Vitality Blast - South Group

Somerset 177-6 beat Surrey 176-9 by 4 wkts

PETER Trego and Corey Anderson struck half-centuries as Somerset defeated Surrey by four wickets to earn their sixth straight Vitality Blast victory.

Man of the match Jamie Overton had earlier taken 4-24 as Surrey were restricted to 176-9, which the hosts passed with five balls to spare despite slipping to 55-4 in reply.

Having won the toss and opted to field, Somerset could hardly have asked for a better start as Rory Burns was run out without facing from the first ball of the match.

Jamie Overton then picked up two wickets in his first over - including the key one of Roy (9), superbly caught one-handed by Jerome Taylor at mid-wicket - as Surrey slipped to 20-3 after three.

That became 52-4 when Ben Foakes was bowled by Roelof van der Merwe, who then became the target of a sustained assault by Will Jacks and Rikki Clarke as 46 came from the spinner's next two overs.

Both fell in quick succession, however, as Jacks holed out off Overton shortly after reaching his 29-ball half-century and Clarke was bowled by van der Merwe, who responded well in his final over but still finished with 2-54 from four - Max Waller, by contrast, conceded just 15 in his four miserly overs as his fine tournament continued.

Overton returned to have Morne Morkel caught at long-on for his fourth and Jerome Taylor conceded just five from the final over as Somerset were set 177 to win.

Like their visitors, though, Somerset started poorly with the bat and lost both openers before they had reached double figures.

Both were tame dismissals, as Johann Mbyburgh chipped to long-on and Steve Davies was caught at short mid-wicket, providing Morkel with two wickets in his first over and leaving the score 9-2.

The tall South African had his third when Clarke held on to a fine one-handed catch to remove James Hildreth (14), and Tom Abell had just a couple to his name when he miscued a slog-sweep - his departure left the game in the balance with Somerset 55-4 in the seventh over.

Somerset needed a partnership and got it, as Trego and Anderson dovetailed superbly in the middle overs.

Trego was largely content to find the gaps and run singles, while Anderson was pure brute force - he didn't hit a four en route to a half-ccentury, instead smiting five sixes as his 50 arrived in 26 balls.

He fell on 53, lofting Curran to Clarke, and Trego's subsequent departure for an excellent 54-ball 70 could have set nerves jangling - Somerset still needed 15 from the final 2.1 overs.

Roelof van der Merwe got nearly half of them in one shot with a dismissive flick over the ropes off Jade Dernbach, and captain Lewis Gregory completed the job with the winning runs from the first ball of the final over.

Gloucestereshire's match at Essex being rained off means Somerset are now two points clear at the top ahead of Sunday's home match against Glamorgan.

Speaking afterwards, Peter Trego said: "I thought our bowlers set the game up for us magnificently. Jamie Overton was rightly man-of-the-match for his four wickets, but Max Waller was also outstanding in conceding only 15 from his four overs.

"At the halfway stage we were confident. We know how quickly we can score here at Taunton and they didn't have the biggest of totals.

"It is always especially satisfying beating Surrey because you know their team will always be packed with quality players. It's nice to be on a roll in this competition and always enjoyable scoring runs in front of our own supporters.

Jamie Overton, who was presented with the man of the match award by Andrew Flintoff, added: "I feel really good at the moment and it's nice to be picking up wickets.

"I read a stat which said that before this week I hadn't ever gone for less than 24 in T20s - I've now done that three times this week, which is pleasing.

"You learn all the time by playing in this format - especially playing in Taunton, you have to learn quickly. I hadn't played a lot of T20 before this season so I think my performances are improving just as a result of playing more.

"We are determined not to take our foot off the gas in these final two group games. Winning is a habit and momentum is so important in this format."