting set into his innings. Jade Darrell, who was stumped by wicketkeeper Jerez Eve, added just six runs to the total, before Martin made his impact.

Akeem Ible was bowled by the youngster for just five in his first over before Jahcobi Butterfield smashed a monstrous six towards the western bleachers a few balls later. In his second over, Martin bounced back to bowl Butterfield on leg stump to wrap up a solid Somerset victory.

Richardson was pleased with the effort despite the changes to his team.

“We missed Isaiah Richardson, Jade Morrissey, Cofield Robinson, Greg Maybury and a few others,” he said.

“The fact that we won the toss and batted first, helped. It’s good to get the job done with an altered team.”