Bears 2nd XI continue their fantastic unbeaten T20 streak with victory in Taunton

Hosts Somerset won the toss and elected to have a bowl first at The Vale, a decision which appeared to have paid off brilliantly after JT Langridge (3/22) and James Theedom (1/15) ripped through the Bears’ top order trio of Kai Smith (0), Omaris Khan (7) and Hamza Shaikh (6) to leave the visitors wobbling on a score of 27/3 at the culmination of the 4th over.

Following this shaky start however, Warwickshire’s enterprising fourth wicket pairing of Zen Malik (73) and Oli Dandy (37) soon began to get their side back on course in sumptuous style, with the duo adding 98 invaluable runs before the former fell to the aforementioned Langridge midway through the 15th over with the score reading 124/4.

Just five deliveries later, Dandy would become the latest Warwickshire player to depart after attempting an audacious reverse scoop off the bowling of Croatian international Zach Vukusic (1/45) that nestled straight into the palms of substitute fielder Harry Deering at third man, but it was the Bears who would finish the remainder of the innings with the momentum in their favour, as Michael Booth (31) and Ethan Bamber (16*) blitzed 8 quickfire boundaries at the death to take the visitors up to a more than competitive total of 182/7 from their 20 overs.

With a sizeable target of 183 runs required for the victory, Somerset got off to a far from ideal start to their run chase, as the dynamic duo of Booth (2/29) and Bamber (4/23) scythed through the top order quartet of Theo Lamey (2), Archie Vaughan (2), Thomas Rew (8) and Kian Roberts (1) with frightening ease to leave the hosts stunned on a perilous score of 15/4 at the start of the 4th over.

At this early stage, it appeared as though the points were only ever going to be heading in one direction, but a flurry of fantastic fours and devastatingly dispatched sixes from the mightily impressive Oscar Coleman (82) and Ben Church (33) soon got the home side firmly back in contention heading into the second half of the run chase.

Unfortunately for the hosts, the dangerous Church was soon sent back to the pavilion after slicing a delivery from Bamber into the awaiting hands of outfielder Kai Smith at the end of the 12th over, but the aforementioned Vukusic (22) picked up exactly where the young wicketkeeper left off, bashing Theo Wylie for two massive sixes towards the culmination of the 14th over to give Somerset some desperately needed impetus heading into the business stage of the innings.

With the game firmly in the balance, the Bears required a spark to swing the pendulum back in their favour once more, and that spark would arrive courtesy of the brilliant Bamber, who dismissed both Vukusic and Coleman within the space of five pivotal deliveries in the 18th over to leave Somerset needing 25 runs from the remaining 12 deliveries of the chase in order to seal their second win of the campaign.

Ultimately though, this target would prove to be a bridge too far for the West Country outfit on this occasion, as the unfortunate absence of Josh Thomas and James Theedom – who had earlier left the game through injury following a nasty collision in the field during the Warwickshire powerplay – effectively turned the 8th wicket pairing of JT Langridge (2*) and Josh Shaw (1) into the final stand of the encounter, and when the latter chopped onto his stumps off the bowling of Eddie Miller (1/31) with the Somerset score on 160, victory was secured for the visitors by a margin of 22 runs with 7 deliveries of the match still remaining.

As a result, the currently unbeaten Bears return to the top of the standings in the Central Division with 20 points to their name after six games played, whilst Somerset remain in 5th place with 8 points gained from their opening six fixtures.

The Warwickshire 2nd XI will be back in action on Monday 1st June with a scenic trip to Stowe School to take on fellow high-flyers Northamptonshire, who currently sit just 2 points behind them in second place.

All of us here at The Bear would also like to pass on our best wishes to Josh Thomas and James Theedom following today's lengthy injury delay and are extremely glad to hear that they're both doing well.