Andrew Umeed’s Unbeaten 114* Leads Somerset to Thrilling Victory Over Kent
Andrew Umeed’s impressive 114* propelled Somerset to a thrilling three-wicket victory over Kent in their Metro Bank One-Day Cup Group A opener at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.
With 3.3 overs remaining, the opener, who averaged 87.57 in the previous season’s championship, helped his side reach a target of 268 with an unbeaten 114 off 121 balls. James Rew made 71 runs in 69 balls.
Kent 267 (Evison 55, Stewart 51, Goldsworthy 4-44) lost to Somerset 270 for 7 (Umeed 114*, Rew 71) by three wickets.
After winning the toss, the Spitfires amassed 267 all out off 49 overs, with Hamidullah Qadri scoring a quick 43 and Joey Evison and Grant Stewart scoring half-centuries. After returning from a loan stint with Leicestershire, left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy posted career-best List A figures of 4 for 44, while seamer Alfie Ogborne finished with 3 for 58.
Evison and Beyers Swanepoel gave Kent a good start when, in the eighth over, they skied a return catch to Ogborne off a leading edge with the total on 31.
Ekansh Singh, who is eighteen, made his debut by hitting a six over midwicket off Kasey Aldridge. He was bowled with the intention of hitting another maximum against Jack Leach, but he was dismissed for sixteen. Then, captain Jack Leaning assisted Evison in adding 37 runs, but he was undone when Goldsworthy’s ball was bottom-edged onto his stumps in a reverse sweep.
As Kent was overwhelmed by a spin attack that also included Leach, Josh Thomas, and another 18-year-old debutant in Archie Vaughan, son of former England captain Michael Vaughan, who bowled six clean overs of offspin for just 16 runs, Goldsworthy followed up with the wickets of Evison, whose 55 came off 69 balls, Harry Finch, and Jaydn Denly.
The Spitfires were averaging 177 for 6 with 10 overs left in their innings. However, Stewart and Qadri provided some much-needed momentum when Charlie Stobo was dismissed by Ogborne. Stewart reached fifty off 32 deliveries while the pair shared five sixes and seven fours in a stand of 58 off 5.1 overs.
In the fifth over, George Thomas misplayed a pull shot from Swanepoel and was caught at midwicket, bringing Somerset’s reply down to 32. After making just seven, Goldsworthy managed to get a catch behind Stobo. But then Umeed and Rew took over, batting with ever-greater assurance.
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Rew reached his half-century first, hitting seven fours and a massive six off legspinner Matt Parkinson, which he hammered over long off, in just 47 balls. Soon after, Umeed scored three boundaries off of 62 deliveries.
Leaning had come onto the scene, and Rew had welcomed him with a six over midwicket. The partnership passed Somerset’s List when the teenage wicketkeeper for Somerset placed a short ball from Evison past mid-on for four. a record of 108 held by Peter Trego and Dean Elgar at Taunton in 2017 for the third wicket against Kent.
Nathan Gilchrist bowled Rew soon after, swinging to leg. Suddenly, Somerset were 165 for four as Stobo fingertipped a drive by Umeed against the stumps, running Vaughan out backing up without facing a ball.
Following a straight six from Umeed from Stobo, captain Sean Dickson joined him. Together, they accumulated forty runs before Stewart was caught inadvertently at midwicket by Dickson, who fell for 23.
Parkinson bowled Josh Thomas off an inside edge, and Aldridge went easily as well. However, Somerset closed with a flourish on 270 for 7, as Leach hammered a six off Parkinson and Umeed repeated the dosage before reaching a 119-ball hundred with another maximum off Stobo.
