Men from Down Under lead us to Over and Above

 Big Harvey decribes the tension of our dramatic win. This report brought to you courtesy of Mad Apple Dry cider!

Somerset v Middlesex Day 4 Taunton 2015

Middlesex, set 402, had a potentially difficult 7 overs to face last night. However the breakdown of Somerset's fastest bowler, Overton, which left him unable to complete his 2nd over blunted their attack, and was always going to be a big blow to the home side's hopes of taking  the necessary10 (or more likely 9 given Murtagh's likely absence)  Middlesex wickets.

Despite the near apocolyptic weather forecast for today being given up to a couple of days ago that seemed destined to condemn the contents of today's match report to consist of tasting reports of obscure Somerset ciders in The Long Room of the Plough Inn, this morning's forecast assured me of fine weather all day with uninterrupted play.

My ride to Bristol Temple Meads Station was into the teeth of a howling gale and driving rain, but by the time my train reached Taunton it had all blown over exactly as forecast.

We started on 31/0, with 371 more runs needed today, Gubbins on 8, Robson on 15. Under normal circumstances, any team in that position would be more than happy with a draw. Barmy Kev texted me to say as much, but having watched the previous 2 days I disagreed, and was hopeful of victory.

Groenwald opened the bowling and Gubbins began with aggressive intent, cover driving him to the boundary and taking 6 off his first over. The danger man Gregory at the other end accounted for Robson (15), taken by Trescothick at 2nd slip without adding to his overnight score.

In Gregory's next over, Compton (4) survived a huge appeal for a caught behind, only to fall 2 balls later, middle and off stumps both completely demolished. 45/2. It was not looking good, but I consoled myself with the fact that Gregory couldn't bowl all day, and frankly they didn't look to have much else in the cupboard.

Gubbins looked unpeturbed, and pulled Trego for a big 6 over square leg. He dispensed exactly the same treatment to Gregory the following over. When Groenwald replaced Gregory, his 2nd ball was also cut powerfully to the boundary.

His 50 was greeted with prolific applause by the Somerset faithful, who however much they want their side to win, appreciate good cricket, and this had been an exceptionally elegant innings so far.

Another glorious cover drive off Groenwald brought up the 100.  It had come off only 20.3 overs, well ahead of the required run rate as long as we didn't lose any time to the weather.

Rehman's introduction into the attack raised the question as to whether this 4th day pitch would take spin. His 2nd over brought a couple of deliveries which did indeed turn sharply. In his 5th over he struck a huge blow, drawing Gubbins (75) forward to drive and  turning it through the gate knocking out his leg stump. 137/3, and there was no disguising the fact that Somerset were now firm favourites.

With Middlesex's biggest threat gone, Somerset's biggest threat (i.e. Gregory) was reintroduced at the other end. However he was unable to produce a further breakthrough.

Lunch: 148/3.

The resumption came in bright sunshine with Voges pulling a short one from Rehman to the mid wicket boundary. He didn't seem to be bowling with the same loop as before Lunch, and Gregory at the other end seemed down on pace.

Voges 50 came off 84 balls. For us to win this we needed him to stay put and encouragingly alarms were few and far between. The scoreboard was kept ticking over by him and Franklin, quietly but effectively.

Things went from bad to worse for Rehman, who on switching ends only succeeded in losing his length.

A beautiful straight drive from Voges brought up the 200. 200/3 with almost 50 overs left to get another 202 runs against a tired-looking and frankly not very good bowling attack. Somerset were starting to lose their shape, epitomised by some farcical cricket as a looping full toss from part-time spinner Cooper was mistimed by Franklin to mid wicket, but the ball which was rolling gently along the ground was horribly fumbled by the substitute fieldsman and went for 4.

The batsmen were happy to nurdle ones and twos along with accepting the odd gift. The 100 partnership (238/3) came with 41 overs remaining. At that time a gentle shower brought a stark reminder that all  results were still possible.

Franklin's 50 came from a French cut

As Tea approached, Gregory was reintroduced, but lasted only a single over, cut twice by Voges to backward point. Voges hundred came a couple of balls before Tea, pulling a rank short ball from Gregory's replacement Cooper to mid wicket for 2.

Tea: 280/3 off 71 overs with another 122 required off 32. Few in the ground were now doubting that Middlesex were going to knock off these runs with overs to spare.

The new ball was due in 9 overs, but with Gregory the only in-form seamer looking so tired it was hard to see who was going to make effective use of it.

The scoring in the final session began surprisingly slowly though. Rehman was bowling more tightly and Allenby more accurately (although if anything even slower) than previously. Barrow the keeper took stick from the members for not standing up to the stumps for Allenby. Certainly I've seen good keepers doing it even in club cricket to bowlers faster than him, but can Barrow even be described as a good keeper? Not on the evidence of this display, certainly.

Maybe the batsmen were playing for the new ball, but with such slow scoring going on when at least a bit of urgency was needed, would Somerset call our bluff and not take it?

Voges brought up the 300 with a leg glance off Rehman, but the scoring rate since Tea had only been 2 runs an over.

Gregory took the new ball and to his credit managed to rediscover some venom. The scoring rate remained slow and Groenwald was able to back him up reasonably well for the first time in this game. The ball after Voges (132) brought up the 200 partnership, he flashed at a widish one from Groenwald and was caught behind by Barrow.

337/4 with 65 still needed off 15.4.

The wicket slowed the scoring even more, and both bowlers seemed to gain a yard of pace. With just 10 overs remaining, 56 were still required, and the Somerset fans' hopes were rising with Dexter's inability to hit the ball off the square. As the required rate went over 6 an over, he slashed at one from Gregory but was dropped by Barrow almost in front of slip.

Franklin's 100 came off 201 balls, but the milestone, impressive as it was, was not the important thing. We were trying to win a game of cricket and were not - or didn't seem to be - scoring fast enough. By the time Dexter (11) was put out of his misery (and he does look seriously out of form), bowled by Rehman, 23 were still needed off 21 balls.

Trego replaced the impressive Gregory, who had bowled his heart out, but Franklin ensured his over went for 10 runs, leaving just 9 required off 12 balls.

Simpson, thankfully in better nick than Dexter took 3 boundaries off the next over from Rehman to take Middlesex home with just 7 balls to spare.

Three positives: Fine disciplined knocks from Gubbins, Voges, and Franklin, all in their own way exactly what was needed, and a well deserved victory. The friendliness and sportsmanlike nature of the Somerset fans. Finally The Plough Inn, home of proper cider – i.e. very dry and usually fairly cloudy with no bubbles. Highlight of the ones I tried was the Mad Apple Dry.

Negatives: We made rather hard work of it in the final session. Somerset look a weak side so we shouldn't read too much into our victory. Oh, and the most negative thing of all was being made to walk around to the far side of the ground every day to the only gate open to people paying cash, despite there being at least 2 other manned gates that are more convenient for most people.