Durham lose to Somerset at South Northumberland

Somerset put in a complete performance with bat and ball to ease past Durham by six wickets in their Metro Bank One-Day Cup Group B match at South Northumberland in Gosforth.

Durham struggled to find their timing at the start of their innings amid impressive bowling from Danny Lamb, who ended the innings with figures of three for 25. Alex Lees offered resistance with 63 in a partnership worth 78 with David Bedingham, but once Bedingham was run out the hosts lost their final eight wickets for 47 to slump to 181 all out.

Somerset had no issues chasing down the target, romping their way home with 23.1 overs to spare. George Thomas and Andrew Umeed set the platform before George Bartlett blasted his second half-century of the tournament to secure a dominant win for the visitors and effectively end the hosts’ hopes of reaching the knockout stage.

Somerset won the toss and were justified in their decision as Durham failed to get away. Michael Jones endured a torrid time in the middle, struggling to time the ball on a tough surface and overcast conditions. He was dropped on one before he finally fell for six off 30 as Lamb found his inside edge and James Rew claimed a simple catch.

Lamb continued to put the Durham batters under pressure as the hosts struggled to score three runs per over in the opening third of the innings. Scott Borthwick became Lamb’s second victim when he was pinned lbw for 11, reducing the hosts to 56 for two.

Lees and Bedingham responded with a calm approach against the seamers. After seeing off the threat, both players began to up the ante against the Somerset spinners.

Bedingham cleared the rope twice from Shoaib Bashir’s off-spin racing his way a run-a-ball 35, sharing a stand worth 78 with Lees for the third wicket. Lees grinded his way to a deserved half-century, his third of the competition, manoeuvring the hosts towards a solid platform.

But, a miscommunication between Lees and Bedingham would hand Somerset the breakthrough as the South African was run out for 35. The wicket sparked a collapse in the Durham ranks, falling from 134 for two to 181 all out. Lees picked out George Thomas on the fence from the next ball, while Jonathan Bushnell and Liam Trevaskis fell cheaply to the spin of Josh Thomas.

The lower order wilted amid impressive bowling from the visitors as only two players beyond Lees and Bedingham made double figures, resulting in Durham being skittled out with five overs remaining in their innings.

Somerset eased into their chase through George Thomas and Andrew Umeed, reaching their fifty partnership for the opening stand within eight overs. George Drissell ended the opening stand for 74 by removing Umeed for 36 and Thomas followed in the next over to Liam Trevaskis.

But, James Rew and George Bartlett calmed any potential nerves in the Somerset dressing room and duly whittled down the victory total with a quick-fire stand of 52. Although Rew fell to Trevaskis, Bartlett pushed on with a brutal assault of the Durham bowlers to reach his fifty from 31 balls, including back-to-back sixes against De Leede.

Bartlett was out for 55 to present Trevaskis with his third wicket, but Somerset still eased over the line as Paul Coughlin bowled a no ball to take the visitors to their victory total.