NatWest T20 Blast - quarter-final

Notts Outlaws 152-5 beat Somerset 151-6 by five wickets

SOMERSET'S wait for a T20 Finals Day appearance goes on after they were beaten by five wickets by Notts Outlaws in Thursday evening's quarter-final at Trent Bridge.

Steve Davies (59) and Peter Trego (40) were the only batsmen to truly get going in Somerset's 151-6 and, despite reducing the hosts to 66-4 in reply, Samit Patel (40) and Dan Christian (36*) seized control of the run chase to see the North Group winners over the line.

Lewis Gregory, captaining the side in the absence of the injured Jim Allenby, lost the toss and, upon being asked to bat, became the first wicket to fall when he was clean bowled by Jake Ball (2-21) for three.

The visitors then suffered a huge setback as the in-form Johann Myburgh was caught behind from the very next ball, leaving Somerset on 17-2 midway through the third over as they struggled to find early momentum.

Steve Davies stayed calm amid the early departures and played some lovely shots on his way to a half-century, with Peter Trego getting into his stride after a cautious start.

The pair added 85 for the third wicket before Trego fell to a fine catch by Ball from the bowling of Dan Christian for 40, and Somerset failed to build on the promising foundations laid by the pair as wickets went on to fall at regular intervals and boundaries dried up.

James Hildreth chipped his first delivery straight back to Samit Patel, and Christian (2-23) then claimed the key wicket as Davies holed out to Alex Hales for 59.

Michael Leask (1) came and went quickly to leave Somerset struggling on 118-6, leaving Roelof van der Merwe and Craig Overton to try and push the visitors towards a competitive score.

Neither could find the boundaries required, but both dug in to end unbeaten on 27 and 14 respectively as Somerset posted 151-6.

The visitors desperately needed early wickets in their defence of the below-par total, and Max Waller was the man to provide the first of those as Riki Wessels pulled a long hop to Craig Overton with just two runs on the board.

Then came controversy, as dangerman Alex Hales - who struck three consecutive boundaries at the start of the second over - chipped Gregory to a diving Peter Trego at mid-off.

Trego claimed the catch but the batsman remained unmoved until, after several replays, the third umpire agreed that the 36-year-old had taken it cleanly and Hales was on his way for 14.

Another fine catch, this time by Roelof van der Merwe, saw the back of Tom Moores (13) as Overton picked up his first wicket to reduce Notts to 34-3 and increase the growing uncerainty among the home crowd.

Brendan Taylor, who hit 154 in the One-Day Cup quarter-final between the two sides in Taunton earlier this season, steadied the ship before falling victim to more inspired fielding by the team in yellow.

This time it was Johann Myburgh who took centre stage, as he sprinted in from point and threw down the stumps with a direct hit to leave the home side on 66-4 and the match on a knife edge.

The hosts needed someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck, and in Samit Patel they had the perfect player to do just that.

Patel lofted Tim Groenewald for a big six before taking 16 from a pivotal Paul van Meekeren over, but he too was run out before he could complete the job as Lewis Gregory kicked the ball on to the stumps in his follow through to send the batsman on his way for 45.

The hosts went into the 18th over needing 24 from 18 deliveries, but Craig Overton struggled to find his line and length during the over which ultimately decided the outcome of the match.

The 23-year-old, who signed a new contract on the morning of the match, started with a wide before being hit over the ropes by both Dan Christian and Steven Mullaney as 19 came from the over in all.

With any tension dissipated, Mullaney (20*) hit the winning runs with a boundary off Gregory as the hosts sealed victory with nine balls to spare.

Though Somerset will be disappointed with the result, they can take pride in their performance in the field and will ultimately be left ruing the fact they could not scrape together more runs.

The wait for a Finals Day appearance now goes into a sixth year, and it will be up to whoever replaces Jim Allenby as captain to try and go one better next summer.

They would also be well-advised to avoid Nottinghamshire next season, the East Midlands outfit having knocked Somerset out of both white ball competitions this season.

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SPEAKING after the match, Lewis Gregory said: "It's a shame to be on the losing side.

"We felt we were 25-30 runs short and we struggled at the back end of the innings - I thought we had set it up nicely but we just couldn't find the boundaries at the death.

"The lads fought really hard and we were really in the game, but they had some big overs in the middle - which we didn't really get - that swayed it their way.

"The captaincy is a new experience for me which hopefully I can continue doing in the future."