Tom Abell’s blistering 45-ball 78 not out guided Somerset to a seven-wicket win against Lancashire in the third quarter-final of the Vitality T20 Blast 2021, in Taunton. Abell and Tom Lammonby (47* in 28 balls) forged an unbroken 102-run fourth-wicket stand to help Somerset reach the target of 185 with 11 balls to spare.
Earlier, Josh Bohannon and Liam Livingstone got Lancashire off to a fast start after they were asked to bat. They added 44 in 21 balls before Roelof van der Merwe took a brilliant reflex catch off his own bowling to dismiss Livingstone (25 in 10). Three balls later, he pinned Alex Davies leg before to bring Somerset back to the contest.
Tom Banton stumped Bohannon (36 in 20) off van der Merwe (4-27) in the eighth over. Luke Wells (8) fell in a similar fashion, to the same combination. Dane Vilas (42 in 33) and Rob Jones (38* in 27) kept the scoreboard ticking, and helped Lancashire finish on 184/9.
Coming to the chase, Somerset copped an early setback after Banton (1) and James Hildreth (1) were cleaned up inside 2.1 overs. But Will Smeed (44 in 33) continued his form, showing no mercy to the Lancashire bowlers before Danny Lamb (2-24) ended his blitz. Somerset were 83/3 at this point.
Abell and Lammonby held the fort from there. Lammonby struggled to time the ball initially, but struck two fours and two sixes later on to finish with a strike rate over 165. However, Abell was the architect of the victory. He smashed seven fours and three sixes to take Somerset home in the penultimate over.
Brief Scores: Lancashire 184/9 in 20 overs (Vilas 42; Van der Merwe 4-27) lost to Somerset 185/3 in 18.1 overs (Abell 78*; Lamb 2-24) by 7 wickets with 11 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Tom Abell.