Warwickshire’s old internationals dictated the course of an absorbing semi-final won by the home side by eight runs. Ian Bell hit an unbeaten 94 that was measured until the final over of Roelof van der Merwe’s spell when he took 16 from three balls.
Jeetan Patel, the Kiwi off-spinner but now a much-loved adopted son of Brum, then picked up five wickets, all of them lbw, to derail Somerset’s run chase. So Warwickshire meet Surrey in the final at Lord’s on 17 September.
Bell won a good toss for the sun was out, the pitch was dry and runs in the bank have a special currency in a taut semi‑final. Warwickshire progressed serenely via Jonathan Trott and Sam Hain; Somerset’s bowlers – all seven of them – were quickly in containment mode.
The only encouragement for them was a hint of turn and occasional uneven bounce. Ninety runs had been compiled before Trott presented a return catch to Van der Merwe, who was Somerset’s most dangerous bowler – though his figures would be badly dented by Bell. Hain hit a steadfast 86 and Warwickshire finished with a substantial though not impregnable 284 for four. With hindsight Somerset might have been better off playing another specialist spinner, Jack Leach, on this surface. Instead they stuck with the combination that had taken them so far in the tournament.
With the bat Somerset were always just out of reach, thanks mostly to Patel, who bewitched successive batsmen into swinging across the line against fizzing off-breaks. Nonetheless, they managed to cause the home side some anxiety from unlikely quarters. In the final overs the No9, Ryan Davies, contrived a sparkling 46 from 33 balls and the No10, Tim Groenewald, cracked a defiant 30 in 21. But Oliver Hannon-Dalby, with the burden of bowling the last six balls, kept his head impressively when 15 runs were still required.
Perhaps Patel’s first wicket was his most important. He had just floated up an off-break to Peter Trego, who was leading Somerset’s run chase, and it was walloped for six over midwicket. This persuaded Patel to start fizzing the ball down more quickly. Two balls later Trego was lbw and thereafter Somerset were slow to recognise the source of Warwickshire’s greatest threat. Four more batsmen would depart hitting across the line against Patel – usually they stared at the big screen as they made their doleful way back to the pavilion in a manner that hinted at some sort of betrayal. This was a futile exercise for several reasons: they were already out and in any case the screen peculiarly declined to replay any of those dismissals. In these games, despite the TV presence, there is no recourse to a third umpire.
Even so, Somerset threatened in the closing overs. James Hildreth escaped a stumping chance on 17. It was a difficult one, especially for a man who had been relaxing in Stoke a couple hours earlier. Alex Mellor, Warwickshire’s reserve keeper, had scurried to Edgbaston, having been summoned after Tim Ambrose tweaked a hamstring when batting. Somerset generously allowed a replacement behind the stumps so after eight overs of their innings out skipped Mellor as a grateful Ambrose limped off.
At 161 for seven the game was surely up for Somerset, but Davies then conjured a 71-run partnership alongside Hildreth and the Somerset supporters found their voice. This was a spirited effort but they could do no more than frighten Warwickshire.
