Briggs Spins Seconds to Somerset Success

Match Report: Somerset 2XI v Hampshire 2XI (SEC)

Somerset 2nd XI v Hampshire 2nd XI
Second XI Championship
21-23 August 2012
Taunton Vale

Summary: Hampshire beat Somerset by 171 runs
Hampshire: 302-5d & 181-4d
Sussex: 203-3d & 109 all out
Scorecard
Final Table

On a surface where wickets had appeared difficult to come by, spinner Danny Briggs bowled Hampshire to victory on the third day of this final Second XI Championship match of the season against Somerset at Taunton Vale.

The Isle of Wight-born star, who had enjoyed a bittersweet start to the week having been included in England’s Twenty20 World Cup squad only to miss out on selection for Hampshire’s First XI’s LV= County Championship match against Leicestershire, ended it – and, indeed, the Seconds’ season – on a high, taking 4-34 from 12.3 overs.

In so doing, he ensured that having been set 280 for victory, Somerset were bowled out for 109 (all three previous innings had been declared with no more than five wickets down), handing Hampshire a 171-run win and a fifth-placed finish in the table.

Having been asked to bat first, Hampshire soon wrestled back the initiative in the match as a bullish century from Mike Roberts (110), supported by excellent knocks of 84 from Bilal Shafayat and 50 not out from Hamza Riazuddin, allowed Hampshire to be able to declare on 302-5 before the end of day one.

But Somerset hit back, with a knock of 95 from local boy Will Jennings being the stand-out performance of their first innings before declaring on 203-3 – a deficit of 99 runs.

Before day two was out, Roberts (63) and Shafayat (36) would again have runs on the board, as well as Sean Terry (36) as Hants finished their second innings on 181-4.

All of that meant that the hosts had been set a chase of nearly 300 on the final day – a seemingly fair scenario given how the wicket had played so far, if slightly balanced in Somerset’s favour.

But the home team could never get a foothold in the innings as four wickets fell for 46 runs inside the opening 20 overs, seamers Jack Sheppard and David Griffiths (1-12 off eight overs) doing the majority of the damage.

After the addition of just nine runs, another mini-collapse ensued when a further three wickets fell in four overs, Wilf Marriot (1-2 off one) chipping in with a handy over of off-spin and Sheppard (3-22 off nine) completing an aggressive spell with the ball.

Throughout, Briggs was quietly accumulating scalps, already having two to his name and, having taken his third with Somerset still yet to reach 90, let alone 100, the result was never in doubt. In the 42nd over the left-armer would wrap things up with the hosts’ 10th wicket, allowing him plenty of time to prepare for Friends Life t20 Finals Day on Saturday.

As for the Second XI, their season has now ended, the side finishing comfortably mid-table in the South Division having won as many matches (three out of nine) as any Second XI side in the country. The fact that they lost more matches than anyone in their division simply reflects the fact that they played some of the most positive cricket on the circuit, attempting to manufacture results even at the risk of being on the wrong end of them.

For that, they should be applauded and fans should look forward to some exciting young cricketers breaking through in the coming years.

Words: Simon Vincent
Images: LMI Photography

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