NatWest T20 Blast - South Group

Gloucestershire 152-3 beat Somerset 146 by seven wickets

A DRAMATIC middle order collapse cost Somerset dear as they fell to a seven-wicket defeat to Gloucestershire in Friday's T20 derby in Bristol.

The visitors slipped from 67-2 to 75-6 in the space of 2.5 overs before recovering to 146 all out, which was surpassed with a minimum of fuss by the home side despite three wickets for Roelof van der Merwe.

The start to the match was delayed by 45 minutes after Somerset were caught up in Friday's northbound traffic chaos and, once they had finally arrived after a four and a half hour journey, the visitors were asked to bat first.

Steve Davies was soon on his way back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers in the first over after tamely chipping a catch to George Hankins from the bowling of David Payne, who then removed Lewis Gregory in his next over as Somerset slipped to 12-2.

Johann Myburgh then displayed his usual range of power and craft on his way to a brutal 18-ball 42, which included five 4s and three 6s, as the visitors progressed to 66-2 at the end of the six-over powerplay.

What followed was quite extraordinary, as Somerset lost four wickets for eight runs as the match was completely turned on its head.

Myburgh's dismissal began the carnage, as he was caught and bowled by Benny Howell (2-15) before James Hildreth hit a reverse sweep straight to Matt Taylor to depart for a second ball duck.

Tom Abell then set off for a suicidial single and was run out, with Somerset's misery compounded when Tim Groenewald, surprisingly sent in at number seven, came charging down the wicket and was stumped from the bowling of Tom Smith.

It was left to Jim Allenby and Roelof van der Merwe to try and steady the ship, but the skipper was sent on his way for 21 as he was adjudged to have edged Jack Taylor behind - a decision the batsman was far from happy with.

Van der Merwe soon followed for 15 as the visitors fell to 96-8, but Max Waller (17) reached a new T20 career best as he and Craig Overton helped Somerset past 100.

Overton struck three huge sixes on his way to an unbeaten 33, with Paul van Meekeren the final wicket to fall when he was clean bowled by Thisara Perera as Somerset were dismissed for 146.

The visitors needed early wickets to stand any chance of defending their modest total, but Phil Mustard and Michael Klinger got the hosts off to a strong start with the bat.

It took the introduction of van der Merwe to bring the breakthrough, with Mustard failing to resist the temptation to hit the spinner out the ground - Craig Overton took the catch on the long-on boundary as the first wicket fell with the score on 48.

Paul van Meekeren bowled four fiery overs in an excellent spell and was unfortunate to go wicketless as Klinger and Ian Cockbain edged the hosts towards the finish line.

Klinger departed for 35 when he was clean bowled by a beauty from van der Merwe, but Kieran Noema-Barnett shattered any visiting hopes of a close finish with four mighty 6s on his way to a 12-ball 33.

He fell with the hosts just three runs short of the target, but Jack Taylor finished the job in style by clearing the ropes off Lewis Gregory as Gloucestershire sealed victory with 10 balls to spare.

The defeat sees Somerset slip out of the qualification places to fifth, but it is still very much all to play for ahead of Surrey's visit on Sunday.

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SPEAKING after the match, director of cricket Matt Maynard said: "I don't think the batsmen gave themselves a chance to get in on that wicket, which was tougher than it looked.

"We thought it may have been a 175+ wicket, but Myburgh said on his dismissal that 155 would be competitive - as it was, though, we struggled to assess the pace of the pitch.

"Our preparation wasn't ideal, but you can't blame that when the game is gone after seven overs.

"Paul van Meekeren made life very uncomfortable for their batsmen and I thought Roelof van der Merwe was excellent, but it wasn't to be - we will look to bounce back on Sunday."