Keith Dutch and Rob Turner guided Somerset to a thrilling C&G Trophy semi-final win over Warwickshire at Taunton

Richard Latham11-Aug-2001Keith Dutch and Rob Turner guided Somerset to a thrilling C&G Trophy semi-final win over Warwickshire at Taunton.The home side had been 6-3 after 17 balls of their reply to Warwickshire’s 228-8 and looked to be staring at defeat.Even after skipper Jamie Cox (47), Keith Parson’s (31) and Ian Blackwell (30) had steadied the ship, Somerset were 130-6 when Turner and Dutch came together.The pair played with supreme sense and skill in an unbroken partnership of exactly 100, which ensured victory with four overs to spare.Man-of-the-Match Dutch hit a sparkling 61 not out, reaching his half-century off just 46 balls, with 5 fours. Turner was equally sound in defence and also produced some fine shots in his unbeaten 42.It was a dramatic turnaround from the opening overs when Marcus Trescothick was bowled by Dougie Brown shouldering arms. Simon Carter sent back Peter Bowler for a duck to a loose cut shot and Mike Burns fell to Brown, also without scoring.Warwickshire were cock-a-hoop. But in the end Somerset’s long batting line-up served them well and took them to a second Lord’s final in three years.Earlier, Burns made another telling contribution as Somerset restricted their opponents to a manageable total.The former Warwickshire player, who won the man-of-the-match award for his batting in the quarter-final win over Kent, this time produced miserly figures of 2-30 from ten overs of medium pace after Cox had won the toss.Openers Nick Knight and Mark Wagh had overcome a glut of short-pitched balls from Andy Caddick to post a century stand in overcast conditions.Knight survived a nasty blow on the helmet (though he later visited hospital as a precaution) from the England pace bowler, but was never fluent in scoring 45, while Wagh was more in control in contributing a stylish 46.Just as Warwickshire were looking to accelerate from a strong base, Burns and Parsons applied the brakes, taking two wickets each.At 129-4, Somerset had taken a grip. But Trevor Penney and Mike Powell did their best to restore parity with a fifth-wicket stand of 70 in 14 overs before Powell was yorked by Richard Johnson for 39.Penney also made 39, off just 42 balls, before his typically breezy knock ended with a mistimed drive to Burns at deep mid-off, with the total 214-6, giving Johnson a second wicket in the 49th over.Johnson struck again to send back Neil Smith for figures of 3-42 and when Vasbert Drakes was bowled by the last ball of the innings, sent down by Jones, Warwickshire’s total did not look sufficient.Afterwards, Jamie Cox was understandably delighted: “To get back to Lord’s means an enormous amount after missing out two years ago and especially after playing so badly. It means one hell of a lot.”We stuffed it up to be perfectly honest and we are all delighted to get back and have another crack at playing to our potential. I think we are a better side now.”I’ve lost four finals in total, either in England or Australia, and I want to end that sequence.”Cox insisted that he believed his side would prevail even when they were 6-3 and 130-6.”Even at those two junctures I felt we were just one partnership away from getting the game back in our grasp. It was a good wicket and we managed to maintain the run rate, which meant we didn’t have to play daft shots. That partnership came at the end and it was a superb effort from Keith and Rob to take us home.”Opposing skipper Michael Powel was obviously disappointed, but was generous in defeat: “It would have been great to cap my first season as captain by getting to a Lord’s final but it was not to be. It’s a big disappointment but there is still plenty to play for this season in terms of trying to get promotion.”They played magnificent cricket at the end and in all honesty did not give us a sniff. We had them on the ropes at six for three and 130 for six but they climbed off them. We have to bounce back. The season is not over.”